Chekhov on the Ultimate Task of Art and How (Not) to Be a Writer
On solving problems vs. posing questions.
«“Anyone who says that the artist’s sphere leaves no room for questions, but deals exclusively with answers, has never done any writing or done anything with imagery.”»
More from Brain Pickings
Nietzsche on Walking and Creativity
“Our first questions about the value of a book, of a human being, or a musical composition are: Can they walk? Even more, can they dance?”
«Our first questions about the value of a book, of a human being, or a musical composition are: Can they walk? Even more, can they dance?»
Bruce Lee’s Never-Before-Seen Writings on Willpower, Emotion, Reason, Memory, Imagination, and Confidence
“You will never get any more out of life than you expect.”
Bruce Lee on Self-Actualization and the Crucial Difference Between Pride and Self-Esteem
“The less promise and potency in the self, the more imperative is the need for pride. The core of pride is self-rejection.”
You May Also Like
200 Years of Great Writers and Artists on the Creative and Spiritual Rewards of Gardening
Emily Dickinson, Virginia Woolf, Oliver Sacks, Rebecca Solnit, Bronson Alcott, Michael Pollan, Jamaica Kincaid, and more.
«The first pure joy of the garden… weeding all day to finish the beds in a queer sort of enthusiasm which made me say this is happiness.»
In defence of freedom in fiction
While we may think we have moved beyond the censorship of the past, writers' artistic freedoms are still constrained.
What makes writing more readable?
Looking at how to make writing easier to read
«Writing text that can be understood by as many people as possible seems like an obvious best practice. But from news media to legal guidance to academic research, the way we write often creates barriers to who can read it. Plain language—a style of writing that uses simplified sentences, everyday vocabulary, and clear structure—aims to remove those barriers.»
Hemingway’s Advice on Writing, Ambition, the Art of Revision, and His Reading List of Essential Books for…
“In any art you’re allowed to steal anything if you can make it better.”
‘ChatGPT said I did not exist’: how artists and writers are fighting back against AI
From lawsuits to IT hacks, the creative industries are deploying a range of tactics to protect their jobs and original work from automation
What is Refind?
Every day Refind picks the most relevant links from around the web for you. Picking only a handful of links means focusing on what’s relevant and useful. We favor timeless pieces—links with long shelf-lives, articles that are still relevant one month, one year, or even ten years from now. These lists of the best resources on any topic are the result of years of careful curation.
How does Refind curate?
It’s a mix of human and algorithmic curation, following a number of steps:
- We monitor 10k+ sources and 1k+ thought leaders on hundreds of topics—publications, blogs, news sites, newsletters, Substack, Medium, Twitter, etc.
- In addition, our users save links from around the web using our Save buttons and our extensions.
- Our algorithm processes 100k+ new links every day and uses external signals to find the most relevant ones, focusing on timeless pieces.
- Our community of active users gets the most relevant links every day, tailored to their interests. They provide feedback via implicit and explicit signals: open, read, listen, share, mark as read, read later, «More/less like this», etc.
- Our algorithm uses these internal signals to refine the selection.
- In addition, we have expert curators who manually curate niche topics.
The result: lists of the best and most useful articles on hundreds of topics.
How does Refind detect «timeless» pieces?
We focus on pieces with long shelf-lives—not news. We determine «timelessness» via a number of metrics, for example, the consumption pattern of links over time.
How many sources does Refind monitor?
We monitor 10k+ content sources on hundreds of topics—publications, blogs, news sites, newsletters, Substack, Medium, Twitter, etc.
Can I submit a link?
Indirectly, by using Refind and saving links from outside (e.g., via our extensions).
How can I report a problem?
When you’re logged-in, you can flag any link via the «More» (...) menu. You can also report problems via email to hello@refind.com
Who uses Refind?
200k+ smart people start their day with Refind. To learn something new. To get inspired. To move forward. Our apps have a 4.9/5 rating.
Is Refind free?
Yes, it’s free!
How can I sign up?
Head over to our homepage and sign up by email or with your Twitter or Google account.