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The School of Life
- An Emotional Education
- Narrated by: Alain de Botton, Charlie Anson
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
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The School of Life
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Publisher's summary
How to live wisely and well in the twenty-first century—an introduction to the modern art of emotional intelligence.
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. Using his trademark mixture of analysis and anecdote, philosophical insight and practical wisdom, he considers how we interact with each other and with ourselves, and how we can do so better. From the beloved expert of popular philosophy, The School of Life: An Emotional Education is an essential look at the skill set that defines our modern lives.
CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF THE SCHOOL OF LIFE'S WORK developing emotional intelligence around the world.
AN UPDATED ANTHOLOGY of The School of Life's best loved works.
FOREWORD BY ALAIN DE BOTTON, the celebrated author, philosopher, and School of Life founder.
DRAWS ON PHILOSOPHY, PSYCHOLOGY, LITERATURE, AND VISUAL ART to equip listeners with the skills we truly need to thrive.
CHAPTERS INCLUDE SELF, OTHERS, RELATIONSHIPS, WORK, AND CULTURE
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The Power of Kindness 10th Anniversary Edition
- The Unexpected Benefits of Leading a Compassionate Life
- By: Piero Ferrucci
- Narrated by: Mitch Horowitz
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 51
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 49
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 48
When The Power of Kindness first appeared in 2006 it thrilled and challenged listeners with one audacious promise: Your acts of generosity and decency are the secret to a fuller, more satisfying life. Kindness is not some squishy virtue but the very key to your own happiness. With nearly 125,000 copies sold, we're celebrating the book's tenth anniversary with this new edition, featuring a complete new chapter by Piero Ferrucci on the theme of "Harmlessness", which joins his other chapters on virtues such as "Honesty", "Warmth", and "Loyalty".
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5 out of 5 stars
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Peaceful kindness
- By SR on 07-16-23
By: Piero Ferrucci
-
Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart
- 30 True Things You Need to Know Now
- By: Gordon Livingston
- Narrated by: James Jenner
- Length: 4 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 518
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 293
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 295
Full of things we may know but have not articulated to ourselves, Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart is a gentle and generous alternative to the trial-and-error learning that makes wisdom such an expensive commodity. For everyone who feels a sense of urgency that the clock ticks and still we aren't the person we'd like to be, it offers solace, guidance, and hope.
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4 out of 5 stars
-
This guy is a straight shooter
- By Julia on 11-13-05
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The Daily Laws
- 366 Meditations on Power, Seduction, Mastery, Strategy, and Human Nature
- By: Robert Greene
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders, Robert Greene
- Length: 12 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 855
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 714
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 711
From the world’s foremost expert on power and strategy comes a daily devotional designed to help you seize your destiny.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Chapters are Busted
- By Colin on 10-12-21
By: Robert Greene
-
Bonds That Make Us Free
- Healing Our Relationships, Coming to Ourselves
- By: C. Terry Warner
- Narrated by: C. Terry Warner
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 308
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 257
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 254
Bonds That Make Us Free is a groundbreaking book that suggests the remedy for our troubling emotions by addressing their root causes. You'll learn how, in ways we scarcely suspect, we are responsible for feelings like anger, envy, and insecurity that we have blamed on others. Even though we fear to admit this, it is good news. If we produce these emotions, it falls within our power to stop them. But we have to understand our part in them far better than we do, and that is what this remarkable book teaches.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Helped save our marriage.
- By Kevin Gray on 02-15-19
By: C. Terry Warner
-
Recovering from Emotionally Immature Parents
- Practical Tools to Establish Boundaries and Reclaim Your Emotional Autonomy
- By: Lindsay C. Gibson PsyD
- Narrated by: Suzie Althens
- Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 526
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 437
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 433
In this important sequel to Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents, author Lindsay Gibson offers powerful tools to help you step back and protect yourself at the first sign of an emotional takeover, make sure your emotions and needs are respected, and break free from the coercive control of emotionally immature parents.
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1 out of 5 stars
-
Asinine
- By Amazon Customer on 07-14-20
-
Love and Limerence
- The Experience of Being in Love
- By: Dorothy Tennov
- Narrated by: Tanya Eby
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 48
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 39
First released more than 40 years ago, Love and Limerence has become a classic in the psychology of emotion. As relevent today as it was then, this book offers insight into love, infatuation, madness, and all flavors of emotion in between.
