What do you think?
Rate this book
A More Exciting Life: A guide to greater freedom, spontaneity and enjoyment
A guide to living a more joyful and interesting life.
In pursuit of a more exciting life, we often seek external experiences to fulfill us. We take trips, parachute out of airplanes, and buy the latest technology. But the keys to a more joyful, thrilling, and beautiful life are already within us.
This inspiring book from The School of Life is a guide to the psychology of fulfillment. It presents readers with a chance to accept our desires and aspirations, nurture our inner liberation, and have the courage to set ourselves free.
In pursuit of a more exciting life, we often seek external experiences to fulfill us. We take trips, parachute out of airplanes, and buy the latest technology. But the keys to a more joyful, thrilling, and beautiful life are already within us.
This inspiring book from The School of Life is a guide to the psychology of fulfillment. It presents readers with a chance to accept our desires and aspirations, nurture our inner liberation, and have the courage to set ourselves free.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published November 26, 2020
89 people are currently reading
887 people want to read
About the author
The School of Life
173 books3,145 followersThe School of Life is a global organisation helping people lead more fulfilled lives.
We believe that the journey to finding fulfilment begins with self-knowledge. It is only when we have a sense of who we really are that we can make reliable decisions, particularly around love and work.
Sadly, tools and techniques for developing self-knowledge and finding fulfilment are hard to find – they’re not taught in schools, in universities, or in workplaces. Too many of us go through life without ever really understanding what’s going on in the recesses of our minds.
That’s why we created The School of Life; a resource for helping us understand ourselves, for improving our relationships, our careers and our social lives - as well as for helping us find calm and get more out of our leisure hours. We do this through films, workshops, books and gifts - as well as through a warm and supportive community.
We believe that the journey to finding fulfilment begins with self-knowledge. It is only when we have a sense of who we really are that we can make reliable decisions, particularly around love and work.
Sadly, tools and techniques for developing self-knowledge and finding fulfilment are hard to find – they’re not taught in schools, in universities, or in workplaces. Too many of us go through life without ever really understanding what’s going on in the recesses of our minds.
That’s why we created The School of Life; a resource for helping us understand ourselves, for improving our relationships, our careers and our social lives - as well as for helping us find calm and get more out of our leisure hours. We do this through films, workshops, books and gifts - as well as through a warm and supportive community.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
August 9, 2021
So great is my enthusiasm for A More Exciting Life that I ordered copies for each of my three adult children before I had even finished my own.
The Introduction to this exquisite little book expresses its intent perfectly:
Some of what may be subtly yet importantly wrong with our lives can be traced back to the lack of a quality that can sound a little naïve or even unserious, but that is critically important to our flourishing: excitement.
When we lack excitement, it isn't that things are terrible: we may have work, friends, family, and some options. It is just that, in a multitude of areas, life lacks flavour. Things feel repetitive, routine, and devoid of intensity, as though we are merely going through the motions; as though we are there but not properly present. Not much profoundly satisfies us; we fulfill obligations, we are dutiful and responsible, yet our deep selves are unquenched. Without meaning anything melodramatic by this, we are in a sort of cage. Or, to use another metaphor, we're crouching; our limbs aren't free. We are drained by varieties of shyness, numbness, and inhibition.
Typically, we are invited to address the absence of excitement with outward manoeuvres: we are encouraged to travel, parachute out of aeroplanes, or learn a foreign language. This is a book of psychology, however, and it holds that a lack of a sense of excitement primarily comes down to aspects of our minds—in particular to difficulties we have first identifying and then feeling legitimate around our own desires and aspirations. Somewhere along the path of our development, we resigned ourselves too early to things that needed to be protested against; we have felt too constricted (and perhaps unloved and unloveable) to communicate our truth to others; the proper expansion of our characters has been sacrificed for the sake of a now-stifling compliance.
This is a guide to recovering some of our spirit, and becoming the sort of people who, thanks to a range of psychological reorientations, are connected to the intensity, beauty, and mystery of life and to the richness of their own possibilities. The English psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott (1896-1971) once remarked that what mattered less than whether someone was happy or not was whether they felt as if they were leading their own lives. This suggests how often we fall into leading the lives that other people (some of them well-meaning) want us to lead, adjusting ourselves to their needs more than is wise and bowing to socially sanctioned but incomplete ideas of what is 'normal'.
