This excellent introduction to the essential issues that have preoccupied philosophers throughout the centuries provides fresh and engaging portraits of the greatest thinkers on three perennial questions: What can I know? What may I hope? What ought I to do? The author summarizes the thoughts of Plato and Wittgenstein on the possibility of philosophical knowledge; Kant and Nietzsche on the existence of God; Aristotle and Heidegger on human virtue. The first member of the pair is a builder, the second a destroyer. One explores the promise of a theory, the other the consequences of its ruin. These juxtaposed pairs are not self-contained, however. All six thinkers are engaged in a dialogue with one another on issues that touch our lives directly and profoundly. The author has arranged them in an order that unveils an ever-deepening understanding of the moral, spiritual and intellectual space in which our lives unfold. For anyone wishing to discover, or rediscover, philosophy in its original meaning—"the love of wisdom"—this engaging, clearly written, and accessible volume is an excellent place to start.

The philosopher Alfred North Whitehead once said that all of Western philosophy was "but a series of footnotes to Plato." By the same token, one could argue that all of Western civilization is but an extension of the ancient Greek cultural legacy. The Greeks invented tragedy, comedy, lyric poetry, history, philosophy, and democracy. They also made remarkable advances in science, medicine, and mathematics. In the author’s view, what ties this wide-ranging intellectual ferment together is a restless search for wisdom. The author looks at ten outstanding examples of Greek wisdom, offering fresh and engaging portraits of the epic poets (Homer, Hesiod); dramatists (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes); historians (Herodotus, Thucydides); and philosophers (Plato, Aristotle) against the background of Greek history. In each case he asks what the author has to tell us— regardless of genre—about our place in the world and how we should live our lives. By surveying some of the highest peaks of ancient civilization, the author argues that we gain perspective on the historical terrain that lies below. This book presents an eloquent and convincing case that a study of the Greek classics, as Gustave Flaubert explained, makes us "greater, wiser, purer."

With his stunning watercolors -- and text that resounds with universal truths, award-winning artist Jon J Muth has transformed a story by Tolstoy into a timeless fable for young readers. What is the best time to do things? Who is the most important one? What is the right thing to do? Nikolai knows that he wants to be the best person he can be, but often he is unsure if he is doing the right thing. So he goes to ask Leo, the wise turtle. But it is Nikolai's own response to a stranger's cry for help that leads him directly to the answers he is looking for.Jon J Muth combined his studies of Zen with his love for Tolstoy to create this profound, yet simple book about compassion and living in the moment.

Finding a firm foundation in a shaken and fractured world. Do you feel tossed about or a little disoriented? The foundations of predictable society are shifting. In this ambiguous cultural forecast, we’re wondering what’s right, what matters most, and how we should respond. How do we build a meaningful life and legacy when our lives feel fragile—when our future seems discouragingly uncertain? With a pastoral heart Daniel Henderson looks to Psalm 15 when David—late in his years—was also trying to make sense of the strangest of times. David felt the unexpected loss of family, dignity, and destiny. Some of his pain was the result of seeds he’d sown earlier in his life. Yet, as he penned Psalm 15, he was led to the solid ground of intimacy with God and integrity in his own life. He was left with the promise from God that He would always be secure – never moved. The burdens under which David was laboring are staggeringly similar to our own. In Never Shaken, Henderson shows us how to build our lives on the gospel of Jesus Christ. He reveals how true worship and the presence of God is found in Christ’s life in and through us. This book is an invaluable resource for all who desire to live with the hope and courage of Jesus Christ no matter what befalls us.

To get the best answer-in business, in life-you have to ask the best possible question. Innovation expert Warren Berger shows that ability is both an art and a science. It may be the most underappreciated tool at our disposal, one we learn to use well in infancy-and then abandon as we grow older. Critical to learning, innovation, success, even to happiness-yet often discouraged in our schools and workplaces-it can unlock new business opportunities and reinvent industries, spark creative insights at many levels, and provide a transformative new outlook on life. It is the ability to question-and to do so deeply, imaginatively, and “beautifully.” In this fascinating exploration of the surprising power of questioning, innovation expert Warren Berger reveals that powerhouse businesses like Google, Nike, and Netflix, as well as hot Silicon Valley startups like Pandora and Airbnb, are fueled by the ability to ask fundamental, game-changing questions. But Berger also shares human stories of people using questioning to solve everyday problems-from “How can I adapt my career in a time of constant change?” to “How can I step back from the daily rush and figure out what really makes me happy?” By showing how to approach questioning with an open, curious mind and a willingness to work through a series of “Why,” “What if,” and “How” queries, Berger offers an inspiring framework of how we can all arrive at better solutions, fresh possibilities, and greater success in business and life.

