. What is a good prose style? When I think about this question, I’m reminded of George Orwell, who famously named aesthetic enthusiasm as one of the “four great motives” for writing. For him, it was the “perception of beauty in … words and their arrangement” and the “pleasure in the impact of one sound … Read more
What is good writing? “The Elements of Style,” hailed by many as one of the most important books on writing ever published, tries to answer this question. But does it succeed? I believe that the answer will vary depending on your stand in the most heated debate among wordsmiths — whether brevity and succinctness are … Read more
“Happy people remember more good events than actually happened, and they forget more of the bad events,” Martin Seligman wrote in his book “Authentic Happiness.” Reading news, however, can have an opposite effect. A quick glance at today’s headlines can leave you feeling angry or depressed. That’s why your information diet needs to be balanced … Read more
. Buddhist nun Pema Chödrön wrote that the best way to maintain concentration during meditation is to label all distracting thoughts as “thinking” and return to the immediacy of your breath. Similarly, one might argue that the best way to keep your mental composure during a debate is to label your opponent’s arguments as opinion. … Read more