Exciting news! We’ve been working with the awesome folks at Threadless to launch a new line of Obvious State tees. This is a beta launch which includes twelve brand new designs! And not only will you be the first to...
In Meditations, Aurelius distills the central pillars and tenets of stoic philosophy. Although it was essentially a journal and never intended for a general readership, it has become one of the most widely read philosophy works in the world. In...
An elegant, illustrated book of poetry, excerpts, and musings on the noblest human emotion: love. From Viktor Frankl's insight that "love is the ultimate and highest goal to which man can aspire" to Rilke's humble desire "with only this one dream: you...
Truth may be stranger than fiction, but let's face it: fiction is fun. Reality can be alternately too boring, too depressing, too complicated or just a drag. Instead, do us a favor: Spin a yarn. Tell a tale. Catch a big fish, and...
Move over, tea, your petticoat needs fluffing. Enter the bold and bitter beverage of the people - spread from Ethiopian goat herders to Ottoman warriors to Arab mystics to Italian factory workers to American revolutionaries to you and me, all...
Pray, coffee drinkers, do not trifle with a connoisseur of the finer beverage, lest you find yourself forevermore excluded from respectable society.In our illustration, we humbly present a woman with tea on her mind - literally. The crown of her...
Pablo Neruda's collection Veinte Poemas de Amor y una Canción Desesperada is an emotional and sensual exploration of love, infatuation, and despair. Even his most sexually charged metaphors also contain an austere appreciation of beauty and nature, at once deeply personal and highly universal. In...
Marcus Aurelius was a preeminent stoic philosopher, but still found time to be the Emperor of Rome from 161 to 180 AD. This quotation is from his personal journals, now known as the Meditations, where he admonishes the reader for being...
Happy Holidays! We hope you and your family are enjoying good food, good company, and good cheer. One of our favorite things to do as we ring in a new year is to reflect on the past year through the...
From The Twilight of the Idols: Or How to Philosophize with a Hammer (we gleaned this quote from our well-worn copy of The Portable Nietzsche.) First: How awesome is that title? Second: We know, the wording of this particular quotation...
Why is it that the most profound human truths are so often conveyed by the most eye-roll inducing, clichéd phrases? All you need is love! Live in the moment! Stop to smell the roses! Dickinson’s poetry always manages to end-run...
Not to be outdone by his novels, Tolstoy lead an epic life. To the manor born, young Leo did poorly in school and had more interest in gambling and romancing. That all changed when he enlisted and fought in the...
