The Marginalian
The Marginalian

Reads tagged with “philosophy”

How to Live: Lessons from Montaigne
How to Live: Lessons from Montaigne

Don’t worry about death, pay attention, read a lot, give up control, embrace imperfection.

read article

Teenage Virginia Woolf on the Human Mind
Teenage Virginia Woolf on the Human Mind

“Activity of mind … is the only thing that keeps one’s life going.”

read article

The Varieties of Scientific Experience: Carl Sagan on Science and Spirituality
The Varieties of Scientific Experience: Carl Sagan on Science and Spirituality

“If we ever reach the point where we think we thoroughly understand who we are and where we came from, we will have failed.”

read article

Kurt Vonnegut on the Writer’s Responsibility, the Limitations of the Brain, and Why the Universe Exists: A Rare 1974 WNYC Interview
Kurt Vonnegut on the Writer’s Responsibility, the Limitations of the Brain, and Why the Universe Exists: A Rare 1974 WNYC Interview

“We have such a young culture that there is an opportunity to contribute wonderful new myths to it, which will be accepted.”

read article

Young vs. Old, Male vs. Female, Intuition vs. Intellect: Susan Sontag on How the Stereotypes and Polarities of Culture Imprison Us
Young vs. Old, Male vs. Female, Intuition vs. Intellect: Susan Sontag on How the Stereotypes and Polarities of Culture Imprison Us

“The young-old polarization and the male-female polarization are perhaps the two leading stereotypes that imprison people.”

read article

An Antidote to the Age of Anxiety: Alan Watts on Happiness and How to Live with Presence
An Antidote to the Age of Anxiety: Alan Watts on Happiness and How to Live with Presence

Wisdom on overcoming the greatest human frustration from the pioneer of Eastern philosophy in the West.

read article

The 13 Best Books of 2013: The Definitive Annual Reading List of Overall Favorites
The 13 Best Books of 2013: The Definitive Annual Reading List of Overall Favorites

Soul-stirring, brain-expanding reads on intuition, love, grief, attention, education, and the meaning of life.

read article

The Greatest Commencement Address of All Time: Joseph Brodsky’s Six Rules for Playing the Game of Life Like a Winner
The Greatest Commencement Address of All Time: Joseph Brodsky’s Six Rules for Playing the Game of Life Like a Winner

“Of all the parts of your body, be most vigilant over your index finger, for it is blame-thirsty. A pointed finger is a victim’s logo.”

read article

Nelson Mandela’s Moving Inaugural Address and Timeless Wisdom from His Autobiography
Nelson Mandela’s Moving Inaugural Address and Timeless Wisdom from His Autobiography

“After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.”

read article

The 13 Best Psychology and Philosophy Books of 2013
The 13 Best Psychology and Philosophy Books of 2013

How to think like Sherlock Holmes, make better mistakes, master the pace of productivity, find fulfilling work, stay sane, and more.

read article

View Full Site

The Marginalian participates in the Bookshop.org and Amazon.com affiliate programs, designed to provide a means for sites to earn commissions by linking to books. In more human terms, this means that whenever you buy a book from a link here, I receive a small percentage of its price, which goes straight back into my own colossal biblioexpenses. Privacy policy. (TLDR: You're safe — there are no nefarious "third parties" lurking on my watch or shedding crumbs of the "cookies" the rest of the internet uses.)