SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLERbr>br>NUMBER ONE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLERbr>br>From one of our greatest voices in modern philosophy, author of The Course of Love, The Consolations of Philosophy, The Art of Travel and The School of Lifebr>br>''A serious and optimistic set of practical ideas that could improve and alter the way we live'' Jeanette Winterson, The Timesbr>br>''A beautiful, inspiring book... offering a glimpse of a more enlightened path'' Sunday Telegraphbr>br>''Smart, stimulating, sensitive. A timely and perceptive appreciation of how much wisdom is embodied in religious traditions and how we godless moderns might learn from it'' Financial Timesbr>br>''There isn''t a page in this book that doesn''t contain a striking idea or a stimulating parallel'' Mail on Sundaybr>br>Alain de Botton takes us one step further than Dawkins or Hitchens ventured - into a world of ideas beyond the God debate...br>br>All of us, whether religious, agnostic or atheist, are searching for meaning. And in this wise and life-affirming book, non-believer Alain de Botton both rejects the supernatural claims of the major religions and points out just how many good ideas they sometimes have about how we should live.br>br>And he suggests that non-believers can learn and steal from them.br>br>Picking and choosing from the thousands of years of advice assembled by the world''s great religions, Alain de Botton presents a range of fascinating ideas and practical insights on art, community, love, friendship, work, life and death. He shows how they can be of use to us all, irrespective of whether we do or don''t believe.>
1864. Newman est seul, ignoré, presque dédaigné dans l'Eglise catholique qu'il a rejointe vingt ans plus tôt. Profitant de ces circonstances, un intellectuel anglican, Charles Kingsley, défie l'ancien leader du Mouvement d'Oxford en mettant en cause l'honnêteté intellectuelle de sa conversion. Kingsley croyait enterrer un moribond. En réalité il venait de réveiller un lion. Newman répliqua immédiatement. Fouillant sa mémoire, réunissant lettres et documents, il produisit en quelques semaines l'histoire des raisons qui le conduisirent à devenir catholique: l'Apologia pro vita sua. Le livre retourna l'opinion de l'Angleterre. Dans la prose majestueuse de l'Apologia, le catholicisme rayonnait de cette "splendeur de la quitté en 1845. Mais ce rayonnement ne voulait pas être aveuglant. "" Pour aller jusqu'au bout de ce qu'il jugeait la vérité, écrivait le pape PaulVI, Newman a renoncé à l'Eglise d'Angleterre non pas pour se séparer d'elle, mais pour l'accomplir. Il ne cessait pas de croire ce qu'il avait cru, mais il le croyait davantage encore, il avait porté sa foi anglicane jusqu'à sa plénitude. Une conversion est un acte prophétique. Newman a vécu l'histoire de la réunion future, de cette récapitulation en Jésus-Christ dont le moment nous est encore caché, mais à laquelle nous aspirons tous."
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All people have a natural capacity for intuition, but in many cases social conditioning and formal education works against it. This volume provides many specific exercises and meditations designed to nourish and support each individual's natural intuitive gifts.
Fundamental to Chinese philosophy and religion, the Tao Te Ching is a simple guidebook for virtue, encouraging peace, understanding and humility. Ranging from political advice to common wisdom, it has also served as an inspiration to artists across the ages and throughout the world. Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are.
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'It is a most wonderful comfort to sit alone beneath a lamp, book spread before you, and commune with someone from the past whom you have never met...' Moonlight, sake, spring blossom, idle moments, a woman's hair - these exquisite reflections on life's fleeting pleasures by a thirteenth-century Japanese monk are delicately attuned to nature and the senses. Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th-century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions. Yoshida Kenko (c. 1283-1352). Kenko's work is included in Penguin Classics in Essays in Idleness and Hojoki .
Is justice an ideal, forever beyond our grasp, or something that may actually guide our practical decisions and enhance our lives? In this wide-ranging book, Amartya Sen presents an alternative approach to mainstream theories of justice which, despite their many specific achievements have taken us, he argues, in the wrong direction in general.
