Ayn Rand’s Lessons on Life and Motivation

Ayn Rand was a novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter. Born in Russia, she moved to America at the age of 26. After two early novels that were initially unsuccessful in America, she achieved fame with her 1943 novel, The Fountainhead. In 1957, Rand published her best-known work, the novel Atlas Shrugged. In it, Rand advocated […]

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Elizabeth Wurtzel On Depression, Women and Life

While attending Harvard, Elizabeth Wurtzel was diagnosed with atypical depression and was one of the first people to be given Prozac. At the age of 26 she became famous for her memoir, Prozac Nation, a seminal and frank account of her battle with depression. According to Diana Bruk, “The book was lauded for its vivid […]

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Susan Sontag’s Badass Graduation Speech

From her 1983 commencement speech at Wellesley College…. This is my first commencement, and I think it’s a wonderful college to be having it. I liked hearing a woman chaplain give in invocation; I admire your distinguished and extraordinary President; and I agree heartily with the content of the two speeches, especially their upfront feminist […]

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