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A Simpler Life
- A Guide to Greater Serenity, Ease and Clarity
- Narrated by: Rachel Lanning
- Length: 3 hrs and 32 mins
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A Simpler Life
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Publisher's summary
This book explores ideas around minimalism, simplicity, and how to live comfortably with less.
The modern world can be a complicated, frenzied, and noisy place, filled with too many options, products, ideas and opinions. That explains why what many of us long for is simplicity: a life that can be more pared down, peaceful, and focused on the essentials.
But finding simplicity is not always easy; it isn’t just a case of emptying out our closets or trimming back commitments in our diaries. True simplicity requires that we understand the roots of our distractions – and develop a canny respect for the stubborn reasons why things can grow complex and overwhelming.
This book is a guide to the simpler lives we crave and deserve. It considers how we might achieve simplicity across a range of areas. Along the way, we learn about Zen Buddhism, modernist architecture, monasteries, psychoanalysis, and why we probably don’t need more than three good friends or a few treasured belongings.
It isn’t enough that our lives should look simple; they need to be simple from the inside. This book takes a psychological approach, guiding us towards less contorted hearts and minds. We have for too long been drowning in excess and clutter from a confusion about our aspirations. A Simpler Life helps us tune out the static and focus on what properly matters to us.
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 172
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 139
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 139
The Gift of Years looks at the many dimensions of aging, the purposes and concerns, struggles and surprises, the potential and joys. It deals with the sense of rejection that comes from feeling out of it. It reflects on the temptation to isolate oneself from the changes taking place, and on the need to stay involved. It discusses issues of health and well-being and the need to put one's affairs in order. It describes what happens as old relationships end and shift....
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5 out of 5 stars
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Most Informative book I have ever read!!
- By Flo Warriner on 05-21-19
By: Joan Chittister
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The Three Marriages
- Reimagining Work, Self and Relationship
- By: David Whyte
- Narrated by: David Whyte
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 404
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 281
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 276
According to Whyte, we humans are involved not just with one marriage with a significant other. We also have made secret vows to our work and unspoken vows to an inner, constantly developing self. Whyte's thesis is that to separate these marriages in order to balance them is to destroy the fabric of happiness itself; that in each of these marriages, will, effort, and hard work are overused, overrated, and in many ways self-defeating.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
RARE SELF-HELP BOOK THAT ACTUALLY HELPS
- By Elizabeth on 03-05-09
By: David Whyte
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At the Existentialist Café
- Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails
- By: Sarah Bakewell
- Narrated by: Antonia Beamish
- Length: 14 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,048
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 922
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 916
Paris, 1933: Three contemporaries meet over apricot cocktails at the Bec-de-Gaz bar on the rue Montparnasse. They are the young Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, and longtime friend Raymond Aron, a fellow philosopher who raves to them about a new conceptual framework from Berlin called phenomenology. "You see," he says, "if you are a phenomenologist, you can talk about this cocktail and make philosophy out of it!"
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Consistent look at incoherent philosophy
- By Gary on 06-19-16
By: Sarah Bakewell
-
How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life
- An Unexpected Guide to Human Nature and Happiness
- By: Russ Roberts
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 5 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 940
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 841
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 838
In How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life, Roberts examines Smith’s forgotten masterpiece, and finds a treasure trove of timeless, practical wisdom. Smith’s insights into human nature are just as relevant today as they were 300 years ago. What does it take to be truly happy? Should we pursue fame and fortune or the respect of our friends and family? How can we make the world a better place?
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Hard to distinguish Roberts from Smith in reading
- By Amazing Customer on 03-31-15
By: Russ Roberts
-
Walking in This World
- The Practical Art of Creativity
- By: Julia Cameron
- Narrated by: Barbara Caruso
- Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 202
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 146
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 144
Walking in This World picks up where Julia Cameron's best-selling book on the creative process, The Artist's Way, left off to present readers with a second course, part two in an amazing journey toward discovering our human potential. Full of valuable new strategies and techniques for breaking through difficult creative ground, this is the "intermediate level" of the Artist's Way program.
