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943 reviews for:
The Obstacle is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph
Ryan Holiday
3.86 AVERAGE
943 reviews for:
The Obstacle is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph
Ryan Holiday
3.86 AVERAGE
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
This book is packed with tons of lessons and examples from history of people exhibiting behaviors and attitudes taught by the Stoics. It's filled with inspirational stories and ideas for how to make the most of whatever situation you find yourself in, and how to view every single event in your life as an opportunity, no matter how grim or otherwise detrimental it may seem. I don't think it's the most practical guide to Stoicism - it gives many examples and tells stories, but it's less focused on the concrete ways in which you, the reader, can begin to build up Stoic practices and implement it in your life over time. The book is relatively short, so that may have been a nice thing to go more into, but what the book does contain is very valuable and well written!
Another of these books that I wish I'd read decades ago. Much of what is said makes sense to me given 6 decades of learning through living. However what was new to me was how many of the individuals who I have admired through history can be shown to have the same approaches as in here.
A worthwhile read and one I shall return to - time permitting.
A worthwhile read and one I shall return to - time permitting.
“I want Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, but make it an airport book for tech bros”
This is how I imagine a publisher would commission a book like The Obstacle is the Way. I’m being a bit harsh, it’s actually not really a bad introduction to Stoic philosophy. However, it’s chunked into short platitudinous chapters and questionably researched case studies of famous successful people throughout history that all apparently turned obstacles into the “way”. Also chock-full of short, snappy aphorisms just begging to be posted to LinkedIn superimposed over some mountains.
Holiday even admits it himself, right there in the first chapter - you’d do better just reading Aurelius directly
This is how I imagine a publisher would commission a book like The Obstacle is the Way. I’m being a bit harsh, it’s actually not really a bad introduction to Stoic philosophy. However, it’s chunked into short platitudinous chapters and questionably researched case studies of famous successful people throughout history that all apparently turned obstacles into the “way”. Also chock-full of short, snappy aphorisms just begging to be posted to LinkedIn superimposed over some mountains.
Holiday even admits it himself, right there in the first chapter - you’d do better just reading Aurelius directly
For one who seeks betterment in all things, this book should be read yearly for the rest of time.
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
My favorite book ever on personal philosophy and the right mindset to be happy and successful. I re-read this book about every six months.
I'm a massive fan of Ryan's The Daily Stoic, but this book just didn't do it for me. I felt like he was trying to convince me about Stoic philosophy and things I already knew from using Daily Stoic, and the chapters were really short so there wasn't a good flow.
It felt a lot like a bunch of examples (good & interesting ones but still..) shoved together to illustrate different parts of Stoicism. I think if you've never been introduced to Stoic stuff before you'll love it - but it wasn't for me.
It felt a lot like a bunch of examples (good & interesting ones but still..) shoved together to illustrate different parts of Stoicism. I think if you've never been introduced to Stoic stuff before you'll love it - but it wasn't for me.
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
“We are worthy of any and every challenge.”