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On the Meaning of Life Kindle Edition
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateJuly 1, 2011
- File size278 KB
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Product details
- ASIN : B005B1AJC2
- Publisher : Promethean Press (July 1, 2011)
- Publication date : July 1, 2011
- Language : English
- File size : 278 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 83 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #607,491 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #1,124 in Two-Hour Self-Help Short Reads
- #3,106 in Philosophy (Kindle Store)
- #11,841 in Self-Help (Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
William James Durant was born in North Adams, Massachusetts, in 1885. He was educated in the Roman Catholic parochial schools there and in Kearny, New Jersey, and thereafter in St. Peter’s (Jesuit) College, Jersey City, New Jersey where he graduated in 1907, and Columbia University, New York. For a summer in 1907 he served as a cub reporter on the New York Journal, but finding the work too strenuous for his temperament, he settled down at Seton Hall College, South Orange, New Jersey, to teach Latin, French, English, and geometry (1907-11). He entered the seminary at Seton Hall in 1909, but withdrew in 1911 for reasons which he has described in his book Transition. He passed from this quiet seminary to the most radical circles in New York and became (1911-13) the teacher of the Ferrer Modern School, an experiment in libertarian education. In 1912 he toured Europe at the invitation and expense of Alden Freeman, who had befriended him and now undertook to broaden his borders. Returning to the Ferrer School, he fell in love with one of his pupils, resigned his position, and married her (1913). For four years he took graduate work at Columbia University, specializing in biology under Morgan and Calkins and in philosophy under Woodbridge and Dewey. He received the doctorate in philosophy in 1917, and taught philosophy at Columbia University for one year. Beginning in 1913 at a Presbyterian church in New York, he began those lectures on history, literature, and philosophy which, continuing twice weekly for over thirteen years, provided the initial material for his later works. The unexpected success of The Story of Philosophy (1926) enabled him to retire from teaching in 1927, and is credited as the work that launched Simon & Schuster as a major publishing force and that introduced more people to the subject of philosophy than any other book. Thenceforth, except for some incidental essays and Will’s lecture tours, Mr. and Mrs. Durant gave nearly all their working hours (eight to fourteen daily) to The Story of Civilization. To better prepare themselves they toured Europe in 1927, went around the world in 1930 to study Egypt, the Near East, India, China, and Japan, and toured the globe again in 1932 to visit Japan, Manchuria, Siberia, Russia, and Poland. These travels provided the background for Our Oriental Heritage (1935) as the first volume in The Story of Civilization. Several further visits to Europe prepared for Volume II, The Life of Greece (1939) and Volume III, Caesar and Ch
Volume III, Caesar and Christ (1944). In 1948, six months in Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Egypt, and Europe provided perspective for Volume IV, The Age of Faith (1950). In 1951 Mr. and Mrs. Durant returned to Italy to add to a lifetime of gleanings for Volume V, The Renaissance (1953); and in 1954 further studies in Italy, Switzerland, Germany, France, and England opened new vistas for Volume VI, The Reformation (1957). Mrs. Durant’s share in the preparation of these volumes became more substantial with each year, until in the case of Volume VII, The Age of Reason Begins (1961), it was so great that justice required the union of both names on the title page. And so it has been on The Age of Louis XIV (1963), The Age of Voltaire (1965), Rousseau and Revolution (1967), for which the Durants were awarded the Pulitzer Prize (1968), and The Age of Napoleon (1975). The publication of The Age of Napoleon concluded five decades of achievement and for it they were awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1977). Throughout his life, Will Durant was passionate in his quest to bring philosophy out of the ivory towers of academia and into the lives of laypeople. A champion of human rights issues, such as the brotherhood of man and social reform, long before such issues were popular, Durant’s writing still educates and entertains readers around the world, inspiring millions of people to lead lives of greater perspective, understanding, and forgiveness.
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Customers find the book worth reading for its gems, wise ideas, and reflections on oneself. They also praise the writing style as well-written. However, some find the overall quality disappointing.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the book worth reading for its gems, profound, interesting, existential, and smart. They say the ideas presented are wise and the book provides a higher sense of purpose. Readers also say it's a solid contribution that shares various perspectives on the meaning of life.
"...Worth reading for its gems, both surprising wisdom where it is not expected — a tennis player, a convict, a movie producer — and from the wisest of..." Read more
"...This is an elegant work that is provocative and deeply moving.If you like Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, and Melville you will groove on this book!" Read more
"...I would say this book is interesting in order to see two opinions on what makes life meaningful or not...." Read more
"...For me it gave me a sense of relief to some extent and granted me a higher sense of purpose to continue living a happier and more purposeful..." Read more
Customers find the writing style well written and a quick read.
