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Lives of the Stoics

The Art of Living from Zeno to Marcus Aurelius

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Lives of the Stoics

By: Ryan Holiday, Stephen Hanselman
Narrated by: Ryan Holiday
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About this listen

For millennia, Stoicism has been the ancient philosophy that attracts those who seek greatness, from athletes to politicians and everyone in between. And no wonder: its embrace of self-mastery, virtue and indifference to that which we cannot control has much to offer those grappling with today's chaotic world. But who were the Stoics?

In this book, Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman offer a fresh approach to understanding Stoicism through the lives of the people who practised it. Through short biographies of all the famous and lesser-known Stoics, this book will show what it means to live stoically and reveal the lessons to be learned from their struggles and successes. The result is a treasure trove of insights for anyone in search of living a good life.

©2020 Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman (P)2020 Hachette Audio UK Greek & Roman History Philosophy Stoicism Ancient Greece

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Lots of books on and references to the main practitioners of Stoicism now exist; with Ryan Holiday being one of the main modern day advocates.

This is a great accompaniment to all of this work, with a timeline who’s-who of the stoic way of thinking and how it evolved over time.

Now, I’ve got huge respect for any author who narrates their own audiobooks. It’s a big job. Narration is also a skill, with the spoken delivery being different to the actual writing of the content.

Sometimes you’ve just got to know when you have the voice and skill, or not. I don’t think my accent would provide an engaging tone …. And In this case, in my opinion, it’s a ‘not’. Same tone, spoken too fast. I’d advise listening at 0.8 or 0.9 speed.

The conversation at the end between the authors is just as good as the content too. Great little bonus

Fascinating content. Hard listen. Probably better reading the book?

A timeline who’s-who of stoicism - audio delivery could be better …

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Fantastic book but a difficult listen. I’ll definitely be buying the paperback as all of the other books I’ve read by Ryan Holiday have been great! It’s just the reading here that lets it down.

I’ve heard auctioneers talk slower and more clearly.

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The reader put me off from this title. I I had high expectations about the subject and the book. However it turned out to be completely unemotional flat reading which I found unsustainable. I wish I could claim back my credit wasted does that title

Poor flat reading

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Interesting, but not very useful.

Having come to this from loving Holiday’s other books on Stoicism, I was perhaps a little biased in expecting more of the same.

Instead of the applicable philosophy found in his other work, you get a brief history of the lives of the founding fathers of Stoicism.

Whilst interesting, there is no new spin on these accounts and you could get the same for free online.

Ok, but not what I was expecting.

Interesting, but not very useful

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I really like this authors work but his voice is so monotonous and flat I struggled to listen to the whole book despite my interest in the subject.

Fascinating History but....

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As you may have gathered from other reviews, the narration is awful. The reason can be found in the interview at the end of the book. Holiday mentions he never really considered the correct pronunciation of the philosopher's names, because he does not vocalize them, not even in his head. This may very well explain the monotonous drone with which he delivers his narration, because in the interview he sounds totally different.

I found the content to be very accessible for a beginner stoic and highly enjoyable. I bet this would have been a more compelling book when I've just read it in print.

Read this yourself

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Ryan holiday gave and excellent introduction to stoicism by going through the figures that influence stoicism and the history of the Western world. insightful entertaining thought provoking highly recommended. thank you for writing the book

help us how to live by learning the past

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Good content, but could not tolerate the narration so I gave up after the first three chapters, better to read this one I would suggest .

Good content, awful narration

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I am a big fan of Ryan's other work, the trio of Stillness, Obstacle, and Ego. This serves more as an addition to those three, rather than a core text.

Some of the stories of these Greek and Roman philosophers are interesting, but without the regular links to modern situations and public figures, some of the mean is often lost amongst the countless names and dates.

If you're a fan of ancient history it will be a great read. If you're just after some more philosophical lessons I would just re-read The Obstacle is the Way.

A very challenging listen

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so so powerful comprehensive and life enriching experience thank you Sirs I loved your conversation at the end

SOOOOOO GOOD! THANK YOU

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