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1 out of 5 stars
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rundown of surveys and stats
- By supermichelle on 12-28-22
By: Dorothy Tennov
-
Living an Examined Life
- By: James Hollis PhD
- Narrated by: Kevin M. Connolly
- Length: 4 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 186
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 143
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 140
How do you define “growing up?” Does it mean you achieve certain cultural benchmarks - a steady income, paying taxes, marriage, and children? Or does it mean leaving behind the expectations of others and growing into the person you were meant to be? Here acclaimed author James Hollis guides you through 21 areas for self-inquiry and growth - such as how to exorcise the ghosts of your past, when to choose meaning over happiness, how to construct a mature spirituality, and how to seize permission to be who you really are.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Extraordinary compilation of Dr. Hollis' works
- By Joseph on 02-17-18
By: James Hollis PhD
-
How to Be an Adult in Relationships
- The Five Keys to Mindful Loving
- By: David Richo
- Narrated by: David Richo
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 675
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 557
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 554
"Most people think of love as a feeling," says David Richo, "but love is not so much a feeling as a way of being present." In this audiobook, Richo offers a fresh perspective on love and relationships - one that focuses not on finding an ideal mate, but on becoming a more loving and realistic person. Drawing on the Buddhist concept of mindfulness, How to Be an Adult in Relationships explores five hallmarks of mindful loving and how they play a key role in our relationships throughout life.
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1 out of 5 stars
-
Missing text
- By Annah Nimouse on 07-26-19
By: David Richo
-
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 Art of Living
- The Classical Manual on Virtue, Happiness, and Effectiveness
- By: Epictetus, Sharon Lebell - translator
- Narrated by: Richard Bolles
- Length: 1 hr and 31 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 811
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 591
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 587
Epictetus, one of the greatest of the ancient thinkers, believed that the primary mission of philosophy is to help ordinary people meet the challenges of daily life and deal with losses, disappointments, and grief. His prescription for the good life: master desires, perform one's duties, and learn to think clearly about oneself and the larger community. This recording includes an interview with philosopher Jacob Needleman on the significance of Epictetus' work.
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1 out of 5 stars
-
Atrocious reading of a vapid mistranslation
- By Joseph M. on 06-25-09
By: Epictetus, and others
-
You Are Not What You Think
- The Egoless Path to Self-Esteem and Generous Love
- By: David Richo
- Narrated by: Tom Pile
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 52
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 45
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 46
You and your ego: how to develop a healthy sense of self without becoming an egotist - and how to see through that sense of self for the happiness of yourself and others. How can you build the healthy ego necessary to be effective in life - yet avoid the kind of egotism that makes people dislike you? Don't worry; Dave Richo has the answers. His new book shows you how to navigate the tricky waters between egotism and selflessness in a way that avoids both extremes and makes you much more effective and loving.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Extraordinarily Revealing
- By Steve D. on 12-16-21
By: David Richo
-
On Freedom
- Four Songs of Care and Constraint
- By: Maggie Nelson
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 72
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 55
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 54
So often deployed as a jingoistic, even menacing rallying cry, or limited by a focus on passing moments of liberation, the rhetoric of freedom both rouses and repels. Does it remain key to our autonomy, justice, and well-being, or is freedom's long star turn coming to a close? Does a continued obsession with the term enliven and emancipate, or reflect a deepening nihilism (or both)? On Freedom examines such questions by tracing the concept's complexities in four distinct realms: art, sex, drugs, and climate.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Just great
- By Kristi Strong on 12-14-21
By: Maggie Nelson
-
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
-
10 Conversations You Need to Have with Yourself
- A Powerful Plan for Spiritual Growth and Self-Improvement
- By: Shmuley Boteach
- Narrated by: Shmuley Boteach
- Length: 6 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 46
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 40
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 39
Some of the most effective talk therapy is self-talk therapy - learning to connect positively with that internal voice that serves as your own personal GPS to guide you through life. Rabbi Shmuley teaches the reader to reconnect with the inner voice of conscience, the source of personal dreams and values, which has been so drowned out by the noise of a culture that emphasizes form over substance, career over calling, and consumption over conviction. Drawing on Rabbi Shmuley's extensive counseling experience, this book helps you defeat negative self-talk.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Grateful for inspiration, guidance and humility
- By Mike on 07-27-15
By: Shmuley Boteach
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Wonderful
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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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3 out of 5 stars
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A nice petite primer on Proust
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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
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The Consolations of Philosophy
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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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5 out of 5 stars
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Cheering, empathic, helpful
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How to Think More About Sex
- The School of Life
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 237
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Story4 out of 5 stars 236
We don't think too much about sex; we're merely thinking about it in the wrong way. So asserts Alain de Botton in this rigorous and supremely honest book designed to help us navigate the intimate and exciting—yet often confusing and difficult—experience that is sex. Few of us tend to feel we're entirely normal when it comes to sex, and what we're supposed to be feeling rarely matches up with the reality. This book argues that twenty-first-century sex is ultimately fated to be a balancing act between love and desire, and adventure and commitment.
