At the Pharmacy
First published in “The Petersburg Gazette,” 1885, subtitled “A little scene.”
Laughter
First published in 1901 in The Courier.
It Was Probably the Name of a Deity
Justin Kaplan’s “When the Astors Owned New York” tells the story of a family feud that fueled the creation of New York’s most famous grand hotels.
How and Why Should One Live?
An unpublished article from Tolstoy’s drafts, dated October 6th, 1905. Tolstoy stresses the importance of searching for the meaning of life, and suggests that the wisdom to help us find it is closer than we might think.
An Intellectual Blockhead
First published in The Petersburg Gazette, 1885 (23 June).
The Writer
First published in The Petersburg Gazette, 1885
At the Station
Leonid Andreyev’s short story, first published in 1903, deals with the distinction between two types of work: working on a task and working set hours. It is probably more relevant today than it has been at the time of its publication. Here is my new translation.
Announcing the Circle of Reading
I’m publishing my new translation of Leo Tolstoy’s last major work, The Circle of Reading, as a daily newsletter.
Remember the Graces: Lord Chesterfield’s Letters to His Son
Lessons from the 18th century handbook for worldly success.
The Only Morality
John Ruskin on the relationship between taste, morality and art.
3 Lessons on Human Nature From Liar’s Poker
How to create the illusion of desirability; the importance of second order consequences; and why investors aren’t afraid of losing money as much as they’re afraid of not having a good excuse.
Dostoevsky on Why We Don’t Do What’s Best for Us
How “the most beneficial” benefit interferes with our pursuit of self-interest.
A Scythian Funeral
Seneca on the shortness of life.
The Lasso
On the importance of pressure for creative pursuits, and how the things that set us back could help us advance.
Orwell on Self-Censorship
Does censorship affect every writer, even those covering “unpolitical” topics? George Orwell argues that it does, and, moreover, that it leads to self-censorship and the ossification of language.
Hatred Alone Is Immortal
On William Hazlitt’s principle of the pleasure of hating, and what the “apple of discord” can teach us about how to deal with it.
The Plight of Starving Billionaires
From 1921 to 1923 the German government printed money to balance its budget and used inflation to control unemployment. This is what happened.
How Sam Walton Turned a Tiny, Failing Variety Store Into Walmart
Sam Walton’s autobiography sits at the top of Jeff Bezos’s reading list, and it’s not difficult to see why. It’s a story of the creation of a colossal retail empire—from scratch.
You Won’t Have a Single Rival
The Enchiridion is a distillation of Epictetus’ Stoic philosophy. It has remained popular for centuries among great thinkers and leaders. Here are the key ideas you can apply today.
What Was Authority?
Hannah Arendt argues that not only has authority disappeared, but that we no longer understand the meaning of the word. Furthermore, its disappearance actually leads to a loss of freedom, and not, as might be assumed, the reverse.
A Tyranny Without a Tyrant
Hannah Arendt’s essay On Violence offers a unique perspective on the rise of unrest and violence in the 1960s. The reasons she gives have not been resolved, which may well explain the situation in the world today.
That Much More Complicated Piece of Mechanism—Man
When Andrew Carnegie sold his steel empire in 1901, he became one of the wealthiest Americans in history. What’s more impressive is that he worked his way up to the top from nothing. Here are five stories from his autobiography that reveal some of the reasons for his extraordinary success.
Great Expectations Create Great Capabilities
Our potential expands to fill the magnitude of our goals. In order to thrive, we must set goals that are beyond what we think we can achieve today.
Meaningful Tension
Viktor Frankl on the modern phenomenon of the existentual vacuum, and how we can find meaning in seemingly hopeless situations.
“Man” by Maxim Gorky
My translation of Maxim Gorky’s philosophical prose poem “Man,” first published in “Знание” in 1903
“The heritage rises, and man rises in proportion as he receives it.”
—Durant, The Lessons of History
Falltide is a weekly newsletter in which I seek to glean timeless ideas from world’s greatest thinkers and doers. See the world through new eyes, gain mental models to help you achieve your goals, and be inspired to action.