The Little Book of Stoicism – “How long are you going to wait before you demand the best for yourself?”– Epictetus, Stoic philosopher. Where can you find joy? Gain strength? How should we face our fears? Deal with the death of a loved one? And what about those reoccurring depressing thoughts?While traditional schooling doesn’t address such questions, it’s exactly what ancient schools of philosophy were all about: They taught you how to live.
Even though these schools don’t exist anymore, you and I and most people are in as much need of a philosophy that guides us through life as we ever were.This compelling, highly actionable guide shows you how to deal more effectively with whatever life throws at you and live up to your best self.A mix of timeless wisdom and empowering advice, The Little Book of Stoicism will point the way to anyone seeking a calm and wise life in a chaotic world.
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Book Review by DMH
more like the Book of Little Intelligence
Based on all the good reviews, I had high hopes for this book. Until I started reading it and discovered it was written by a college student. It reads like a term paper with an air of arrogance. I remember my 20s and how much I had yet to learn; how can I take advice from a kid? I could not digest this tripe and it just was too asinine to finish.
There is no wisdom in this book. It is very patronizing like the author is talking to a child. I just couldn’t relate. Very disappointed. Very boring and convoluted. The author takes forever to say nothing and his examples and analogies make no sense. I was looking for direction and only found confusion.
Book Review by Patrick
A great introduction to Stoicism and a manual for practical application in our modern times.
Whether you are just starting out on your Stoic journey, or looking for some fresh ideas and perspective on the 2,000-year-old philosophy, this book will get you everywhere you need to go. Inspired by the words of ancient and modern thinkers alike, The Little Book of Stoicism acts as a primer to Stoic philosophy by beginning with a brief but thorough history of Stoicism, how it came to be, what it’s all about, and it’s major players.
After that, the book jumps into 55 practices, meditations and ideals for practically applying Stoicism to your daily life. For me, after reading and learning so much about the philosophy over the past 3 years, it was a really nice refresher. But also, I found myself busy highlighting new ideas and taking notes perspectives and points of view that I hadn’t thought about before. Jonas broke down rather complex ideas into an easy-to-read format full of modern examples and applications. This book is a perfect addition to the library of layman and expert alike.
In the world that we live in today, if everyone was just a little bit more Stoic, from the man or woman who lives down the street to those that run our highest government offices, the world would become an exponentially better place to live. And it would become better quite quickly.
As such, this book is a worthy read and I’m very happy to see Stoicism proliferate throughout our modern literature. Whatever your beliefs, Stoicism is what we need a little bit more in this world. Not only for others, but for ourselves, and there is no better place to start than The Little Book of Stoicism. Well done!
Editorial Reviews
Review
“The title does not do justice to this excellent guide toStoicism as the information inside the book is abundant. The author hasexplained the principles of Stoicism in such a way that anyone canunderstand. I took so much from this guide, but especially theprinciples outlined in the Stoic Happiness Triangle… This book would make a great addition to any school library.”— Lesley Jones for Readers’ Favorite
“People seeking peace in a chaotic world could benefit a lot in heeding thephilosophy of an equally complex ancient time. Author Jonas Salzgebercurates some excellent thoughts and expands upon them with clear proseand uncomplicated concepts and examples, which should make The Little Book of Stoicism an easy and approachable read for all.”— K.C. Finn for Readers’ Favorite
