Essays & Short Works
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…
The Mountains of California
The Mountains of California invites listeners to explore the breathtaking landscapes and natural wonders of California through the eyes of r…
Catholic and Anti-Catholic History
Catholic and Anti-Catholic History presents a thought-provoking exploration of how historical narratives can be shaped into tools of propaga…
The Devil's Dictionary
The Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce is a sharp and witty exploration of language and human nature, presented in the form of a satirical…
Tales of Old Japan
Tales of Old Japan by Lord Redesdale is a collection of short stories focusing on Japanese life of the Edo period (1803 - 1868). It contains…
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…
Noted Speeches of Abraham Lincoln
A few of Lincoln's most famous speeches and the Lincoln-Douglas debate make for historic reading. (summary by David O)
Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds
The book chronicles and vilifies its targets in three parts: "National Delusions", "Peculiar Follies", and "Philoso…
Essays
Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, philosopher, and poet, best remembered for leading the Transcendentalist movement of the mid 1…
The Book of Life
Faith and reason, love and virtue, morality and mortality! In these two short volumes the famous novelist, essayist, and playwright, Upton S…
Curiosities of Olden Times
Curiosities of Olden Times invites listeners to explore a fascinating collection of essays that delve into the peculiarities and wonders of …
A Discourse Upon the Origin and the Foundation of the Inequality Among Mankind
This work presents Rousseau's belief in the profoundly transformational effects of the development of civilization on human nature, which Ro…
Common Sense
Common Sense, Paine's pro-independence monograph published anonymously on 10 January 1776, spread quickly among literate colonists. Within t…
Walking
This was originally a lecture given by Thoreau in 1851 at the Concord lyceum titled "The Wild" . He revised it before his death an…
Essays
Michel Eyquem de Montaigne is one of the most influential writers of the French Renaissance, known for popularising the essay as a literary …
Sadhana, the Realisation of Life
Rabindranath Tagore was a Bengali poet, philosopher, visual artist, playwright, composer, and novelist whose work reshaped Bengali literatur…
The World As Will and Idea
In this work, Schopenhauer explains his fundamental idea that at the root of the reality we see around us is a Will that eternally, insatiab…
Other People's Money
Other People's Money and How the Bankers Use It is a collection of essays written by Louis Brandeis published as a book in 1914. The book at…
The Philippics
A philippic is a fiery, damning speech delivered to condemn a particular political actor. The term originates with Demosthenes, who delivere…
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…