This is a book about freedom. We know the word in its political context, but it exists, and achieves its full resonance and majesty, in a psychological form. An exciting life of freedom is different from a merely good or wise or calm life; it is one that can feature novelty, tension, eros, ambition and appreciation. It encompasses a capacity to take risks, to trust and to know how to communicate one's perspective to others. It means allowing oneself to be a little more forthright, joyful, irreverent and unfrightened. This is a book for people who, although living, are only intermittently liberated enough to feel alive, but who are now ready to make meaningful changes.
[Adherence to the conventions of British English in this excerpt reflects its origin.]
Pertinent, if somewhat tangential, to this, I was asked recently: What does friendship mean to me? The first three entries in my notes are: Excitement, Growth, and Discovery.
August 7, 2021
Favourite quotes:
‘Ask the upset 3yr, “Darling how do u feel about that?” And actually listen to the answer without dismissing’
‘To learn to assert is no less than climbing a mountain’
‘Everyone is in deep need of reassurance. We are living more or less in a sense of emergency’
Perhaps even more than they realise，they will be longing for someone to say something soothing to them; a word to make them feel that they have a right to exist; that we have faith in them; that we know things aren't always easv for them and that-in a vague but real way-we are on their side。It could be a small and barely perceptible remark，but its effect might be critical：that something fascinating they said sticks in our minds; that we know the past few nmonths have not been easy for them; that we've found ourselves thinking of them since our last meeting; that we've noticed and admire the way they go about things; that they deserve a break and are，we can see，carrying so much。
For depressives, realising what they are concretely upset about would be too devastating. Therefore, they uncon- sciously choose to remain dead to everything as opposed to very distraught about something. Depression is sad- ness that has forgotten its true causes – forgotten because remembering may generate overwhelming, untenable feelings of pain and loss
Sad people are grief stricken about something in the world but depressed feel wretched about themselves
It may look like a fight over scheduling or childcare, but really it's a fight about the terror of emotional abandonment.
We confuse seeing our lover everyday with understanding their soul. This mirrors our lack of curiosity in world around us- the same banal city, objects around us in favour of something exotic and foreign
we cannot reconcile the notion that someone might at once be genuinely caring and capable of betraying our best interests. We find it hard to be simultaneously intimate and, always, a touch vigilant. What should help us to absorb that eventuality is to remember that, just as we can say no and still be kind, so another can have harmed us and yet remain, in their essence, good
Be thankful everyday that
most of the 78 organs in our bodies have performed pretty reliably since the day we were born
‘Ask the upset 3yr, “Darling how do u feel about that?” And actually listen to the answer without dismissing’
‘To learn to assert is no less than climbing a mountain’
‘Everyone is in deep need of reassurance. We are living more or less in a sense of emergency’
Perhaps even more than they realise，they will be longing for someone to say something soothing to them; a word to make them feel that they have a right to exist; that we have faith in them; that we know things aren't always easv for them and that-in a vague but real way-we are on their side。It could be a small and barely perceptible remark，but its effect might be critical：that something fascinating they said sticks in our minds; that we know the past few nmonths have not been easy for them; that we've found ourselves thinking of them since our last meeting; that we've noticed and admire the way they go about things; that they deserve a break and are，we can see，carrying so much。
For depressives, realising what they are concretely upset about would be too devastating. Therefore, they uncon- sciously choose to remain dead to everything as opposed to very distraught about something. Depression is sad- ness that has forgotten its true causes – forgotten because remembering may generate overwhelming, untenable feelings of pain and loss
Sad people are grief stricken about something in the world but depressed feel wretched about themselves
It may look like a fight over scheduling or childcare, but really it's a fight about the terror of emotional abandonment.
