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The Consolations of Philosophy
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 6 hrs and 3 mins
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"De Botton, genial, accurate, humane guide to the thinkers at hand, has written a rich and useful book." (Washington Post Book World)
"The quietly ironic style and eclectic approach will gratify many postmodern readers....An enjoyable read with 'a few consoling and practical things' to say." (Publishers Weekly)
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The most thorough statement of one of Emerson's recurrent themes, the need for each individual to avoid conformity and false consistency, and follow his or her own instincts and ideas. It is the source of one of Emerson's most famous quotations, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." This essay is a considered a watershed moment in which transcendentalism became a major cultural movement. An American classic.
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Don't buy this
- By Leah L on 07-31-16
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The Swerve
- How the World Became Modern
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- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
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Nearly six hundred years ago, a short, genial, cannily alert man in his late 30s took a very old manuscript off a library shelf, saw with excitement what he had discovered, and ordered that it be copied. That book was the last surviving manuscript of an ancient Roman philosophical epic by Lucretius—a beautiful poem containing the most dangerous ideas: that the universe functioned without the aid of gods, that religious fear was damaging to human life, and that matter was made up of very small particles.
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Very compelling history, a less compelling thesis
- By A reader on 05-01-12
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The Roman Way
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Edith Hamilton shows us Rome through the eyes of the Romans. Plautus and Terence, Cicero and Caesar, Catullus, Horace, Virgil, and Augustus come to life in their ambitions, their work, their loves and hates. In them we see reflected a picture of Roman life very different from that fixed in our minds through schoolroom days, and far livelier.
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Not so bad
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By: Edith Hamilton
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Emerson
- The Mind on Fire
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Ralph Waldo Emerson is one of the most important figures in the history of American thought, religion, and literature. The vitality of his writings and the unsettling power of his example continue to influence us more than a hundred years after his death. Now Robert D. Richardson Jr. brings to life an Emerson very different from the old stereotype of the passionless Sage of Concord.
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Finally!
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How to Live on 24 Hours a Day
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This classic personal time-management book, originally published in 1908, has inspired generations of men and women to live deliberate lives. Not just another collection of timesaving tips, this book is more of a challenge to leave behind mundane everyday concerns, focus on pursuing one's true desires, and live the fullest possible life. Reflection, concentration, and study techniques make it easier to accomplish more truly rewarding undertakings than anyone ever dreamed possible.
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Well written, well read.
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By: Arnold Bennett
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At the Existentialist Café
- Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails
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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!"
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Consistent look at incoherent philosophy
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Our Oriental Heritage
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The first volume of Will Durant's Pulitzer Prize-winning series, Our Oriental Heritage: The Story of Civilization, Volume I chronicles the early history of Egypt, the Middle East, and Asia.
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Wonderful
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Notes of a Native Son
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Written during the 1940s and early 1950s, when Baldwin was only in his twenties, the essays collected in Notes of a Native Son capture a view of Black life and Black thought at the dawn of the civil rights movement and as the movement slowly gained strength through the words of one of the most captivating essayists and foremost intellectuals of that era.
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Masterful Essayist
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By: James Baldwin
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Conundrum
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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.
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Beautiful memoir
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The Fellowship
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C. S. Lewis is the 20th century's most widely read Christian writer and J. R. R. Tolkien its most beloved mythmaker. For three decades they and their closest associates formed a literary club known as the Inklings, which met weekly in Lewis' Oxford rooms and a nearby pub. They read aloud from works in progress, argued about anything that caught their fancy, and gave one another invaluable companionship, inspiration, and criticism.
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If You Love Literature...
- By Ray M on 07-14-16
By: Philip Zaleski, and others
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Every relationship you've ever analyzed
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Disappointing, Erroneous, Implausible
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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.
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Dull, suggestions for better alternatives
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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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The second part of the book was really good perceived failure.
- By Anonymous User on 12-29-23
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What They Forgot to Teach You at School
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We probably went to school for what felt like a very long time. We probably took care with our homework. Along the way we surely learned intriguing things about equations, the erosion of glaciers, the history of the Middle Ages, and the tenses of foreign languages. But why, despite all the lessons we sat through, were we never taught the really important things that dominate and trouble our lives: who to start a relationship with, how to trust people, how to understand one’s psyche, how to move on from sorrow or betrayal, and how to cope with anxiety and shame?
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Wonderful
- By Anonymous User on 07-18-21
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Anxiety
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This is a guide to anxiety: why we feel it, how we experience it when it strikes, and what we can do when we come under its influence. Across a series of essays that look at the subject from a number of angles, the tone is helpful, compassionate, and in the best sense, practical.
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Insightfulness
- By Anonymous User on 06-10-23
What listeners say about The Consolations of Philosophy
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Philip
- 07-16-18
Perfectly okay.
Listen to an empathic feeling therapist teach you an intro to western philosophy class. It's totally … okay.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Elim.Garak
- 11-17-17
More history then substance
this is more of a historical account of philosophy there's a few things here and there but overall was not worth the purchase and really not worth the listen
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- Negar
- 08-10-21
Enjoyed it!
It was a great performance of an amazing book, definitely recommend it to anyone that’s looking for a short and easy to digest philosophy book!
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Overall
- Austin
- 11-11-09
Cheering, empathic, helpful
Sometimes our opinion of a book indicates what we are, moreso than the book. Alain de Botton's reflections are for those people who are in touch with their pain, great and small, and who are inclined to solve their problems by understanding them. Frankly, philosophy's greatest value might be to raise the heads of the downtrodden--to console them, not to allow them to look down their noses at others. Forget what snobs are saying about the use of "Philosophy" in the title, both here and on bookstore sites. If you're a person who examines his or her life seriously, then you will find helpful and invigorating ideas about your existence by an articulate, sensitive author. Botton even addresses snobbery. Oh, and the narration is great; Vance at his best.
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28 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Merritt Corless
- 09-15-20
Delightful
Hardcore lovers of philosophy might be critical of this book. I am a layman and I loved it. With humor, humanity, and a kind of background sorrow, Vance puts forth some of the great philosophies of life. I especially loved the chapter on Epicurus. Great audiobook that I have finished twice and will probably play again.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Jorge 12
- 08-03-16
Good read.
What made the experience of listening to The Consolations of Philosophy the most enjoyable?
Narrator.
Who was your favorite character and why?
There was no main character.
What about Simon Vance’s performance did you like?
I liked the intonation and speed.
What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?
Many others have been in our feet in the past. They have dealt with the same issues such as mortality, love pains and materialism. It gives you a real overview of what makes us human and how things do not change through the millenniums.
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- Clifton Mulanax
- 08-18-16
A balm for the spirit.
I come back to this book about twice a year. For me, it has a uniquely calming effect on my nerves; helping me put this so-called life into a better - more attainable - perspective.
Thank you Mr. Botton
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- S. Moody
- 11-12-20
Wonderful
I’ve listened to this book several times. A calm harbor of reason. I hope it gains a foothold in our culture.
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- MSJ
- 12-28-22
OUTSTANDING
I'm a professor with extensive background in philosophy and I found de Botton's contextually based explanations of core philosophers genuinely informative, enlightening and entertaining. I originally got this as an audio bool but had to get the Kindle version to recapture comments I thought exceptionally valuable.
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Overall
- Greg
- 08-19-08
Best author ever
I have read 3 or 4 books by De Botton and I intend to read every last thing this guy writes. The narrator is a perfect fit as well. For my money there is no better combination on Audible. I can't imagine anyone not liking this (or any other book by De Botton). Other than my wife perhaps - who refuses to read it because there are no vampires. ugh.
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20 people found this helpful