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A Guide to the Good Life

Written by: William B. Irvine
Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin
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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. 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. Listeners 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 listeners 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.

©2009 William B. Irvine (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about A Guide to the Good Life

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A great introduction to Stoicism

This book has made me want to adopt a philosophy of life. Also, the sincere narration was perfect for the tone of the book

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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. Easy to understand and implement if you wish to.. Loved it.

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Good core principles to adopt

The book did have some dragging information about the stoic philosophers which kind of deviated from the main topic ideas

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Will change your Life!

An amazing introduction to Stoicism, plus a deep blend of knowledge from all the 3 main Stoics

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one of the great books

I am amazed to see the style of narrator James Cronin so engulfing that i tried to check his other books and infact brought 2 titles to hear him. the book itself is masterpiece if you need to live simple yet profoundly happy life by follwing the steps mentioned here in this book, Readers should be aware that these steps are hard to follow in this modern era but one can definitely gain insight to increase his or her peace
one must hear it multiple times to be able to understand the "control over things" dialogues and one must not practice "negative visualization technics" in newly discovered quantum physics era as it may bring the visualization in to reality if one could take what is essential and leave which may cause trobles during hearing it. better if you skip few chapters
10 stars for the Mr James P. Cronin the narator i loved his style

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life changing

you might know a bit of the things talked about in book, however the way it's structured and shared makes way more sense then looking at those principles in isolation.

a must read if you are looking for a book which changes your perspective about money, fame and luxury in life

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