The Role of a Critic
“In many ways, the work of a critic is very easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment.” *** On the role of a …
“In many ways, the work of a critic is very easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment.” *** On the role of a …
Ruth Chang is a philosopher at Rutgers University with an interesting background. After graduating with a J.D. from Harvard Law School and dipping her toe into the legal world, she went off to Oxford …
Rather than read all of these self-help books full of things you should start doing to be more productive, it’s often better to look at what you should stop doing that gets in the way of …
“Human beings are works in progress that mistakenly think they’re finished.” In the 7-minute TED talk (below), Harvard psychologist Dan Gilbert illuminates some recent research on a …
We spend a lot of our lives trying to convince or persuade others to our point of view. This is one of the reasons that Daniel Pink says that we’re all in sales: Some of you, no doubt, are …
In a great interview with NPR, Philosopher Stephen Cave delves into the simple question: Why are human beings afraid to die? In answering Cave, the author of Immortality: The Quest to Live Forever and …
“You must force yourself to consider opposing arguments. Especially when they challenge your best-loved ideas.” — Charlie Munger *** Recently, Charlie Munger commented that when he reads …
“I’ve come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies,” writes Douglas Adams in The Salmon of Doubt. 1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is …
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, …
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 …
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” …
We’re not designed for multitasking and we’re certainly not designed to work continuously without a break. We’re designed to pulse, that is alternate between expending energy and …
“The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer …
“Writing, at its best, is a lonely life.” — Ernest Hemingway *** Solitude is an important aspect toward accomplishing great things, creative or otherwise. In fact, it’s one of the commonalities …
“A book must be interesting to the particular reader at that particular time.” *** Theodore Roosevelt was perhaps the most well-read president. On a normal day, he’d read a book before breakfast …
If you’re a modern knowledge worker, odds are you’re going to go to work, read some emails, reply to some emails, attend some meetings, grab a coffee, have lunch, attend another meeting or two, …