The Marginalian
The Marginalian

Reads tagged with “Henry David Thoreau”

Thoreau on the Sacredness of Libraries and His Ideal Sanctuary for Books
Thoreau on the Sacredness of Libraries and His Ideal Sanctuary for Books

“Those old books suggested a certain fertility … as if they were making a humus for new literatures to spring in.”

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Thoreau on Hard Work, the Myth of Productivity, and the True Measure of Meaningful Labor
Thoreau on Hard Work, the Myth of Productivity, and the True Measure of Meaningful Labor

“Those who work much do not work hard.”

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The Spirit of Sauntering: Thoreau on the Art of Walking and the Perils of a Sedentary Lifestyle
The Spirit of Sauntering: Thoreau on the Art of Walking and the Perils of a Sedentary Lifestyle

Why “every walk is a sort of crusade.”

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Celebrated Writers on the Creative Benefits of Keeping a Diary
Celebrated Writers on the Creative Benefits of Keeping a Diary

Reflections on the value of recording our inner lives from Woolf, Thoreau, Sontag, Emerson, Nin, Plath, and more.

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Thoreau on the Greatest Gift of Growing Old
Thoreau on the Greatest Gift of Growing Old

How happiness feeds on the hard-earned blessing of making fewer apologies for our existence.

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Thoreau on What It Really Means to Be Awake
Thoreau on What It Really Means to Be Awake

“I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor.”

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Self-Refinement Through the Wisdom of the Ages: New Year’s Resolutions from Some of Humanity’s Greatest Minds
Self-Refinement Through the Wisdom of the Ages: New Year’s Resolutions from Some of Humanity’s Greatest Minds

Enduring ideas for personal refinement from Seneca, Thoreau, Virginia Woolf, Carl Sagan, Alan Watts, Emerson, Bruce Lee, Maya Angelou, and more.

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Amanda Palmer on the Art of Asking and What Thoreau Teaches Us about Accepting Love
Amanda Palmer on the Art of Asking and What Thoreau Teaches Us about Accepting Love

“You’re an artist when you say you are. And you’re a good artist when you make somebody else experience or feel something deep or unexpected.”

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Thoreau on What Skunk-Cabbage Can Teach Us About Optimism and the Meaning of Human Life
Thoreau on What Skunk-Cabbage Can Teach Us About Optimism and the Meaning of Human Life

“There is no can’t nor cant to them. They see over the brow of winter’s hill. They see another summer ahead.”

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Thoreau on Not Finding a Publisher and What Success Really Means
Thoreau on Not Finding a Publisher and What Success Really Means

“Sitting beside the inert mass of my works, I take up my pen to-night to record what thought or experience I may have had, with as much satisfaction as ever.”

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