The author recounts his descent into despair and his discovery of spiritual nourishment in the works of Aristotle, Emerson, Ben Franklin, and Plato, and enumerates the seventeen rules that helped transform his life. Og Mandino was one of the leading inspirational authors in the world. But once, he was a thirty-five-year-old derelict who nearly spent his last few dollars on a suicide gun. In A Better Way to Live, he describes the joyously redemptive process that turned a down-and-out alcoholic into a millionaire and a happy man within ten years. Og Mandino is the only person who could tell this heartwarming tale of personal triumph—because it is his own true story. And it can profoundly influence your life. Here are the principles that turned Og Mandino’s life around: his seventeen “Rules to Live By.” These simple, easy-to-follow rules comprise a sound, wise prescription for inner growth and for a fulfilling everyday life that will work for you—just as it worked for Og Mandino. You can avoid spending even one more day feeling failure, grief, poverty, shame, or self-pity. Here is a better way to live: a way that literally saved Og Mandino’s life, a way that can help make your dreams come true.

The Tibetan spiritual leader discusses the meaning of truth and the secret to love and happiness, covering such topics as compassion and nonviolence.

Winner of the 2010 National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography How to get along with people, how to deal with violence, how to adjust to losing someone you love—such questions arise in most people’s lives. They are all versions of a bigger question: how do you live? How do you do the good or honorable thing, while flourishing and feeling happy? This question obsessed Renaissance writers, none more than Michel Eyquem de Monatigne, perhaps the first truly modern individual. A nobleman, public official and wine-grower, he wrote free-roaming explorations of his thought and experience, unlike anything written before. He called them “essays,” meaning “attempts” or “tries.” Into them, he put whatever was in his head: his tastes in wine and food, his childhood memories, the way his dog’s ears twitched when it was dreaming, as well as the appalling events of the religious civil wars raging around him. The Essays was an instant bestseller and, over four hundred years later, Montaigne’s honesty and charm still draw people to him. Readers come in search of companionship, wisdom and entertainment—and in search of themselves. This book, a spirited and singular biography, relates the story of his life by way of the questions he posed and the answers he explored. It traces his bizarre upbringing, youthful career and sexual adventures, his travels, and his friendships with the scholar and poet Étienne de La Boétie and with his adopted “daughter,” Marie de Gournay. And we also meet his readers—who for centuries have found in Montaigne an inexhaustible source of answers to the haunting question, “how to live?”

After nearly four decades of ministry, Andrew Wommack has discovered some important truths about prayer. His prayer life is much different than it was thirty years ago and the results have dramatically improved! You may be asking many of the same questions Andrew once did. Is prayer my Christian duty? Is prayer primarily about asking God to meet my needs and the needs of others? Is God's answer to my prayer based on the degree of my humility and sincerity? Is answered prayer a sovereign decision of God or do I have the ability to influence Him? Clear, scriptural answers to these questions and more could significantly change the way you pray. These principles may not be the only way to pray, but if you're not getting the results you desire, consider changing directions; maybe there is A Better Way to Pray.

One of the loneliest, most painful places a man can find himself is in a cold, dark prison cell. It is a place very few ever intended to go. Young boys dream of growing up to be policemen, firemen, cowboys-anything but convicts or inmates. But, because some of us could not stay within the boundaries, we found ourselves in too deep. What started out as a little "fun and adventure" finished up being another painful experience.But why? That's what we keep asking. Why?* Why do we continue to bring about self inflicted wounds?* Why do we find ourselves making the same old lap over and over again? * Will I ever get off of this vicious ride and stay off? * Will I ever solidify my walk and stabilize? * Will I ever quit hurting those who love me and causing all this collateral damage?These were my thoughts over and over again. Every time I found myself in YDC, the county jail, the state penitentiary, and finally holed up in solitary confinement, I would ask these questions. It seemed as though I could never find freedom from my own worst enemy, me.

For nearly 60 years dentists from around the world have traveled to St. Petersburg, Florida to attend Peter Dawson's seminars on "The Concept of Complete Dentistry.¿" He's personally taught more than 50,000 of those practitioners. In the process he literally redefined dentistry and its standard of care by challenging his professional peers to raise their sites beyond "usual and customary" practices, to become true physicians of the masticatory system. But the most important reason for reading this book?It's the promise reflected in its title and in Pete Dawson's life-long quest to discover A Better Way. A Better Way to practice dentistry, for sure. But also, A Better Way to define success. A Better Way to balance the demands of a career with the needs of a family. In short, A Better Way to live.

Bestselling self-help author and counselor helps people be more successful and happy by empowering them to replace negative thoughts with healthy self-talk.

An allegory that invites readers into deeper identity, intimacy, and imagination WITH God.

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "Provocative and appealing . . . well worth your extremely limited time." —Barbara Spindel, The Wall Street Journal The average human lifespan is absurdly, insultingly brief. Assuming you live to be eighty, you have just over four thousand weeks. Nobody needs telling there isn’t enough time. We’re obsessed with our lengthening to-do lists, our overfilled inboxes, work-life balance, and the ceaseless battle against distraction; and we’re deluged with advice on becoming more productive and efficient, and “life hacks” to optimize our days. But such techniques often end up making things worse. The sense of anxious hurry grows more intense, and still the most meaningful parts of life seem to lie just beyond the horizon. Still, we rarely make the connection between our daily struggles with time and the ultimate time management problem: the challenge of how best to use our four thousand weeks. Drawing on the insights of both ancient and contemporary philosophers, psychologists, and spiritual teachers, Oliver Burkeman delivers an entertaining, humorous, practical, and ultimately profound guide to time and time management. Rejecting the futile modern fixation on “getting everything done,” Four Thousand Weeks introduces readers to tools for constructing a meaningful life by embracing finitude, showing how many of the unhelpful ways we’ve come to think about time aren’t inescapable, unchanging truths, but choices we’ve made as individuals and as a society—and that we could do things differently.

In How to Be Miserable, psychologist Randy Paterson outlines 40 specific behaviors and habits, which—if followed—are sure to lead to a lifetime of unhappiness. On the other hand, if you do the opposite, you may yet join the ranks of happy people everywhere! There are stacks upon stacks of self-help books that will promise you love, happiness, and a fabulous life. But how can you pinpoint the exact behaviors that cause you to be miserable in the first place? Sometimes when we’re depressed, or just sad or unhappy, our instincts tell us to do the opposite of what we should—such as focusing on the negative, dwelling on what we can’t change, isolating ourselves from friends and loved ones, eating junk food, or overindulging in alcohol. Sound familiar? This tongue-in-cheek guide will help you identify the behaviors that make you unhappy and discover how you—and only you—are holding yourself back from a life of contentment. You’ll learn to spot the tried-and-true traps that increase feelings of dissatisfaction, foster a lack of motivation, and detract from our quality of life—as well as ways to avoid them. So, get ready to live the life you want (or not?) This fun, irreverent guide will light the way.