'The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.'

'The bounty of nature is also one of the deep needs of man.'

- Lady Bird Johnson (1912-2007)

A quote by Lucille Ball

"Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world."

'Fear of life closes off more opportunities for us than fear of death ever does.'

- Actress Agnes Moorehead (1900–1974)

'I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognized wiser than oneself.'

- Actress and singer Marlene Dietrich (1901-1992)

'If the time is not ripe, we have to ripen the time.'

- Activist Dorothy Height (1912-2010)

A quote by gymnast Nadia Comăneci

"Do not pray for an easy life, pray to be a strong person."

'Too often we participate in the globalization of indifference. May we strive instead to live global solidarity.'

- Pope Francis (1936 - 2025)

'The true measure of all our actions is how long the good in them lasts.'

- Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022)

'When you're climbing Mount Everest, nothing is easy. You just take one step at a time, never look back and always keep your eyes glued to the top.'

- Author Jacqueline Susann (1918-1974)

'Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud.'

- Maya Angelou

'Migrant Mother' (1936) captured the tragic reality of the Great Depression

Taken by Dorothea Lange, the image shows a mother in tattered clothes looking distressed while her children cling to her. At the time, the family was surviving on frozen vegetables from nearby fields and birds killed by the children.

'I've come to the conclusion that life is for the taking and just too short to dwell on the negative.'

- Cranberries lead singer Dolores O'Riordan (1971-2018)

Love is a more recent part of marriage

Love matches are incredibly late to the marriage game. For most of our history, marriage has been about alliance, wealth, property, power, and, as an occasional afterthought, the couple liking each other. All that changed when Enlightenment thinkers were inspired in their pursuit of personal happiness, including in their choice of mate.

'Success has brought me world idolization and millions of pounds. But it's prevented me from having the one thing we all need: A loving, ongoing relationship.'

- Queen frontman Freddie Mercury (1946-1991)

Polish chemist and physicist Marie Curie (1867–1934) on learning

“Nothing in life is to be feared; it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less."

'Love planted a rose, and the world turned sweet.'

-Author and poet Katharine Lee Bates (1859-1929)

A quote from Van Gogh

"Find things beautiful as much as you can, most people find too little beautiful."

'If you can't do it with feeling, don't.'

-Singer Patsy Cline (1932-1963)

'Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.'

- Muhammad Ali (1942-2016)

A quote by Roger Federer

"There is no way around hard work. Embrace it."

'At every moment, we always have a choice, even if it feels as if we don’t. Sometimes that choice may simply be to think a more positive thought.'

- Singer Tina Turner (1993–2023)

'How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.' - Anne Frank

'The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction.'

- Marine biologist and environmentalist Rachel Carson (1907-1964)

'Sometimes opportunities float right past your nose. Work hard, apply yourself, and be ready. When an opportunity comes you can grab it.'

- Actress Julie Andrews (1935 - present)

'There are only four kinds of people in the world—those who have been caregivers, those who are caregivers, those who will be caregivers, and those who will need caregivers.'

- Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter (1927–2023)

'Getting old is like climbing a mountain; you get a little out of breath, but the view is much better!'

- Actress Ingrid Bergman (1915-1982)

'This is my invariable advice to people: Learn how to cook—try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless and above all have fun.'

- Chef Julia Child (1912-2004)

'Don't gain the world and lose your soul; wisdom is better than silver or gold.'

-Reggae pioneer Bob Marley (1945-1981)

Barbara Brown Taylor reflects on the oft-used phrase "spiritual but not religious"

Released on Holy Thursday 2023, this conversation with the Episcopal priest and preacher argues that the human appetite for the sacred is strong, despite declining church membership. Taylor and longtime host of the "On Being" podcast, Krista Tippett, explore wilderness, embodied faith, and what holiness actually feels like when the institution no longer appears to supply it.

