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12 ratings | 10 reviews | avg rating:3.92

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Zaid Ismail

Goodreads Author

Born

in Johannesburg, South Africa

April 16, 1971

Website

https://gravatar.com/zaidie

Twitter

cynically_jaded

Genre

Romance, Self Help, Philosophy

Member Since

January 2019

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/zaidismail_author

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Writing is a ventlet that unpacks the insanity in my mind to create a shape and form that I can touch and feel. It helps to give an identity to the demons, or flight to the angels.

I've been writing informally for many years, most of which was an outlet to express myself beyond the confines of corporate life. After about 25 years, I decided to leave corporate and to pursue the unpacking of my insanity as a full-time calling.

In the process, I've released my first book which describes my philosophy about what makes us human. That book is titled The Egosystem. Due to reader feedback, I wrote a second book called Own Your Sh!t, a title that I often regret. But, it was what the publishing industry demanded at the time to have such publications Writing is a ventlet that unpacks the insanity in my mind to create a shape and form that I can touch and feel. It helps to give an identity to the demons, or flight to the angels.

I've been writing informally for many years, most of which was an outlet to express myself beyond the confines of corporate life. After about 25 years, I decided to leave corporate and to pursue the unpacking of my insanity as a full-time calling.

In the process, I've released my first book which describes my philosophy about what makes us human. That book is titled The Egosystem. Due to reader feedback, I wrote a second book called Own Your Sh!t, a title that I often regret. But, it was what the publishing industry demanded at the time to have such publications noticed in its genre.

I also published an eBook aimed at providing simple but powerful exercises to improve mental health. At the end of the 21 day challenge contained in the book, the reader experiences a tangible and sustainable shift in reconnecting with their higher self. The book is titled 21 Days to Live.

More recently, I finally followed through on my threats to write a book, fictional of course, but inspired by true and colourful events from my life. This was at least ten years in the making, and was finally published in 2020 under the title An Incomplete Love Story.

I'm currently working on three more manuscripts, simultaneously. The first is Embracing Me, which is taking The Egosystem to the next level and promises to provide some mind-blowing insights into achieving a level of self-acceptance you never thought possible.

A variation of Embracing Me, coupled with the message in Own Your Sh!t will be published against the backdrop of Islamic philosophy, titled Tie Your Camel. This is a project that is born out of my fascination with the distortion of religion to oppose a contemporary understanding of mental health. I hope to challenge many taboo issues and offer a balanced approach to how religion and mental health may complement each other.

And finally, I've started work on the sequel to my romance novel. The title is Taqdeer: A dance with destiny, and continues the journey of the solitary Indian Muslim man from South Africa who is trying to connect with his humanness after having been raised by an emotionally inaccessible community. Of course, with a healthy dose of romance and drama. ...more

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Zaid Ismail’s books

Average rating: 4.87 · 39 ratings · 29 reviews · 7 distinct works

	An Incomplete Love Story 4.94 avg rating — 16 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Own Your Sh!t 4.93 avg rating — 14 ratings — published 2019 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Egosystem: A Synopsis of the Human Condition 4.75 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 2018 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Taxi Through Mzansi: A nostalgic journey of lekker local musings by Media Inc., Shafinaaz Hassim (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Zaid Ismail (Goodreads Author) (Editor) 4.67 avg rating — 3 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	RIOT by Alia Khan Koumantarakis, Fathima Khan (Editor), Zaid Ismail (Goodreads Author) (Editor) 4.50 avg rating — 2 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Own Your Life 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2019 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	21 Days to Live: A refreshing reboot to life 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Zaid Ismail's Blog

Resisting the norms

The relentless pace of society towards retiring those who are no longer contemporary is enough reason to settle into the rhythm of preparing for old age. Just writing that out makes me nauseous. To regain my sanity, or at least to push back against the approaching insanity, I remind myself that I have a good […]

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Published on February 15, 2026 20:18

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Zaid is Currently Reading

Zaid Ismail is currently reading

The Priest's Journey

by Sivalingum V. Rungan (Goodreads Author)

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May 16, 2020 04:15AM

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The Prophet

by Kahlil Gibran

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Jul 16, 2019 01:09PM

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Zaid Ismail wrote a new blog post Resisting the norms The relentless pace of society towards retiring those who are no longer contemporary is enough reason to settle into the rhythm of preparing for old a Read more of this blog post »
Feb 16, 2026 05:20AM · like
Zaid Ismail marked as my-books 21 Days to Live: A refreshing reboot to life by Zaid Ismail (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 25, 2025 11:21PM · like
Zaid Ismail marked as my-books Own Your Life by Zaid Ismail (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 25, 2025 11:21PM · like

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Quotes by Zaid Ismail (?)

“Sometimes when things seem like they are falling apart, they are actually falling into place.”
― Zaid Ismail, The Egosystem: A synopsis of the human condition

tags: defeat, failure, hope, optimism, resilience

2 likes

“Survivors don't enjoy the sweetness of life. They simply enjoy the deferral of death.”
― Zaid Ismail, The Egosystem: A synopsis of the human condition

tags: conviction, growth-mindset, self-mastery, struggles-in-life, survivor, victim

1 likes

“The anguish you feel when you are embarking on something important, or at least want to, and there is a room full of no one that you can use as a sounding board.”
― Zaid Ismail, The Egosystem: A synopsis of the human condition

tags: future-plans, goals, inspirational-quotes, self-awareness

0 likes

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Zaid’s Quotes

tags: future-plans, goals, inspirational-quotes, self-awareness

0 likes

“Sometimes when things seem like they are falling apart, they are actually falling into place.”
― Zaid Ismail, The Egosystem: A synopsis of the human condition

tags: defeat, failure, hope, optimism, resilience

2 likes

“Survivors don't enjoy the sweetness of life. They simply enjoy the deferral of death.”
― Zaid Ismail, The Egosystem: A synopsis of the human condition

tags: conviction, growth-mindset, self-mastery, struggles-in-life, survivor, victim

1 likes

“A sane person to an insane society must appear insane.”
― Kurt Vonnegut, Welcome to the Monkey House

907 likes

“If I had but an hour of love,if that be all that is given me,an hour of love upon this earth,I would give my love to thee.”
― Alice Sebold, The Lovely Bones

107 likes

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