We confuse seeing our lover everyday with understanding their soul. This mirrors our lack of curiosity in world around us- the same banal city, objects around us in favour of something exotic and foreign
we cannot reconcile the notion that someone might at once be genuinely caring and capable of betraying our best interests. We find it hard to be simultaneously intimate and, always, a touch vigilant. What should help us to absorb that eventuality is to remember that, just as we can say no and still be kind, so another can have harmed us and yet remain, in their essence, good
Be thankful everyday that
most of the 78 organs in our bodies have performed pretty reliably since the day we were born
August 7, 2025
نمره شاید ۳.۵
کتاب رو نشر هنوز با ترجمه نادیا فغانی به اسم پرشور و حال زیستن در مجموعه کتاب های مدرسه زندگی چاپ کرده
بسیار نثر روان خوان و خوبی داشت مثل اکثر کتاب های انگیزشی که آدم خسته میشه از خوندشون نبود
موضوعاتی که اشاره میکرد هم خوب بود
ولی مشکل من با اینگونه کتاب ها اینه که بلافاصله بعد از خوندشون متن و موضوعی که خوندم یادم میره😑
ولی در کل کتاب خوبی بود و خوندنش توصیه میشه
یک جاش نوشته بود باید خوشحال باشیم که پدربزرگ و مادربزرگ هامون و بعد پدر و مادرمون عشق بازی موفقی داشتند که الان ما وجود داریم
به این موضوع از این جنبه تا به حال نگاه نکرده بودم :))
کتاب رو نشر هنوز با ترجمه نادیا فغانی به اسم پرشور و حال زیستن در مجموعه کتاب های مدرسه زندگی چاپ کرده
بسیار نثر روان خوان و خوبی داشت مثل اکثر کتاب های انگیزشی که آدم خسته میشه از خوندشون نبود
موضوعاتی که اشاره میکرد هم خوب بود
ولی مشکل من با اینگونه کتاب ها اینه که بلافاصله بعد از خوندشون متن و موضوعی که خوندم یادم میره😑
ولی در کل کتاب خوبی بود و خوندنش توصیه میشه
یک جاش نوشته بود باید خوشحال باشیم که پدربزرگ و مادربزرگ هامون و بعد پدر و مادرمون عشق بازی موفقی داشتند که الان ما وجود داریم
به این موضوع از این جنبه تا به حال نگاه نکرده بودم :))
December 31, 2021
After months and months of delaying to finish this book, I just finished this today. For me, this is the best and the most heartwarming self-help book that The School of Life has ever published. I cried reading the last chapter :")
Each chapter was beautifully written with so many deep-meaning narrative which provoked the mind. This is a book which makes me believe that a sense of liberation, excitement, and enjoyment in our lives doesn't have to come from big and grandeur things.
This is a book which teaches me about finding pleasure in small things; that excitement doesn't have to come from visiting Machu Picchu or doing a sky diving. That the true meaning of life is within each of its small moments, only if we can appreciate it consciously.
Read this if: You feel stuck in life and can't find any pleasures or enjoyment in your everyday things.
Each chapter was beautifully written with so many deep-meaning narrative which provoked the mind. This is a book which makes me believe that a sense of liberation, excitement, and enjoyment in our lives doesn't have to come from big and grandeur things.
This is a book which teaches me about finding pleasure in small things; that excitement doesn't have to come from visiting Machu Picchu or doing a sky diving. That the true meaning of life is within each of its small moments, only if we can appreciate it consciously.
Read this if: You feel stuck in life and can't find any pleasures or enjoyment in your everyday things.
December 15, 2020
A More Exciting Life: A Guide to Greater Freedom, Spontaneity and Enjoyment is a book that examines different aspects of modern life and offers perspectives on how to live in a way that is true to yourself and your ideals. This is a book that advocates the value of finding your own voice and learning to turn your back on societal values that put undue burden on your psyche.
THINGS I LOVE
Some of the ideas here are fairly unique and fresh to me. I love the author's take on the later life of Van Gogh and the value of simplicity. Not many books broach the importance of laziness and taking life at your own pace, hence I am glad this one did in a way that is wholesome and educational.
DISLIKES
None.
Many thanks to The School of Life for review copy.
THINGS I LOVE
Some of the ideas here are fairly unique and fresh to me. I love the author's take on the later life of Van Gogh and the value of simplicity. Not many books broach the importance of laziness and taking life at your own pace, hence I am glad this one did in a way that is wholesome and educational.
DISLIKES
None.
Many thanks to The School of Life for review copy.
September 6, 2023
We cannot be good to anyone else until we have serviced some of our own inner callings.
When you start a friendship, you realise that other people don’t principally want to know your good news so much as gain an insight into what troubles and worries you, so that they can in turn feel less lonely with the pains of their own hearts. You become a better friend because you see that what friendship is really about is sharing vulnerability.
When you start a friendship, you realise that other people don’t principally want to know your good news so much as gain an insight into what troubles and worries you, so that they can in turn feel less lonely with the pains of their own hearts. You become a better friend because you see that what friendship is really about is sharing vulnerability.
March 23, 2023
اول از همه ترجمش رو خوندم و بد بود.. واقعا (خطاب به ناشر و مترجم) اگه کارای اولتون که هیچ امیدوارم بهتر بشید اما اگه نیست ...
