Life Is Short

An Appropriately Brief Guide to Making It More Meaningful

De: Dean Rickles

Narrado por: Simon Vance

Why life's shortness—more than anything else—is what makes it meaningful

Death might seem to render pointless all our attempts to create a meaningful life. Doesn't meaning require transcending death through an afterlife or in some other way? On the contrary, Dean Rickles argues, life without death would be like playing tennis without a net. Only constraints—and death is the ultimate constraint—make our actions meaningful. In Life Is Short, Rickles explains why the finiteness and shortness of life is the essence of its meaning-and how this insight is the key to making the most of the time we do have.

Life Is Short explores how death limits our options and forces us to make choices that forge a life and give the world meaning. But people often live in a state of indecision, in a misguided attempt to keep their options open. This provisional way of living—always looking elsewhere, to the future, to other people, to other ways of being, and never committing to what one has or, alternatively, putting in the time and energy to achieve what one wants—is a big mistake, and Life Is Short tells listeners how to avoid this trap. By reminding us how extraordinary it is that we have any time to live at all, Life Is Short challenges us to rethink what gives life meaning and how to make the most of it.

©2022 Princeton University Press (P)2022 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

great

An easy read (listen) with a mix of Stoic and semi-current philosophy and with some humor. Vance is awesome as always

Truly Excellent

I couldn't be more impressed by this book, both content and performance. I don't know if it just particularly hit home because it applies to my circumstance so closely, but I have never listened to a philosophical piece that was so relatable. It is short and dense but easy to listen to, a real pleasure. And really truly usable.

The tree-pruning analogy on decisions in your life is extremely illustrative and will at the very least make you think about what you're doing with your life.

I will listen again soon.

Great Book

I would recommend this to anyone. It is a short, good, read. 5 stars, 10/10.

A new personal favourite

“Short” but sweet, dense, and easily digestible. Each chapter gives the reader something to think about: from how we so easily waste away our most precious resources to the downside of allowing ourselves to be too comfortable. All my personal favourite philosophers make an appearance, from Seneca, Epicurus, Socrates, to Nietzsche and Schopenhauer and Camus.

Narrator was great as well though there was a slight static in the background. May be my earphone though. Great read. About to listen again!