Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsKnowledge and truths of the ages and our country's founding principles
Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2005
Only a three star average, what a shame. A great book for every human being to read and heed. Not enough people care about the great historical minds, beliefs and philosophies of the past upon which society has been so much benefited anymore. Perhaps that is why we, and our leaders, fail so much today.
I have studied philosophies throughout my lifetime in search of basic truths and the founding philosophies of our beginning and the establishment of this great country of ours. If one can put aside partisan, political and special interest irrational distain for the truth for a moment any student of the same knows that they (our founding fathers and mothers) were well read and well schooled on the great philosophies of the past and those of their present. It is amazing the amount of accumulated knowledge one can obtain without video games, television, epodes, cell phones, radio, the internet and the distractions of a hedonistic Hollywood entertainment industry in their lives.
Here in this little book are many of the founding set of principles for the American Dream. Surely it is not the single source of the wisdom of the ages or the definitive foundation that the drafters of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States used to produce this nation, but certainly one of the cornerstones in that logical process.
Other reviewers incorrectly, I believe, associate it with Freudian teachings and others find it far too simple and morally founded to fit into their "far too liberal" ideologies.
But one of its basic tenants that "Understanding what freedom really is and how it is achieved" is the key to all past logic. Also, that "freedom is not the right or ability to do whatever you please (a logic applied by our very first Supreme Court Justice...John Jay). But more "freedom comes from understanding the limits of our own power and the natural limits set in place by divine providence."
Sound familiar, it certainly should, it could have been take right out of the discussions during the fight for independence and the drafting of our most basic document, the Declaration of Independence.
Lebell has certainly capture more of the inner man than Nicholas White's Handbook on Epictetus and those critics who previously said Lebell did not stay true to Epictetus' writings are way off base as he did not leave any writings and it all comes to us second hand and with that prejudices, personal baggage and misread interpretations.
So as we all must decide which we will agree with I choose this wonderful "Little book of wisdom on how to live well." The logic in this interpretation certainly flows better and is proven by those who followed Epictetus than the Nay-Sayers who criticize it and its accuracy.
Good job Sharon, I may indeed carry this treasure with me as an aid and comfort