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How to Think About Sex as Only Sex
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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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5 out of 5 stars
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An essential read.
- By Anonymous User on 12-03-23
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Essays in Love
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- Narrated by: James Wilby
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- Unabridged
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 256
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 258
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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5 out of 5 stars
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Every relationship you've ever analyzed
- By Maria L. Lantin on 05-07-12
By: Alain de Botton
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How to Think More Effectively
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- By: The School of Life
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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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Status Anxiety
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- Unabridged
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 426
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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 Science of Sin
- Why We Do the Things We Know We Shouldn't
- By: Jack Lewis
- Narrated by: Matt Addis
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 6
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 6
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Story4 out of 5 stars 6
Anyone who has ever wondered why they never seem to be able to stick to their diet, who marvels at how little work some of their colleagues get away with doing, who despairs at the antisocial behaviour of their teenagers, who can't understand how lovecheats can handle multiple extramarital affairs, who struggles to resist the lure of the comfy sofa and the giant bag of crisps, who struggles to control their mood when morons cut them up on the M4 or who makes themselves thoroughly bitter by endlessly comparing themselves to others - well, this book is for you.
By: Jack Lewis
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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
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The Architecture of Happiness
- By: Alain de Botton
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 4 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 443
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 358
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Story4 out of 5 stars 359
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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Many elegant words used for a simple topic.
- By Spirit on 08-15-17
By: Alain de Botton
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Calm
- By: The School of Life
- Narrated by: Rachel Lanning
- Length: 4 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 12
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 10
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Story5 out of 5 stars 10
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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The School of Life: On Failure
- How to Succeed at Defeat
- By: The School of Life
- Narrated by: Rachel Lanning
- Length: 5 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 5
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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.
- By Anonymous User on 12-29-23
What listeners say about The School of 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
- Angela pope
- 02-03-23
The school of life needs to be in schools.
Everything yall have put out has been hugely helpful in my life. Keep it up!!
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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
- Richard Peter
- 05-22-23
truly difficult to recuse oneself from
an empaths must read/hear.
I read the paperback copy before listening to the audio book and gained so much insight that i overlooked while reading it rather than heading it.
some chapters become a little redundant but nothing mentioned goes unexplained
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Jonathan Shane Allison
- 12-08-23
An amazing emotional education
I was looking for a book to help me personally understand why I am how I am in some facets of my life. This was such a quick listen and touched on all of the major life points I could think of. Really loved the narration!
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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
- Hillary J
- 01-28-23
Brilliant and nourishing
I loved listening to this book, and I’m enjoying reading the hardcopy almost as much. Kind of emotional clarity and maturity about how the humanities fit together in the larger scheme of things really resonates for me not only as a human being, trying to make the best of it, but as an artist, trying to make art that matters and helps create a world that I want to live in. Thank you Alain DeBotton and School of Life.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Manjusha S
- 12-11-23
Not a book for people who are in toxic relationships
I had high expectations from this book. Thank god I’m reading it after I got out of toxic relationship. If you read it builds up in such a way that telling adjusting is good. And if a person is empathetic and an internalizer it makes them think whatever you’re given you have to adjust.and it subtly tells that it’s okay to stay even if you’re not happy and also kind of shames being alone. like getting 2-3 hugs from any kind of partner even if you're unhappy is better than failed dates is what the book says. its degressive in its own ways
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 02-16-24
I thought I’d get something out of this
But I couldn’t get past the narrators forced tone… cringe eeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeee eeeee
Not good
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 01-24-24
Nothing
Not much substance. Found it to be more of a males view. At times it felt prudish and boring. Too much verbiage per subject.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Rich S.
- 12-15-22
This is drivel
This "self-help" book appears to have been written to help the authors make money.
The basic concept supported by no real facts or data is pie-in-the-sky pop psychology.
The section on the benefits of psychotherapy could have been written by a public relations agency for psychotherapists.
Psychotherapists are wonderful. They'll transform your life. Blah. Blah. Blah.
It's just no concept of reality.
One of the worst books of this type I've ever encountered.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Suryadyuti Baral
- 01-15-23
Good story-telling. The content is not eye-opening
the narration is good. the content is somewhat interesting (specifically on relationships). however in general it's not something that would provide some gestalt change.
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