Creator of The Marginalian (once upon a time called Brain Pickings). Lover of books and tress. Petter of moss. Wonderer. Also: almanacofbirds.org
Rose Macaulay, born on this day in 1881, on the pleasure of being left alone www.themarginalian.org/2026/08/01/r...
The Pleasure of Being Left Alone“An exquisite peace obtains: a drowsy, golden peace, flowing honey-sweet over my dwelling, soaking it, dripping like music from the walls… A peace for gods; a divine emptiness.”www.themarginalian.orgTolkien on fairy tales, the psychology of fantasy, and why there is no such thing as writing "for children" www.themarginalian.org/2013/12/05/j...
J.R.R. Tolkien on Fairy Tales, Language, the Psychology of Fantasy, and Why There’s No Such Thing as Writing “For Children”“Creative fantasy, because it is mainly trying to do something else (make something new), may open your hoard and let all the locked things fly away like cage-birds.”www.themarginalian.orgAt the link, Marianne Moore on the 3 elements of persuasive writing: www.themarginalian.org/2026/04/23/m...
Marianne Moore on the Three Elements of Persuasive WritingSeveral years ago, rummaging through the archives of the Academy of American Poets, I came upon a box labeled “Ballots 1950” — the record of the secret vote by the chancellors the…www.themarginalian.orgThe final card from "An Almanac of Birds: 100 Divinations for Uncertain Days." Find the full set and the story behind them at almanacofbirds.org
Death and how to be more alive – Carl Jung on immortality and the rebirth of middle age www.themarginalian.org/2026/07/31/c...
Death and How to Be More Alive: Carl Jung on Immortality and the Rebirth of Middle AgeOnce, I spent a year walking Brooklyn’s historic Green-Wood Cemetery daily, winding between the marble tombs engulfed by tree-roots and emblazoned with the surnames of the dead, each followed…www.themarginalian.orgHow to hold the darkness – notes on living with uncertainty www.themarginalian.org/2026/01/13/f...
How to Hold the Darkness: Notes on Living Through UncertaintyThere are times in life when the continent of certainty parts underfoot and, as the ash cloud of the old world rains darkness upon us, we are asked to swim in the rivers of lava that will make the …www.themarginalian.orgRemembering Little Prince author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, who vanished piloting a plane on this day in 1944, with his original watercolors for the beloved book and the bittersweet story behind it www.themarginalian.org/2014/02/03/e...
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s Original Watercolors for “The Little Prince”“The Little Prince will shine upon children with a sidewise gleam. It will strike them in some place that is not the mind and glow there until the time comes for them to comprehend it.”www.themarginalian.orgDarwin's greatest regret and his deathbed reflection on what makes life worth living www.themarginalian.org/2026/07/31/d...
Darwin’s Greatest Regret and His Deathbed Reflection on What Makes Life Worth Living“If I had to live my life again, I would have made a rule to read some poetry and listen to some music at least once every week.”www.themarginalian.orgFor an act of resistance to the tyranny and vanity of algorithms, try the Marginalian newsletter—undistracted notes on the search for meaning, free, ad-free, AI-free, fully human for 20 years this year: themarginalian.org/newsletter
sunday newsletterIf you yearn for depth and delight without the distraction of a social media feed, if you are weary of algorithms deciding what you see and read and constellate into reality, try the Marginalian Su…themarginalian.org“Little Prince” author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, who vanished over the Mediterranean on this day in 1944, on mortality and love www.themarginalian.org/2019/05/14/a...
“Little Prince” Author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry on Love, Mortality, and Night as an Existential Clarifying Force for the Deepest Truths of the Heart“Day belongs to family quarrels, but with the night he who has quarreled finds love again. For love is greater than any wind of words… Love is not thinking, but being.”www.themarginalian.orgThe continuous creative act of holding on and letting go – 10 beautiful minds on the art of growing older www.themarginalian.org/2025/12/29/g...
The Continuous Creative Act of Holding on and Letting Go: 10 Beautiful Minds on the Art of Growing OlderA great paradox of being alive in this civilization is that we have come to dread and devalue the triumph of having lived, forgetting that to grow old is not a punishment but a privilege — th…www.themarginalian.orgSimone de Beauvoir's resolutions for a life worth living: www.themarginalian.org/2025/02/17/s...
19-year-old Simone de Beauvoir’s Resolutions for a Life Worth LivingWe move through the world feeling inevitable, and yet we are the flotsam of otherwise — how many other ways the atoms could have fallen between the Big Bang and this body, how many other ways…www.themarginalian.org"No one you love is ever death." Hemingway on loss and the meaning of life www.themarginalian.org/2026/07/31/h...
No One You Love Is Ever Dead: Hemingway on the Most Devastating of Losses and the Meaning of Life“We must live it, now, a day at a time and be very careful not to hurt each other.”www.themarginalian.orgSome tangible consolations I made while reckoning with heartbreak. One of them can be yours. The story behind them and how to enter the raffle: www.themarginalian.org/2026/07/27/s...
The only 3 distinctions between people www.themarginalian.org/2026/06/01/n...
The Only Three Distinctions Between PeopleIt may be that consciousness evolved to sieve the relevant from the incomprehensible allness of all there is, to parse the world into concepts and find an organizing principle for the chaos of them…www.themarginalian.orgA blackbird's lesson in friendship www.themarginalian.org/2026/07/31/h...
Blackie & Co.: A Blackbird’s Lesson in FriendshipIn the middle of my bleakest winter, my friend Andrea gave me a battered copy of a forgotten book from her elderly father’s used bookshop in rural Texas, by a man named Hockley Clarke. I inhaled it…www.themarginalian.orgFor an act of resistance to the tyranny and vanity of algorithms, try the Marginalian newsletter—undistracted notes on the search for meaning, free, ad-free, AI-free, fully human for 20 years this year: themarginalian.org/newsletter
E.B. White's beautiful letter to a man who had lost faith in humanity: www.themarginalian.org/2014/05/06/e...
E.B. White’s Beautiful Letter to a Man Who Had Lost Faith in HumanityWhat sailors teach us about hope and the resilience of the human spirit.www.themarginalian.orgThe ant, the grasshopper, and the antidote to the cult of more – absolutely lovely vintage illustrated parable about the meaning and measure of enough www.themarginalian.org/2023/07/29/j...
The Ant, the Grasshopper, and the Antidote to the Cult of More: A Lovely Vintage Illustrated Poem About the Meaning and Measure of Enough“Enough is so vast a sweetness, I suppose it never occurs, only pathetic counterfeits,” Emily Dickinson lamented in a love letter. In his splendid short poem about the secret of happine…www.themarginalian.orgWhat we look for when we are looking – John Steinbeck on wonder and the relational nature of the universe www.themarginalian.org/2023/05/16/s...