"...Ernest Dimnet's letter is beyond thoughtful and really speaks the truth as he takes the author to task!..." Read more
"...Nice reading in those moments of solitude in the cold early hours of winter." Read more
"...Quick read, definitely worth it." Read more
"...libertarian streak (as well as a socialist streak), and the book is full of great lines to ponder.Vote Ron Paul 2012 for President" Read more
Customers find the overall quality of the book disappointing and pessimistic. They also say it doesn't present much of the good in the world.
"...So overall, this book is pessimistic and does not present much of the good in the world. For that you will have to read another book!..." Read more
"...while I applaud the effort by my hero Durant, I felt the book was a waste of time." Read more
"...It's a bit depressing. But, hey, that's where a materialistic worldview lands you." Read more
"Sadly disappointing..." Read more
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Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
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It questions what is ultimately meaningful about human existence. This is a sober work without cliches and stock answers.
Will Durant was one of the great writes of the last century. This work is an essay by him and comments by some of the worlds great thinkers, artists and politicians on his question: what makes life meaningful when death, illness, and the loss of faith crush all hope?
This is an elegant work that is provocative and deeply moving.
If you like Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, and Melville you will groove on this book!
This book is the result of a letter sent out to 100 or so individuals, asking them to explain life's meaning and how they found meaning on a personal level. Why does hope and faith disappear for some leaving them skeptical, while others embrace belief in God and find comfort?
Will Durant seems to have been a little disillusioned himself when writing this book. The way he views humanity through a mostly negative lens is very telling. As he asks – Can men bear to live without God?
Don't believe everything you read in this book, especially the letter by H.L. Mencken. God is far from preposterous once you get to know him and Christianity is filled with beautiful realities of sacrificing for love. John Erskine seemed more logical and says that spiritual life is as natural as our physical life.
The letters I enjoyed most in this book were the ones by Ernest M. Hopkins who mentions that Jesus came to earth to give life more abundantly and John Haynes Holmes who explains in his letter that we are co creators with God. Ernest Dimnet's letter is beyond thoughtful and really speaks the truth as he takes the author to task!
Some of the women's letters show a deep understanding of what life is really about and they mention love and beauty as guiding principles in their lives.
The crowning moment in this book is when Will Durant states that we should stop complaining about each other in the world and begin to root out the evil in our own hearts. This is great advice because humans are really on a journey to spiritual perfection – in Christianity it is called sanctification. But how can we follow this advice without a belief in God and God's help?
Will Durant however thinks it is ridiculous that God should be anything like a man, but if he had read the Bible properly and carefully he would have seen that man was created in the image of God and not the other way around! But he did believe in God and truly saw the reality of the human condition. However he failed to emphasize all the good people have done, all the charitable organization and hospitals and churches teaching people how to love God and their neighbors. So overall, this book is pessimistic and does not present much of the good in the world. For that you will have to read another book!
So what does this book say is the meaning of life? Really there are two opinions. One shuns religion, the other embraces it. My own opinion is that life is about learning to love God and our fellow humans. The goal is to feel unconditional love as God does. Most who come back from the dead agree with this totally. Jesus told us these things in ancient days and they are still true. Jesus said the truth will set you free. A relationship with Jesus is what brings true happiness. This book discusses that very briefly but it is well worth researching further.
A book to read along with this one is DONE by Cary Schmidt. It will give you peace and the hope of heaven.
Also, this book was written in the 30s and today there is a lot of solutions for those who are depressed and suicidal as there are medications which can really help brain chemistry. There are also Christian psychologists who can really assist a person through talk therapy and biblical wisdom.
I would say this book is interesting in order to see two opinions on what makes life meaningful or not. I read it to gain an understanding of what real people think in the real world. I hope the author made his way back to his faith in the end. I hope the people who wrote the skeptical letters also found Jesus in the end. Because that is all that will matter in eternity.
~The Rebecca Review
There no pretentiousness to answer the question that for me has no answer or no provable and irrefutable answer, however the book offers enough perspectives of multiple answer of the question to allow one to reach its own "conclusion". For me it gave me a sense of relief to some extent and granted me a higher sense of purpose to continue living a happier and more purposeful life.
I highly recommend for those that have an open mind.
Top reviews from other countries
O autor escreve nos anos 1930. Ele enviou cartas a grandes personalidades da época, perguntando qual é o sentido da vida na visao delas. O livro apresenta a resposta de dezenas de pessoas. Vai ficando um pouco arrastada a leitura, porque é bastante carta, mas entao começa a ficar interessante e curioso na medida q vc nota q nenhum deles faz a menor ideia de qual seja o sentido da vida.
O autor apresenta a visao dele no final, q é interessante e vai na linha das ideias de viktor frankl (em busca de sentido) apesar de frankl escrever apenas 15 anos depois deste livro.
O autor informa entao q escreveu as cartas, porque recebia muitas cartas de pessoas q pensavam em suicidar-se e ele queria apontar melhores respostas a essas pessoas.
Apesar de um ateismo do autor q transparece, é uma obra bem interessante, que leva a refletir.