kim_robertson's review
I bought this book thinking it's more of an academic book about philosophy, but it's actually a self help book for middle management type people. I got 50 pages in before allowing my self to quit. The author's tone is irritating and the content boring and unoriginal.
lastidealist's review
2.0
This is going to be a great book for a lot of people- it just wasn’t for me.
ewelenc's review
1.0
These are extremely short snippets from the Stoics, many of them SO short that the meaning is lost without the much-longer commentary the editors attach. Most of the book consists of this commentary, which is inferior to the original text the snippet was from and insultingly simplistic. I also didn't like the translations, which were apparently meant to "clarify" the text but end up being clunky in some instances and silly in others. For example, Maxwell Staniforth's translation has
"Today I shall be meeting with interference, ingratitude, insolence, disloyalty, ill-will, and selfishness,"
And George Long's has
"I shall meet with the busy-body, the ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful, envious, unsocial,"
but this version has
"I will encounter busybodies, ingrates, egomaniacs, liars, the jealous and cranks,"
Crash, clunk, plop. It turns the rhythm and poetry of Staniforth's and Long's versions into a grocery list. Where Staniforth describes sex as "friction of the members and an ejaculatory discharge," this version calls it "rubbing private parts together." "Private parts"? Really? Is this for six-year-olds? Six-year-old Puritans, apparently? Ridiculous.
"Today I shall be meeting with interference, ingratitude, insolence, disloyalty, ill-will, and selfishness,"
And George Long's has
"I shall meet with the busy-body, the ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful, envious, unsocial,"
but this version has
"I will encounter busybodies, ingrates, egomaniacs, liars, the jealous and cranks,"
Crash, clunk, plop. It turns the rhythm and poetry of Staniforth's and Long's versions into a grocery list. Where Staniforth describes sex as "friction of the members and an ejaculatory discharge," this version calls it "rubbing private parts together." "Private parts"? Really? Is this for six-year-olds? Six-year-old Puritans, apparently? Ridiculous.
michaelgusky's review
5.0
Words to live by
I intend on rereading every year as there is no way to retain the wisdom of the stoics in one reading.
I intend on rereading every year as there is no way to retain the wisdom of the stoics in one reading.
bl33pbl00p's review against another edition
1.0
Gave up pretty quickly on this as the commentaries attached to each quotation are clearly geared to "high-octane, action-oriented" douchebros. Skip this and just read to the actual sources. To be fair, I should have looked up this Ryan Holiday asshole beforehand, and I wouldn't have bothered.
helenephoebe's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
I'm not waiting 366 days to write my review of this! A friend recommended reading a little into Stoicism to see if it would help me to deal with situations and thoughts that aren't helpful and I don't seem to be very good at dealing with. He said it helped him a lot, and this book is already helping me, by giving me things to read each day, build on, and go back to.
There is a quote for each day, and a short explanation underneath expounding on the quote. It is all things that you can apply to everyday life and various different situations, to help you deal with things and accept them in a more positive way.
I will keep reading this, and then probably return to it over and over when things are hard and I need a reminder. I'll also enjoy very much discussing some of the points and quotes raised with my friend who recommended it. It's a book that keeps giving back to you.
There is a quote for each day, and a short explanation underneath expounding on the quote. It is all things that you can apply to everyday life and various different situations, to help you deal with things and accept them in a more positive way.
I will keep reading this, and then probably return to it over and over when things are hard and I need a reminder. I'll also enjoy very much discussing some of the points and quotes raised with my friend who recommended it. It's a book that keeps giving back to you.