Stoicism and the Art of Happiness: A Teach Yourself Guide

A well done outline of the principles and concepts surrounding Stoicism and how they relate to our lives and pursuit of happiness. For me philosophy is never an easy read as concepts can get far flung and are often esoteric in nature. Robertson in this book makes it easier as he shows us in an easy to follow stepped process how to understand and integrate these abstract ideas.

I, like most,who have heard of Stoicism have a stereotypic picture of who and what the Stoic is about. The book goes to expand and set right misunderstanding and I was delighted to come to understand how much I liked what I learned here about the true nature behind this philosophy. And I also discovered it is what I most gravitate to in philosophic outlook.

This book was recommended by [a:Ryan Holiday|5775580|Ryan Holiday|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1340390663p2/5775580.jpg] at the Daily Stoic. At first, I was dismayed that it read just like a first-year textbook, with little activities in boxes throughout each chapter. But this is hardly fair. As my reading of the book progressed, and the activities became a little more complex (or at least, reflective, and some of these I will no doubt take up), I was learning. In terms of an overview of Stoicism and Stoic literature, this book provides an easy introduction, though it does tend to over-rely on [a:Pierre Hadot|17928|Pierre Hadot|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1343289901p2/17928.jpg]. Yet there are many references and ideas show more that are useful, and in this the book is sound. The author also mentions an ebook that includes an additional chapter on "death", and this annoyed me no end - I hate ebooks - it should have been in the hard copy! But I must admit that the textbook tone cheapens what could have been a more substantial work. That said, I will be returning to this book time and again to mine some of the gems hidden amongst the rough. show less

Overall I am disappointed in this book. While it did contain stoic philosophy and good advice, it went about delivering it in a way that read like a research paper and not the practical wisdom that it purported itself to be. It is worth reading if you are looking for references or want a more intellectual version of the stoics, but practical it was not.