A Guide to the Good Life

The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy

By: William B. Irvine

Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin

Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

One of the great fears many of us face is that despite all our effort and striving, we will discover at the end that we have wasted our life. In A Guide to the Good Life, William B. Irvine plumbs the wisdom of Stoic philosophy, one of the most popular and successful schools of thought in ancient Rome, and shows how its insight and advice are still remarkably applicable to modern lives. In A Guide to the Good Life, Irvine offers a refreshing presentation of Stoicism, showing how this ancient philosophy can still direct us toward a better life.

Using the psychological insights and the practical techniques of the Stoics, Irvine offers a roadmap for anyone seeking to avoid the feelings of chronic dissatisfaction that plague so many of us. Irvine looks at various Stoic techniques for attaining tranquility and shows how to put these techniques to work in our own life. As he does so, he describes his own experiences practicing Stoicism and offers valuable first-hand advice for anyone wishing to live better by following in the footsteps of these ancient philosophers. Listeners learn how to minimize worry, how to let go of the past and focus our efforts on the things we can control, and how to deal with insults, grief, old age, and the distracting temptations of fame and fortune. We learn from Marcus Aurelius the importance of prizing only things of true value, and from Epictetus we learn how to be more content with what we have.

Finally, A Guide to the Good Life shows listeners how to become thoughtful observers of their own lives. If we watch ourselves as we go about our daily business and later reflect on what we saw, we can better identify the sources of distress and eventually avoid that pain in our life. By doing this, the Stoics thought, we can hope to attain a truly joyful life.

©2009 William B. Irvine (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Fantastic

This is a great book, and the narrator fits perfectly. I would recommend this title to any thoughtful friend or family member. I started this book at a real low point, and found this profoundly helpful. Also, unlike most books that offer life advice, the author is clearly a smart, logical individual who thinks carefully about what he says and explains what it is like to put his advice into practice.

Wonderful book!

A Guide to the Good Life is a really super book, brimming over with good advice and techniques on living a happy, tranquil life. I have really gotten so much out of it, and over the course of these last few days reading the book, I am already amazingly more tranquil myself!

Helpful philosophy for life

I took a lot from this book. But it all comes down to the basic stoic philosophy.
I will return to this book again.

Loved it. Valuable info and an easy listen.

Not being a philosopher or much of an intellectual, I started to listen to this audio book with a bit of trepidation. I was interested enough in the topic to give it a go. So happy I listened to others recommendations.

The book's tone is light, not at all professorial or heavy. The narrator contributed to the easy-going nature. I was able to do other things while simultaneously listening to the audio.

I was fascinated by who the Stoics were and pleased that I am already following some of the practices. I was relieved to learn that the Stoics were still interested in pleasure. There are some correlations to Buddhism. The book gave me enough information to move on to some other works and even seek out other practitioners of stoicism.

Recommended. Enjoy!

A Philosophy of Life - Essential Reading

Highly relevant, concise, practical and well reseArched and formulated.

Would have enjoyed a less formal presentation - more human stories and a type of narrative/plot cantered around a 'new student' and how they souls evolve, be challenged, fail, learn and gradually gain in knowledge and experience.

The presentation here, rich, detailed and thorough, made it challenging to remember lists, tips and unrelated anecdotes.

An excellent Stoic introduction

This is an excellent introduction to Stoicism and the Stoic greats. A great modernization of stocism as well as a superb telling and comparison of the philosophical ancients.

The narrator is perfect.

Thought-provoking

Excellent book that could help you see life in a new way. I keep coming back to it in order to assimilate Stoic techniques to the point of reflexive reaction. I was in a dark place in life when I came to this.

The realization that I had brought myself there was the beginning of a more than year long journey, prompted by this audiobook, accompanied by reading Meditations, Enchiridion, On The Shortness Of Life...etc etc.

Transformational

There is no doubt in my mind that i should adopt stoicism as a philosophy of life

Stoicism is Joy

I love how the author took a disarray of ancient texts and was able to stich together a coherent, practical, and modern approach to the practice of stoicism. Kudos for standing in defiance of the accepted academic norm in the name of the greater good. I even wonder if this book is the catalyst to the rising number of popular references to this long-misunderstood philosophy. Great listen for any who wish to gain self-control, conquer fears, and live a satisfying and full life.

What an Experience

This book really opened my eyes about how I looked at everyday things in life. I have recommended this book for some great friends and so far its been incredibly helpful. My first book about stoicism. AUDIBLE 20 REVIEW SWEEPSTAKES ENTRY