Search results for ""Author Will Durant""

Praised as a “revelatory” book by The Wall Street Journal, this is the last and most personal work of Pulitzer Prize–winning author and historian Will Durant, discovered thirty-two years after his death.The culmination of Will Durant’s sixty-plus years spent researching the philosophies, religions, arts, sciences, and civilizations from across the world, Fallen Leaves is the distilled wisdom of one of the world’s greatest minds, a man with a renowned talent for rendering the insights of the past accessible. Over the course of Durant’s career he received numerous letters from “curious readers who have challenged me to speak my mind on the timeless questions of human life and fate.” With Fallen Leaves, his final book, he at last accepted their challenge. In twenty-two short chapters, Durant addresses everything from youth and old age to religion, morals, sex, war, politics, and art. Fallen Leaves is “a thought-provoking array of opinions” (Publishers Weekly), offering elegant prose, deep insights, and Durant’s revealing conclusions about the perennial problems and greatest joys we face as a species. In Durant’s singular voice, here is a message of insight for everyone who has ever sought meaning in life or the counsel of a learned friend while navigating life’s journey.

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In this remarkable little book, Will Durant answers the questions that most people would have wanted to ask him - what are the conclusions he drew from the experience of a long lifetime; what eras, individuals, and achievements stand out as being the most significant? Who, for example, could be legitimately classified as the greatest thinkers in human history? Who were the truly great poets, the ones that plucked notes upon heartstrings that continue to resonate hundreds and thousands of years after their passing? And what are the absolute best books one should read in order to receive a meaningful - and useful - education? As Will Durant was repeatedly asked to "weigh in" on such matters, he, over the course of his career, responded to the increasing public demand for such qualified assessments by putting pen to paper and crafting a series of essays containing his personal rankings of human achievement. These essays have been brought together for the first time in this book.

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This brilliant and concise account of the lives and ideas of the world's great philosophers—Plato, Aristotle, Bacon, Spinoza, Voltaire, Kant, Schopenhauer, Spencer, Nietzsche, Bergson, Croce, Russell, Santayana, James, and Dewey—is "a delight" (The New York Times) and remains one of the most important books of our time.Will Durant chronicles the ideas of the great thinkers, the economic and intellectual environments which influenced them, and the personal traits and adventures out of which each philosophy grew. Durant’s insight and wit never cease to dazzle; The Story of Philosophy is an essential book for anyone who wishes to understand the history and development of philosophical ideas in the Western world.

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This brilliant and concise account of the lives and ideas of the world's great philosophers—Plato, Aristotle, Bacon, Spinoza, Voltaire, Kant, Schopenhauer, Spencer, Nietzsche, Bergson, Croce, Russell, Santayana, James, and Dewey—is "a delight" (The New York Times) and remains one of the most important books of our time.Will Durant chronicles the ideas of the great thinkers, the economic and intellectual environments which influenced them, and the personal traits and adventures out of which each philosophy grew. Durant’s insight and wit never cease to dazzle; The Story of Philosophy is an essential book for anyone who wishes to understand the history and development of philosophical ideas in the Western world.

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