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mariapopova.bsky.social
Maria Popova
@mariapopova.bsky.social
9.1K followers 21 following 2.7K posts
Creator of The Marginalian (once upon a time called Brain Pickings). Lover of books and tress. Petter of moss. Wonderer. Also: almanacofbirds.org
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mariapopova.bsky.social
Maria Popova @mariapopova.bsky.social · Apr 19
In nearly two decades of The Marginalian, nothing has stirred a more passionate response from readers than the strangest, most sidewise, most private of my labors — the bird divinations I shared the morning of my fortieth birthday. They are now a book of cards:
An Almanac of Birds: 100 Divinations for Uncertain Days
In nearly two decades of The Marginalian, nothing has stirred a more passionate response from readers than the strangest, most sidewise, most private of my labors — the bird divinations I ori…
www.themarginalian.org
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Maria Popova @mariapopova.bsky.social · 1h
Hermann Hesse on the single most important habit for living with presence www.themarginalian.org/2017/03/06/h...
Hermann Hesse on Little Joys, Breaking the Trance of Busyness, and the Most Important Habit for Living with Presence
“The high value put upon every minute of time, the idea of hurry-hurry as the most important objective of living, is unquestionably the most dangerous enemy of joy.”
www.themarginalian.org
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Maria Popova @mariapopova.bsky.social · 3h
Be Like Water – the philosophy and origin of Bruce Lee's famous metaphor for resilience www.themarginalian.org/2013/05/29/l...
Be Like Water: The Philosophy and Origin of Bruce Lee’s Famous Metaphor for Resilience
“In order to control myself I must first accept myself by going with and not against my nature.”
www.themarginalian.org
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Maria Popova @mariapopova.bsky.social · 5h
Oliver Sacks on despair and the meaning of life www.themarginalian.org/2024/11/08/o...
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Maria Popova @mariapopova.bsky.social · 6h
Decoding the mysteries of intuition – philosopher Margaret Boden (who was one of the first thinkers to reckon with AI at the dawn of social computing) on the 3 elements of creativity www.themarginalian.org/2025/08/22/m...
Decoding the Mystery of Intuition: Pioneering Philosopher of AI Margaret Boden on the Three Elements of Creativity
“The Analytical Engine has no pretensions whatever to originate anything. It can do [only] whatever we know how to order it to perform,” Ada Lovelace inveighed upon composing the world&…
www.themarginalian.org
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Maria Popova @mariapopova.bsky.social · 7h
“We are cheating ourselves when we run away from the ambiguity of loneliness.”

Buddhist teacher Pema Chödrön on how to bear your loneliness www.themarginalian.org/2023/03/11/p...
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Maria Popova @mariapopova.bsky.social · 8h
Nietzsche on walking and creativity www.themarginalian.org/2021/12/12/n...
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Maria Popova @mariapopova.bsky.social · 16h
An illustrated love letter to language, tucked into a delightful fable about the difficult question of how to be yourself www.themarginalian.org/2024/11/15/t...
The Dictionary Story: A Love Letter to Language Tucked Into a Delightful Fable about the Difficult Question of How to Be Yourself
“Words belong to each other,” Virginia Woolf rasped in the only surviving recording of her voice — a love letter to language as an instrument of thought and a medium of being. …
www.themarginalian.org
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Maria Popova @mariapopova.bsky.social · 18h
Relationship rupture and the limbic system – the psychology of abandonment and separation www.themarginalian.org/2022/09/06/g...
Relationship Rupture and the Limbic System: The Physiology of Abandonment and Separation
“A relationship is a physiologic process, as real and as potent as any pill or surgical procedure.”
www.themarginalian.org
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Maria Popova @mariapopova.bsky.social · 20h
"Some books are toolkits you take up to fix things, from the most practical to the most mysterious, from your house to your heart… Some books are medicine, bitter but clarifying."

Rebecca Solnit on why we read www.themarginalian.org/2019/01/03/a...
Rebecca Solnit’s Lovely Letter to Children About How Books Solace, Empower, and Transform Us
“Some books are toolkits you take up to fix things, from the most practical to the most mysterious, from your house to your heart… Some books are medicine, bitter but clarifying.”
www.themarginalian.org
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Maria Popova @mariapopova.bsky.social · 23h
"Some books are toolkits you take up to fix things, from the most practical to the most mysterious, from your house to your heart… Some books are medicine, bitter but clarifying."

