Classics Literature Philosophy

First published in 1849, this essay argues that individuals have rights and duties in relation to their government. Motivated by his disgust over both slavery and the Mexican-American War, Thoreau argued that individuals must not permit nor enable their government to act against their own consciences. This version of "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience" was recorded as part of Dreamscape's Walden and On the Duty of Civil Disobedience.

Award-winning voice actress Rosemary Benson narrates The Art of War by Sun Tzu. This text has separated winners from losers for nearly 3,000 years. For example, Ho Che Minh applied the principles therein and won. This is an audiobook you will listen to in your car, while running, or walking many times to absorb its principals. Rosemary makes for easy listening.

Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American philosopher, lecturer, essayist, and poet, who is best remembered for leading the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was a a champion of individualism and wrote dozens of essays. Most criics consider "Self-Reliance" his best. It has the most thorough statement of one of Emerson's repeating themes, the need for each individual to avoid conformity and false consistency.

Thought to have been written over 3,000 years ago, this missive has been included as a course of study in the US Marine Corps and military academies. These precepts have destroyed nations and built business empires. An executive, a general, a congressman, a businessperson, a student, or anybody just wanting to get ahead should pay heed to this missive.

The Art of War is an ancient Chinese military treatise attributed to Sun Tzu, a high-ranking military general, strategist, and tactician. The text is composed of 13 chapters, each devoted to one aspect of warfare. It is commonly considered to be the definitive work on military strategy and tactics of its time. It has been the most famous and influential of China's Seven Military Classics, and "for the last 2,000 years it remained the most important military treatise in Asia, where even the common people knew it by name."

The Art of War was written in the sixth century BC by the high-ranking military general and strategist Sun Tzu. Though it is most commonly known as an ancient Chinese military treatise, The Art of War has become more versatile and is currently being used worldwide in business management.

El somni és una obra complexa i singular, capaç de mirar-se de prop i amb un gran sentit de l'humor els aspectes més prosaics de la vida quotidiana però també d'elevar-se fins a les idees filosòfiques més transcendents. Metge, tancat a la presó per acusacions de malversació i corrupció, comença a somiar i se li presenten el personatge del rei mort recentment, Joan I, i dels personatges mitològics Orfeu i Tirèsies, amb els quals obre un diàleg en què discuteixen des de la immortalitat de l'ànima, d'algunes aficions excessives o dels defectes i virtuts d'homes i dones.

This rather incoherent work by Russian anarchist philosopher Michael Bakunin is described in a way that he described his own life: a fragment. Rife with criticisms on Christianity and the technocracy, Bakunin presses communist values without fear of bordering extremism. Listening to this work is like walking through Bakunin’s disjointed mind; often cutting off and starting mid-sentence, including footnotes several paragraphs long as if his thoughts suddenly start to wander, as well as ending rather abruptly mid-sentence.

In 1775 the American colonies were a hotbed of political discord. Many of the British policies, specifically taxes, had caused American colonial leaders to consider the unthinkable: declaring independence from the British Empire and its King George. One such leader, Thomas Paine, wrote Common Sense: a pamphlet that explained the advantages of immediate and complete independence.

Este tratado de estrategia fue escrito hace más de 2000 años. Sin embargo, sorprende por su vigencia y por la claridad de sus explicaciones, comprensibles para cualquier lector. El autor ha visto claramente los aspectos de la guerra y de la estrategia que no cambian con el paso del tiempo. Leyendo sus páginas se comprende que el triunfo no está necesariamente en manos del más fuerte, sino del más inteligente.

The Prince is a treatise that systematically charts the best strategies for successful governing. It unapologetically places realism above idealism, showing would-be kings how to get what they want while appearing to be generous and honourable, and advocates that the means — cruelty, duplicity and horror —justify the ends of secure monarchical rule. But it can also be read as the work of a secret republican subtly undermining the despotism of the ruling Medici family.

Published in 1532 five years after Machiavelli’s death, the philosophies and implications introduced in the manifesto are continually referenced by today’s top business executives for insight into leadership, political theory, and ethics.

The Art of War is an ancient Chinese military treatise dating from about the fifth century BCE. The work contains a detailed explanation and analysis of the Chinese military, from weapons and strategy to rank and discipline. It also stresses the importance of intelligence operatives and espionage to the war effort.

El Arte de la Guerra es el mejor libro de estrategia de todos los tiempos. Inspiró a Napoleón, Maquiavelo, Mao Tse Tung, y muchas más figuras históricas. Este libro de dos mil quinientos años de antigüedad es uno de los más importantes textos clásicos Chinos, en el que, a pesar del tiempo transcurrido, ninguna de sus máximas ha quedado anticuada, ni hay un solo consejo que hoy no sea útil. Pero la obra del general Sun-tzu no es únicamente un libro de práctica militar....

Chi è più sapiente? Colui che dice di sapere o colui che sa di non sapere? Su questo bivio del pensiero Socrate ha fondato la sua vita e imposta ora la sua autodifesa: stringente, appassionante, inoppugnabile. La fine è nota. E tuttavia Socrate non perde la sua forza: perché anche la morte può essere un’avventura, di silenzio o di conversazione.

Dass dieses zu seinem Glücke viel mehr beiträgt, als was er hat, oder was er vorstellt, haben wir bereits im allgemeinen erkannt. Immer kommt es darauf an, was einer sei und demnach an sich selber habe: denn seine Individualität begleitet ihn stets und überall, und von ihr ist alles tingiert, was er erlebt.

Die Grenze unserer vernünftigen Wünsche hinsichtlich des Besitzes zu bestimmen ist schwierig, wo nicht unmöglich. Denn die Zufriedenheit eines jeden, in dieser Hinsicht, beruht nicht auf einer absoluten sondern auf einer bloß relativen Größe, nämlich auf dem Verhältnis zwischen seinen Ansprüchen und seinem Besitz: daher dieser letztere, für sich allein betrachtet, so bedeutungsleer ist wie der Zähler eines Bruchs ohne den Nenner.

Was einer ist: also die Persönlichkeit, im weitesten Sinne, Sonach ist hierunter Gesundheit, Kraft, Schönheit, Temperament, moralischer Charakter, Intelligenz und Ausbildung derselben begriffen. / Was einer hat: also Eigentum und Besitz in jeglichem Sinne. / Was einer vorstellt: unter diesem Ausdruck wird bekanntlich verstanden, was er in der Vorstellung anderer ist, also eigentlich, wie er von ihnen vorgestellt wird. Es besteht demnach in ihrer Meinung von ihm, und zerfällt in Ehre, Rang und Ruhm.

"Wir treten in die Welt voll Ansprüche auf Glück und Genuss, bis das Schicksal uns unsanft packt und uns zeigt, dass nichts unser ist, sondern alles seins - da es ein unbestreitbares Recht hat nicht nur auf uns, sondern auf allen unseren Besitz und Erwerb, auch auf Arm und Bein, Auge und Ohr, ja sogar auf die Nase mitten im Gesicht."

Mit "Also sprach Zarathustra" hat Nietzsche ein faszinierendes Hauptwerk geschaffen, einen Meilenstein der Weltliteratur. In drei zentralen Formeln fasst er seine Philosophie zusammen: der Wille zur Macht, die ewige Wiederkehr des Gleichen und der Übermensch. "Gott ist tot."