The Power of Kindness: The Unexpected Benefits of Leading a Compassionate Life (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Kindness is synonymous with mental health," writes Ferrucci, whose belief that kindness benefits both the giver and the receiver informs this study. Honesty, forgiveness, trust and humility are among the qualities that make up kindness. Italian psychotherapist Ferrucci (What Our Children Teach Us), who writes in a soothing, humane manner, studied with psychiatrist Roberto Assagiolli, founder of psychosynthesis, a school that focuses on spiritual growth and positive qualities such as faith and joy. Laced with stories from religion and philosophy, anecdotes from patients and personal experience, the book explores how Ferrucci's ideas can be applied to everyday life. In "Forgiveness," he describes how a Holocaust survivor was able to forgive those who murdered his family and explains that forgiveness is the only remedy for unspeakable suffering. In the section on service, he suggests small ways one can benefit the lives of others, such as telling a joke to lift a friend's spirits or offering to make dinner for someone who needs time to rest. Ferrucci offers a fine reminder of how good, and how easy, it is to be kind. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Description

Piero Ferrucci warns against the dangers of "global cooling." As the pace of living grows faster and the impact of new technologies more insistent, communications become hurried and impersonal. The drive for profit overrides the heart. Warmth and genuine presence fade.

The Power of Kindness is a stirring examination of a simple but profound concept. Piero Ferrucci, one of the world's most respected transpersonal psychologists, explores the many surprising facets of kindness and argues that it is this trait that will not only lead to our own individual happiness and the happiness of those around us, but will guide us in a world that has become cold, anxious, difficult, and frightening.

In eighteen interlocking chapters, Dr. Ferrucci reveals that the kindest people are the most likely to thrive, to enable others to thrive, and to slowly but steadily turn our world away from violence, self-centeredness, and narcissism-and toward love. Writing with a rare combination of sensitivity and intellectual depth, Dr. Ferrucci shows that, ultimately, kindness is not a luxury in our world but rather a necessity for us all.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Tarcher; Reprint edition (October 4, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585425885
• ISBN-13: 978-1585425884
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #44,008 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Thoughts, November 9, 2006

By	Kathy (Maryland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Power of Kindness (Hardcover)

The Power of Kindness is a very thought- provoking book. The cover reads, "The Unexpected Benefits of Leading a Compassionate Life". Something to make one think. I expect to read this book many times and find something new each time. I loved it.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Power of Kindness, February 4, 2007

By	Blannie M. Whelan (Florida) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Power of Kindness (Hardcover)

A truely beautiful book that I will read over and over. The book reads with ease and reminds the reader of the beauty of kindness and compassion.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars For Your Kind Attention, November 7, 2008

By	Hande Z (Singapore) - See all my reviews

This is a long homily about the goodness of being nice. It is a simple down-to-earth book about qualities that are associated with nice people - honesty, warmth, forgiveness, trust, humility, patience, generosity, gratitude, respect, loyalty, empathy, and service. Each chapter is filled with short stories, some just a paragraph long. Even though the author occasionally retold stories that involved God to demonstrate the importance of being kind-hearted, his God was a universal god, not a specific, personal god. The central theme was the kind hearted man. The rest were illustrations. This book will, I suspect, be particularly useful to nice, kindly people who had been distracted by the cares of the world and momentarily forgotten their true, kind selves. This book will serve as a reminder to them. It may also inspire those of us who wish to re-examine our lives without having to join an organised religion, or a philosophers' club.