Being Better

Stoicism for a World Worth Living In

By: Kai Whiting, Leonidas Konstantakos

Narrated by: Liam Gerrard

Practical answers to the urgent moral questions of our time from the ancient philosophy of Stoicism.

Twenty-three centuries ago, in a marketplace in Athens, Zeno of Citium, the founder of Stoicism, built his philosophy on powerful ideas that still resonate today: All human beings can become citizens of the world, regardless of their nationality, gender, or social class; happiness comes from living in harmony with nature; and, most important, humans always have the freedom to choose their attitude, even when they cannot control external circumstances. In our age of political polarization and environmental destruction, Stoicism's empowering message has taken on new relevance. In Being Better, Kai Whiting and Leonidas Konstantakos apply Stoic principles to contemporary issues such as social justice, climate breakdown, and the excesses of global capitalism. They show that Stoicism is not an ivory-tower philosophy or a collection of Silicon Valley life hacks, but a vital way of life that helps us live simply, improve our communities, and find peace in a turbulent world.

©2021 Kai Whiting and Leonidas Konstantakos (P)2021 Tantor

Great history in Stoicism with modern relatability

Although a short book, feels in depth. Introduces lesser known stoics with deep dives into their stories. Intermixing the ancient stories with modern relatability to practice. A good introduction to stoicism, plus much more.

The best introduction to Stoicism!

The book provides a great introduction to stoicism and has many interesting stories/examples of ancient and modern practical stoicism.

Bad narration

Decent introduction terrible narration he sounds like a British sesame Street character. Kind of distracting

What a great introduction to Stoicism

As someone struggling with finding ways to make Stoic practices relevant to my life, I found Being Better to be a great guide. This book helped me to find ways that Stoicism can directly guide me toward living a better life. I have highly recommended it to others and have given several copies to friends.

Good. Needed. Smart.

What Kai and Leonidas have done here is transport the original essence of Stoicism, the practical and prescriptive parts of it especially, into the modern without mucking it up with a bunch of new age takes on this ancient philosophy. How they've managed to do that while keeping the text highly accessible is beyond me but they've done it. And to those of you purchasing the audio version, the narrator has a pleasant and easy-to-listen-to voice. Definitely recommend adding one to your physical or virtual bookshelf.