Classics Literature Philosophy

Edgar Allan Poe’s essay, "The Philosophy of Composition", sets forth a theory on good writing. It first appeared in the April 1846 issue of Graham's Magazine, and Poe illustrates his theory on the composition of his poem, "The Raven". The three main elements of his philosophy of composition are length, logical method, and "unity of effect". Poe believed that literary works should be short, claimed that writing is methodical, not spontaneous, and asserted that a work of fiction ought to be written only after the author has decided on the conclusion.

Ralph Waldo Emerson is a paradoxical figure in American society. He represents the very height of individualism and blazing one's own path, but during his lifetime his views were considered so radical that Harvard College, despite Emerson being an honored student there, banned him from speaking for some three decades after he gave his 1838 speech on transcendentalism. Today, of course, Emerson is heralded as one of the great Americans of the 19th century. Harvard even has a building named after him.

Aristotle’s writings cover many subjects, including aesthetics, biology, metaphysics, logic, ethics, poetry, theater, music, rhetoric, linguistics, politics and government. They constitute the first comprehensive system of Western philosophy. "On Sleep and Sleeplessness" attempts to explain the reasons for sleeping. He argues that sleep and wakefulness are both affections of the activity of the primary faculty of sense-perception.

"Sense and Sensibilia" is one of the short treatises by Aristotle that make up the Parva Naturalia. He discusses attributes, like those that are common to all living things. They include waking and sleeping, youth and old age, inhalation and exhalation, life and death.

Narrated by award winning narrator Mike Vendetti, Henry David argues that individuals should not permit governments to overrule or atrophy their consciences, and that they have a duty to avoid allowing such acquiescence to enable the government to make them the agents of injustice. Thoreau was motivated in part by his disgust with slavery and the Mexican-American War.

Una selezione di passi salienti fra le più conosciute opere filosofiche del XVII e XVIII secolo in Italia. Autori universalmente celebrati come pensatori...

Henry David Thoreau's classic essay inspired Martin Luther King, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, and many other activists.

This delightful children's story, which was originally told in German, is a charming tale of a young girl who meets a number of enchanted animals and other creatures. This charming and engaging tale dates back to the early 1800s.

In reading the fantastic tale of Prince Agib's adventures in the justly famous Arabian Nights, I was struck with how deeply insightful it was about the human condition. Although the story is so incredible that even one's imagination is stretched by its incredulity, the message it conveys is so universal and so human that one cannot help but be awed by its moral implications. Blaise Pascal brilliantly captures Prince Agib's and our own dilemma when he writes, “All men's miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone.”

In our postmodern age, with all things socially mediated, we often forget those wise sages of years past, who had deeper insights about how to live life, than we might have imagined. We may consider ourselves more educated and more skeptically resistant to those myths that trapped our ancestors centuries ago, but that is not always the case.

Sun Tzu was a Chinese general who is credited with The Art of War, a military strategy guide. Its principles are written broadly enough that many of them still apply to non-military struggles today. Below are some of Sun Tzu's timelessly relevant maxims, analyzed and modernized for today's strategic risk management battles.

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