How to Be a Stoic
Using Ancient Philosophy to Live a Modern Life
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How to Be a Stoic
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Narrated by:
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Peter Coleman
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Written by:
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Massimo Pigliucci
About this listen
An engaging guide to how Stoicism - the ancient philosophy of Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius - can provide lessons for living in the modern world
Whenever we worry about what to eat, how to love, or simply how to be happy, we are worrying about how to lead a good life. No goal is more elusive. In How to Be a Stoic, philosopher Massimo Pigliucci offers Stoicism, the ancient philosophy that inspired the great emperor Marcus Aurelius, as the best way to attain it. Stoicism is a pragmatic philosophy that teaches us to act depending on what is within our control and separate things worth getting upset about from those that are not. By understanding Stoicism, we can learn to answer crucial questions. Should we get married or divorced? How should we bank in a world nearly destroyed by a financial crisis? How can we survive great personal tragedy? Whoever you are, Stoicism has something for you - and How to Be a Stoic is your essential guide.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
©2017 Massimo Pigliucci (P)2017 Hachette AudioYou may also enjoy...
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Practical Philosophy
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Think like a Stoic
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- Written by: Massimo Pigliucci, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Professor Massimo Pigliucci
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 57
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 41
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 41
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-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Comprehensive review of fundamentals about Stoicism.
- By Nel on 2024-07-02
Written by: Massimo Pigliucci, and others
-
The Last Wish
- Written by: Andrzej Sapkowski
- Narrated by: Peter Kenny
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,237
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,052
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,049
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 192
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 152
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What the critics say
What listeners say about How to Be a Stoic
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Anddra
- 2019-08-13
Enjoyable and parctical for us Westerners
Peter is fun to listen to, and the subject matter, Stoicim, is made easy to consume and apply right away. I find myself going to this time and time again on long drives.
I've read a few books on Stoicim by Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus, and Massimo ties them in real well.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2020-03-15
Great, First book on audible I finished
This teached me a lot but there is still more to learn, so this was a good book
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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
- Brad
- 2018-02-11
Thank you, Massimo. Great book!
This book answered many questions i had! A must read for new Stoics. Easy to follow with clear narration.
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3 people 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
- Leon hughes
- 2021-09-09
Absolutely beautiful sexy and gorgeous novel I’m so I love with knowledge
I may be far off and have a lot of work to do before I get to true Eudaimonia but thanks to this book I have a path.
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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
- Tamie-Ann Langevin
- 2022-03-29
Life Chaging
Few book transmit ancient wisdom in a practical way that can be adopted by a modern reader to improve their quality of life. This book succeeds in the goal. I am grateful to the author for so clearly sharing this wisdom. Thank you.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2022-09-23
terrible narrator
the book was alright but the narrators voice seemed to aggravate me, maybe that was the point tho, either way I would not subject myself to another book narrated by that dude!
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 2025-02-19
Strong personal opinions
I wasn't a huge fan of the debate style approach and language to writing, but generally I didn't connect with the authors personal opinions thrown everywhere while he at the same time tries to take on the authority of classic authors. It's an ok read, but there's enough I needed to disregard to give it the score.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Jean-Paul Beauchesne
- 2020-03-26
Stoicism for First World Problems
Massimo provides an acceptable introduction to Stoicism as a well as some good background information in regard to the historical roots and modern branches of this tradition. However, the overall work is relatively shallow and poor when compared to the actual philosophical texts which he cites. I suggest reading the original books on the subject first.
Massimo is a professor of philosophy, and what he provides here is a personal account of applying the principles of Stoicism to his own life. The troubles and travails that he uses to relate his application of Stoicism to modern life are all pedestrian; the death of his parents in old age, the minor inconveniences of one who is a successful academic. While I do not wish to denigrate Massimo's personal experience and suffering, I do not feel that it provides adequate scope for the full consideration of the application of Stoicism to modern life.
To be fair, part of my dissatisfaction with this work has to do with the narrator, who's bland and plodding tone rendered this book drier and more boring than it needed to be, like a cut of meat that would have done well if marinated, but was instead grilled to being overdone. Honestly it would have been better if Massimo himself had read it, as his voice is rich and expressive in the parts of the text he does read.
If you would like to learn about Stoicism, I encourage you to read Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, or perhaps Seneca. For a more modern consideration of Stoicism as it applies to life, I strongly encourage you to read "Man's Search for Meaning" by Victor Frankel, who was a psychiatrist before he was placed in Auschwitz by the Nazis, and who writes with phenomenal compassion and clarity about his experiences as a holocaust survivor, as well as about how he applied what he learned to helping his patients.
This book was not a waste of my time, but there are better books available on the subject. I would very much like to read a treatise on modern Stoicism written by a contemporary psychologist or someone who otherwise has the background to deliver both a broader view of human life and a clearer sense of the implications of recent advances in psychology to the practice of Stoicism.
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11 people found this helpful