“I only desire to find out knowledge . . . which may instruct me how to die well and how to live well.”
—Michel de Montaigne
“Life Skills”—the mindless high-school class that knocks
Into our callow heads the way to do
The forms we face whenever something new
Requires our consent: a job, some stocks,
Our wedding vows, the keys to office locks,
Insurance claims, a condo with a view.
Just check right here and sign right there—you’re through.
Hearse drivers see who’s learned to fill a box.
New forms will school survivors when we die:
Interment forms and probate forms and more.
Few experts in death’s forms will hear the cry
Rabboni! echoing through a tomb’s wide door:
The voice of Mary, stunned to see the face
Of One no scribe could ever hold in place.
—Bryce Christensen
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
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