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Essays, Letters & Speeches — page 4
1,400 public-domain essays, letters & speeches books, summarised. Page 4 of 30.
The Writings of Thomas Paine
Thomas Paine
A foundational defense of republican governance, this work argues that sovereignty resides inherently in the people rather than in hereditary institutions. It remains a cornerstone of political philosophy for its clarity, moral urgency, and vision of a society organized by reason.
The Continental Monthly, Vol. 3, No. 1 January 1863: Devoted To Literature And National Policy
Various
This collection serves as a vital historical window into the mid-Civil War era, blending urgent political advocacy with the cultural preoccupations of 1863. It offers a unique synthesis of journalism, fiction, and scholarly analysis that defines the intellectual climate of the Union during its greatest test.
Selections from the Speeches and Writings of Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke
A profound intellect examines the precarious balance between tradition and progress, arguing that the stability of a nation relies on the preservation of its foundational institutions against the volatile impulses of revolutionary fervor.
Aristotle on the art of poetry
Aristotle
Human beings possess an innate instinct to imitate life and experience profound delight when discovering meaning through artistic representation, even when viewing painful subjects.
The provincial letters of Blaise Pascal
Blaise Pascal
A mock-polite letter to a friend becomes a lethal, razor-sharp interrogation of religious hypocrisy and abuse of power.
Index of the Project Gutenberg Works of Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Russell
To map the intellectual landscape of one of the twentieth century's premier thinkers is to chart a course through the fundamentals of human reason, political liberty, and the ultimate nature of reality.
The doctor looks at literature
Joseph Collins
Modern literature yields its deepest secrets when examined through a clinical lens that exposes the psychological motives driving creative expression.
The Continental Monthly, Vol 3 No 3, March 1863: Devoted To Literature And National Policy
Various
A mid-war American periodical captures a nation wrestling with its immediate survival, foreign entanglements, and the moral calculus of emancipation.
My Commonplace Book
Unknown
In a landscape where lost friends, grand philosophy, and subtle verse converge, a solitary reader preserves a lifetime of intellectual discovery. This collection offers a quiet, deeply felt voyage through the landscape of human thought and emotion.
The Writings of Thomas Paine
Thomas Paine
Written with fiery conviction in the darkest hours of the American Revolution, this collection of political essays rallies a struggling nation, dismantling British imperial claims while forging a clear, uncompromising vision for self-governance and continental unity.
Philip Hale's Boston Symphony Programme Notes
Philip Hale
A great critic does not ask an audience to admire his taste; he hands them the keys to a masterwork and steps quietly aside.
Irish Books and Irish People
Stephen Lucius Gwynn
An old nation comes alive through the books it reads, the stories it tells, and the eccentric characters who people its countryside.
Fragments of Science: A Series of Detached Essays, Addresses, and Reviews. V. 1-2
John Tyndall
A journey through the mechanics of light, heat, and air reveals how invisible forces shape the physical world, urging the mind to look beyond surface impressions to grasp the underlying laws governing nature and life.
The Cry for Justice: An Anthology of the Literature of Social Protest: The writings of philosophers, poets, novelists, social reformers, and others who have voiced the struggle against social injustice
Unknown
Across centuries, oceans, and languages, the voices of working people, poets, and philosophers rise together to challenge the systemic abuse of wealth, power, and human labor.
A Message to Garcia: Being a Preachment
Elbert Hubbard
When given an impossible task under tight deadlines, most people ask endless questions, but true initiative requires stepping forward to execute the work without hesitation or complaint.
Without Prejudice
Israel Zangwill
A sharp observer casts an unsparing eye over Victorian society, defending the vital freedom of individual thought while poking genial fun at human pretension.
Literary and Philosophical Essays: French, German and Italian
Friedrich Schiller
These essays navigate the profound intersections of art, morality, and history, inviting readers to reconsider the human condition through the lenses of the greatest thinkers of the Enlightenment and Romantic eras. This collection offers a rigorous exploration of how humanity might move beyond its inherent…
Leaves of Life, for Daily Inspiration
Margaret Bird Steinmetz
A collection of daily meditations and timeless wisdom, designed to anchor the spirit and focus the mind through the shifting seasons of the year.
The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Complete Contents: Dresden Edition—Twelve Volumes
Robert Green Ingersoll
The mind that refuses to be shackled by ancient dogma finds its truest liberation in the light of reason and the steady, unyielding pursuit of human kindness.
Democracy and Social Ethics
Jane Addams
Democracy requires more than political rights; it demands a fundamental shift in our personal morality to account for the lives and needs of our neighbors.
Guide to Life and Literature of the Southwest, with a Few Observations
J. Frank (James Frank) Dobie
This guide serves as a map through the literature of the American Southwest, reclaiming the region’s distinct cultural identity from the shadows of colonial New England imports. It functions as both a curated bibliography and a personal, intellectual manifesto on living intelligently within one's own home soil.
Egoists, A Book of Supermen: Stendhal, Baudelaire, Flaubert, Anatole France, Huysmans, Barrès, Nietzsche, Blake, Ibsen, Stirner, and Ernest Hello
James Huneker
This collection of critical essays serves as a rigorous, unsentimental map of the nineteenth century’s most defiant and individualistic minds. It explores the tension between the singular creator and the stifling herd.
United States Presidents' Inaugural Speeches: From Washington to George W. Bush
United States. Presidents
These inaugural addresses capture the evolving voice of a nation, tracing its journey from the tentative hopes of a new republic to the global responsibilities of a modern superpower.
