The Path: What Chinese Philosophers Can Teach Us About the Good Life

Puett, Michael

ISBN 10: 1442378085 ISBN 13: 9781442378087

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2016

Synopsis

For the first time an award-winning Harvard professor shares the lessons from his wildly popular course on classical Chinese philosophy, showing you how these ancient ideas can guide you on the path to a good life today.

The lessons taught by ancient Chinese philosophers surprisingly still apply, and they challenge our fundamental assumptions about how to lead a fulfilled, happy, and successful life. Self-discovery, it turns out, comes through looking outward, not inward. Power comes from holding back. Good relationships come from small gestures. Spontaneity comes from practice. And excellence comes from what you choose to do, not your “natural” abilities.

Counterintuitive. Countercultural. Even revolutionary. These powerful ideas have made Professor Michael Puett’s course the third most popular at Harvard University in recent years, with enrollment surging every year since it was first offered in 2006. It’s clear students are drawn by a bold promise Professor Puett makes on the first day of class: “These ideas will change your life.” Now he offers his course to the world.

About this title

Review

"I read "The Path" in one sitting and have been talking about it to "everyone." It's brilliant, mesmerizing, profound--and deeply contrarian. It stands conventional wisdom on its head and points the way to a life of genuine fulfillment and meaning."--Amy Chua, Yale Law professor and author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother and The Triple Package

I read "The Path" in one sitting and have been talking about it to "everyone." It s brilliant, mesmerizing, profound and deeply contrarian. It stands conventional wisdom on its head and points the way to a life of genuine fulfillment and meaning. --Amy Chua, Yale Law professor and author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother and The Triple Package"

""The Path" illuminates a little-known spiritual and intellectual landscape: the rich body of Chinese thought that, starting more than two millennia ago, charted new approaches to living a meaningful life. But Puett goes a lot further, creatively applying this ancient thought to the dilemmas of modern life. The result is a fresh recipe for harnessing our natural energies and emotions to strengthen social connection and build islands of order amid the chaos that sometimes surrounds us. --Robert Wright, author of The Language of God"

""The Path" will not only change your life--it will change the way you see history and the world. From its wondrously fresh take on Confucius to its quietly profound read of just what it is the great sages have to say to us, this book exemplifies all that can come of the radical openness of Chinese philosophy. Read it and be transformed."--Gish Jen, author of Tiger Writing and The Love Wife"

**International Bestseller**

**"New York Times" and International Bestseller**

**New York Times and International Bestseller**

I read The Path in one sitting and have been talking about it to everyone. It s brilliant, mesmerizing, profound and deeply contrarian. It stands conventional wisdom on its head and points the way to a life of genuine fulfillment and meaning. --Amy Chua, Yale Law professor and author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother and The Triple Package"

This is a book that turns the notion of help and the self, for that matter on its head. Puett and Gross-Loh bring seemingly esoteric concepts down to Earth, where we can see them more clearly. The result is a philosophy book grounded in the here and now, and brimming with nuggets of insight. No fortune-cookie this, The Path serves up a buffet of meaty life lessons. I found myself reading and re-reading sections, letting the wisdom steep like a good cup of tea. --Eric Weiner, author of The Geography of Bliss and The Geography of Genius"

This book is a revelation, a practical way through a fractured, distracting world. I thought I knew these philosophers and I was wrong. Rigorous, concise, deeply informed, The Path retires our facile shorthand about ideas from the East and presents a powerful intellectual case to engage, to care, and to remember. --Evan Osnos, National Book Award-winning author of Age of Ambition"

About the Author

Michael Puett is the Walter C. Klein Professor of Chinese History in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations and Chair of the Committee on the Study of Religion at Harvard University. He is the recipient of a Harvard College Professorship for excellence in undergraduate teaching and is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Science.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1442378085
• ISBN 13: 9781442378087
• Binding: Audio CD