The Socrates Express: In Search of Life Lessons from Dead Philosophers

by Eric Weiner

Today few people take the train if they can help it, and no one studies philosophy if their parents can help it.

Meditations is unlike any book I’ve read. It is not really a book at all. It is an exhortation. A compilation of reminders and pep talks. Roman refrigerator notes.

You don’t so much read Marcus as eavesdrop on him.

Philosophy doesn’t coddle. It challenges. It makes demands. The best philosophers are the most demanding. Socrates demands we question assumptions, especially our own. Marcus Aurelius demands we honor our duties.

The movie is classified as a romantic comedy, but Groundhog Day is, I believe, the most philosophical movie ever made.