Customer Reviews

The Stoic Art of Living: Inner Resilience and Outer Results

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was disappointed with this book in that the Stoa of Seneca, Epictetus and Aurelius are really given a superficial treatment. This is followed with brief, "feel good" concepts intermixed with variations of original quotes. Naturally it has a value and place in this world, those seeking a light reading of Stoicism should be pleased.

Tom Morris does what few brilliant, academic, first-rate philosophers are capable of doing--he makes philosophy accessible. Dr. Morris has that rare gift of bringing the deepest and best to the level of everyman and readers can be thankful that he is not stingy with this gift.

Even those of us who are novices when it comes to stoic philosophy can enjoy this book. I am not sure where some reviewers get the opinion that religion is the central theme, but I found the lessons taught by the stoics to be drawn more from life experience than anything else. In any case, I found the book to be both informative and timely.

I bought this book because I am studying Stoicism and wanted to read some modern works. Unfortunately, all I learned from it was the author's philosophical views. It was apparent from the beginning that his understanding of Stoicism is superficial at best. If you really want to learn the Stoic art of living read something written by a Stoic, either ancient or modern.

I suppose that my expectations of this book set me up...I was hoping for a substantive exposure to stoicism. This is not that book. Instead the author breezes through each significant figure in the history of this school of philosophy and gives us highlights but little of substance. I would recommend that the reader who is seeking to understand stoicism and apply the insights of this dynamic school of philosophy would be better served by reading and applying the exercises found within a course taught by Keith Seddon "Stoic Serenity: A Practical Course on Finding Inner Peace." The text for this course can be found on Amazon.com.

If you have ever wondered if ancient philosophers' teachings can possibly be relevant today, this great book will show you how their words, and why Stoic philosophers in particular, are especially relevant in today's dynamic world.

In the introduction and in the book's last paragraph, Morris explained the purpose of the book and the value of Stoic philosophy in our everyday lives:

"Three thinkers in particular [Seneca, a lawyer; Epictetus, a former slave; and Marcus Aurelius, an Emperor of Rome], living during the Golden Age of Rome, saw that the strength of inner resilience is the secret to personal effectiveness; that inner peace is, for most of us, the missing link to personal happiness; and that a nobility of self-possession and emotional self-control can make all the difference for living a life in full command of its own resouces, and with a deep enjoyment of its intrinsic rewards. The Stoics saw what we need. And they left us some powerful advice about how to find it in our lives...The distinctive perspectives of the three great Stoic thinkers can help us on our way as we seek to make our difference in this world, enjoy our proper forms of success, and experience that inner happiness that otherwise might have seemed so elusive. With a little ancient wisdom to build on, we can move forward more strongly, more effectively, and more confidently into the future."

The book is organized into three parts, with one part devoted to each of the three great Stoics. Morris takes the words of each thinker and shares his personal thoughts about them in the context of the struggles and challenges we face today. His perspectives are drawn from his years of experience as a major university philosophy professor, and as a widely-popular philosophical consultant to many successful organizations.

I have already read and am familiar with Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius. Morris' commentary helped me to better understand and deepened my appreciation for the wisdom of those Stoic thinkers. Being totally unfamiliar with Seneca, Morris' analysis gave me a great detailed introduction to Seneca's thinking, and definitely whetted my appetite for reading his words for myself.

I was pleasantly surprised. Like some other reviewers, this was my first foray into the stoic story, and I found this quite readable and well written. True, I tended to skip over some of the areas that didn't "work" for me, for personal reasons, but much of this is simply a good, pithy read and a nice, humorous work by Tom Morris. This will go into my "top" shelf, I have already started a second reading. Anyone with an interest in Robert DeRopp (if anyone remembers him) would find this enjoyable and intriguing. P.S. - someone complained about Morris imposing his religious views into this work, but I did not find that concerning, or at least, nothing struck me offensively in that manner.

There are useful examples, subjugated by easy to find chapter headings of how to use a stoic approach to deal with everyday life issues. I read this book over a year ago and still keep it handy to remind myself ways to apply stoicism in practical ways to my life situations. Very refreshing and accessible, that is not boring or stuffy.

This book is so good that I savored each chapter - limiting myself to one chapter a day.

The advice is solid and timeless.

I am buying an additional copy for a business associated and I am highly recommending the book to my students on Success.org.

I intent to real all of Tom Morris's books.

I haven't read the section on Marcus Aurelius yet; however, the sections on Seneca and Epectitus were fantastic. After a brief historical backgrounder on each stoic Morris proceeds into each stoic's philosophy. The author provides plenty of practical advice too, tying most of the philosophical ideas to real life situations. If you want to use stoic philosophy to change your thought processes and how you deal with your emotions and behavior this is the book for you, it is not a history of stoicism. The presentation is hierarchical, drilling deeper and deeper until you get to the anticipated nugget of practical advice. I'm only surprised Morris did not provide a flowchart or map of the ideas and advice presented, something I'm going to do for myself.