18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Random observations, August 14, 2004
This book is a compilation of short observations based on the core of Wilde's philosophy. The thoughts and ideas are drawn from his books, articles, unpublished writings, newspaper interviews and excerpts from TV/radio shows.
Wilde believes that life was mean to be enjoyed and his writings are dedicated to the rapid and complete liberation of the individual from negative thoughts and emotions and the daily grind. The main themes revolve around how to remain balanced and detached, how to increase one's perception, act powerfully, concentrate on what is real and believe in oneself.
In the short entries of mostly one page each that are not arranged alphabetically, Wilde holds forth on subjects like dedication, perseverance, opportunity, dimensions, concentration, relationships, time, energy, opposites, sacrifice, confidence, serenity, service, creativity, and, with a refreshing libertarian approach, on stuff like government and politics.
His humorous and engaging style inspires optimism. In isolation, however, not all of these thoughts always make sense: some appear as truisms and some may be wide open to interpretation without a context. But even when one disagrees with him, his ideas often raise a smile. The Secrets Of Life is enhanced by beautiful black and white illustrations by Stephen Smith. It is a handy inspirational guide to his thoughts that I recommend to those who are already fans of Wilde.
His popular books like Affirmations, The Force and The Quickening provide a wider understanding and proper context of the insights that he manages to convey with so much wit and elegance and would be more suitable for those readers wishing to investigate his work for the first time.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Advice but I Don't Like "Snippets"..., March 17, 2007
This review is from: The Secrets of Life: (Revised and Updated!) (Paperback)
I love Stuart Wilde and, perhaps, I expected more from this book...Or at least an ORGANIZED book.
Each bit of wisdom is...well, wise. However, I don't like snippets of information. That's my personal preference so it should reflect on the value of Stuart's work.
By snippets, I mean having a page heading such as "On Abundance" and going into a short paragraph (sometimes just one sentence) on the topic. Then, onto the next page with a different "snippet" not having anything to do with the prior one.
Maybe the book would have been better if it were organized in sections such as "Abundance," "Health," "World Affairs," etc.
Anyway, I don't regret getting the book and found it to be a wise purchase. I just wish it was more in-depth with each "snippet" and better organized by topic rather than randomly thrown together.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Secrets of Life, May 5, 2009
This review is from: The Secrets of Life: (Revised and Updated!) (Paperback)
This is not one of Stuart Wilde's better books, in my view. Whilst I can strongly recommend many of his other works, this one seemed more like a synopsis of the more 'folksie' aspects of his work. I almost felt as if he was under some pressure to churn out another book, and so pulled this together just to satisfy his publisher. I haven't donated it to the local library - it's not quite that bad. But it just isn't up to his usual standard.
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