The Marginalian
The Marginalian

Reads tagged with “culture”

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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Carl Sagan on the Power of Books and Reading as the Path to Democracy
Carl Sagan on the Power of Books and Reading as the Path to Democracy

“Books are key to understanding the world and participating in a democratic society.”

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Great Writers on the Letters of the Alphabet, Illustrated by David Hockney
Great Writers on the Letters of the Alphabet, Illustrated by David Hockney

A choral serenade to the building blocks of language starring Susan Sontag, Iris Murdoch, Ian McEwan, Joyce Carol Oates, Martin Amis, Doris Lessing, John Updike, and more titans of literature.

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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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Technology, Wisdom, and the Difficult Art of Civilizational Self-Awareness: Thomas Merton’s Beautiful Letter of Appreciation to Rachel Carson for Catalyzing the Environmental Movement
Technology, Wisdom, and the Difficult Art of Civilizational Self-Awareness: Thomas Merton’s Beautiful Letter of Appreciation to Rachel Carson for Catalyzing the Environmental Movement

“Technics and wisdom are not by any means opposed. On the contrary, the duty of our age… is to unite them in a supreme humility which will result in a totally self-forgetful creativity and service.”

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The Wisdom of Trees: Walt Whitman on What Our Silent Friends Teach Us About Being Rather Than Seeming
The Wisdom of Trees: Walt Whitman on What Our Silent Friends Teach Us About Being Rather Than Seeming

A supreme lesson in authenticity from a being “so innocent and harmless, yet so savage.”

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Love Found: A Diverse Illustrated Collection of Classic Poems Celebrating Desire, Longing, and Devotion
Love Found: A Diverse Illustrated Collection of Classic Poems Celebrating Desire, Longing, and Devotion

“Sit. Feast on your life.”

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