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1 out of 5 stars
-
I wish there was a zero star rating
- By Jason on 04-24-07
By: Julia Cameron
-
Big Magic
- Creative Living Beyond Fear
- By: Elizabeth Gilbert
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Gilbert
- Length: 5 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 26,533
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 23,263
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 23,117
People of all ages and walks of life have drawn inspiration and empowerment from Elizabeth Gilbert’s books for years. Now this beloved author digs deep into her own generative process to share her wisdom and unique perspective about creativity. With profound empathy and radiant generosity, she offers potent insights into the mysterious nature of inspiration. She asks us to embrace our curiosity and let go of needless suffering. She shows us how to tackle what we most love, and how to face down what we most fear.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Biggest Inspiration In a Long Time
- By Gillian on 09-23-15
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Conundrum
- By: Jan Morris
- Narrated by: Roy McMillan
- Length: 5 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 86
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 77
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 76
This remarkable memoir is the classic account of the transgender journey. It is all the more extraordinary because it is the life story of a figure who, it seemed, seamlessly and publicly charted a course through the English establishment - James Morris, outstanding journalist, historian and travel writer, famed for a peerless writing style. But all the while he was concealing a very different inner world: from the age of four he felt that, despite his body, he was really a girl.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great insight
- By Kelly Houske on 02-02-19
By: Jan Morris
-
The Antidote
- Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking
- By: Oliver Burkeman
- Narrated by: Oliver Burkeman
- Length: 6 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,000
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,613
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,600
The Antidote is a series of journeys among people who share a single, surprising way of thinking about life. What they have in common is a hunch about human psychology: that it’s our constant effort to eliminate the negative that causes us to feel so anxious, insecure, and unhappy. And that there is an alternative "negative path" to happiness and success that involves embracing the things we spend our lives trying to avoid.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The Antidote explores the negative path.
- By Bonny on 05-15-14
By: Oliver Burkeman
-
To Show and to Tell
- The Craft of Literary Nonfiction
- By: Phillip Lopate
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 7 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 75
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 62
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 62
Distinguished author Phillip Lopate, editor of the celebrated anthology The Art of the Personal Essay, is universally acclaimed as “one of our best personal essayists” ( Dallas Morning News). Here, combining more than 40 years of lessons from his storied career as a writer and professor, he brings us this highly anticipated nuts-and-bolts guide to writing literary nonfiction. A phenomenal master class shaped by Lopate’s informative, accessible tone, and immense gift for storytelling.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Not a guide on writing personal essays
- By A. Yoshida on 08-07-13
By: Phillip Lopate
-
Wabi Sabi
- Japanese Wisdom for a Perfectly Imperfect Life
- By: Beth Kempton
- Narrated by: Beth Kempton
- Length: 5 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 309
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 267
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 268
The definitive guide that teaches you how to use the Japanese concept of wabi sabi to reshape every area of your life and find happiness right where you are.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Wouldn’t get it if have to pay a full credit
- By Nik L. on 10-04-21
By: Beth Kempton
-
Self-Knowledge
- By: The School of Life
- Narrated by: Fiona Buckland
- Length: 1 hr and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 65
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 56
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 54
In Ancient Greece, when the philosopher Socrates was asked to sum up what all philosophical commandments could be reduced to, he replied: "Know yourself". Self-knowledge matters so much because it is only on the basis of an accurate sense of who we are that we can make reliable decisions - particularly around love and work. This book takes us on a journey into our deepest, most elusive selves and arms us with a set of tools to understand our characters properly.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
terrible voice
- By Tina Crosby on 08-27-20
-
The Great Work of Your Life
- A Guide for the Journey to Your True Calling
- By: Stephen Cope
- Narrated by: Kevin M. Connolly
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 484
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 408
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 405
To know your true calling - your dharma, as the yogis say - is perhaps the greatest desire within each of us. And yet, few can say we know our purpose with absolute certainty. Fortunately, there is a time-tested guide - an ancient map - for discovering and fulfilling your unique calling. In The Great Work of Your Life, Stephen Cope walks you through each step of the journey.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Jungian Zen Psychoanalytical Retired Meditation Teacher
- By Glenn Guillory, SFO on 06-13-20
By: Stephen Cope
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Uncommon Gratitude
- Alleluia for All That Is
- By: Joan Chittister, Rowan Williams
- Narrated by: Joan Chittister O.S.B., Dan Havron O.F.M.
