The Skills of Leonardo Da Vinci
Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci sought a job at the court of Ludovico Sforza, then the ruler of Milan. Leonardo’s application letter, found in the amazing Letters of Note, included a …
Letters
Standing Up for Freedom: Kurt Vonnegut’s Unyielding Defense Against Book Censorship
Shawn Usher beautifully sets the context in Letters of Note: An Eclectic Collection of Correspondence Deserving of a Wider Audience: Since first being published in 1967— and despite being considered …
Hunter S. Thompson’s Letter on Finding Your Purpose and Living a Meaningful Life
In April of 1958, Hunter S. Thompson was 22 years old when he wrote this letter to his friend Hume Logan in response to a request for life advice. Thompson’s letter, found in Letters of Note, …
Eudora Welty to The New Yorker: The best job application ever
In March of 1933, Eudora Welty, then 23 and looking for writing work, sent this beautiful letter to the offices of The New Yorker. “It’s difficult,” writes Shaun Usher in his …
Sol LeWitt on the Power of Doing
In 1960 two American artists met for the first time: Sol LeWitt and Eva Hesse. The meeting sparked a bond that resulted in “countless inspirational discussions and rich exchanged of ideas” …
Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to His Son
“College doesn’t make fools; it develops them. It doesn’t make bright men; it develops them. A fool will turn out a fool, whether he goes to college or not, though he’ll probably turn out a different …
Einstein on The Essential Feature of Productive Thought
“Combinatory play seems to be the essential feature in productive thought.” *** There is a view, to which we subscribe that a lot of innovation and creativity comes from the combination of worldly …
Passionate Prose: Balzac’s Love Letter
“I feel foolish and happy as soon as I let myself think of you.” — Honoré de Balzac *** Even in the age of email, texts, and snap chats nothing has replaced the power of a hand-written …
F. Scott Fitzgerald: A List of Things to Worry About and Things to Not Worry About
From F. Scott Fitzgerald—famous author of The Great Gatsby—comes this letter to his daughter Frances Scott Fitzgerald. Offering a hint of his parenting, the letter from August 1933 concludes with a …
Education is a Priceless Opportunity to Furnish Your Mind and Enrich Your Life
The more I dig into Ogilvy the more curious I get. How could you not fall in love with a man who wrote, “We have a habit of divine discontent with our performance. It is an antidote to …
Richard Feynman’s Love Letter to His Wife, Sixteen Months After Her Death
Richard Feynman was an amazing character mastering physics, thinking, life, and as we shall soon see, love. Richard and Arline Greenbaum were soul mates. They were a perfect symbiotic pair, each …
David Ogilvy 10 Tips on Writing
In 1982, the original “Mad Man” David Ogilvy, sent the following internal memo to all employees of his advertising agency, Ogilvy & Mather, titled “How to Write.” Via The Unpublished …
Ernest Hemingway’s Powerful Letter to F. Scott Fitzgerald
Just after publishing his new novel in 1934, Tender is the Night, F. Scott Fitzgerald asked his friend Ernest Hemingway for an honest opinion on the book. And respond Hemingway did. The letter, found …