This story is a mixture of fact and fiction, leaving you wondering which part it Dan's autobiography and which part is fiction. It takes you on a Journey to connect with your own inner dreams and aspirations.

Dan, the main character, is a college student at Berkeley, University of California, and world-champion athlete. He knows that despite his success there is something missing in his life. Waking up one night by nightmares, he wonders down to the gas station, where he meets an old eccentric man. They become friends, teacher and student in a 'course for life'. Socrates, as Dan calls the old man and warrior, teaches him about life, spirit, belief, mystery, success and love in a way that draws you into Dan's character.

This classic tale, told with heart and humor, speaks to the peaceful warrior in each of us, moving readers to laughter and tears -- even to moments of illumination -- as they rediscover life's larger meaning and purpose. The book was written 25 years ago and the film of the book was released last year. Check your local cinema to find out when the film will play in your area.

The new edition of this inspiring book contains hundreds of revisions by the author. It also tells the story behind the book - how it was born, "died," then rose from its ashes to become a word-of-mouth bestseller that continues to inspire millions of men and women of all ages in 22 languages worldwide.

Comments by Dan:

'Way of the Peaceful Warrior began my own journey as a writer and teacher. I've been blessed by thousands of letters I've received over the years. When I wrote it, I had no idea that so many people, young and old, from different walks of life, would find my story so inspiring. Over the years I've asked myself why. I believe it's because my story also touched upon universal themes-our common quest for meaning and purpose and direction. Somehow it reminds readers of what they had always known but forgotten -- the bigger picture and essential perfection of our lives unfolding.' ( )

There is some great advice and points of suggestion worth considering. Very fascinating read! ( )

Pseudo-autobiography of Dan Millman. Really was way over my head and I didn't get it. ( )

This review is for my personal journal not for you to read so feel free not to read this : These are more rambling notes and observations for me to reflect on in the future. As far as the writing , dialogue , character development and interaction , this book is lacking. It was very difficult for me to get through what should`ve been a very quick read. I didn`t really enjoy the characters at all and rarely empathized with them even when confronted with obvious universal "situations" we all have been in. I blame the authors lack of skill at this moment in his life ....he apparently wrote 9 more books , and I must assume he got better. This book did have a few moments of clear thought , fair philosophy , and profound statements. They seemed to be interspersed just enough to make me continue reading. These documentations of insight were surrounded by trite , new-age pseudo-philosophy. I also get the feeling that the few parts of the book that had impactful messages were not written by the author but copied out of an eastern philosophy didactic. I could be wrong. I did find myself HOPING that some aspect of enlightenment or simple truth would be revealed to me , reminding me of my general unhappiness. Some good things to come out of the book and to add to my strivings for happiness... Paradoxically related to the above statement is that happiness is not something you obtain or search or strive for but something that you feel in the here and now - Be happy , don`t resist life . --Even this is weak as I reread what i just wrote. I feel jipped , I had HOPE that some wisdom was going to be related and I don`t think there was enough , especially considering the story one had to suffer thru to recieve this weak wisdom. There was a lot in this book that I just don`t see working for me at the extreme he reccomended. Also , some aspects that I feel are poor philosophy in a world of doers. He seemed to put down his education and reading and put more faith in the physical.. his vegetarian diet , meditation , tai chi , gymnastics and running ... I agree a good diet and good exercise is essential to a happy body/mind but there was just too much emphasis on it. The old man , almost died trying to duplicate the phsicality of his young student. I think working out the brain and expanding your education and understanding of the world has as much import as the physical , esp; the majority of us won`t be able to live a lifelong physically fit life such as this author envisions , and I don`t believe those people are necessarily doomed to unhappiness. The author also poopoos attaining goals , belittles business acumen as unimportant , calls out monetary accumulation as unnecessary etc; this combined with the confusion of , one moment concentrating on the self , and the next advocating altruism and the sacrifice of self. Ayn Rand would spin in her grave and screech about the dangers of such a philosophy in the "real world" we all live in. The spiritual silliness about dying and being in the trees and the birds and the wind , blah blah silliness is just spiritual fluff to mask the fact that death holds no answers. I must say he makes a compelling argument that it should have no sway either. Some of the negativity in here aside, I haven`t written this much of a review on a book in a while so there must be something to it. I would call it hope ...I have hope that one day I will find contentment. I think I do want to read some more self help books to see if I may glean some bits of wisdom that may help me in my goal. other positive thoughts - Happiness = satisfaction/desires - a simpler life and less expensive desires is one easy way to enjoy what you have Pg 133 - an attack on the Aristotelian philosphy of Moderation - compellingStoicism - seems to be an influenceConcentration - harped upon thruought the book- clear your mind of distractions and the silliness of everyday doubts , worries , etc; In the grand scheme , unimportant trivialities. Present moment awareness -- reminds me of some stuff I wrote on my website at ( )

Millman's book - Way of the Peaceful Warrior - follows the journey and development of the protagonist (Millman himself) as he undergoes a spiritual transformation and "self-realization". Millman uses a mysterious teacher character, Socrates, to convey life's important lessons. The plot is very straightforward - it is a standard quest-for-knowledge. Think of the movie, The Karate Kid, and you get the gist of the plot.

It's important that you read the book as an allegory and is only meant to be read semi-literally. This is important because Millman's writing is very rough at times, the dialogue made me cringe, and there are random moments of misogyny. Also, Millman throws in various supernatural events, which gave me a few "Huh?" moments. Towards the end, the book feels like Millman tried to pick up the pace of the novel, which felt ackward given the pace of the first three quarters of the book. So, minus two stars for the bad writing.

Once you can see through the poor dialogue and supernatural events, you can pull out the lessons that Millman is trying to convey:

- Take care of your health and eat well. Your body will reward you.
- Avoid stress and use anger positively. Meditation is a good tool.
- Don't fuss over the past; it's done. Learn and move on.
- Don't fuss over the future; it's too unpredictable.
- Go all-in or don't play at all. Moderation is for bores.
- Life is a journey to understand yourself and in doing so, understand your own way to happiness.
- Live for now and enjoy the present; be aware and avoid passive understanding.

To the informed reader, this novel doesn't really express anything new or ground-breaking; it just bundles some basic advice nicely in a story that is easily read by most Americans. I didn't find this novel life-changing or phenomenal or great but rather a simple suggestion of ways to achieve happiness. Overall, I enjoyed reading the book and thinking about Millman's suggestions but it did not live up to the hype. ( )