Rebecca Solnit on why we read www.themarginalian.org/2019/01/03/a...
Rebecca Solnit’s Lovely Letter to Children About How Books Solace, Empower, and Transform Us
“Some books are toolkits you take up to fix things, from the most practical to the most mysterious, from your house to your heart… Some books are medicine, bitter but clarifying.”
www.themarginalian.org
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Maria Popova @mariapopova.bsky.social · 1d
The brilliant and far-seeing Hannah Arendt, writing an epoch before the age of the selfie, on being vs. appearing and the roots of our impulse for self-display www.themarginalian.org/2015/10/14/h...
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Maria Popova @mariapopova.bsky.social · 1d
One of my favorite bird divinations. Find the deck of 100, the story behind them, and individual prints (including this one) at almanacofbirds.org
An Almanac of Birds: 100 Divinations for Uncertain Days
In nearly two decades of The Marginalian, nothing has stirred a more passionate response from readers than the strangest, most sidewise, most private of my labors — the bird divinations I ori…
almanacofbirds.org
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Maria Popova @mariapopova.bsky.social · 1d
Control, surrender, and the paradox of self-transcendence – wisdom from Moominland www.themarginalian.org/2015/01/22/t...
Control, Surrender and the Paradox of Self-Transcendence: Vintage Wisdom from the Moomins
“It’s a pity that exciting things always stop happening when you’re not afraid of them anymore and would like to have a little fun.”
www.themarginalian.org
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Maria Popova @mariapopova.bsky.social · 1d
What makes a good life – revelatory learnings from Harvard's 75-year study of human happiness www.themarginalian.org/2016/08/23/h...
What Makes a Good Life: Revelatory Learnings from Harvard’s 75-Year Study of Human Happiness
“The clearest message that we get from this 75-year study is this: Good relationships keep us happier and healthier.”
www.themarginalian.org
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Maria Popova @mariapopova.bsky.social · 1d
“One of the functions of art is to give people the words to know their own experience… Storytelling is a tool for knowing who we are and what we want.”

An Ursula K. Le Guin gem www.themarginalian.org/2018/01/30/u...
Ursula K. Le Guin on Art, Storytelling, and the Power of Language to Transform and Redeem
“One of the functions of art is to give people the words to know their own experience… Storytelling is a tool for knowing who we are and what we want.”
www.themarginalian.org
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Maria Popova @mariapopova.bsky.social · 1d
Undoing as remaking – how Lincoln drew poetry and power from his suicidal depression www.themarginalian.org/2020/12/03/l...
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Maria Popova @mariapopova.bsky.social · 1d
How to write with style – Vonnegut's 8 tips on harnessing the power of the written word www.themarginalian.org/2013/01/14/h...
How to Write with Style: Kurt Vonnegut’s 8 Keys to the Power of the Written Word
“The most damning revelation you can make about yourself is that you do not know what is interesting and what is not.”
www.themarginalian.org
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Maria Popova @mariapopova.bsky.social · 1d
I Measure Every Grief – Emily Dickinson on love and loss www.themarginalian.org/2021/05/28/e...
I Measure Every Grief I Meet: Emily Dickinson on Love and Loss
“‘Tis good — the looking back on Grief.”
www.themarginalian.org
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Maria Popova @mariapopova.bsky.social · 1d
“To not have entirely wasted one’s life seems to be a worthy accomplishment, if only for myself.”

Bukowski's moving letter of gratitude to the man who helped him quit his day job at the post office to become a poet: www.themarginalian.org/2014/08/12/c...
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Maria Popova @mariapopova.bsky.social · 2d
The founding father of humanistic psychology on the 3 elements of the good life www.themarginalian.org/2025/10/05/c...
The Three Elements of the Good Life
To be a true person is to be entirely oneself in every circumstance, with all the courage and vulnerability this requires. And yet because a person is a confederacy of parts often at odds and somet…
www.themarginalian.org
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Maria Popova @mariapopova.bsky.social · 2d
How to grow old – Nobel laureate Bertrand Russell, who lived nearly a century through two World Wars, on what makes life worth living www.themarginalian.org/2018/07/03/h...
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Maria Popova @mariapopova.bsky.social · 2d
11 months after his release from the concentration camps, Viktor Frankl gave a set of lectures on moving beyond optimism and pessimism to find life's deepest source of meaning. They were lost for decades, never before published in English—and now they are: www.themarginalian.org/2020/05/17/y...
Yes to Life, in Spite of Everything: Viktor Frankl’s Lost Lectures on Moving Beyond Optimism and Pessimism to Find the Deepest Source of Meaning
“Everything depends on the individual human being, regardless of how small a number of like-minded people there is… on each person… creatively making the meaning of life a reality…
www.themarginalian.org
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Maria Popova @mariapopova.bsky.social · 2d
The mystery of personal identity – philosopher Rebecca Goldstein on what makes you and your childhood self the "same" person, despite a lifetime of physiological and psychological change www.themarginalian.org/2014/10/07/r...
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Maria Popova @mariapopova.bsky.social · 2d
The Blue Hour – a stunning illustrated celebration of nature's rarest color www.themarginalian.org/2021/01/14/t...
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Maria Popova @mariapopova.bsky.social · 2d
How to be a living poem – Lucille Clifton on the balance of intellect and intuition in creative work and the healing power of connection www.themarginalian.org/2023/10/21/l...
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