Anorexia as religion: from the Middle Ages to modern message boards

Humanity's interest in anorexia nervosa can be traced back to the Middle Ages and the rise of "fasting girls." This article explores the history of the eating disorder as a religion. The first recorded anorexics appeared during the 13th century...

'A good friend is like a four-leaf clover, hard to find and lucky to have.'

- Irish Proverb

'We are more fulfilled when we are involved in something bigger than ourselves.'

- Astronaut John Glenn (1921–2016)

'All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost.'

- "The Lord of the Rings" author JRR Tolkien (1892-1973)

Ten writers and thinkers on what growing older actually requires of us

The Marginalian's Maria Popova curates a collection arguing our culture has learned to dread aging while forgetting it is a privilege, and that the antidote is sustaining passions strong enough to keep us from turning inward. Voices include Simone de Beauvoir, Joan Didion, Pablo Casals, and Kahlil Gibran.

'Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul—and sings the tunes without the words—and never stops at all.'

- Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

'I am a writer who came from a sheltered life. A sheltered life can be a daring life as well. For all serious daring starts from within.'

- American novelist Eudora Welty (1909-2001)

'All the world is birthday cake, so take a piece, but not too much.'

- Musician George Harrison (1943–2001)

'The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience.'

- Poet Emily Dickinson (1830–1886)

'It takes a lot of courage to be happy, but I've got courage, so I think I will be happy again.'

- Actress Florence Henderson (1934–2016)

'One man can make a difference and every man should try.'

- Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (1929-1994)

'When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.''

- Mister Rogers (1928-2003)

The dark origins of Valentine's Day.

The holiday began as a feast to celebrate the decapitation of a third-century Christian martyr, or perhaps two. So how did it become all about love?

Abramović's work explores intense, transient interpersonal moments

In this 2025 interview, the artist speaks candidly about her traumatic childhood, her enduring interest in exploring pain and pleasure, and how performance taught her to control her pain.

‘Torch songs’ are passionate expressions of unrequited love

The term comes from an idiom about dedicated romantics carrying torches for their love interests. The style was especially popular for female vocalists before the rise of rock ‘n’ roll and significantly influenced early girl group records.

Jean-Paul Sartre famously wrote that 'Hell is—other people'

The line appears toward the end of the play "No Exit." One character, realizing that he's confined to live out the rest of his days with the play's other two characters, exclaims, "There's no need for red-hot pokers. Hell is—other people!"

'Diet for a Small Planet' popularized the vegetarian diet

Frances Moore Lappe’s 1971 book provided recipes for vegetarian dishes, introducing millions to soy, sprouts, and tofu. It also argued that a vegetarian diet was a political act that could solve world hunger by redirecting food from livestock to humans.

What it's like to live with insomnia

The biological process Shakespeare referred to as the chief nourisher of life's feast is necessary for the body and mind to rest and repair from the activities of daily life. As sleep evades the exhausted, sufferers also lose emotional stability, mental clarity, social connections, and more while simultaneously gaining waves of interrupted biological processes that can lead to disease and death.

Critics argue social media made 'foodie' culture increasingly superficial

For 40 years, being a "foodie" meant possessing knowledge and expertise about ingredients, restaurants, and flavors. Now, the author argues, being a foodie has more to do with documenting aesthetically pleasing meals than critical consumption. She argues for increased attention toward the complex systems that bring food to our tables.

One Mary Cassatt painting features a sly political message

Critics had long been puzzled by the unrealistic flower pinned to the woman's chest in the 1905 painting "Mother and Child." In exploring the painting's history, researcher Nikki Georgopulos discovered that the flower alluded to a women's suffrage badge popular at the time, something Cassatt emphasized in the painting's original title, "Woman With a Sunflower."

19th-century Russian writer Leo Tolstoy made a mean macaroni and cheese

He may be best known as the author of classics like "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina," but he was also an amateur chef, something that was revealed with the publication of "Leo Tolstoy's Family Recipe Book," which includes a rather open-ended recipe for macaroni and cheese.