Living a Good Life: Advice on Virtue, Love, and Action from the Ancient Greek Masters

by Thomas Cleary (Translator)

This collection of eminently practical advice from the likes of Socrates, Plato, Diogenes, Pythagoras, and Aristotle covers subjects as diverse as money, child-raising, politics, philosophy, law, and relationships—all aspects of life and how to live it.

Thomas Cleary has translated these sayings and aphorisms from the Arabic sources that preserved Greek thought throughout the Middle Ages. Many of the texts no longer exist in the original Greek. Included in the book is an appendix that presents resonant sayings and fragments from Buddhist, Taoist, and Muslim sources, demonstrating the universal quality of the teachings of the Greek sages and hinting at the interaction between Western and Eastern cultures.

Genres: Philosophy

128 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 1997

About the author

Dr. Thomas Francis Cleary, Ph.D. (East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University; J.D., Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley), was a prolific translator of Buddhist, Taoist, Confucian, and Muslim classics, with a particular emphasis on popular translations of Mahāyāna works relevant to the Chan, Zen, and Soen systems.

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of Greek aphorisms sorted by subject (and by author), translated from the Abbasid texts in Arabic through which they came into the Western world. At the very end is a set of roughly parallel aphorisms from Asian sources presented in a smaller type font -- all of which are excerpted from various Shambhala editions.

While some of the aphorisms are excellent, in both the Greek and the Asian sections, there is not much to tie them together. Granted that the original source comes through the Arabic, it would have been nice to cite the sources of Plato's dialogues and Aristotle's works; but this was not done.

As long as the reader accepts that this is not a unified work, Living a Good Life: Advice on Virtue, Love, and Action from the Ancient Greek Masters is worth dipping into. Thomas Cleary did a creditable job translating the selections, but he limited himself to works he himself translated, with the result that Buddhism and Hinduism are left out entirely.

[Karl · Rating 5 out of 5]

An enjoyable little book what shares the wisdom of some of the greatest Minds to walk the earth: Plato, Socrates, Pythagoras, Aristotle, Confucius, Lao-Tzu and many others. I know that some of those mentioned on the previous list are not of Greek heritage; however, the author has also included an appendix which also references Buddhist, Taoist, and Muslim sources.

The wisdom comes in the form of aphorisms and they are separated in to topics such as money, children, mind & matter, etc. A nice, physically small book that can be kept handy for when one needs some timeless words of inspiration.