Enlightenment—Aufklärung in German, Lumières in French—is more an idea than a period. But it is an idea that took hold in a particular historical context of revolutionary scientific advances, increasing economic and social freedom, rising literacy and prosperity, and a greater willingness to challenge the authoritarianism of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In The Wisdom of the Enlightenment, author Michael K. Kellogg points to 1637, the year that gave us Rene Descartes’ landmark inquiry into truth, as the beginning of a period that radically changed individual human thought and collective societal action. From Descartes’ assertion of “I think, therefore I am,” to the philosophies of Enlightenment thinkers like Moliere, Spinoza, Voltaire, Hume, and Kant, this book charts the new and revolutionary philosophies at a time when progress seemed possible across the whole range of human knowledge and endeavor. In sweeping aside tired superstitions and applying a new scientific methodology, the Enlightenment ideas of progress through free exercise of reason ushered us into the modern world. This engaging and comprehensive survey of Enlightenment thoughts and thinkers is a celebration of the faith that all problems are solvable by human reason. ,

A king visits a hermit to gain answers to three important questions.

A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2018 A lively and timely introduction to the roots of self-understanding--who we are and how we should act--in the cultures of ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, and Middle Ages and the Renaissance "Know thyself"--this fundamental imperative appeared for the first time in ancient Greece, specifically in Delphi, the temple of the god Apollo, who represented the enlightened power of reason. For the Greeks, self-knowledge and identity were the basics of their civilization and their sources were to be found in where one was born and into which social group. These determined who you were and what your duties were. In this book the independent scholar Ingrid Rossellini surveys the major ideas that, from Greek and Roman antiquity through the Christian medieval era up to the dawn of modernity in the Renaissance, have guided the Western project of self-knowledge. Addressing the curious lay reader with an interdisciplinary approach that includes numerous references to the visual arts, Know Thyself will reintroduce readers to the most profound and enduring ways our civilization has framed the issues of self and society, in the process helping us rediscover the very building blocks of our personality.

My name is Amber Reynolds. There are three things you should know about me: 1. I’m in a coma. 2. My husband doesn’t love me anymore. 3. Sometimes I lie. Amber wakes up in a hospital. She can’t move. She can’t speak. She can’t open her eyes. She can hear everyone around her, but they have no idea. Amber doesn’t remember what happened, but she has a suspicion her husband had something to do with it. Alternating between her paralyzed present, the week before her accident, and a series of childhood diaries from twenty years ago, this brilliant psychological thriller asks: Is something really a lie if you believe it's the truth?

The beloved spiritual teacher builds on the message of his enduring New York Times and international bestseller The Four Agreements with this profound guide that takes us deeper into the tradition of Toltec wisdom, helping us find and use the hidden power within us to achieve our fullest lives. In The Four Agreements, Don Miguel Ruiz introduced seekers on the path to enlightenment to the tenets of Mesoamerican spiritual culture—the ancient Toltec. Now, he takes us deeper into Native American practice, and asks us to consider essential questions that drive our lives and govern our spiritual power. Three eternal questions can help us into our power and use it judiciously: Who am I? What is real? How do I express love? At each stage in our lives, we must ask these simple yet deeply profound questions. Finding the answers will open the door to the next stage in our development, and eventually lead us to our complete, truest selves. But as Don Miguel Ruiz makes clear, we suffer if we do not ask these questions—or if we fail to pay attention to their answers—because we either never act on our power or use it destructively. Only when power is anchored in our identity and in reality will it be able to be in synch with the universe—and be of true benefit to ourselves and to others. The three questions provide a practical framework that allows readers to engage with Ruiz’s transformative message and act as a vehicle for overcoming fear and anxiety and discovering peace of mind. An essential guide for all travelers pursuing self-knowledge, understanding, and acceptance, The Three Questions is the next step in our unique spiritual metamorphosis.