Would recommend to someone looking to lead a thoughtful considered life. This book is well written, and well narrated. Super struggled with the narrator. Honestly didn't know if it was a robot for a while. I've read alot of books on woo woo motivational bs. This is the most practical model of thought I've come across. Get Your Free Audiobook. Add to cart failed. Please try again later. Add to wishlist failed. Remove from wishlist failed. Follow podcast failed. Unfollow podcast failed. Free with day trial.
Listen to anything from the Plus Catalogue—thousands of Audible Originals, podcasts and audiobooks. Download titles to your library and listen offline. Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin. No valid payment method on file. Add payment method. Switch payment method. We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method. Pay using card ending in. Publisher's Summary 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.
Irvine P Audible, Inc. Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews. Amazon Reviews. Sort by:. Most Helpful Most Recent. Filter by:. All stars 5 star only 4 star only 3 star only 2 star only 1 star only. Cronin the narator i loved his style 1 person found this helpful. Bharath Manukonda Great insights on Stoicism and philosophy of life Need for a philosophy of life and the role stoicism could play in our efforts to live a good life are explained in an intriguing and philosophical way.
Nuparth chaudhry Will change your Life! Amazon Customer A great introduction to Stoicism This book has made me want to adopt a philosophy of life. Gerard Sanroma Guell Excellent contemporary view of stoicism Great book explaining stoicism in a contemporary way. Arthur Sam A. Havens Fantastic This is a great book, and the narrator fits perfectly.
Scott Alex Informative and blunt! David A very readable introduction, needs more meat This was a pretty good if brief introduction to the Stoic philosophy. Oliver Well crafted. An excellent, readable, understandable, modern story about Stoicism A great story, understandable quotes, modern life examples and Mr Irvine contrasts old roman life with 21century life problems and how Stoicism fits into modern life 15 people found this helpful.
Where's the editor? Thank you for this book 22 people found this helpful. Gem23grn Horrible Narrator Bored to tears. Marcus Aurelius would definitely have chosen to leave this Audible presentation 6 people found this helpful. Show More. Anonymous User To the non-stoic reviewers Owen Ashby Highly enjoyable, practical and actionable. Ahmed Karim Lameer KarlK It made me think about the way I think and how I perceive life's joys as well as challenges, definitely be implementing some stoic traits Any additional comments?
Can't wait until they get more of Irvine's books on audible, just don't seem to like old school reading 26 people found this helpful. Hello Hello Ufuk Moby Richards Great content, sadly marred by robotic, stilted reading. Rob Loved it I have no doubt that the wisdom in this book will help me to live a better life.
Mamalina Narration is irritating I should have taken a review that mentioned robotic narration more seriously. Anonimo Nonlodico Wise, profound, enjoyable, even life changing An excellent book on the most important of subjects: our very own lives and happiness.
Kindle Customer Really good introduction This book provided a thorough overview into the philosophy and importantly the actual practice of stoicism. Mikhail Perfect introduction to stoicism I loved the way this book is structured.
How to Live An excellent introduction to the Stoic philosophy of life. I also liked the personal experience of the author while practicing stoicism. Finally it suggests some further reading. Very interesting book. The author makes the points very clear in my opinion.
I like the narrator too. Not too slow like others I have heard. Great book. This is a great book, and the narrator fits perfectly. I would recommend this title to any thoughtful friend or family member. I started this book at a real low point, and found this profoundly helpful. Also, unlike most books that offer life advice, the author is clearly a smart, logical individual who thinks carefully about what he says and explains what it is like to put his advice into practice.
What did you love best about A Guide to the Good Life? I found myself surprisingly liking this book a lot. It demystifies what is commonly and mistakenly identified as a dour philosophy and makes it accessible to everyday, modern life. Equal parts self- help book, stoicism course, and "serenity now!
I found myself quite intrigued and taken with the advice in this book and have found myself practicing it daily. It moves along briskly and avoids the self-help book pitfalls of pandering to the reader or being too trite.
Narrator captured essence of author, very informative and clear. Informative for those who are simply curious and helpful to those actually looking to choose a lifestyle.
Great book all around. This was a pretty good if brief introduction to the Stoic philosophy. What's notable about it is that the author, William Irvine, is not merely presenting historical information about the Stoics, or a primer on Stoicism for purely educational purposes, but actually advocating Stoicism as a philosophy of life with applicability to modern Westerners.
He spends some time talking about the history of the Stoic schools and pointing out that Stoics really did spend time constructing "proofs" that the Stoic philosophy was the most correct one for living a virtuous and fulfilling life. He then elaborates on their beliefs and techniques, and makes a case for being a practicing Stoic in the 21st century. Was it convincing?
Well, while I didn't find this book to be particularly deep or transformational, it was interesting enough that I want to read more, and I do see a lot of appeal in Stoicism. One of the things the author points out is that Stoicism has a lot in common with Zen Buddhism - they prescribe a lot of the same behaviors and attitudes, though they get there from different directions.
Since I've also had an interest in Zen, this clicked with me, and since the author rejected Zen for the same reason I did - he's too analytical and sitting for hours trying to "empty your mind" would be painfully tedious for people like us - the Stoic approach has promise. Of course, one problem with the Stoics is their philosophy is predicated on what man's "purpose" is, with that purpose presumably declared by our creator, Zeus. You can easily transfer this to God Stoicism is pretty compatible with Christianity , but it requires a bit more rationalizing to achieve an evolutionary purpose applicable to Stoicism for us atheists and agnostics.
