Essays & Short Works
- Philosophical Travelogues
- Essays on Society and Culture
- Essays for Personal Growth
- Explorations in Science and Thought
- Explorations in Psychology
- Political Essays and Reflections
- Political Essays and Manifestos
- Philosophical Essays on Existence
Secret Chambers and Hiding Places
“Secret Chambers and Hiding Places” is a collection of concealments and their uses, almost all within England, although a very few passages …
Sadhana, The Realisation of Life
A collection of essays on the Hindu/Buddhist view of humankind's place in the universe. As the author says in his introduction: "in the…
Character Building
Character Building is a compilation of speeches, given by Mr. Booker T. Washington, to the students and staff of the Tuskegee Normal and Ind…
How to Succeed
How to Succeed by Orison Swett Marden offers a practical guide to achieving personal and professional success. Written in 1896, this influen…
Reflections on the Revolution in France
Reflections on the Revolution in France is a seminal work by Edmund Burke, published in 1790, that offers a profound critique of the French …
The Ghosts of Piccadilly
Nothing spooky or supernatural, but a very personal gathering of gossip, letters, and fragments of biography of famous people who have lived…
Alarms and Discursions
Alarms and Discursions is a captivating collection of essays by G. K. Chesterton, showcasing his unique blend of humor and insight. In this …
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) is best known for A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, in which she argued that women are not naturally inferior…
Old Times on the Mississippi
Old Times on the Mississippi offers a vivid glimpse into the life and culture along the Mississippi River as seen through the eyes of Mark T…
Ways of Wood Folk
Late nineteenth-century naturalist William J. Long invites us in to the secret worlds of the woodland animals. Containing Long's own animal …
How to Live on Twenty-Four Hours a Day
"Which of us lives on twenty-four hours a day? And when I say 'lives,' I do not mean exists, nor 'muddles through.'" -- Arnold Ben…
A Room of One’s Own
This feminist essay argues for both a literal and figural space for women writers within a literary tradition dominated by patriarchy. First…
Letters of Pliny
The largest surviving body of Pliny's work is his Epistulae (Letters), a series of personal missives directed to his friends, associates and…
The Profits of Religion
"The Profits of Religion: An Essay in Economic Interpretation" is a non-fiction book, first published in 1917, by the American nov…
What I Saw in America
In What I Saw in America, G. K. Chesterton offers a unique perspective on the American landscape, culture, and spirit through a series of in…
A Modest Proposal
Jonathan Swift almost defines satire in this biting and brutal pamphlet in which he suggests that poor (Catholic) Irish families should fatt…
Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting One’s Reason and of Seeking Truth
The Discourse on Method is best known as the source of the famous quotation “cogito ergo sum”, “I think, therefore I am.” …. It is a method …
Radioactive Substances
Marie Curie, born in Warsaw in 1867, was a Polish-French physicist and chemist famous for her work on radioactivity. She was a pioneer in th…
Nature
First published anonymously in 1836, Nature marks the beginning both of Emerson’s literary career and the Transcendentalist movement. Asking…
Mark Twain's Speeches
Spanning the time between 1872 and the year before he died, this collection of after-dinner speeches, random thoughts to "the press&quo…