Excellent introduction to Stoicism

Enjoyable listen with some light hearted takes on stoicism which are excellently relayed by the narrator. Particularly enjoyed Epictetus’s simple but effective narrative which for a beginner I believe was easier to grasp than Marcus Aurelius Meditations.

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A great classic really well read

Fantastic lively and well read version. I will definitely listen again. It makes this stoic epic very accessible

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Excellent starting point

My first book on philosophy. I had heard of being stoic and the usual stern, wise and quiet person came to mind. Then I watched PewDiePie do a summary on stoicism and said I'd give it a read, it looked like a way of thinking I would be interested in. It's surreal to think a man living in ancient Rome, an ancient civilisation filled with ancient gods, slaves and the setting for some of my favourite films growing up would have so much knowledge that is applicable to me, an Irish man living in 2021 and the age of social media. I would recommend it to anyone struggling with their own values, virtues, vices and path in life.

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4 people found this helpful

Spot on

As fresh today as the time of Trajan -- just so true in his analysis of human nature

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We can control our actions

This book demonstrates how we can have full control over our actions, emotions and thoughts. We can either choose to act in violence, have negative thoughts or illicit emotions in response to harsh circumstances.

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a must read,

really great book full of ideas, most of the chapters are quite short so the whole book seemed to fly by, I would really recommend

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1 person found this helpful

Excellent

Really enjoyed the audio book. particularly like the way each chapter is broken up and titled so one can pick and choose what to listen to.

Narrator also very good.

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Fantastic, Epictetus on demand!

I have been studying the Stoic philosophy seriously for the last eight months and it has transformed my life. I had an older translation of the Discourses but a lot of the passages were quite obscure. This newer translation is much clearer for the modern reader.
This audiobook is fantastic, the narration is spot on and listening to the works take it to a whole new level and complements the written material incredibly well. The discourses after all are lectures compiled by one of Epictetus student, and this audio version immerses you into what of his classes may have felt back in the day.
Amazon also did a good job of listing each individual discourse so I can always get to your favourites quite easily. The Enchiridion is provided as one single chapter though but that's ok.

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1 person found this helpful

Indispensible Wisdom

A wonderful book and essential reading for anyone interested in Stoicism or philosophy in general. Epictetus has a lot of valuable wisdom to dispense and does so in a clear way (unlike some other philosophers)
It's clear Epictetus has a strong desire for his Stoic philosophy to be practical, not simply theoretical. Anyone listening to this would do well to put what he says into practice.
It has to be read with it firmly in mind that Epictetus was a Roman, an ancient civilisation with a different culture and understanding of the cosmos.
It's very well narrated too.

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