"The Strenuous Life" is a collection of essays and speeches by American President Theodore Roosevelt including the title speech 'The Strenuous Life' in which he argues that strenuous effort and overcoming hardship were ideals to be embraced by Americans for the betterment of the nation. Also included are the following essays and speeches: Expansion And Peace, Latitude And Longitude Among Reformers, Fellow-Feeling As A Political Fa ...
Appearing as part of his Table-Talk series, a conversational series written on topics concerning every day issues, William Hazlitt wrote «On the Pleasure of Hating» in 1823 during a bitter period of his life, amidst rising controversy over his previous works, as well as the dissolution of his marriage. Disgusted with the flowery romantic literature which was flourishing in that post-French Revolution period, Hazlitt drew inspiration from the wor ...
Henry David Thoreau was a master of all subjects, though he is best known for his work and belief in transcendentalism. His writings are all extremely personal and are examples of natural observations in the real world. Thoreau believed in the rights of all humans, and he believed that humans should retreat back to nature in order to return to the natural order of the world. In «Walden,» Thoreau recounts a time period living in a man-made cabin ...
Aphra Behn (1640-1689) is historically recognized as the first woman to make a living through writing; her plays, novels, poems and pamphlets have met with fresh notoriety since the 20th century. Her work was particularly significant to a group of contemporary writers known as The Female Wits, as well as to later feminist writers like Virginia Woolf. Stories of comedy and intrigue, complete with and masks, mistaken identities, visual deceptions, ...
With the goal of describing man with complete frankness and using himself as his most frequent example, de Montaigne published his «Essais» (or «Attempts») in 1580. This collection of 107 chapters encompasses a wide variety of subjects, originally inspired by his study of Latin classics, and later by the lives of the leading figures of his time. Michel de Montaigne saw the most basic elements of man as variety and unpredictability, and this idea ...
During the 1800s in America, the rise of technology allowed people to have more possessions than ever before, and at a cheaper cost. However, a group known as the Transcendentalists believed that possessions created vanity. Instead, they valued the individual's relationship with divinity. One of the movements most famous members, Ralph Waldo Emerson, wrote prolifically about his beliefs and experiences, and many of those writings have been ...
Very little is known about the Roman poet and philosopher Titus Lucretius Carus. His birth and death dates are based off of cross-referencing works that mention him, and pieces of evidence derived from his writing, and are believed to be ca. 99 BCE – ca. 54 BCE. «On The Nature of the Universe» is Lucretius' only known work. The goal of the text is to explain Epicurean philosophy to the Roman people. It is addressed to Gaius Memmius, a praet ...
In his day, John Ruskin (1819-1900) held the power to make or break artists with his critical reviews. He served as benefactor to many artists, and was a huge supporter of the Pre-Raphaelite movement. His legacy holds the titles poet and artist as well, as he wrote works that were very popular during his lifetime, and remain relevant today. Around the 1850's, however, Ruskin underwent a major change concerning his religious beliefs and comp ...
