The Marginalian
The Marginalian

Reads tagged with “history”

Dostoyevsky on Why There Are No Bad People
Dostoyevsky on Why There Are No Bad People

“A true friend of mankind whose heart has but once quivered in compassion over the sufferings of the people, will understand and forgive all the impassable alluvial filth in which they are submerged, and will be able to discover the diamonds in the filth.”

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The Only True and Durable Antidote to Violence: Composer Leonard Bernstein’s Moving Response to JFK’s Assassination
The Only True and Durable Antidote to Violence: Composer Leonard Bernstein’s Moving Response to JFK’s Assassination

“This must be the mission of every man of goodwill: to insist, unflaggingly, at risk of becoming a repetitive bore, but to insist on the achievement of a world in which the mind will have triumphed over violence.”

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Voltaire on How to Write Well and Stay True to Your Creative Vision
Voltaire on How to Write Well and Stay True to Your Creative Vision

“Beware, lest in attempting the grand, you overshoot the mark and fall into the grandiose.”

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The Mirror and the Meme: A 600-Year History of the Selfie
The Mirror and the Meme: A 600-Year History of the Selfie

How glass, tin, and mercury converged on a Venetian island in the 15th century to fundamentally change the way we look at ourselves.

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Cosmigraphics: Picturing Space Through Time in 4,000 Years of Mapping the Universe
Cosmigraphics: Picturing Space Through Time in 4,000 Years of Mapping the Universe

A visual catalog of our quintessential quest to understand the cosmos and our place in it.

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How Van Gogh Found His Purpose: Heartfelt Letters to His Brother on How Relationships Refine Us
How Van Gogh Found His Purpose: Heartfelt Letters to His Brother on How Relationships Refine Us

“Does what goes on inside show on the outside? Someone has a great fire in his soul and nobody ever comes to warm themselves at it, and passers-by see nothing but a little smoke at the top of the chimney.”

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Maria Merian’s Butterflies: The Illustrated Story of How a 17th-Century Woman Forever Changed the Course of Science Through Art
Maria Merian’s Butterflies: The Illustrated Story of How a 17th-Century Woman Forever Changed the Course of Science Through Art

A heartening homage to a courageous woman who fought superstition with science and love.

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The Difference Between the Beautiful and the Sublime, Animated
The Difference Between the Beautiful and the Sublime, Animated

A 100-second anatomy of astonishment.

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Found Meals of the Lost Generation: An Edible Time-Capsule of the Creative Scene of 1920s Paris
Found Meals of the Lost Generation: An Edible Time-Capsule of the Creative Scene of 1920s Paris

From James Joyce’s cocoa to Gertrude Stein’s nameless cookies.

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William James on Choosing Purpose Over Profit and the Life-Changing Power of a Great Mentor
William James on Choosing Purpose Over Profit and the Life-Changing Power of a Great Mentor

“After all, the great problem of life seems to be how to keep body and soul together.”

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