Life Principles
We can’t live a meaningful life if we don’t know which values and principles are most important. The best life principles are tested by time and experience.
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We All Need a Room of Our Own
To flourish and grow intellectually we need a physical sanctuary we can return to again and again whenever we’re weary.
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The Good Fortress: On Finding Inward Freedom
Freedom and safety. These are two keys to a flourishing life, yet a tension exists between them. We see this at the public level all the time: Should people be allowed to do X? If so, when and how much? And how should we protect them from Y? What’s less obvious but just as important
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The Vampire Problem: How to Make Big Choices When You Can’t See the Future
How do we make big life choices when we don’t know the outcome? One solution is to decide based on “how you want to discover you will become.”
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The Dilemma of Social Comparison
Social comparison is not a shameful indulgence, but a human instinct – and a tool for understanding ourselves better.
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Bitter Grapes: How Do We Know What We Really Want?
As a kid, I read Aesop’s fables. I found most of them depressing, but there is one story that sticks out in my memory: the tale of the fox and the grapes. You’re probably familiar with it, but here’s a summary just in case: A hungry fox one day notices some delicious-looking grapes hanging overhead.
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No, $75,000 Isn’t “Enough.” But Money Still Can’t Buy Happiness
A landmark 2010 study suggests that our emotional well-being peaks at $75,000. A closer look at the data reveals deeper philosophical insights.
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In Praise of Laundry and Dishes
I do a lot of dishes and laundry. These two activities – unless you live in a nude colony and always eat out – are inescapable facts of life. Unlike training for a marathon or writing a novel, there are no compounded returns. There’s no muscle being toned. No skill being polished. You wash the
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The Paradox of Anger
Anger is a paradox in that even in the face of injustice, we find peace when we focus on the only thing we can control: ourselves.
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On the Need to Live and Love the Questions
One of the greatest skills we can cultivate is the ability to embrace uncertainty and, in the words of the poet Rilke, “live the questions.”
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The Illusion of Being Special
None of us is free from the risk of harm or misfortune, but “cheerful pessimism” can help us better cope when misfortune strikes.
