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Friends of mark divine

Turn Philosopher's Notes into a daily practice with Heroic OS.

Get 700+ Notes and 50+ guided Quests in one app. Your first 7 days are free, then it's $18 a month.

Friends of Mark Divine

 Turn Philosopher's Notes into a daily practice with Heroic OS.

Start your free trial
The World’s Most Life-Changing Wisdom Library.

Master the Big Ideas from the Best Books in 20 Minutes.

Hand-crafted by Brian Johnson.
No AI. Just Wisdom.
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  • Used by Fortune 500 leaders, U.S. Special Forces, and Professional Athletes.
  • Used by Fortune 500 leaders, U.S. Special Forces, and Professional Athletes.
  • Used by Fortune 500 leaders, U.S. Special Forces, and Professional Athletes.
  • Used by Fortune 500 leaders, U.S. Special Forces, and Professional Athletes.
  • Used by Fortune 500 leaders, U.S. Special Forces, and Professional Athletes.
  • Used by Fortune 500 leaders, U.S. Special Forces, and Professional Athletes.
  • Used by Fortune 500 leaders, U.S. Special Forces, and Professional Athletes.

Become the Wisest Person in the Room. 

Get the key insights from 700+ of history’s best non-fiction books distilled for you to Read, Listen, or Watch from anywhere.
Now you can turn your commute, your workout, or your coffee break into a Masterclass.
 

Notre Dame Head Football Coach Marcus Freeman shares how Philosopher’s Notes helps him and his team build the clarity, discipline, and antifragility to perform at their best—on and off the field.

“I’ve been following Brian’s work for years. His Philosopher’s Notes and practical wisdom have helped me grow as a leader. They’ve helped me and our team build the clarity, discipline, and antifragility to perform at our best—on and off the field. I highly encourage you to try it out yourself. Go Irish!”

— Marcus Freeman, Head Coach, Notre Dame Football

You want to learn. But you don’t have 4,000 hours. 

Most of us have a stack of books we know would change our lives—if we could only find the time to read them. But life gets in the way.

Heroic OS solves the time gap. We didn't just summarize the books; we extracted the absolute best ideas, connected those ideas with other books and real-life stories, and then turned them into actionable tools.

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750+ of the greatest books turned into powerful, actionable summaries.

Unlike generic AI summaries, these are hand-crafted by Brian Johnson. He has personally read and analyzed every single title to help you master the ideas and apply them in your life. Brian acts as your guide — highlighting the "Big Ideas" in each book and connecting the concepts across hundreds of different titles. He synthesizes the collective intelligence of the world's best books so you can learn something new every day.

From the guy who read every book and wrote every note.

 

A World of Wisdom in Your Pocket

Read, listen, or watch — however you like to learn, you’ll find it here.

Read

For the Visual Learner 

A "CliffsNotes" style digital and printable PDF that outlines the 5 Big Ideas, key quotes, and action items. Read it in 10 minutes.

Listen

For the Commuter

Professional audio narrations recorded by Brian Johnson (not a robot). Turn traffic into training.

Watch

For the Deep Diver

Watch Brian map out the concepts visually in a high-energy 20-minute video session.
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Don’t Just Read Randomly. Follow a Proven Path.

Included Free: Focused Quests to Master Any Subject

With 700+ notes, it can be hard to know where to start. That’s why we built Quests.

A Quest is a curated playlist of our best Philosopher's Notes on a specific topic, paired with an exclusive 60-minute Masterclass taught by Brian Johnson.

Instead of guessing what to read next, simply pick a Quest and follow the roadmap:

  • The Stoicism Quest: A curated stack of Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, and Epictetus + The Stoicism 101 Masterclass.
  • The Habits Quest: The best insights from Atomic Habits, Tiny Habits, and The Power of Habit + The Habits 101 Masterclass.
  • The Energy Quest: Optimize your sleep, diet, and movement with the world’s best biohacking books + The Energy 101 Masterclass.

Whether you want to build Unbreakable Discipline, Conquer Anxiety, or Master Leadership, there is a Quest waiting for you.

Step 1

Watch the 60-Minute Masterclass (Included).

Step 2

Read the curated stack of Philosopher's Notes.

Step 3

Change your life.
Repeat.

Hand-Crafted.
Never AI-Generated.

The internet is drowning in "AI Summaries" that hallucinate facts and miss the soul of the book.

Philosopher’s Notes are different. Every single one of our 700+ Notes was read, underlined, synthesized, and recorded by Brian Johnson over the past 25 years!

Brian has spent 25 years and tens of thousands of hours studying history's greatest minds. You aren't getting a bot's best guess; you are getting a Philosopher's life work.

“When it comes to distilling wisdom from some of the smartest and most influential books in the history of self-development, Brian Johnson is one of the best in the world."


— Cal Newport
New York Times Bestselling Author of deep work

The "Greatest Hits" of Human Potential.

From ancient Stoicism to modern science, we have curated the ultimate curriculum for a good life.
700+ Books Distilled
4,000+ Hours of Reading Saved
5,000+ Big Ideas Extracted

Trusted by World-Class Leaders Around the World

“I’ve been studying Brian’s work for over a decade. It’s life-changing. Brian distills the most important ideas into something you can actually use right now.”

– Gabrielle Lyon
Physician and Author

“Philosopher’s Notes is mental push-ups for the soul. Each Note gives me the wisdom, focus, and clarity to stay on the path of mastery.”

— Mark Divine
Retired U.S. Navy SEAL Commander
 

“Philosopher’s Notes is like having a world-class mental performance coach in your pocket. It keeps me focused, disciplined, and grounded every single day. For over a decade, it’s been a cornerstone of my mental conditioning—and I recommend it to every athlete and coach I work with.”

– Brian Cain, MPM
Coach to UFC Champions & Cy Young Winners

Turn these ideas into a daily practice with Heroic OS.

Heroic OS is the app that gets you doing what you already know. You get 50+ guided Quests, including Energy, Habits, Stoicism, Purpose and Leadership, with morning and evening bookends that keep your daily commitments on track.

In a randomized controlled trial, people using Heroic moved from the 53rd to the 70th percentile of flourishing in 30 days.

700+ Philosopher's Notes and 50+ guided Quests, all in one app.

Start your 7-day free trial →

7 days free, then $149 a year or $18 a month. We take a card up front, and you can cancel any time before day 7.

The Heroic OS app on two phones, showing the Quests screen

 

For friends of Mark Divine

 Heroic OS

  •  700+ Philosopher's Notes, plus lessons, masterclasses and meditations
  • 50+ guided Quests, one focused step at a time

  • Morning and evening bookends for your daily commitments

  • Small groups and community

7 days free, then $18/month

Start your free trial

Heroic OS

  • 700+ Philosopher's Notes, plus lessons, masterclasses and meditations
  • 50+ guided Quests, one focused step at a time
  • Morning and evening bookends for your daily commitments
  • Small groups and community

7 days free, then $18/month

Start your free trial

FAQs

Read 5 Notes. Listen to 10. If you don't feel smarter, faster, and more focused within 60 days, we will refund 100% of your money. No questions asked.
Start your free trial
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