Ways of Wisdom: Readings on the Good Life

Images of living well of happiness, satisfaction, fulfillment, personal well-being) are the heart of this book. Drawn from classical and contemporary authors of both Eastern and Western traditions, they are organized around prominent motifs of the good life: Emptiness, Pleasure, Detachment, Becoming Human, Nature, God, Authentic Existence, and Universe. Most selections are brief, and are chosen not only for their quality, but also for their impact and accessibility. Philosophical writings by Plato, Epicurus, Epictetus, Shankara, Mill, Nietzsche, Dewey, Sartre and others are supplemented by selections from literature, psychology and religion, including excerpts from Tolstoy, Kafka, Freud, Maslow, Rogers, Fromm, Chuang Tzu, Suzuki, and scriptural sources. Each chapter begins with a brief editorial essay, sympathetically introducing the views of that chapter.