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The Consolations of Philosophy-Alain de Botton

Philosophy comes from the two Greek words philo meaning love and sophia meaning wisdom, ergo a love of wisdom. The famous Greek and Roman philosophers were therefore, in search of the wisdom to all sorts of questions, big and small.

This is a good book for a number of reasons. It is a pretty easy and straightforward read. It's free of pompous language that makes people hate philosophy and thinking. De Botton has demystified philosophy to everyday life, making it accessible to us.

courtesy of huffingpost.com
He presents different philosophical ideas from six of the best thinkers of old: Montaigne, Seneca, Socrates, Nietzsche, Epicurus, and Schopenhauer. Each of these philosophers had unique experiences and different backgrounds that influenced their thought trails. Montaigne inherited an estate from his dead parents; Socrates was poor; Schopenhauer was lonely; Epicurus was full of life; Nietzsche could not find love; Seneca lived during the dangerous times of the murderous Emperor Nero.

Some striking ideas from the experiences of these thinkers include the following: we must learn to think; life is not fair or just, it is what it is; we should expect everything and anything in life; the banal things in life, are in fact what makes most of life; life will be difficult, but we should not despise the things we want but are unable to get.

My takeaway from this book is this: reflections on our lives are valid. Most of these thinkers did not have illustrious lives. They had ordinary lives filled with similar challenges that face us. However, they took the time to reflect on them, share with others either in dialogues or in writing. This way, they clarified what they thought or thought they knew. In fact some of them were not very clear on many things. They changed their opinions when they came by better, superior or more robust ideas. This is not unlike our own lives. So, let's hold our beliefs, but keep challenging them and improving them. We might one day stumble upon a brilliant idea.
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