Words of Wisdom — May 21, 2014

Nicholas Murray Butler on Optimism

“Optimism is essential to achievement and it is also the foundation of courage and true progress.” – Nicholas Murray Butler

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A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

“Optimism is essential to achievement and it is also the foundation of courage and true progress.” – Nicholas Murray Butler

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Ancient stone structure with stairs under a blue sky with scattered clouds, surrounded by vegetation.

The Past

A beginner’s guide to sociopolitical collapse

How (not) to end up in the ash heap of history.

Map displaying a rail route from Helsinki to Bruxelles, passing through cities like Tallinn, Riga, Warsaw, Berlin, and Hamburg. Northern and Central Europe countries are labeled.

Strange Maps

In the Baltics, 85 millimeters separate East from West

A new railway will switch the Baltic region’s train gauge from Soviet to standard European — a megaproject with political, economic, and military dimensions.

Poster for the 1939 New York World's Fair, featuring a stylized skyline, ocean liner, and the slogan "The World of Tomorrow," encapsulating future visions that captivate imaginations and inspire exploration.

The Future

The future in 1939: Microfilm and Elektro the Moto-Man

By looking back at future dreams we can see our current hopes and visions in a whole new light.

einstein general relativity curved spacetime

Starts With A Bang

The fabric of space is a Cheshire Cat

Most waves need a medium to travel through. But the way that light and gravitational waves travel shows that space can’t be a medium at all.

A drawing of a dragon on a pile of gold, symbolizing hope.

High Culture

“Eucatastrophe”: Tolkien on the secret to a good fairy tale

For J.R.R. Tolkien, the single most important element of a fairy tale was the dramatic reversal of misfortune in the story’s ending.

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