The Marginalian
The Marginalian

Search results for “The shortness of life ”

The Best Biographies, Memoirs, and History Books of 2014
The Best Biographies, Memoirs, and History Books of 2014

Nabokov’s love letters, Shackleton’s courageous journey, the unsung heroes behind creative icons, Joni Mitchell unbound, and more.

read article

The History Manifesto: How to Eradicate the Epidemic of Short-Termism and Harness Our Past in Creating a Flourishing Future
The History Manifesto: How to Eradicate the Epidemic of Short-Termism and Harness Our Past in Creating a Flourishing Future

A beautiful case for why our flourishing requires that we move from pursuing value to cultivating values.

read article

The Art of Timing: Alan Watts on the Perils of Hurrying and the Pleasures of Presence
The Art of Timing: Alan Watts on the Perils of Hurrying and the Pleasures of Presence

“For the perfect accomplishment of any art, you must get this feeling of the eternal present into your bones — for it is the secret of proper timing.”

read article

How to Be Alone: An Antidote to One of the Central Anxieties and Greatest Paradoxes of Our Time
How to Be Alone: An Antidote to One of the Central Anxieties and Greatest Paradoxes of Our Time

“We live in a society which sees high self-esteem as a proof of well-being, but we do not want to be intimate with this admirable and desirable person.”

read article

Our Fraught Relationship with Time, in Clever Minimalist Illustrations
Our Fraught Relationship with Time, in Clever Minimalist Illustrations

A witty visual meditation on our comical control strategies, the predictability of modern life, and our constant tussle with productivity and presence.

read article

Marcus Aurelius on What His Father Taught Him About Humility, Honor, Kindness, and Integrity
Marcus Aurelius on What His Father Taught Him About Humility, Honor, Kindness, and Integrity

What it takes to attain “the mark of a soul in readiness.”

read article

Werner Herzog’s No-Nonsense Advice to Aspiring Filmmakers and Creative Entrepreneurs
Werner Herzog’s No-Nonsense Advice to Aspiring Filmmakers and Creative Entrepreneurs

Why all creative work is the product of “a furious inner excitement” and how to cultivate the best possible “climate of excitement of the mind.”

read article

How We Grieve: Meghan O’Rourke on the Messiness of Mourning and Learning to Live with Loss
How We Grieve: Meghan O’Rourke on the Messiness of Mourning and Learning to Live with Loss

“The people we most love do become a physical part of us, ingrained in our synapses, in the pathways where memories are created.”

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.)