Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself
Every life is defined not just by what happens in it but by what doesn’t. The beginning of Sam’s life is as striking for what didn’t happen in it as for what did. He could see he was different from most other kids. He made no effort to join their games, and they didn’t understand his. He maintained what he later called a “romantically positive” vie
... See moreMichael Lewis • Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon
His inconsistency. His inability to finish anything. His sudden terrifying feelings that nothing he did mattered. His realizations that what went on in the outside world had more substance than anything in his life.
Lydia Davis • The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis
Emanating from these lives are larger questions about the measure of a good life and what it means to leave a lasting mark of betterment on an imperfect world: Are achievement and acclaim enough for happiness? Is genius? Is love? Weaving through the narrative is a set of peripheral figures — Ralph Waldo Emerson, Charles Darwin, Elizabeth Barrett Br... See more
Maria Popova • Figuring
"‘Well it so happens that you of all people know almost exactly what it’s like – to be a writer. You’re in your early-middle teens. The age when you come into a new level of self-awareness. Or a new level of self-communion. It’s as if you hear a voice, which is you but doesn’t sound like you. Not quite – it isn’t what you’ve been used to, it sounds... See more