Essays & Short Works
- Philosophical Travelogues
- Essays on Society and Culture
- Essays for Personal Growth
- Explorations in Science and Thought
- Explorations in Psychology
- Political Essays and Reflections
- Political Essays and Manifestos
- Philosophical Essays on Existence
An Essay on Criticism
An Essay on Criticism is a foundational work of literary criticism by Alexander Pope, blending poetry and philosophical reflection. Written …
Appreciations and Criticisms of the Works of Charles Dickens
“These papers were originally published as prefaces to the separate books of Dickens in one of the most extensive of those cheap libraries o…
Funeral Oration on Meletius
Saint Meletius was Patriarch of Antioch from 360 until his death in 381. One of his last acts was to preside over the First Council of Const…
The Prophet
The Prophet is a book of 26 prose poetry fables written in English by the Lebanese-American poet and writer Kahlil Gibran. It was originally…
The Tao Teh King
Lao-Tze's Tao Teh King illuminates The Tao: a guiding principle of the universe and all within it. By exploring the nature of dualities and …
Essays of Robert Louis Stevenson
“Extreme busyness…is a symptom of deficient vitality; and a faculty for idleness implies a catholic appetite and a strong sense of personal …
Irish Impressions
“For the Irish Question has never been discussed in England. Men have discussed Home Rule; but those who advocated it most warmly, and as I …
Literary Taste
Arnold Bennett describes a method for enjoying literature, and suggests the contents of a comprehensive library. Chapters 1-10 and 14 descri…
The Freedmen's Book
Lydia Maria Child, an American abolitionist, compiled this collection of short stories and poems by former slaves and noted activists as an …
An Irishman's difficulties with the Dutch language
Jack O'Neill, an Irishman, has just returned from a month's holiday in The Netherlands. Before he left, he had boasted to his friends that h…
Flowers from the Garden of Saint Francis
This is a collection of 365 moral admonitions of Saint Francis of Assisi (1182-1226) and other notable Franciscans. The compiler of this ant…
A Philosophical Enquiry
Burke's A Philosophical Enquiry is an important treatise in the history of philosophical aesthetics, putting forth a theory of two concepts …
Magna Carta Commemoration Essays
On 15th June 1215 the Magna Carta was sealed under oath by King John at Runnymede, on the bank of the River Thames near Windsor, England. 20…
Perpetual Peace, A Philosophic Essay
This essay, written in 1795, puts forth a plan for a lasting peace between nations and peoples. Kant puts forth necessary means to any peace…
The Emancipation Proclamation
On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, a pivotal document in American history that declared the…
De Profundis
This is a letter written from prison in 1897 by Oscar Wilde to Lord Alfred Douglas, in which he recounts how he came to be in prison and cha…
The Life of Reason
The Life of Reason, subtitled "the Phases of Human Progress", is a book published in five volumes from 1905 to 1906, by Spanish-bo…
Squirrels and Other Fur-bearers
Squirrels and other Fur-Bearers, a collection of essays by American naturalist and essayist, John Burroughs, provides fascinating insight in…
Beyond Good and Evil
First published in 1886 at Nietzsche’s own expense, the book was not initially considered important. In it, Nietzsche denounced what he cons…
The Mirror of the Sea
The Mirror of the Sea is a collection of autobiographical essays by Joseph Conrad, reflecting on his deep connection to the sea and the life…