'Let us learn to show our friendship for a man when he is alive and not after he is dead.'

'Remember, no man is a failure who has friends.'

- 1946 film "It's a Wonderful Life"

'I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot ... The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.'

- Author Jack London (1876 - 1916)

'No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.'

-Charles Dickens (1812-1870), in "Our Mutual Friend"

Searching for 'The Great Gatsby' in Kentucky

F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel "The Great Gatsby" is usually associated with New York and its extremely wealthy enclaves, but this Atlas Obscura podcast tracks down another location Fitzgerald portrayed in the book: Louisville, Kentucky, the setting for Daisy and Tom Buchanan's wedding, as well as the place where Fitzgerald spent two miserable months during World War I.

In 1922, Zelda Fitzgerald was commissioned to write a satirical review of her husband's latest novel

The review of "The Beautiful and the Damned" might have been comedic, but it was also illuminating, allowing Zelda to acknowledge her husband's tendency to use material from her diaries in his fiction and interrogate the way female characters were often portrayed in novels written by men.

A history of "Memento Mori," from the ancients to today

The ancient Latin phrase 'memento mori' means 'remember you will die.' The counterintuitive utterance has long provided a moral and spiritual framework for individuals to evaluate their life's decisions and worldview. Though it appears morbid at first glance, the saying is meant to inspire a thirst for life. Review the various ways the idea has inspired different cultures in this article, from the Romans and Egyptians to contemporary tech leaders like Steve Jobs.

Read what actions helped support grieving individuals during times of anguish

Concrete acts of kindness that buoyed New York Times readers after the deaths of loved ones varied widely. Examples include: friends sending emojis requiring no reply, coming over without asking to clean a grieving individual's bathroom, feeding them, taking them for periodic outdoor walks, and simply sitting with them so they weren't alone. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Camus was influenced by American culture, especially literature and jazz

He loved the work of writers like William Faulker and Ernest Hemingway, and loved drinking whiskey and listening to jazz. He also admired the actor Humphrey Bogart and his striking performance in the noir classic "The Big Sleep." He was delighted when his wife gave him a Burberry raincoat, thinking it made him look more like Bogart.

'In life, unlike chess, the game continues after checkmate.'

- Isaac Asimov

'Why am I trying to become what I don't want to be … when all I want is out there, waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am.'

-Author Arthur Miller (1915-2005) in "Death of a Salesman"

A book series aimed at World War II soldiers helped popularize works like 'The Great Gatsby' and 'Of Mice and Men.'

'Be silent, if you choose; but when it is necessary, speak—and speak in such a way that people will remember it.'

- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791)

'A lion never roars after a kill.'

-Coaching legend Dean Smith (1931-2015)

'A good friend is like a four-leaf clover, hard to find and lucky to have.'

- Irish Proverb

'In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on.'

-Poet Robert Frost (1874-1963)

'One man can make a difference and every man should try.'

- Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (1929-1994)

'And I knew that it was better to live out one's absurdity than to die for that of others.'

-Ralph Ellison, from "Invisible Man" (1913-1994)

'Hearts are the strongest when they beat in response to noble ideals.'

- American diplomat Ralph Bunche (1904–1971)

A quote by Magic Johnson

"Celebrate the life you had, not the life you could've had."

'Mutual ignorance breeds mutual distrust.'

- Businessman Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919)

'You only go around once, but if you play your cards right, once is enough.'

- Frank Sinatra (1915–1998)

'We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.'

- Playwright Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

'Men and nature must work hand in hand. The throwing out of balance of the resources of nature throws out of balance also the lives of men.'

- President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)

'Don't gain the world and lose your soul; wisdom is better than silver or gold.'

-Reggae pioneer Bob Marley (1945-1981)

Sartre admired American novelist William Faulkner

In addition to writing philosophy and fiction, Jean-Paul Sartre was also a literary critic. His 1939 essay on Faulkner's "The Sound and the Fury" focused on the way the American novelist commented on time, favorably comparing him to Marcel Proust. Ultimately, Sartre argues Faulkner's "despair" about a "closed future" is a result of the "social conditions of our present life." Ever the existentialist, though, Sartre suggests this reality is something that should inspire rather than depress.

