The Marginalian
The Marginalian

Reads tagged with “philosophy”

Nietzsche on the Power of Music
Nietzsche on the Power of Music

“Without music life would be a mistake.”

read article

John Cage on Human Nature, Constructive Anarchy, and How Silence Helps Us Amplify Each Other’s Goodness
John Cage on Human Nature, Constructive Anarchy, and How Silence Helps Us Amplify Each Other’s Goodness

“It is essential that we be convinced of the goodness of human nature, and we must act as though people are good.”

read article

Mary Oliver on How Differences Make Couples Stronger
Mary Oliver on How Differences Make Couples Stronger

“All of it, the differences and the maverick uprisings, are part of the richness of life. If you are too much like myself, what shall I learn of you, or you of me?”

read article

Grace Paley on the Art of Growing Older
Grace Paley on the Art of Growing Older

“The main thing is this — when you get up in the morning you must take your heart in your two hands. You must do this every morning.”

read article

The American Scholar: Emerson’s Superb Speech on the Life of the Mind, the Art of Creative Reading, and the Building Blocks of Genius
The American Scholar: Emerson’s Superb Speech on the Life of the Mind, the Art of Creative Reading, and the Building Blocks of Genius

“Character is higher than intellect. Thinking is the function. Living is the functionary… A great soul will be strong to live, as well as strong to think.”

read article

Thoreau on How Silence Ennobles Speech and the Ideal Space for Conversation
Thoreau on How Silence Ennobles Speech and the Ideal Space for Conversation

“There are many fine things which we cannot say if we have to shout.”

read article

Theodor Adorno on Work, Pleasure, and How the Cult of Efficiency Limits Our Happiness
Theodor Adorno on Work, Pleasure, and How the Cult of Efficiency Limits Our Happiness

“One is forced to have fun in order to be well adjusted or at least appear so to others because only well-adjusted people are accepted as normal and are likely to be successful.”

read article

Virginia Woolf on Why She Became a Writer and the Shock-Receiving Capacity Necessary for Being an Artist
Virginia Woolf on Why She Became a Writer and the Shock-Receiving Capacity Necessary for Being an Artist

“Behind the cotton wool is hidden a pattern… the whole world is a work of art… there is no Shakespeare… no Beethoven… no God; we are the words; we are the music; we are the thing itself.”

read article

Bruce Lee on the Power of Repose and Yielding as an Act of Strength
Bruce Lee on the Power of Repose and Yielding as an Act of Strength

“One should be in harmony with, and not rebellion against, the strength of the opponent.”

read article

Goethe on Beginner’s Mind and the Discipline of Discernment in Your Media Diet
Goethe on Beginner’s Mind and the Discipline of Discernment in Your Media Diet

“One must be something in order to do something.”

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.)