At the heart of Sen's argument is his insistence on the role of public reason in establishing what can make societies less unjust. But it is in the nature of reasoning about justice, argues Sen, that it does not allow all questions to be settled even in theory; there are choices to be faced between alternative assessments of what is reasonable. Sen also shows how concern about the principles of justice in the modern world must avoid parochialism, and further, address questions of global injustice. The breadth of vision, intellectual acuity and striking humanity of one of the world's leading public intellectuals have never been more clearly shown than in this remarkable book.
Looks at the nature of religious belief.
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This extremely readable and addictive parable has become a breakout word-of-mouth hit for its uncanny ability to renew your understanding of life, connections and perspective with fresh vigour. From the multimillion-bestselling author, James Redfield, and perfect for fans of Paulo Coelho and Eckhart Tolle.
'The Celestine Prophecy has already reached cult status... It homes in on the deepest, most urgent search of our times - the search for meaning... This is a book like no other.' - THE TELEGRAPH 'If you've ever wondered what the formula is for an "inspirational" bestseller, with promising potential for cult status, look no further' ? GUARDIAN 'A spiritual classic... A book to read and reread, to cherish, and to give to friends' - JOAN BORYSENKO, author of Fire in the Soul
The trials of Paulo Coelho and his mysterious mentor, Petrus, are here recounted, as they journey across Spain in search of a miraculous sword - on a legendary road travelled by pilgrims of San Tiago since the Middle Ages. This is part adventure story, part guide to self-mastery.
Castaneda's first book in the Don Juan series. He meets Don Juan and is introduced to his magical world and philosophy by means of hallucinogenic plants and special exercises. The author's other books include "The Fire Within" and "The Quest for Ixtlan".
An exploration of the theory and practice of love, including romantic love, the love of parents for children, brotherly love, erotic love, self love and love of God. The author suggests that learning to love requires practice and dedication.
Nobel Prize winner Werner Heisenberg explains the central ideas of the quantum revolution, and his Uncertainty Principle. He reveals how words and concepts can lose their meaning in the world of relativity and quantum physics, with philosophical implications for the nature of reality.
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Considered in Islam to be the infallible word of God, The Qur'an was revealed to the prophet Muhammad by the archangel Gabriel in a series of divine revelations over many years after his first vision in the cave. In 114 chapters, or surahs, it provides the rules of conduct that remain fundamental to Muslims today - most importantly the key Islamic values of prayer, fasting, pilgrimage and absolute faith in God, with profound spiritual guidance on matters of kinship, marriage and family, crime and punishment, rituals, food, warfare and charity.
Through its pages, a fascinating picture emerges of life in seventh-century Arabia, and from it we can learn much about how people felt about their relationship with God and their belief in the afterlife, as well as attitudes to loyalty, friendship, race, forgiveness and the natural world. It also tells of events and people familiar to Christian and Jewish readers, fellow 'People of the Book' whose stories are recorded in the Gospels and Torah. Here we find Adam, Moses, Abraham, Jesus and John the Baptist, among others, who are regarded, like Muhammad, to be prophets of the Muslim faith.
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C.S. Lewis''s dazzling allegory about heaven and hell - and the chasm fixed between them - is one of his most brilliantly imaginative tales, as he takes issue with the ideas in William Blake''s ''The Marriage of Heaven and Hell''.
In a dream, the narrator boards a bus on a drizzly afternoon and embarks on an incredible voyage through Heaven and Hell. He meets a host of supernatural beings far removed from his expectations, from the disgruntled, ghostly inhabitants of Hell to the angels and souls who dwell on the plains of Heaven.
This powerful, exquisitely written fantasy is one of C.S. Lewis''s most enduring works of fiction and a profound meditation on good and evil.
This Very Short Introduction presents Martin Luther as historians now see him. Instead of singling him out as a modern hero, the book emphasizes the context in which Luther worked, the colleagues who supported him, and the opponents who adamantly opposed his agenda for change.
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