- Length: 5 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 40
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 33
This series of reflections reveals the importance of gratitude in helping us see beyond the immediate to a broader and deeper reality. The discovery of this perpetual alleluia will help you discover what you are, become who you are, and grow with gratitude into the unknown.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Spiritual platform for left-wing ideology
- By John Glemby on 06-29-19
By: Joan Chittister, and others
-
Why Smart People Hurt
- A Guide for the Bright, the Sensitive, and the Creative
- By: Eric Maisel
- Narrated by: Seth Podowitz
- Length: 5 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 155
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 122
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 121
The challenges smart and creative people encounter - from scientific researchers and genius award winners to best-selling novelists, Broadway actors, high-powered attorneys, and academics - often include anxiety, overthinking, mania, sadness, and despair. In Why Smart People Hurt, natural psychology specialist and creativity coach Dr. Eric Maisel draws on his many years of work with the best and the brightest to pinpoint these often devastating challenges and offer solutions based on the groundbreaking principles and practices of natural psychology.
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1 out of 5 stars
-
Stunningly Unintelligent
- By john burke on 05-22-21
By: Eric Maisel
-
The Artisan Soul
- Crafting Your Life into a Work of Art
- By: Erwin Raphael McManus
- Narrated by: Erwin Raphael McManus
- Length: 5 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 268
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 235
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 233
In The Artisan Soul, Erwin Raphael McManus, author, thought leader, and founder of MOSAIC in Los Angeles, pens a manifesto for human creativity and the beginning of a new renaissance. McManus not only calls us to reclaim our creative essence but reveals how we can craft our lives into works of art. There are no shortcuts to quality, and McManus celebrates the spiritual process that can help us discover our true selves.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Bravo
- By Achley on 05-20-16
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Emotional intelligence affects every aspect of the way we live, from romantic to professional relationships, from our inner resilience to our social success. It is arguably the single most important skill for surviving the twenty-first century. But what does it really mean? One decade ago, Alain de Botton founded The School of Life, an institute dedicated to understanding and improving our emotional intelligence. Now he presents the gathered wisdom of those ten years in a wide-ranging and innovative compendium of emotional intelligence that forms an introduction to The School of Life.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The school of life needs to be in schools.
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A Therapeutic Journey follows the arc from mental crisis and collapse, to convalescence and recovery. Written with kindness, knowledge and sympathy, it is both a practical guide and a source of consolation and companionship in what might be some of our loneliest, most anguished moments.
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When trying to deal with our current troubles and anxieties, it can be deeply irritating to be asked to consider our childhoods. They happened so long ago; we can probably barely remember, let alone relate to, the little person we once were. But one of the most powerful explanations for why we may, as adults, be struggling, is that we were denied the opportunity to fully be ourselves in our earliest years. This book is a guide to better understanding our younger selves in order to shape who we wish to be in the future.
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Insightfulness
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Few life skills are as neglected, yet as important, as the ability to remain calm. Our very worst decisions and interactions are almost invariably the result of a loss of calm - and a descent into anxiety and agitation. Surprisingly, but very fortunately, our power to remain calm can be rehearsed and improved. We don’t have to stay where we are now: our responses to everyday challenges can dramatically alter. This is a book that patiently unpacks the causes of our greatest stresses and gives us a succession of arguments with which to defend ourselves against panic and fury.
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One of the great, but often unmentioned, causes of both happiness and misery is the quality of our environment: the kinds of chairs, walls, buildings, and streets that surround us. And yet, a concern for architecture is too often described as frivolous, even self-indulgent. Alain de Botton starts from the idea that where we are heavily influences who we can be, and argues that it is architecture's task to stand as an eloquent reminder of our full potential.
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3 out of 5 stars
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We know that our minds are capable of great things because, every now and then, they come out with a brilliant idea or two. However, our minds are also unpredictable, spending large stretches of time idling or distracting themselves. This is a book about how to optimize these beautiful yet fitful instruments so that they can more regularly and generously produce the sort of insights and ideas we need to fulfill our potential and achieve the contentment we deserve.
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Alain de Botton has performed a stunning feat: He has transformed arcane philosophy into something accessible and entertaining, useful and kind. Drawing on the work of six of the world's most brilliant thinkers, de Botton has arranged a panoply of wisdom to guide us through our most common problems.
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Cheering, empathic, helpful
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Essays in Love is a stunningly original love story. Taking in Aristotle, Wittgenstein, history, religion and Groucho Marx, Alain de Botton charts the progress of a love affair from the first kiss to argument and reconciliation, from intimacy and tenderness to the onset of anxiety and heartbreak.
