Few are the people whose contribution to humanity — be it work for peace, or freedom, or equality, or some other core human value — fills the soul with boundless gratitude for their very existence. Mother Teresa (August 26, 1910–September 5, 1997) — one of the greatest women of our time — is one such … Read more
Human civilization is an elaborate, symbolic defense mechanism against the knowledge of our own mortality. That’s what American cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker argued in his Pulitzer-winning book “The Denial of Death.” But unlike our denial of death, our consciousness of death is a powerful life-affirming force that can help us change the way we live … Read more
“I discovered a long time ago that writing of the small things of the day, the trivial matters of the heart, the inconsequential but near things of this living,” wrote E. B. White to his brother Stanley White while reflecting on the art of living through writing. “Was the only kind of creative work which … Read more
In 1845, moved by the desire to reconnect with the essence of his own being, great Transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817–May 6, 1862) embarked on a voluntary two-year exile in the woods. It was an experiment in simple living and contemplation of nature, which later became the basis for his book Walden; or, Life … Read more