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
The Awful German Language
This long essay is a work of mock philology, one of several appendices to Twain’s travel novel, A Tramp Abroad. In it, Twain explains, compl…
Mark Twain's Speeches
This collection of the 195 known, publicly-printed speeches of Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) was compiled by Paul Fatout and publish…
How We Think
A book written by an American education philosopher in which he proposed “This scientific attitude of mind might, conceivably, be quite irr…
Democracy in America
Democracy in America offers a profound exploration of the American political system as observed by French aristocrat Alexis de Tocqueville d…
The I.W.W.
“We must inscribe on our banner the revolutionary watchword, ‘Abolition of the wage system’”The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), membe…
Faces and Places
Faces and Places is a collection of articles on nineteenth century travel, events and personalities by the British journalist Henry Lucy, wh…
Crime
Clarence Darrow was an American lawyer. He remains notable for his wit and agnosticism, which marked him as one of the most famous American …
Wit and Wisdom of Chesterton
This little volume, issued as a gift book for lovers of Mr. Chesterton's writings in 1911, is made up from essays to be found in "The D…
An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals
David Hume, an eminent Scottish philosopher, historian, and essayist, explores the nature and foundation of Morals in this book, which was w…
The World as Will and Idea
In this work, Schopenhauer explains his fundamental idea that at the root of the reality we see around us is a Will that eternally, insatiab…
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
John Locke wrote four essays on human (or humane) understanding. Here are a few quotes from the book: "I see no reason to believe, that…
Selected Essays
Voltairine de Cleyre (1866–1912) was, according to Emma Goldman, "the most gifted and brilliant anarchist woman America ever produced.&…
The Madman
Two short books by the Lebanese-American writer, poet, and mystic. Reflections on existence and life, purpose and meaning. His most famous w…
The Letters of a Post-Impressionist
“Being the Familiar Correspondence of Vincent Van Gogh ... [Van Gogh's] art was appreciated during his life only by a very few and it is but…
Areopagitica
A prose tract or polemic by John Milton, published November 23, 1644, at the height of the English Civil War... Milton, though a supporter o…
The Einstein Theory of Relativity
When Albert Einstein published his first paper on relativity theory, it caused a stir in the physicists' community. When more and more evide…
The World’s Story
This is the second volume of the 15-volume series of The World’s Story: a history of the World in story, song and art, edited by Eva March T…
A Miscellany of Men
Gilbert Keith Chesterton was among the world's most prolific writers who incorporated relentless logic, wonderful humor, and a clear view of…
Tea-table Talk
As the New York Times said in 1903, this lesser-known work by Jerome K. Jerome does not display "the wit of Congreve or even the glitte…
The Faith of Our Fathers
The Faith of Our Fathers: A Plain Exposition and Vindication of the Church Founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ is a book published in 1876 by a…