The Marginalian
The Marginalian

Reads from 2015

Adam Gopnik on Darwin’s Brilliant Strategy for Preempting Criticism and the True Mark of Genius
Adam Gopnik on Darwin’s Brilliant Strategy for Preempting Criticism and the True Mark of Genius

“In the back-and-forth of a self-made contest, both sides have a shot.”

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Cézanne’s Only Known Love Letter
Cézanne’s Only Known Love Letter

“Is it not a relief from suffering to be permitted to express it?”

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Thunder & Lightning: An Extraordinary Illustrated Celebration of the Weather and Its Role in the Human Experience
Thunder & Lightning: An Extraordinary Illustrated Celebration of the Weather and Its Role in the Human Experience

Elemental enchantment at the intersection of art, science, and storytelling.

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Ursula K. Le Guin on the Sacredness of Public Libraries
Ursula K. Le Guin on the Sacredness of Public Libraries

“Knowledge sets us free, art sets us free. A great library is freedom.”

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David Foster Wallace on Why You Should Use a Dictionary, How to Write a Great Opener, and the Measure of Good Writing
David Foster Wallace on Why You Should Use a Dictionary, How to Write a Great Opener, and the Measure of Good Writing

“Really good writing [is] able to get across massive amounts of information and various favorable impressions of the communicator with minimal effort on the part of the reader.”

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Kurt Vonnegut’s Lost NYU Lecture on What It Takes to Be a Writer, Animated
Kurt Vonnegut’s Lost NYU Lecture on What It Takes to Be a Writer, Animated

“Nothing means anything — except the artist makes his living by pretending, by putting it in a meaningful hole, though no such holes exist.”

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Nicole Krauss’s Beautiful Letter to Van Gogh on Fear, Bravery, and How to Break the Loop of Our Destructive Patterns
Nicole Krauss’s Beautiful Letter to Van Gogh on Fear, Bravery, and How to Break the Loop of Our Destructive Patterns

“Bravery is always more intelligent than fear, since it is built on the foundation of what one knows about oneself: the knowledge of one’s strength and capacity, of one’s passion.”

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Carl Sagan on Humility, Science as a Tool of Democracy, and the Value of Uncertainty
Carl Sagan on Humility, Science as a Tool of Democracy, and the Value of Uncertainty

“Science is a way to call the bluff of those who only pretend to knowledge… It can tell us when we’re being lied to. It provides a mid-course correction to our mistakes.”

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The Yin-Yang of Fortune and Misfortune: Alan Watts on the Art of Learning Not to Think in Terms of Gain and Loss
The Yin-Yang of Fortune and Misfortune: Alan Watts on the Art of Learning Not to Think in Terms of Gain and Loss

“The whole process of nature is an integrated process of immense complexity, and it’s really impossible to tell whether anything that happens in it is good or bad.”

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Sex Is a Funny Word: An Intelligent and Inclusive Illustrated Primer on Sexuality
Sex Is a Funny Word: An Intelligent and Inclusive Illustrated Primer on Sexuality

From crushes to gender identity, an honest, openhearted, and stereotype-defying celebration of our bodies.

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