Philosophy

★★★☆☆ | Philosophy | Print | Own | StoryGraph | Goodreads

This is an easy book to read. The chapters are short. Most can be read in just a few minutes. Each relays a virtue, interspersing anecdotes about well-known public figures with quotations from ancient Stoic and Eastern philosophers that validate the message. The thirty-two chapters cover a wide swath of good Stoic living: keep a journal, be brave, manage your anger, be present, appreciate beauty, etc.

The risk with a book like this is that you let these short chapters of feel-good but shallow advice roll over you like water without anything sinking in. Maybe read a chapter every night and sleep on it. Or, better yet, use each chapter as a journaling prompt and write for thirty minutes about the particular virtue or practice that could fit better in your life.

There are important lessons here on leading a better life. The trick is to find a way to take each of these lessons deeper in your own life to affect lasting change.

Related: The Obstacle Is the Way by Ryan Holiday, Ego Is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday

★★★☆☆ | Philosophy | Digital | Borrow | StoryGraph | Goodreads 

Eastern philosophy with a Westerner’s no nonsense practicality.  Watts cites the Hindu Upanishads as the source of his philosophy that there is no self, we are all one with the cosmos, and it’s only because of our social customs and teachings that we believe we are independent and apart from others and the world. We do not leave this earth when we die, just as we didn’t come into the world at birth.  We have always been here.

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The Book by Alan WattsRead More »

★★★☆☆ | Philosophy | Digital | Borrow | StoryGraph | Goodreads

An interesting collection of stories and anecdotes about how ego can be a destructive force in a person’s life.

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Ego Is the Enemy by Ryan HolidayRead More »

★★★★☆ | Philosophy | Print | Own | StoryGraph | Goodreads

Friendship is one of life’s greatest blessings, but are seldom accounted for as such.

True friendship is selfless and must be predicated on virtue with no expectation of gain.

Riches and success tend to change a person. If he forsakes his friends for possessions, he’ll one day wonder who he bought all this stuff for, and will have no one to enjoy them with him.

In the face of a true friend a man sees as it were a second self. So that where his friend is he is; if his friend be rich, he is not poor; though he be weak, his friend’s strength is his; and in his friend’s life he enjoys a second life after his own is finished. This last is perhaps the most difficult to conceive. But such is the effect of the respect, the loving remembrance, and the regret of friends which follow us to the grave. While they take the sting out of death, they add a glory to the life of the survivors. 

★★★★☆ | Philosophy | Print | Own | StoryGraph | Goodreads

A quirky book full of dense wisdom.  Thinking in such extremes is interesting.  The ending was anti-climactic (and weird).

Highlights

We overestimate what we can do in one year. We underestimate what we can do in ten years.

One of the best feelings in life is to meet someone who grew up in an opposite culture but has your same humor, thoughts, or taste.

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How to Live by Derek SiversRead More »

★★★★☆ | Philosophy | Digital | Borrow | StoryGraph | Goodreads

Favorite Highlights

“The obstacle in the path becomes the path. Never forget, within every obstacle is an opportunity to improve our condition.” 

Where one loses control of emotions, another can remain calm. Desperation, despair, fear, powerlessness—these reactions are functions of our perceptions. You must realize: Nothing makes us feel this way; we choose to give in to such feelings. 

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The Obstacle Is the Way by Ryan HolidayRead More »

★★★☆☆ | Philosophy | Digital | Borrow | StoryGraph | Goodreads

Reading Notes

Foundation of Existentialism: existence precedes essence — man is born without meaning or destiny.  His essence is created by his own will and actions.

Anguish — in Existentialism, anguish is the knowledge that each man must create meaning for his own life, and also be a responsible representative for humanity.  The anguish comes from the awareness of this awesome responsibility.  This definition of anguish is actually optimistic and not in keeping with traditional views of despair.

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Existentialism Is a Humanism by Jean-Paul SartreRead More »