"Inspiring", for me, often gets synonymous with "intimidating". Stories so good that I know in my bone marrow that I could never write anything so good, and might as well go wash dishes in a sleazy restaurant somewhere. But, a quick list of such:
"The Lottery", Shirley Jackson
"Silent Snow, Secret Snow", Conrad Aiken
"Mr. Arcularis", Conrad Aiken
"The Country of the Blind", H.G. Wells
"Flowers for Algernon", Daniel Keyes (the original Hugo-winning short, not the novel later developed from it.)
"The Nine Billion Names of God", Arthur C. Clarke
"The Dwarf", Ray Bradbury
"Ylla", Ray Bradbury
"The Fruit at the Bottom of the Bowl", Ray Bradbury
"Afterward". Edith Wharton
"The Garden of Time", J.G. Ballard
"Wine in the Desert", Max Brand
"The Open Window", Saki
"A Touch of Nutmeg Does It". John Collier
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