دوم کتاب خوبی بود موضوعاتی که ازش میگف و دیدگاهش ی سری چیزای رو بنظر مفصل تر میشد حرف زد و فکر کرد یسری بخشام یاداوری بود انگار برام
و یادم رف اینم بگم از طریق همین اپ فهمیدم که کتابی که خوندم حدود ۵۰صفحه سانسور شده😊
هنوز راحت نیستم با اینجا😁
دوم کتاب خوبی بود موضوعاتی که ازش میگف و دیدگاهش ی سری چیزای رو بنظر مفصل تر میشد حرف زد و فکر کرد یسری بخشام یاداوری بود انگار برام
و یادم رف اینم بگم از طریق همین اپ فهمیدم که کتابی که خوندم حدود ۵۰صفحه سانسور شده😊
هنوز راحت نیستم با اینجا😁
March 1, 2023
At first I just enjoyed reading the School of Life for leisure but now I realize they’re the books I wish I had really learned in school to be better now. Memorized line by line and lived differently. It’s never too late to learn what life actually is about. I love these writings and the Youtube channel the School of Life provides. Absolutely recommend these to everyone because they’re simple yet profound.
May 26, 2021
I really like school of life books but my criticism is always the same: they're opinion presented as undeniable truth. These books make leviticus look like friendly advice. (Just kidding)
Also, particularly in this book, the author says a couple of times something along the lines of "it works for both genders/it's the same for women" when I hard disagree.
Some life advice for Alain = you don't know what you don't know, you know?
Also, particularly in this book, the author says a couple of times something along the lines of "it works for both genders/it's the same for women" when I hard disagree.
Some life advice for Alain = you don't know what you don't know, you know?
March 28, 2024
Sections 1 and 2 genuinely make for incredible reading - so many great insights expressed really well. Slightly less convinced on some of the later sections (seems to work on the assumption that we have an innate 'self' rather than a self constructed over time through ongoing experiences, especially when it comes to artistic expression/things we enjoy) but still very accessible and enjoyable to read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 18, 2023
A great little book with many great insights on life. Opinionated, but intentionally so. A lot of great conversation points around how to interact with others, challenging our social norms, and prompting thought around intentionally living life and expanding the time that we’ve got left.
June 12, 2021
There’s the typical run-of-the-mill self-help books, then there’s The School of Life. I say that because there’s something about the wording and conciseness in their books that makes it all the more relatable and easier to read. I don’t need to pour over pages of repetitive content to hopefully arrive at some kind of answer in the end.
With The School of Life books, they’re small, matter of fact, and contain all the information that I need on a subject. I actually find them kind of fun to read as well, whereas traditional self-help books can be a pain in the ass sometimes, and I rarely ever finish them. These great little books also look really nice too, and make for pretty awesome gifts as well.
I took a lot away from A More Exciting Life, using a full highlighter and an entire strip of post-it notes. I also went to Indigo after and bought The School of Life: An Emotional Education because I had a craving for more of this kind of knowledge, the kind I could actually walk away from and have it resonate with me.
There are times when I’ll go to groups and therapy appointments to hear the same thing again and again, only to walk out the door and forget the entire thing. This book is a gem and I retained a lot of the info in here, and read most of it with a smile on my face.
www.avocadodiaries.com
With The School of Life books, they’re small, matter of fact, and contain all the information that I need on a subject. I actually find them kind of fun to read as well, whereas traditional self-help books can be a pain in the ass sometimes, and I rarely ever finish them. These great little books also look really nice too, and make for pretty awesome gifts as well.
I took a lot away from A More Exciting Life, using a full highlighter and an entire strip of post-it notes. I also went to Indigo after and bought The School of Life: An Emotional Education because I had a craving for more of this kind of knowledge, the kind I could actually walk away from and have it resonate with me.
There are times when I’ll go to groups and therapy appointments to hear the same thing again and again, only to walk out the door and forget the entire thing. This book is a gem and I retained a lot of the info in here, and read most of it with a smile on my face.
www.avocadodiaries.com
January 19, 2023
Packed with useful insight and occasionally revelatory, I only have 2 quibbles. 1) The book isn't geared to everyone. Some people need to think about others more, and focus on caring for others as a corrective to their selfishness masquerading as self-care. I would hope they steer clear of the book and fall farther down that hole. Most people I know, however, think about others reflexively and probably would find benefit. 2) I disagree with his stance on marriage/long term relationships. The premise of the short essay is all solid but I don't agree with the conclusion because I think there are other valid relationship goals other than growth (mutual support for one). I may reread a couple chapters next year again for some new year recharging.
