New PN: Heroes of History
 |
A Brief History of Civilization from Ancient Times to the Dawn of the Modern Ageby Will Durant |
“Philosophy is the study of the part in the light of the whole; and its first lesson is that we are very small parts of a very large whole. The harmony of the part with the whole may be the best definition of health, beauty, truth, wisdom, morality, and happiness."WILL DURANT |
FROM THE BOOK“But there are more pleasant prospects in history than this oscillation between excess and its opposite.
I will not subscribe to the depressing conclusion of Voltaire and Gibbon that history is ‘the record of the crimes and follies of mankind.’ Of course it is partly that and contains a hundred million tragedies—but it is also the saving sanity of the average family, the labor and love of men and women bearing the stream of life over a thousand obstacles. It is the wisdom and courage of statesmen like Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt, the latter dying exhausted but fulfilled; it is the undiscourageable efforts of scientists and philosophers to understand the universe that envelops them; it is the patience and skill of artists and poets giving lasting form to transient beauty, or an illuminating clarity to subtle significance; it is the vision of prophets and saints to challenge us to nobility. On this turbulent and sullied river, hidden amid absurdity and suffering, there is a veritable City of God, in which the creative spirits of the past, by the miracles of memory and tradition, still live and work, carve and build and sing. Plato is there, playing philosophy with Socrates; Shakespeare is there, bringing new treasures every day; Keats is still listening to his nightingale, and Shelley is borne on the west wind; Nietzsche is there, raving and revealing; Christ is there, calling us to come and share his bread. These and a thousand more, and the gifts they gave, are the Incredible Legacy of the race, the golden strain in the web of history. We need not close our eyes to the evils that challenge us—we should work undiscouragingly to lessen them—but we may take strength from the achievements of the past; the splendor of our inheritance. Let us, varying Shakespeare’s unhappy king, sit down and tell brave stories of noble women and great men.” |
Brian's Notes
At this stage, I’ve read a decent number of books.
Of course, the more I read, the more I realize just how *little* I’ve read and how much more there is to learn, but I still can’t quite believe that I made it this far in my life without reading anything by Will Durant.
I knew Durant was a respected historian and I loved the way he poetically paraphrased Aristotle’s wisdom on virtue (it was Durant, not Aristotle who said: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit.”), but I’d never actually read anything he’d written until that little sabbatical when I read those 101 books in 101 days.
I read this book and instantly fell in love with the man. Then I read his classic The Lessons of History, The Greatest Minds of All Time, and Fallen Leaves—all of which are phenomenal. (Notes on each soon.)
Durant was an American historian and philosopher. He was born in 1885 and died in 1981. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1968 and the Medal of Freedom in 1977. He spent over FIFTY years writing his eleven-volume Story of Civilization. He wrote the later volumes with his beloved wife, Ariel, to whom he was married for SIXTY-EIGHT (yes, 68!) years.
The clarity of his thinking and his writing and the depth of his wisdom and his optimism is extraordinarily inspiring. He has officially joined Abraham Maslow and Joseph Campbell in the grandfather spot in my spiritual family tree.
As per his bio: “Throughout his life Durant was passionate in his quest to bring philosophy out of the ivory towers of academia and into the lives of the common man and woman.”
This book, as you guessed, is about some of the Heroes of History. I’m excited to share some of my favorite Ideas and inspire YOU to be YOUR best, most Heroic self. Let’s get to work!
Of course, the more I read, the more I realize just how *little* I’ve read and how much more there is to learn, but I still can’t quite believe that I made it this far in my life without reading anything by Will Durant.
I knew Durant was a respected historian and I loved the way he poetically paraphrased Aristotle’s wisdom on virtue (it was Durant, not Aristotle who said: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit.”), but I’d never actually read anything he’d written until that little sabbatical when I read those 101 books in 101 days.
I read this book and instantly fell in love with the man. Then I read his classic The Lessons of History, The Greatest Minds of All Time, and Fallen Leaves—all of which are phenomenal. (Notes on each soon.)
Durant was an American historian and philosopher. He was born in 1885 and died in 1981. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1968 and the Medal of Freedom in 1977. He spent over FIFTY years writing his eleven-volume Story of Civilization. He wrote the later volumes with his beloved wife, Ariel, to whom he was married for SIXTY-EIGHT (yes, 68!) years.
The clarity of his thinking and his writing and the depth of his wisdom and his optimism is extraordinarily inspiring. He has officially joined Abraham Maslow and Joseph Campbell in the grandfather spot in my spiritual family tree.
As per his bio: “Throughout his life Durant was passionate in his quest to bring philosophy out of the ivory towers of academia and into the lives of the common man and woman.”
This book, as you guessed, is about some of the Heroes of History. I’m excited to share some of my favorite Ideas and inspire YOU to be YOUR best, most Heroic self. Let’s get to work!
Big Ideas
01: MEET YOUR HEROIC GUIDE
02: CONFUCIUS
03: PERICLES
04: JESUS
05: MICHAELANGELO
“History is philosophy teaching by examples."WILL DURANT |
Get all 700+ notesĀ and 101 masterclasses.
Master the Big Ideas from the best books in under 20 minutes a day for one lifetime payment of $99.
