A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy
- ISBN-10
- 0199792623
- ISBN-13
- 9780199792627
- Category
- Psychology
- Pages
- 336
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2008-11-04
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press
- Author
- William B. Irvine
Description
One of the great fears many of us face is that despite all our effort and striving, we will discover at the end that we have wasted our life. In A Guide to the Good Life, William B. Irvine plumbs the wisdom of Stoic philosophy, one of the most popular and successful schools of thought in ancient Rome, and shows how its insight and advice are still remarkably applicable to modern lives. In A Guide to the Good Life, Irvine offers a refreshing presentation of Stoicism, showing how this ancient philosophy can still direct us toward a better life. Using the psychological insights and the practical techniques of the Stoics, Irvine offers a roadmap for anyone seeking to avoid the feelings of chronic dissatisfaction that plague so many of us. Irvine looks at various Stoic techniques for attaining tranquility and shows how to put these techniques to work in our own life. As he does so, he describes his own experiences practicing Stoicism and offers valuable first-hand advice for anyone wishing to live better by following in the footsteps of these ancient philosophers. Readers learn how to minimize worry, how to let go of the past and focus our efforts on the things we can control, and how to deal with insults, grief, old age, and the distracting temptations of fame and fortune. We learn from Marcus Aurelius the importance of prizing only things of true value, and from Epictetus we learn how to be more content with what we have. Finally, A Guide to the Good Life shows readers how to become thoughtful observers of their own lives. If we watch ourselves as we go about our daily business and later reflect on what we saw, we can better identify the sources of distress and eventually avoid that pain in our life. By doing this, the Stoics thought, we can hope to attain a truly joyful life.
Get the book
Other editions
Similar books
-
The Good Life Book: A Professional's Guide to Happiness, Balance and Meaning
By Brett CowellBased on the author's two decades of experience in helping the leaders of large organizations effect change, this book presents a fresh and structured approach on to how to transform our own lives--to feel alive and to minimize regrets.You ...
-
The Stoic Challenge: A Philosopher's Guide to Becoming Tougher, Calmer, and More Resilient
By William B. IrvineIn this practical, refreshingly optimistic guide, philosopher William B. Irvine explains how centuries-old wisdom can help us better cope with everything from the everyday stresses of modern living to its significant crises.
-
How to Live a Good Life: A Guide to Choosing Your Personal Philosophy
By Daniel Kaufman, Massimo Pigliucci, Skye ClearyTogether, the pieces in How to Live a Good Life provide not only a beginner's guide to choosing a life philosophy but also a timely portrait of what it means to live an examined life in the twenty-first century. A VINTAGE ORIGINAL
-
The Good Life Method: Reasoning Through the Big Questions of Happiness, Faith, and Meaning
By Meghan Sullivan, Paul BlaschkoSullivan and Blaschko do the timeless work of philosophy using real-world case studies that explore love, finance, truth, and more.
-
How to Live the Good Life:: A User’s Guide for Modern Humans
By Arthur Jackson1 THE TRUTH OF SCIENCE: Physical Theories and Reality, Roger G. Newton, p. 176, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1997. ... Karen Armstrong, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1993. 8 The Universe and Dr. Einstein, Lincoln Kinnear ...
-
How to Live a Good Life: Soulful Stories, Surprising Science, and Practical Wisdom
By Jonathan FieldsDrawn from the intersection of science, spirituality, and the author’s years-long quest to learn at the feet of masters from nearly every tradition and walk of life, this book offers a simple yet powerful model, the “Good Life Buckets ...
-
A Spiritual Renegade's Guide to the Good Life
By Lama Marut... WORDS AUTHORS ON YOUR SMARTPHONE Tag images like the one above are placed throughout A Spiritual Renegade's Guide to the Good Life to bring instant videos directly to your smartphone and enhance your spiritual renegade experience.
-
The Lazy Man's Guide to Living the Good Life
By Mike VestilWritten by YouTuber Mike Vestil, catch a glimpse of his origin story and how he became the person he is today and how you too can get the body you want, the income you want, the relationships you want, and ultimately, the happiness that ...
-
The Southerner's Handbook: A Guide to Living the Good Life
By Editors of Garden and GunCurated by the editors of the award-winning Garden & Gun magazine, this compilation of more than 100 instructional and narrative essays offers a comprehensive tutorial to modern-day life in the South.
-
Breakfast With Socrates: The philosophy of everyday life
By Robert Rowland SmithFrom getting ready in the morning, through heading to work, going to a party, having sex and falling back to sleep, Breakfast with Socrates provides an hour-by-hour commentary on what history's greatest philosophers have said about the ...