The Marginalian
The Marginalian

Reads tagged with “culture”

Ursula K. Le Guin on Anger
Ursula K. Le Guin on Anger

“Anger continued on past its usefulness becomes unjust, then dangerous… It fuels not positive activism but regression, obsession, vengeance, self-righteousness. Corrosive, it feeds off itself, destroying its host in the process.”

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The Art of Being Alone: May Sarton’s Stunning 1938 Ode to Solitude
The Art of Being Alone: May Sarton’s Stunning 1938 Ode to Solitude

“There is no place more intimate than the spirit alone.”

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Here We Are: Oliver Jeffers’s Warm Illustrated Field Guide to Living Together on Our Pale Blue Dot
Here We Are: Oliver Jeffers’s Warm Illustrated Field Guide to Living Together on Our Pale Blue Dot

A tender invitation to fathom the shared cosmic destiny behind our glorious differences.

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Neuroscientist Christof Koch on Free Will
Neuroscientist Christof Koch on Free Will

“Freedom is always a question of degree rather than an absolute good that we do or do not possess.”

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Walt Whitman on Beethoven and Music as the Profoundest Expression of Nature
Walt Whitman on Beethoven and Music as the Profoundest Expression of Nature

In praise of the “dainty abandon” that awakens us to wonder and carries us outside ourselves.

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Margaret Fuller on the Power of Music
Margaret Fuller on the Power of Music

“All truth is comprised in music and mathematics.”

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On the Tranquility of Mind: Seneca on Resilience, the Trap of Power and Prestige, and How to Calibrate Our Ambitions for Maximum Contentment
On the Tranquility of Mind: Seneca on Resilience, the Trap of Power and Prestige, and How to Calibrate Our Ambitions for Maximum Contentment

“That man lives badly who does not know how to die well.”

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Pioneering Physicist Enrico Fermi on the “Utility” of Science, the Aim of Knowledge, and Our Ultimate Responsibility to Nature
Pioneering Physicist Enrico Fermi on the “Utility” of Science, the Aim of Knowledge, and Our Ultimate Responsibility to Nature

“Scientific advances in basic understanding have sooner or later led to technical and industrial applications that have revolutionized our way of life.”

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Descartes on Wonderment
Descartes on Wonderment

“Wonderment is the first passion of all… Those without any natural inclination to this passion are ordinarily very ignorant.”

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How Pioneering Firefighter Brenda Berkman Won Women’s Right to Heroism
How Pioneering Firefighter Brenda Berkman Won Women’s Right to Heroism

“My uniform is emblematic of my philosophy that people should try to leave the world better than they found it.”

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