'The fact is always obvious much too late, but the most singular difference between happiness and joy is that happiness is a solid and joy a liquid.'

-Writer J.D. Salinger (1919-2010)

'Fear of life closes off more opportunities for us than fear of death ever does.'

- Actress Agnes Moorehead (1900–1974)

'Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.'

- Judy Garland

'How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.' - Anne Frank

'No one has ever become poor by giving.'

- Anne Frank (1929-1945)

'Mockingbirds don't do one thing except make music for us to enjoy ... That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.'

-Harper Lee (1926-2016) in "To Kill a Mockingbird"

The Faustian Bargain is a classic trope about cutting a deal with the devil

Goethe's "Faust," Broadway's "Damn Yankees," and the American folktale about Robert Johnson all embrace the familiar details of the Faustian Bargain, in which a young, eager striver is offered their wildest dreams in exchange for the rights to their soul.

'The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year.'

- Mark Twain, from "Pudd'nhead Wilson and Other Tales"

'All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost.'

- "The Lord of the Rings" author JRR Tolkien (1892-1973)

'Real courage is when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.'

- Harper Lee from "To Kill a Mockingbird"

David Foster Wallace's iconic commencement speech

David Foster Wallace’s remarkable 2005 commencement speech, This is Water, is a timeless trove of wisdom for living a meaningful life. Here is a full transcript along with audio.

Georgia O’Keeffe and Frank Lloyd Wright were longtime friends

In the early 1930s, famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright invited Georgia O’Keeffe to become the master artist at the newly formed Taliesin Fellowship. O’Keeffe turned him down, but the letter sparked a decades-long friendship, rooted in their shared love for art and American landscapes, which continued until his death.

After Flannery O'Connor's death, the writer's mother insisted her daughter be buried with a smile on her face.

Talese’s story on Joe DiMaggio examined the sports star’s life post-retirement

The profile, written in the aftermath of his popular “Frank Sinatra Has a Cold,” similarly offered a close look at an American icon after their prime. In DiMaggio’s story, however, the Yankees player seeks to vanish into obscurity and live a quiet life, golfing and mourning his ex-wife Marilyn Monroe.

Picasso’s legacy is often intertwined with his personal relationships

Family revelations and quotes show the legendary artist as both tender and cruel, and his fame and romantic advances sometimes had disastrous effects on those around him.

Watch writer John Steinbeck's Nobel Prize acceptance speech.

A quote by Herman Melville

"Whoever is not in the possession of leisure can hardly be said to possess independence."

'For it would seem—her case proved it—that we write, not with the fingers, but with the whole person. The nerve which controls the pen winds itself about every fibre of our being, threads the heart, pierces the liver.'

- Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) in "Orlando: A Biography"

'I just enjoy the moment I'm in. For me, life is a whole experience, not just a series of isolated moments. It's like submerging yourself into a warm bath rather than sticking your toe under the faucet.'

- longtime 'Jeopardy!' host Alex Trebek

Gay Talese's 1966 Frank Sinatra profile was written without an interview with Sinatra

After numerous rejections from Sinatra, Esquire, and writer Gay Talese continued to pursue the profile, gathering information from observing Sinatra and interviewing friends and fans of his. Readers (and future writers) admired the way Talese captured the many layers of Sinatra’s personality from his generosity to his short temper.

'My model for business is The Beatles: They were four guys that kept each others' negative tendencies in check; they balanced each other. And the total was greater than the sum of the parts.'

-Apple co-founder Steve Jobs (1955-2011)

'A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.'

- Jackie Robinson, the first Black MLB player (1919-1972)

'Too often we participate in the globalization of indifference. May we strive instead to live global solidarity.'

- Pope Francis (1936 - 2025)

'Everybody else is working to change, persuade, tempt and control them. The best readers come to fiction to be free of all that noise.'

- Author Philip Roth (1933-2018)

'The true measure of all our actions is how long the good in them lasts.'

- Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022)