A Philosopher’s Notes by Brian Johnson
100 of the best lessons from more than 100 great books, from Emerson to Buddha to Campbell to Maslow.
My review (2011)
As I have written twice before, I'm a big fan of PhilosophersNotes and the man who writes them, Brian Johnson. He is a very inspiring guy and has created some great businesses and resources for over a decade.
This week he is releasing a new book which he has called A Philosopher's Notes, with 100 of the best lessons that he has learned after reading more than 100 great books on everything from philosophy to positive psychology. The book is available for purchase, but it's also available for free in this newsletter that you can get delivered every day, once a week, or whenever you want. I've signed up myself and I'm really excited to start receiving great ideas from Brian when he launches next week.
The Advance Humanity Foundation is all about changing ourselves and then changing our world, PhilosophersNotes are a perfect example of just how we can do that. Discovering the great ideas of everyone from Emerson to Buddha to Campbell to Maslow and then applying them to our daily lives allows us to realize our own greatness and then go out and share that with other people around the world. Thanks for the great ideas, the inspiration and for being awesome Brian!
More: Brian Johnson on my Inspirations shelf.
What’s inside
Brian Johnson spent years reading the classics of philosophy, spirituality and psychology and writing up the best ideas from each one as short “PhilosophersNotes.” A Philosopher’s Notes gathers those lessons into one book.
- One hundred books, one big idea at a time. Instead of summarizing whole books, each note pulls out the few ideas that are most useful for living — from Emerson, the Buddha, Joseph Campbell, Abraham Maslow and dozens of others.
- Ancient wisdom meets modern science. Old teachings from the Stoics, the Tao Te Ching and the great religious traditions sit side by side with positive psychology, and they tend to agree more than you’d expect.
- Theory is only half of it. The point of every note is practice: take the idea and apply it today. Brian’s whole approach is built around turning wisdom into daily habits.
- Optimal living. The thread through the book is how to live an “authentically awesome” life: knowing yourself, doing meaningful work, and giving your best to the people around you.
Brian’s work has grown a lot since I wrote this. PhilosophersNotes became Optimize, and today it lives on at Heroic, where he has written up more than 600 books.
Resources
- Heroic, Brian Johnson’s current home for his PhilosophersNotes
- Brian Johnson on my Inspirations shelf
- More book summaries and reviews on Books I Love