In the 1970s, travel writer and poet Gretel Ehrlich spent several years living in rural Wyoming following the death of the man she loved. Drawn to the rugged landscape and its equally resilient people, she compiled the essay collection “The Solace of Open Spaces” about her time there. “I came here four years ago,” she wrote. “I had not planned to stay, but I couldn’t make myself leave.” In this quote from her essay “On Water,” Ehrlich contemplates the ebbs and flows of nature and the capriciousness of life. Comparing the human experience to a river that weightlessly carries both death and life, she wrote, “We can drown in it or else stay buoyant, quench our thirst, stay alive.”

Oscar Wilde was a popular playwright in London in the 1890s, and his unapologetically flamboyant personality and razor-sharp wit have ensured his enduring legacy. His first hit play, “Lady Windermere’s Fan,” is an upper-class comedy that tells the story of a wife who suspects her husband of having an affair. The play made Wilde rich and also gave us some of his most famous lines, including the quote above, spoken by the minor character Mr. Dumby. When Lord Darlington reveals his unrequited love for Lady Windermere, Dumby congratulates him, arguing there are only two tragedies in the world: “One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it. The last is much the worst, the last is a real tragedy!” In other words, striving for a goal and failing can be difficult, but it can ultimately prove to be a more valuable experience, as the journey of pursuing a much-desired objective can sometimes be more fulfilling and transformative than the end result.