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We are like children pulling the levers of a vast machine of which most is concealed…

To have conquered Frederick would no doubt have been a fine stroke, but to conquer in one’s own heart the prejudices and passions that subjugate the conquerors as well as other men is finer still…

Anya, for the sake of Christ, for the sake of Lyuba, for the sake of our whole future, don’t start worrying and getting all upset—read this letter carefully to the end.

The third night we butcher the free thinkers, atheists, communists, and members of the lighthouse service…

After finishing her first novel, The Voyage Out, Virginia Woolf wrote this short exuberant letter from the countryside to “talk shop” with her intimate friend and confidant Violet Dickinson. The two friends corresponded regularly but almost never saw one another … Continued

Donne (like one of his successors) had infinitely more Wit than he wanted Versification: for the great dealers in Wit, like those in Trade, take least Pains too sett off their Goods; while the Haberdashers of small Wit, spare for no Decorations or Ornaments…

John Martin of Black Sparrow Press was an important early champion of Charles Bukowski’s work. This letter was written the year after they struck their famous deal: as long as Bukowski would keep writing and stay away from menial labor jobs, Martin … Continued

In his correspondence with Christian theologian Paul Tillich, Bertolt Brecht sought an ally in his plans to establish a Committee with fellow anti-Nazi Germans in exile. Paul Tillich would years later recall how hard Brecht had tried to convert him … Continued

Shaw had attended a performance of puppets four days earlier at the home of Alfred Powell, an architect who was active in the arts and crafts movement. Here, he makes light of the spectacle’s forced mediocrity, calling into question the entire … Continued

Ralph Ellision, one of the greatest novelists of the 20th century, writes to Albert Murray, a writer, Air Force pilot, a longtime friend, and fellow alumnus of Tuskegee Institute. Here, Ellison discusses the difficulty of writing, Invisible Man, and his … Continued