November 27, 2025
A More Exciting Life is an easy read in the best possible way. I appreciated how each chapter touches on inner honesty and the importance of listening to ourselves. The chapters on boredom and spontaneity resonated with me the most.
One line in particular stayed with me: “The courage to admit to our boredom allows us, gradually, to develop a personality.” It felt so true — we often assume we’ll enjoy what others enjoy, but sometimes the opposite happens, and that’s completely fine.
This is a book I can see myself returning to, dipping back into certain chapters whenever I need a gentle reminder to realign with myself.
One line in particular stayed with me: “The courage to admit to our boredom allows us, gradually, to develop a personality.” It felt so true — we often assume we’ll enjoy what others enjoy, but sometimes the opposite happens, and that’s completely fine.
This is a book I can see myself returning to, dipping back into certain chapters whenever I need a gentle reminder to realign with myself.
March 21, 2022
The School of Life publish some excellent resources for living life. This book follows in that tradition with some excellent guidance for living a life that is freer, more spontaneous, and more joyful. Divided into sections that explore Others, Self, Relationships, Work, Pleasure, and Freedom, it provides a comprehensive and beautifully written survey of ways we can improve each of these domains.
The authors (whoever they are -- they're never identified) take the position that a '... lack of a sense of excitement [in our lives] primarily comes down to aspects of our minds.' In other words, what is happening internally rather than what is going on externally to us.
Every page contains helpful insights, new ways of looking at something, and attitudes we can take that will dramatically make our lives better.
A MORE EXCITING LIFE is easy to read yet profound in communicating what it has to say. Some of the perspectives are provocative and provide "food" for thought that is as far away as you can get from the typical "fast food" of so much self-help writing weighing down our bookshop shelves today.
If you're looking for substance over mere entertainment, check this out.
The authors (whoever they are -- they're never identified) take the position that a '... lack of a sense of excitement [in our lives] primarily comes down to aspects of our minds.' In other words, what is happening internally rather than what is going on externally to us.
Every page contains helpful insights, new ways of looking at something, and attitudes we can take that will dramatically make our lives better.
A MORE EXCITING LIFE is easy to read yet profound in communicating what it has to say. Some of the perspectives are provocative and provide "food" for thought that is as far away as you can get from the typical "fast food" of so much self-help writing weighing down our bookshop shelves today.
If you're looking for substance over mere entertainment, check this out.
July 20, 2023
This book should really be included in primary school curriculums. It speaks to emotional intelligence and living to the fullest in practical, straightforward ways. I will revisit this book throughout my life because I can always keep learning from it. I read it at a time where I was feeling a bit low and hopeless, and it sparked new ideas in my mind that I otherwise wouldn’t have considered. There is something for everyone in this book for sure, I’ve always been a huge fan of School of Life books!!
February 3, 2024
Dari langit terang hingga beralih gelap, bahkan staffnya udah ganti shift. Buku ini .... hmm, sukses bikin jungkir balik apa yang selama ini aku yakini.
Menurutku buku ini bisa disandingkan dengan buku The School of Life yang Small Pleasure. Karena beberapa bagian buku ini mengajak kita untuk notice rather than just see 'something'. Cara kita menyadari lingkungan, pikiran, perasaan... ini tuh semacam ngajakin kita untuk lebih ringan menjalani hidup. Wah, kataku sih baca aja buku ini and you will thank me later 😂
Menurutku buku ini bisa disandingkan dengan buku The School of Life yang Small Pleasure. Karena beberapa bagian buku ini mengajak kita untuk notice rather than just see 'something'. Cara kita menyadari lingkungan, pikiran, perasaan... ini tuh semacam ngajakin kita untuk lebih ringan menjalani hidup. Wah, kataku sih baca aja buku ini and you will thank me later 😂
March 11, 2022
It's a bold statement, but if you don’t set the scene and outline what you hope to do in your self-help book, then there's not much point. "Read a book in less than 10 minutes", for example, would be a really nice title for a 3 page book on time management. Anyway, I enjoyed this book a lot. The writing style is informative, humourous and engaging. It's thought-provoking. I've not noticed much of a difference in my general freedom and outlook, but I did feel inspired during the time I read the book. Well, I'm off to do something spontaneous now. Ciao!
April 8, 2024
Mini but mighty book! A refreshing yet mind blowing book that unlock my boredom quest. I agree if this is a book for people who, although living, are only intermittently liberated enough to feel alive, and ready to make meaningful changes.