Wisdom and Destiny
Maurice Maeterlinck
Wisdom and Destiny is a quiet, profound inquiry into how the inner life of the individual can reshape the external circumstances of fate. It serves as a philosophical bridge between passive endurance and active self-creation.
The Sacred Wood: Essays on Poetry and Criticism
T. S. (Thomas Stearns) Eliot
A sharp, discerning inquiry into the mechanics of poetry and the responsibilities of the critic, this collection recalibrates how we read, demanding that we look past the poet to the poem itself.
The Mirror of the Sea
Joseph Conrad
A sailor’s life is a rhythmic cycle of departure and return, a craft defined by the silent, shifting mirror of the sea. These meditations explore the intimacy between men and ships, where the ocean acts as both a brutal adversary and a profound teacher.
The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 04 (of 12)
Edmund Burke
The structures of civil society are fragile, easily dismantled by ideological zeal, yet essential for the preservation of human liberty and order. This collection presents a rigorous defense of traditional governance against the chaos of revolutionary upheaval.
The Glories of Ireland
Unknown
This compendium serves as a comprehensive, academic inventory of Irish contributions to global civilization, tracing the nation’s profound influence on religion, literature, art, and military history across two millennia.
Miscellaneous Writings, 1883-1896
Mary Baker Eddy
An urgent call to spiritual awakening, this collection records the formative years of a religious movement, emphasizing the triumph of divine Mind over the limitations of material existence.
Italian Hours
Henry James
The beauty of the Italian landscape, when filtered through a keen and lingering eye, reveals a history that is as much a personal meditation as it is a physical journey.
The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 02 (of 12)
Edmund Burke
This collection gathers the oratorical output of a prominent 18th-century statesman, tracking his attempts to reconcile imperial authority with the principles of liberty and fiscal accountability. It serves as a masterclass in political rhetoric and the complexities of governance during the British Empire’s expansion.
The Continental Monthly, Vol. 4, No. 1, July, 1863: Devoted to Literature and National Policy
Various
The mid-Civil War period was marked by an urgent, intellectual reckoning with the American experiment; this collection captures that volatile moment by blending political manifesto, literary critique, and personal narrative.
Her Royal Highness Woman
Max O'Rell
This collection of observations serves as a witty, opinionated, and unapologetically traditional guide to the roles, charms, and domestic responsibilities of women in the late nineteenth century.
Mountain Meditations, and some subjects of the day and the war
L. (Lizzy) Lind-af-Hageby
This collection of essays offers a contemplative look at the intersection of spiritual inquiry, social reform, and the enduring human search for meaning amidst the backdrop of the First World War.
Chance, Love, and Logic: Philosophical Essays
Charles S. (Charles Sanders) Peirce
Logic is not a static set of rules for the mind, but a living, evolving process of inquiry that shapes our understanding of reality. This collection maps the intellectual terrain of a pioneer who sought to unify scientific method with philosophical depth.
The Prose Writings of Heinrich Heine
Heinrich Heine
A restless, brilliant mind wanders through the landscapes of history, art, and personal memory, seeking to reconcile the ancient Greek joy of living with the modern, mournful demands of the human spirit.
Cargoes for Crusoes
Grant M. (Grant Martin) Overton
A framed collection of modern recommendations acts as an intellectual survival kit for readers cast adrift in the sea of print.
Chinese literature
Faxian
Across centuries, genres, and geographic divides, this collection preserves the core texts and voices that shaped traditional Chinese thought, poetry, and narrative history.
Visions and Revisions: A Book of Literary Devotions
John Cowper Powys
Reading great books demands more than objective analysis; it requires a personal, impassioned surrender of the soul to the terrifying and beautiful visions of literary genius.
Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death
Patrick Henry
A single impassioned speech can alter the destiny of a nation when it transforms quiet, comfortable hesitation into an undeniable moral mandate for immediate action.
John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address
John F. (John Fitzgerald) Kennedy
A solemn oath gives way to a grand call for global responsibility in an era defined by nuclear capability and human aspiration.
From Sea to Sea
Rudyard Kipling
A young imperial reporter wanders across nineteenth-century Asia and North America, cataloging native states, colonial outposts, and booming frontier cities with razor-sharp observation and unyielding curiosity.
Creative Intelligence: Essays in the Pragmatic Attitude
John Dewey
Human intelligence is not a passive mirror reflecting an unchangeable reality, but an active, creative instrument for shaping an uncertain future.
A Letter to a Hindu
Tolstoy, Leo, graf
True liberation requires abandoning violent resistance and embracing the universal law of love, through which no population can be enslaved by another.
Essays in the Art of Writing
Robert Louis Stevenson
Great writing depends on hidden mechanics, absolute moral honesty, and the unvarnished realities of the creative life.
Burke's Speech on Conciliation with America
Edmund Burke
A passionate plea for political pragmatism, this famous parliamentary address argues that holding an empire together requires honoring the inherent spirit of liberty in its people rather than demanding absolute submission through force.
An Essay on Slavery and Abolitionism: With reference to the duty of American females
Catharine Esther Beecher
A prominent northern educator cautions that sudden, aggressive agitation against Southern slavery endangers both social harmony and the moral integrity of American women.
The Menorah Journal, Volume 1, 1915
Various
Confronted by the violent disruptions of World War I and the pressures of assimilation, young Jewish intellectuals in 1915 forge a revitalized, secular identity through academic study and communal obligation.