So what did the Stoics believe and what should you do as a Stoic? Irvine spends a lot of time trying to preemptively rebut misconceptions about the Stoics - e. In fact, the Stoics did believe in enjoying life, and they did not deny emotion. They taught that one should not allow one's emotions to control you, and that the seeking or enjoyment of pleasure should not be your primary purpose in life nor your chief objective, only a side benefit of living a virtuous life.
And that you might not enjoy any such side benefits - if you lived in a virtuous life, you might wind up miserable because that's fate, and if that happens, you should suck it up and keep going. The last part may not be particularly encouraging, but I actually liked it because as the author points out, it flies in the face of a lot of modern psychology. Irvine has some particularly harsh criticisms for "grief counseling," claiming that studies have shown that getting counseled for grief actually prolongs one's grief, whereas taking a Stoic approach helps you get over it more quickly.
That can sound kind of cold, since the Stoic message is basically "Yes, it sucks that your child died, but she's dead now and you can't change it, so move on. Mastery of Stoicism doesn't mean you don't grieve over a dead child - it means you grieve, accept that it happened, and move on.
More importantly, the Stoic philosophy encourages people to appreciate what they have now - e. Am I actually convinced that Stoicism is for me? Well, like I said, based on this book, I am willing to give it a try. At the same time, the book was a very cursory introduction and while it talked a little bit about Stoic techniques such as "negative visualization" - imagining that the things you have have been taken away, or that your life sucks more than it does it doesn't really provide much in the way of useful instruction.
Back in Greco-Roman days, there were actual Stoic schools to teach these things, but Stoic schools today are kind of hard to find. So I guess I will have to look for more books on the subject. But whether you are interested in trying out Stoicism for yourself or not, this book is a decent entry point.
Irvine and Cronin give a clear, conversational but not breezy treatment of applied Stoicism. There are many personal guides to Stoicism cropping up these days Holiday, Robertson, Pigliucci, etc.
Along with Becker's theoretical book A New Stoicism, this is the one modern practical guide I return to. An excellent, readable, understandable, modern story about Stoicism A great story, understandable quotes, modern life examples and Mr Irvine contrasts old roman life with 21century life problems and how Stoicism fits into modern life. This is the history and applications of stoicism.
Generally I find that I purchase self-help books when I feel the need. So it is with this one. I am, therefore, generous with the review.
Others have complained of the reader. I must add my voice to theirs. Good grief man, lighten up. Just because we are talking about philosophy one doesn't have to make it dry? A few good chops from an editor would have helped as well. Goodness I don't need that much history. These are minor irritations though I listened with interest and enjoyed and learned.
Thank you for this book. Bored to tears. I don't believe the Ancient stoics were this boring. Marcus Aurelius would definitely have chosen to leave this Audible presentation.
I find it rather amusing how so many people are complaining about the narrator, many seemingly very frustrated by it.
It could after all, have been broken or stolen. And, if he is atop his stoic game, he might go on to comment on what an astonishing thing glass vessels are; they are cheap and fairly durable, impart no taste to what we put in them, and, miracle of miracles, allow us to see what they contain. Would you consider the audio edition of A Guide to the Good Life to be better than the print version? I liked it so much, I bought the hard copy too. Any additional comments?
I didn't find the narration stilted as others have. I much prefer this kind of delivery for non-fiction books, in fact, I really hate it when "actors" try to dramatise non-fiction work. Really easy to listen to and digest. I'm off to buy more of his books too. Frankly anyone who is a mentor to Ryan Holiday has to be a legend I've been dipping in and out of this book for years and finally finished it.
It always had an attraction because of it's practicality. Would you listen to A Guide to the Good Life again? Yes, lots of ideas that need to be reiterated in order to fully grasp in a practical way. Narration a little spaced apart or something, kindof like it was read by a computer - you get used to it but could have been a bit more fluid.
Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry? It made me think about the way I think and how I perceive life's joys as well as challenges, definitely be implementing some stoic traits. Can't wait until they get more of Irvine's books on audible, just don't seem to like old school reading. Very interesting and very insightful. A great hybrid between philosophy and personal development.
Thoroughly recommended. Very much enjoying the content of this book, the stoic philosophy seems to be broadly misunderstood by the general public and has many tools to help with problems of modern life. Sadly this book suffers from one of the most wooden, robotic narrators I've ever come across. It removes much of the humour of the writing, which can be detected in the words but is delivered as though it was a list of medical side effects. It's a real shame. I have no doubt that the wisdom in this book will help me to live a better life.
I should have taken a review that mentioned robotic narration more seriously. I'm just 1. It does sound like it has been read by a robot. The narrator has rather monotonous manner of reading with tendency to emphasise random words. An excellent book on the most important of subjects: our very own lives and happiness. Not merely intelligent, but wise.
Deep yet approachable and even practical. Well written, highly enjoyable, certainly thought provoking. A must listen really! This book provided a thorough overview into the philosophy and importantly the actual practice of stoicism. Irvine fills in a few gaps and modernises this at times though acknowledges this clearly.
I also have brought the kindle and hardback versions as well as other books by the good professor. Apple Books Preview. Publisher Description. Customer Reviews. Listeners Also Bought. How to Think Like a Roman Emperor. How to Be a Stoic.
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