Now a legend of American literature, known for mentoring young sensations such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway as part of her Paris Salon, author Gertrude Stein was well into her thirties when she first published her work. Stein’s writing style became more experimental as she grew older, shunning the linear plot conventions of the time for more sprawling, reflecti...

Osip Mandelstam was one of the most important Russian poets of the 20th century. As a young man, he became one of the founders of the Acmeist school of poetry, which championed clarity and concreteness as a reaction to the vagueness and pretension of the then-predominant Russian symbolism. The Soviet regime, however, soon grew suspicious of the Acmeists. After Mandelstam wrot...

Bob Goff is a bestselling author, motivational speaker, founder of the nonprofit human rights organization Love Does, and self-described “recovering lawyer.” This musing on rooting oneself in purpose to minimize comparison comes from his 2019 book “Live in Grace, Walk in Love.” Goff uses this quote to discuss the importance of helping others rather than sizing ourselves up ag...

Walt Disney knew a thing or two about setbacks. Even he faced business failures, rejections, and financial struggles before building his animation and amusement park empires. But the entertainment mogul preferred to reframe failure as an unexpected opportunity, knowing that closed windows often redirect us to open doors. Of course, it should come as little surprise that Disne...

In 1878, prolific American poet Emily Dickinson penned this line in a letter to her friend Thomas Wentworth Higginson, a literary critic and writer himself. In their frequent correspondence, the reclusive poet sought advice on her compositions from Higginson, and she found a special kind of comfort and solidarity in their friendship. For Dickinson, as for many of us, it was a...