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  • 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
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (77 ratings)

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The Stoic Challenge

By: William B. Irvine
Narrated by: Brian Troxell
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Publisher's Summary

A practical, refreshingly optimistic guide that uses centuries-old wisdom to help us better cope with the stresses of modern living.

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.

This book uniquely combines ancient Stoic insights with techniques discovered by contemporary psychological research, such as anchoring and framing. The result is a surprisingly simple strategy for dealing with life’s unpleasant and unexpected challenges - from minor setbacks like being caught in a traffic jam or having a flight cancelled to major setbacks like those experienced by physicist Stephen Hawking, who slowly lost the ability to move, and writer Jean-Dominique Bauby, who suffered from locked-in syndrome.

The Stoics discovered that thinking of challenges as tests of character can dramatically alter our emotional response to them. Irvine’s updated “Stoic test strategy” teaches us how to transform life’s stumbling blocks into opportunities for becoming calmer, tougher, and more resilient. Not only can we overcome everyday obstacles - we can benefit from them, too.

©2019 William B. Irvine (P)2019 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about The Stoic Challenge

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Good stoicism read

Good book but if you had to choose, Irvine s Guide to the Good Life is better IMHO.

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    3 out of 5 stars

not his best work

compared to his excellent 'A Guide to the Good Life', this book felt more faddish, mainstream and 'self-helpish'. nonetheless, a witty and wise handbook on applying stoicism to your life.

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very good

very good listen. Will listen to again multiple times as for a short listen, it has many teachings I could aquire and work on. For this piece of literature has been undoubtedly sent by the stoic gods for modern men I thank them.

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Setback this...

Robotic narrator and chapter after chapter of doom and despair. I couldn't go past chapter 5.
Dont recommend.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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TW: self harm and suicide

Some of the suggestions in this book are good, but require caveats. There is a danger to some of these thoughts and processes to negatively impacting mental health, regardless of how "stoic" one is. While the author notes about how suicide is cowardly in the eyes of the "stoic gods" he also describes Seneca's own as glorious. Problematic all round.

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Not true Stoicism, a poor listen

I don't know how this book has received such good reviews. A self-gloating author labelling himself a Stoic with empty rhetoric and poor examples, devoid of self awareness and full of ego. He totally misses the mark on what the ancient Stoics work entails. It's quite annoying to see the amount of content out there now absolutely butchering the philosophy of Stoicism. If you want to understand true Stoicism pick up the ancient classics if you haven't done so - Aurelius, Seneca, Epictetus.

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