Try free for 30 days
-
The Consolations of Philosophy
- Narrated by: Nicholas Bell
- Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from Wish List failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $19.46
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also picked
-
How Proust Can Change Your Life
- By: Alain de Botton
- Narrated by: Nicholas Bell
- Length: 5 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For anyone who ever wondered what Marcel Proust had in mind when he wrote the one-and-a-quarter-million words of In Search of Lost Time (while bedridden no less), Alain de Botton has the answer. For, in this stylish, erudite and frequently hilarious book, de Botton dips deeply into Proust’s life and work - his fiction, letter, and conversations – and distils from them that rare self-help manual: one that is actually helpful.
-
-
Terri’s and improves with each listening
- By Peter C. Howie on 04-07-2019
-
On Confidence
- By: The School of Life, Alain de Botton
- Narrated by: Alain de Botton
- Length: 1 hr and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We spend vast amounts of time acquiring confidence in narrow technical fields: quadratic equations or bioengineering; economics or pole vaulting. But we overlook the primordial need to acquire a more free-ranging variety of confidence - one that can serve us across a range of tasks: speaking to strangers at parties, asking someone to marry us, suggesting a fellow passenger turn down their music, changing the world. This is a guidebook to confidence, why we lack it and how we can acquire more of it in our lives.
-
Essays in Love
- By: Alain de Botton
- Narrated by: James Wilby
- Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Essays in Love is a stunningly original love story. Taking in Aristotle, Wittgenstein, history, religion and Groucho Marx, Alain de Botton charts the progress of a love affair from the first kiss to argument and reconciliation, from intimacy and tenderness to the onset of anxiety and heartbreak.
-
-
Alain De Botton- fav comedian?
- By mariah.stock on 01-03-2022
-
The Stoic Challenge
- A Philosopher's Guide to Becoming Tougher, Calmer, and More Resilient
- By: William B. Irvine
- Narrated by: Brian Troxell
- Length: 4 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Some people bounce back in response to setbacks; others break. We often think that these responses are hardwired, but fortunately this is not the case. Stoicism offers us an alternative approach. Plumbing the wisdom of one of the most popular and successful schools of thought from ancient Rome, philosopher William B. Irvine teaches us to turn any challenge on its head. The Stoic Challenge, then, is the ultimate guide to improving your quality of life through tactics developed by ancient Stoics, from Marcus Aurelius and Seneca to Epictetus.
-
-
Good stoicism read
- By Kindle Customer on 07-09-2022
-
The Art of Travel
- By: Alain de Botton
- Narrated by: Nicholas Bell
- Length: 5 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Aside from love, few actvities seem to promise us as much happiness as going traveling: taking off for somewhere else, somewhere far from home, a place with more interesting weather, customs, and landscapes. But although we are inundated with advice on where to travel, few people seem to talk about why we should go and how we can become more fulfilled by doing so.
-
A Little History of the World
- By: E. H. Gombrich
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
E. H. Gombrich's world history, an international best seller now available in English for the first time, is a text dominated not by dates and facts but by the sweep of experience across the centuries, a guide to humanity's achievements, and an acute witness to its frailties.
-
-
Good but very Biased
- By Anonymous User on 08-10-2022
-
How Proust Can Change Your Life
- By: Alain de Botton
- Narrated by: Nicholas Bell
- Length: 5 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For anyone who ever wondered what Marcel Proust had in mind when he wrote the one-and-a-quarter-million words of In Search of Lost Time (while bedridden no less), Alain de Botton has the answer. For, in this stylish, erudite and frequently hilarious book, de Botton dips deeply into Proust’s life and work - his fiction, letter, and conversations – and distils from them that rare self-help manual: one that is actually helpful.
-
-
Terri’s and improves with each listening
- By Peter C. Howie on 04-07-2019
-
On Confidence
- By: The School of Life, Alain de Botton
- Narrated by: Alain de Botton
- Length: 1 hr and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We spend vast amounts of time acquiring confidence in narrow technical fields: quadratic equations or bioengineering; economics or pole vaulting. But we overlook the primordial need to acquire a more free-ranging variety of confidence - one that can serve us across a range of tasks: speaking to strangers at parties, asking someone to marry us, suggesting a fellow passenger turn down their music, changing the world. This is a guidebook to confidence, why we lack it and how we can acquire more of it in our lives.
-
Essays in Love
- By: Alain de Botton
- Narrated by: James Wilby
- Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Essays in Love is a stunningly original love story. Taking in Aristotle, Wittgenstein, history, religion and Groucho Marx, Alain de Botton charts the progress of a love affair from the first kiss to argument and reconciliation, from intimacy and tenderness to the onset of anxiety and heartbreak.
-
-
Alain De Botton- fav comedian?
- By mariah.stock on 01-03-2022
-
The Stoic Challenge
- A Philosopher's Guide to Becoming Tougher, Calmer, and More Resilient
- By: William B. Irvine
- Narrated by: Brian Troxell
- Length: 4 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Some people bounce back in response to setbacks; others break. We often think that these responses are hardwired, but fortunately this is not the case. Stoicism offers us an alternative approach. Plumbing the wisdom of one of the most popular and successful schools of thought from ancient Rome, philosopher William B. Irvine teaches us to turn any challenge on its head. The Stoic Challenge, then, is the ultimate guide to improving your quality of life through tactics developed by ancient Stoics, from Marcus Aurelius and Seneca to Epictetus.
-
-
Good stoicism read
- By Kindle Customer on 07-09-2022
-
The Art of Travel
- By: Alain de Botton
- Narrated by: Nicholas Bell
- Length: 5 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Aside from love, few actvities seem to promise us as much happiness as going traveling: taking off for somewhere else, somewhere far from home, a place with more interesting weather, customs, and landscapes. But although we are inundated with advice on where to travel, few people seem to talk about why we should go and how we can become more fulfilled by doing so.
-
A Little History of the World
- By: E. H. Gombrich
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
E. H. Gombrich's world history, an international best seller now available in English for the first time, is a text dominated not by dates and facts but by the sweep of experience across the centuries, a guide to humanity's achievements, and an acute witness to its frailties.
-
-
Good but very Biased
- By Anonymous User on 08-10-2022
-
A Guide to the Good Life
- The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy
- By: William B. Irvine
- Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the great fears many of us face is that despite all our effort and striving, we will discover at the end that we have wasted our life. In A Guide to the Good Life, William B. Irvine plumbs the wisdom of Stoic philosophy, one of the most popular and successful schools of thought in ancient Rome, and shows how its insight and advice are still remarkably applicable to modern lives. In A Guide to the Good Life, Irvine offers a refreshing presentation of Stoicism, showing how this ancient philosophy can still direct us toward a better life.
-
-
Really good introduction
- By Chin Scratcher on 15-02-2016
-
The Daily Stoic
- 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
- By: Ryan Holiday, Stephen Hanselman
- Narrated by: Brian Holsopple
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why have history's greatest minds - from George Washington to Frederick the Great to Ralph Waldo Emerson along with today's top performers, from Super Bowl-winning football coaches to CEOs and celebrities - embraced the wisdom of the ancient Stoics? Because they realize that the most valuable wisdom is timeless and that philosophy is for living a better life, not a classroom exercise. The Daily Stoic offers a daily devotional of Stoic insights and exercises, featuring all-new translations.
-
-
Great intro to the Stoic philosphy
- By Avi Naidu on 21-01-2020
-
Sophie's World
- A Novel About the History of Philosophy
- By: Jostein Gaaardner, Kitt Weagant
- Narrated by: Jacob Needleman
- Length: 2 hrs and 58 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One day, 14-year-old Sophie Amundsen comes home from school to find two notes in her mailbox, with one question on each: "Who are you?" and "Where does the world come from?" From that irresistible beginning, Sophie becomes obsessed with questions that take her far beyond what she knows of her Norwegian village. Through those letters, she enrolls in a kind of correspondence course, covering Socrates to Sartre, with a mysterious philosopher, while receiving letters addressed to another girl. Who is Hilde? And why does her mail keep turning up?
-
Calm
- By: The School of Life
- Narrated by: Rachel Lanning
- Length: 4 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Few life skills are as neglected, yet as important, as the ability to remain calm. Our very worst decisions and interactions are almost invariably the result of a loss of calm - and a descent into anxiety and agitation. Surprisingly, but very fortunately, our power to remain calm can be rehearsed and improved. We don’t have to stay where we are now: our responses to everyday challenges can dramatically alter. This is a book that patiently unpacks the causes of our greatest stresses and gives us a succession of arguments with which to defend ourselves against panic and fury.
-
The Fifth Agreement
- A Practical Guide to Self-Mastery
- By: don Miguel Ruiz
- Narrated by: Peter Coyote
- Length: 4 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Four Agreements, a New York Times best seller for over seven years, don Miguel Ruiz revealed how the process of our education, or “domestication,” can make us forget the wisdom we were born with. Throughout our lives, we make many agreements that go against ourselves and create needless suffering.
-
-
Could be summerised
- By Artin on 03-04-2017
-
Algorithms to Live By
- The Computer Science of Human Decisions
- By: Brian Christian, Tom Griffiths
- Narrated by: Brian Christian
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From finding a spouse to finding a parking spot, from organizing one's inbox to understanding the workings of human memory, Algorithms to Live By transforms the wisdom of computer science into strategies for human living.
-
-
A unique and brilliant self help book
- By Gary Beilby on 18-04-2018
-
A Simpler Life
- A Guide to Greater Serenity, Ease and Clarity
- By: The School of Life
- Narrated by: Rachel Lanning
- Length: 3 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The modern world can be a complicated, frenzied, and noisy place, filled with too many options, products, ideas and opinions. That explains why what many of us long for is simplicity: a life that can be more pared down, peaceful, and focused on the essentials. But finding simplicity is not always easy; it isn’t just a case of emptying out our closets or trimming back commitments in our diaries. True simplicity requires that we understand the roots of our distractions – and develop a canny respect for the stubborn reasons why things can grow complex and overwhelming.
-
-
I loved it.
- By Alfonso on 18-05-2022
-
Why Nations Fail
- The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty
- By: Daron Acemoglu, James A. Robinson
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 17 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Brilliant and engagingly written, Why Nations Fail answers the question that has stumped the experts for centuries: Why are some nations rich and others poor, divided by wealth and poverty, health and sickness, food and famine?
-
-
Single minded attempt to prove a point.
- By steve on 27-08-2018
-
Anxiety
- Meditations on the Anxious Mind
- By: The School of Life
- Narrated by: Rachel Lanning
- Length: 2 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is a guide to anxiety: why we feel it, how we experience it when it strikes, and what we can do when we come under its influence. Across a series of essays that look at the subject from a number of angles, the tone is helpful, compassionate, and in the best sense, practical.
-
What They Forgot to Teach You at School
- Essential Emotional Lessons Needed to Thrive
- By: The School of Life
- Narrated by: Sonya Cullingford
- Length: 3 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We probably went to school for what felt like a very long time. We probably took care with our homework. Along the way we surely learned intriguing things about equations, the erosion of glaciers, the history of the Middle Ages, and the tenses of foreign languages. But why, despite all the lessons we sat through, were we never taught the really important things that dominate and trouble our lives: who to start a relationship with, how to trust people, how to understand one’s psyche, how to move on from sorrow or betrayal, and how to cope with anxiety and shame?
-
-
Terrific, as usual
- By Peter C. Howie on 30-12-2022
-
"Don't You Know Who I Am?": How to Stay Sane in an Era of Narcissism, Entitlement, and Incivility
- By: Ramani S. Durvasula PhD
- Narrated by: Ramani S. Durvasula PhD
- Length: 19 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Health and wellness campaigns preach avoidance of unhealthy foods, sedentary lifestyles, tobacco, drugs, and alcohol, but rarely preach avoidance of unhealthy, difficult, or toxic people. Yet the health benefits of removing toxic people from your life may have far greater benefits to both physical and psychological health. We need to learn to be better gatekeepers for our minds, bodies, and souls. Narcissism, entitlement, and incivility have become the new world order, and we are all in trouble. They are not only normalized but also increasingly incentivized.
-
-
You won't regret buying this book
- By MsKitKat on 06-09-2021
-
The Design of Everyday Things
- Revised and Expanded Edition
- By: Don Norman
- Narrated by: Neil Hellegers
- Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Even the smartest among us can feel inept as we fail to figure out which light switch or oven burner to turn on, or whether to push, pull, or slide a door. The fault, argues this ingenious - even liberating - audiobook, lies not in ourselves, but in product design that ignores the needs of users and the principles of cognitive psychology. The Design of Everyday Things shows that good, usable design is possible. The rules are simple: make things visible, exploit natural relationships that couple function and control, and make intelligent use of constraints.
-
-
good material and thought provoking
- By Tony on 21-02-2021
Publisher's Summary
In ancient Greece or Rome, philosophers were seen as natural authorities on the most pressing questions. However, since then, the idea of finding wisdom from philosophy has come to seem bizarre. Enter a university department today and ask to study wisdom, and you will politely but firmly be shown the door. The Consolations of Philosophy sets out to refute the notion that good philosophy must be irrelevant and gathers together six great philosophers who were convinced of the power of philosophical insight to work a practical effect on our lives.
Socrates, Epicurus, Seneca, Montaigne, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche are studied for the light their work can shine on certain great universal problems - poverty, inadequacy, lovelessness, and so on. They stand as examples of the practical utility of philosophy.
Critic Reviews
More from the same
What listeners say about The Consolations of Philosophy
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- amanda
- 21-02-2018
writing excellent narration dry
love the writing and content. Not a fan of the narrator. voice lacks animation. wish de Botton had narrated as he's a very engaging speaker
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Steven Frew
- 28-10-2017
not a bad read
an interesting t.ake on different philosophers and how they relate to every day Life today.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Luke Bagot
- 02-02-2016
Great introduction to many philosophical concepts
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
I would recommend this to a friend who had not looked into philosophy in great detail. It may be covering old ground for those who have studied philosophy, but I found the way in which the ideas of great thinkers were packaged in to instantly applicable life lessons may give these ideas new life.
What did you like best about this story?
Being predominantly a reader of scientific non-fiction, the prose was unfamiliar and at first slightly frustrating. In the beginning i found myself wishing he would get to the point rather than discussing the way the sunset was playing on the flower petals. I did soften towards this style as the book went on and learnt to enjoy the descriptive style and wait patiently for his ideas to be fleshed out through whatever narrative he was using to illustrate them.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
I found it better to space it out over several weeks, there is much to reflect on in your own life after each chapter.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Etidae
- 18-04-2022
Practical philosophy <3
As a philosophy graduate, I really loved reading this book! I've studied classical philosophy and while you learn a lot of lessons and amazing mental skills i.e. critical reading by exposing yourself to philosophy and miriad of questions, this was a really practical and sensitively written ACCESSIBLE piece of text that brings a lot of those 'lessons learnt' and makes it easy to access, to understand.
I think one should still read the original texts, Alain brings a nice perspective.
And if you're somewhat interested but cannot get into the classical texts, this is a nice way to expose yourself to philopsophical thinking.
Also you can most certainly call this 'self-help' book as well.
Valuable read.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 13-08-2020
A fantastic introduction to philosophy
This book on philosophy shares how to deal with life via the teachings of various philosophers. I loved it as many spoke straight into my own experience of life.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kate Woods
- 11-06-2020
Highly recommend this version
I read this book in print quite a few years ago but got this version as a running buddy; it is a great performance by an engaging narrator of a beautifully written book. If you’re even vaguely interested in philosophy but like me find it “a bit fancy” to read, de Botton’s clear and unfussy writing will definitely appeal.
21 year old me thought this was profound (it is) but deeply understood so little, bless her. With a decade and a half of life under my belt, I can say that this is an interesting listen on the surface as well as an invitation for lots of self reflection if you’re that way inclined.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kendall
- 07-01-2019
Some Realisations
Neat listen for a round-up of some insights into philosophy on application to problems of today. Enjoyed the chapters on Consolations for Not Having Enough Money (Epicurus) and Consolations for a Broken Heart (Schopenhauer) the most, mainly because they made me think more deeply about things. I guess you take what is most applicable to your life and experience! Just wish we had more female philosophers to draw from...
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 10-10-2018
A Philosophical Prescription For Our Modern Times
I enjoyed the background information about the philosophers and the easy to understand explanation of their thoughts and perspectives.O recommend this book to those looking to rise about the endless chatter of this age and nestle upon a ledge of timeless standing by which one might plot a course towards serenity.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!