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Every relationship you've ever analyzed
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The School of Life: On Failure
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5
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Story5 out of 5 stars 5
This is a hopeful, consoling, gentle book about failure. Our societies talk a lot about success, but the reality is that no one gets through life without failing–in small and usually also in large ways. Sometimes our failures are very obvious, at other times, we feel we have to conceal them out of shame. This book encourages us to accept the role that failure plays for all of us and to feel compassion for ourselves for the messes we can’t help but make as we go through our lives.
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4 out of 5 stars
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The second part of the book was really good perceived failure.
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A Job to Love
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1
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Story0 out of 5 stars 0
The idea that work might be fulfilling rather than just necessary is a recent invention. These days, in prosperous areas of the world, we don't only expect to get paid, we also expect to find meaning and satisfaction. It's a big ask and explains why so many people have an identity crisis in their work lives. A Job To Love is designed to help us better understand ourselves in order to find a job that is right for us. It explores the myths, traps and confusions that get in our way, and shows us how to develop new, effective attitudes and habits.
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The Good Enough Parent
- How to Raise Contented, Interesting, and Resilient Children
- By: The School of Life
- Narrated by: Sonya Cullingford
- Length: 3 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 37
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 32
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 32
Bringing up a child to be an authentic and mentally robust adult is one of life’s great challenges. It is also, fortunately, not a matter of luck. The Good Enough Parent is a compendium of life lessons, including how to say ‘no’ to a child you adore, how to look beneath the surface of ‘bad’ behavior to work out what might really be going on, how to encourage a child to be genuinely kind, and how to handle the moods and gloom of adolescence.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Changed me a lot as a father
- By Michael Berger on 04-23-24
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Status Anxiety
- By: Alain de Botton
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 6 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 600
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 426
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Story4 out of 5 stars 421
This is a book about an almost universal anxiety that is rarely mentioned: an anxiety about what others think of us, about whether we're judged a success or a failure, a winner or a loser. This is a book about status anxiety. Best-selling author Alain de Botton asks, with lucidity and charm, where our worries about status come from and what, if anything, we can do to surmount them.
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1 out of 5 stars
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False Advertising!
- By Jon on 08-02-07
By: Alain de Botton
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The Art of Travel
- By: Alain de Botton
- Narrated by: Nicholas Bell
- Length: 5 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 177
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 155
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Story4 out of 5 stars 155
Aside from love, few actvities seem to promise us as much happiness as going traveling: taking off for somewhere else, somewhere far from home, a place with more interesting weather, customs, and landscapes. But although we are inundated with advice on where to travel, few people seem to talk about why we should go and how we can become more fulfilled by doing so.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Dull, suggestions for better alternatives
- By J. Natael on 08-07-13
By: Alain de Botton
What listeners say about A Simpler Life
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Lorraine Allen
- 06-11-23
The book I needed to read
A book that confirms what I’d always thought might be true but couldn’t quite believe was ok to live.
I can now give up the complicated stressful life of running multiple homes and attending parties I felt obliged to show my face at.
It’s thrilling … let’s see if a simple life really is as good as it sounds. Thrilling to start implementing the ideas.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Tammi
- 01-29-24
Wonderful Insight
Wish to give the cult of busy the heave ho? This book shows the way to a realistic, calm, independent life. Be brave and shut out the noise. Live a richer human life. Click, “Buy.”
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- pebblesinwater
- 12-11-23
What do we really need?
An welcome examination of what is truly most important in our lives. Do we really need a lot of money or an abundance of a variety of experiences?
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Aaron K.
- 09-11-22
Great guidelines
A book to listen through a few times to adjust your life for the better!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Tonya Kubo
- 02-12-22
Bite-size practical tips for a better life
Simplicity might be uncomplicated but that doesn't make it easy. In this book, you're bound to find a dozen or so ideas to simplify your life so you can achieve greater clarity on what matters to you most and feel at peace when working toward it.
As someone who battles clutter in all aspects of life -- in my head, heart and home -- I found several useful tidbits in this book, especially the section on living like a monk. The idea of focusing on a few things that last and minimizing the need to think too much about what I wear or what I do is appealing. It's not about deprivation, it's about making space for the things that really matter -- like freeing up time and energy to solve bigger problems with greater impact.
I enjoyed the narration and listened to the whole book in the car while running errands over the course of a day. It's one I'll listen to again.
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2 people found this helpful