Often we are invited to address the absence of excitement with outward manoeuvres (i.e. travel, learning new skill, adventures,etc) - however according the author, lack of excitement primarily comes down to aspects of our minds - in particular, to difficulties we have first identifying and the feeling legitimate around our own desires and aspirations.
I love a lot of ideas that this book offers, my most favourite is to really start seeing everything/everyone that close to us as something new / a stranger exciting thing..that we cant wait to explore and understand further!!
#wulsread
Often we are invited to address the absence of excitement with outward manoeuvres (i.e. travel, learning new skill, adventures,etc) - however according the author, lack of excitement primarily comes down to aspects of our minds - in particular, to difficulties we have first identifying and the feeling legitimate around our own desires and aspirations.
I love a lot of ideas that this book offers, my most favourite is to really start seeing everything/everyone that close to us as something new / a stranger exciting thing..that we cant wait to explore and understand further!!
#wulsread
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 31, 2022
Some parts eye-opening, most parts affirmative of things I already know of and values I already believe in. All in all, a very easy and thoughtful read on how to embrace parts of ourselves that we don't want to bring to surface; and the frivolities of our day-to-day in order to, as the title goes, live a more exciting life.
July 17, 2023
Super amusing little morsels to get in the tub, read and laugh about. Loved so many of the essays and their wry wit.
Favourite: the essay about how the partner you've been with for years is still the stranger lying beside you at night. Just think about how little you still know about this dynamic and shifting complexity of a being who has devoted their lives to sticking around.
Favourite: the essay about how the partner you've been with for years is still the stranger lying beside you at night. Just think about how little you still know about this dynamic and shifting complexity of a being who has devoted their lives to sticking around.
May 2, 2024
به احتمال زیاد بین مواردی که تو کتاب بهش اشاره شده حداقل یک مورد (احتمالا بیشتر) رو پیدا میکنید که به درد سبک زندگی خودتون بخوره و بتونید اونو وارد زندگیتون کنید
نه تنها این کتاب، همه کتاب های آلن دوباتن و مدرسه زندگی رو بهتون پیشنهاد میکنم بخونید، نه این که پشت هم بخونیدشون، هر چند وقت یک بار با توجه به شرایطتون یکیشون رو انتخاب کنید و بخونید، قطعا کمک میکنه
پ.ن: من صوتی این کتاب رو گوش دادم.
نه تنها این کتاب، همه کتاب های آلن دوباتن و مدرسه زندگی رو بهتون پیشنهاد میکنم بخونید، نه این که پشت هم بخونیدشون، هر چند وقت یک بار با توجه به شرایطتون یکیشون رو انتخاب کنید و بخونید، قطعا کمک میکنه
پ.ن: من صوتی این کتاب رو گوش دادم.
May 11, 2024
Some chapters I would give a 5 rating to, others are pretty run of the mill. It feels like maybe they had some really great stuff but not enough to justify a book so they used the usual platitudes you can find anywhere to pad it with. It’s worth it for the good stuff though, just skim the rest. Hence the 3 star rating.
January 30, 2023
Interesting perspective in this book! I like how the author include famous artist and paintings to tell stories. A good reminder to us all that there is much beauty in this world for us to appreciate in each day :) Highly recommended to read 👍🏻
June 13, 2024
4,5 stars. At moments it got unrealistic, but in general it’s sharp and lucid. I believe it’s a worthwhile buy as a bedside companion when things get tough or when we feel life couldn’t get any blander and disappointing.
August 5, 2025
As usual, The School of Life books give the reader something to think about. I appreciate it when SoL makes me think of something from a different perspective. An example of this is how SoL describes a luxury item as something the exemplifies the highest level of skill to produce without a focus on the cost of production. The differs from my traditional view as creating products for the elite. There are many other examples of challenges to traditional thinking and an opportunity to reflect.
January 31, 2021
Short, surprising, and amazing insights on how to make our lives more exciting! Definitely picked up an idea or two to implement in my life.
April 14, 2021
This isn't so much a list of ideas, but a list of concepts to consider.
I really like the portion of "A few things to be grateful for..."
I really like the portion of "A few things to be grateful for..."
December 9, 2021
I think of these sorts of aesthetically laid out, accessibly written books as "coffee table helpers", designed to be flicked through when I'm waiting and worrying. I'll return to this.
January 29, 2022
I thought it was a guide but it was moreso a collection of musing essays on the philosophy of an exciting life. Picked up at the end, that made me want to sink into the words more. Can't be rushed.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews