Book cover of The Meditations: An Emperor's Guide to Mastery

Book description

How to think clearly, act purposefully, overcome obstacles, and find peace & happiness along the way.

Marcus Aurelius (121-180 CE) was one of the few true philosopher-kings in history.

His father died when Marcus was three. At age fifteen, he was adopted by his aunt's husband, the future Emperor Antoninus…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Meditations as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

In the last years of his life, Marcus Aurelius kept a journal, now called the Meditations, which has miraculously come down to us, and through which we might enter the mind of that rarest of things: a philosopher-king. The twelve books that make up the Meditations consist in a variety of disparate reflections that seem to have been written for the author’s own benefit: for strength, for guidance, and for self-improvement—for example, “To speak to the Senate—or anyone—in the right tone, without being overbearing. To choose the right words.” This touching intimacy, and the epigrammatic character of many of…

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Book cover of These Blue Mountains

These Blue Mountains by Sarah Loudin Thomas,

A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…

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