Toni Morrison on how to be your own story – one of the greatest commencement addresses of all time. 

If you’re a journalist or just a who cares about being a responsible citizen of our media-culture, read Everything I Know About Journalism in 395 Words by New York Times public editor Margaret Sullivan – so very grounding and necessary. 

Couple with some thoughts on cynicism from yours truly and E.B. White on the cultural responsibility of the writer. 

Aldous Huxley on who we really are and how to get out of our own light – magnificent read. 

From Brooklyn-based Mexican illustrator Cecilia Ruiz, beautiful illustrated meditation on memory and its imperfections, inspired by Borges.

For Hemingway’s birthday, his timeless advice to aspiring writers – wonderful advice for every human being.

Thoughtful Alphabets – Edward Gorey’s cryptic and brilliant 26-word stories, in which the word begin with the letters of the alphabet in order and the story progresses as the alphabet does in parallel.

How kindness became our guilty pleasure – wonderful and culturally necessary read that also explains the deeper psychology of the internet’s “outrage culture.”

For Ernest Hemingway’s birthday, his short and spectacular Nobel Prize acceptance speech.

Toni Morrison on how to reap the rewards of adulthood in a culture that fetishizes youth – one of the greatest commencement addresses of all time. 

The illustrated love letters, thank-you notes, and travel journals of great artists – including Frida Kahlo (pictured above), Andy Warhol, Marcel Duchamp, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and more.

Fascinating read on the science of stress and how your emotional memories affect your immune system. 

The most beautiful illustrations from 200 years of Brothers Grimm fairy tales – including Lisbeth Zwerger (pictured here), Maurice Sendak, Edward Gorey, David Hockney, Wanda Gág, Shaun Tan, and more.

Dive in.

Fascinating read on the science of stress and how our emotions affection our susceptibility to burnout and disease – including why some stress is good for you but too much puts your immune system in crisis. 

This timeline by Maximilian Kiener visualizes your tendency to feel that time flies by faster as you grow older.  

Also see the fascinating psychology of why time speeds up as you age, slows down when you’re afraid, and gets warped while you’re on vacation.

“I really don’t think there’s a point in your life when you stop growing.”

Absolutely fantastic conversation with Tavi Gevinson on The Longform Podcast, one of these nine favorite podcasts for a fuller life. 

Couple with Maya Angelou on (not) growing up.