Ryan Holiday

"Despair, that's on you." - "Why would you be your own worst enemy?"

I really liked this book, but I'm struggling with how to review it.

The overarching theme seems to be "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." Personally, I hate this saying. It feels dismissive, it's telling someone who's sad to "just be happy."

However, I do appreciate the underlying messages about resilience and picking yourself back up after a fall. It's just the way these messages are delivered that I didn't quite connect with.

Overall, I give it 2 stars for its delivery, but I'm keeping it at 4 stars because I found the messages themselves valuable.… (més)

This is my first book from Holiday and boy do I feel like I've missed the boat somewhere along the way. I've already picked up one of his older ones and anticipate getting the other in this series too.

This book is packed with so much wisdom. Holiday really breaks down useful practices for mind, body, and soul to help us all achieve the stillness we should in order to be our best selves. But it's not just Holiday spouting out what to do, it's real world examples from well-known historical figures as well as wisdom from countless spiritual and political leaders. My only criticism is just a note for me to remember to keep a highlighter next to the bed so I don't ruin the book by earmarking so many pages for reference/re-reading. **sigh**… (més)