Stillness Is the Key
By Ryan Holiday
- Release Date: 2019-10-01
- Genre: Management & Leadership
Description
Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller & Wall Street Journal Bestseller
In The Obstacle Is the Way and Ego Is the Enemy, bestselling author Ryan Holiday made ancient wisdom wildly popular with a new generation of leaders in sports, politics, and technology. In his new book, Stillness Is the Key, Holiday draws on timeless Stoic and Buddhist philosophy to show why slowing down is the secret weapon for those charging ahead.
All great leaders, thinkers, artists, athletes, and visionaries share one indelible quality. It enables them to conquer their tempers. To avoid distraction and discover great insights. To achieve happiness and do the right thing. Ryan Holiday calls it stillness--to be steady while the world spins around you.
In this book, he outlines a path for achieving this ancient, but urgently necessary way of living. Drawing on a wide range of history's greatest thinkers, from Confucius to Seneca, Marcus Aurelius to Thich Nhat Hanh, John Stuart Mill to Nietzsche, he argues that stillness is not mere inactivity, but the doorway to self-mastery, discipline, and focus.
Holiday also examines figures who exemplified the power of stillness: baseball player Sadaharu Oh, whose study of Zen made him the greatest home run hitter of all time; Winston Churchill, who in balancing his busy public life with time spent laying bricks and painting at his Chartwell estate managed to save the world from annihilation in the process; Fred Rogers, who taught generations of children to see what was invisible to the eye; Anne Frank, whose journaling and love of nature guided her through unimaginable adversity.
More than ever, people are overwhelmed. They face obstacles and egos and competition. Stillness Is the Key offers a simple but inspiring antidote to the stress of 24/7 news and social media. The stillness that we all seek is the path to meaning, contentment, and excellence in a world that needs more of it than ever.
Reviews
Great book
5By Lamborghini fanaticA really good book about how much more important inner peace is than outer comfort.A great read.
5By NefeMerakiI enjoyed every page.Stillness LC 037
5By LC037Great insights into developing inner peace and living well ; Learn the concept of Flow!Awesome
5By ThirddaypowerOne of the best books I have read in a while!This book has changed my perspective
5By Reef WilliamsThe timing of picking up this book was no accident!Well written
5By nswamiiiiClever examples succinct chapters and sentencesAmazing!
5By Emac3navySuperb book! Great mindset from many leadersPuts things into perspective
5By Hu$ky 250This book really puts the things we all encounter in life into perspective. Seek solitude, avoiding escapism...etc. This book is a must read if you want to broaden the “real” perspective of life. Great Book!!Couldnt put it down
5By Morenom_ki read the book as if it was a guide in life. I would read it at night and the ideas would set me for a better tomorrow. it would bring excitment for the following day because it meant at night more lessons would be learned. thank you Mr. HolidayThe Essence of Zen and Non-Action in Bite-Sized Portions
5By FeelerRebornI was very impressed with Ego is the Enemy and The Obstacle is the Way, so I had high expectations for this book. Holiday did not disappoint. I was able to pick this book up and put it back down many times without losing the general idea. I found the information on Tiger Woods’ lifestyle to be perhaps the most entertaining and informative. The pieces on Zen Buddhism, Wu-Wei, and Non Action were not only enlightening but therapeutic. In a world where we are constantly told to Go-Go-Go and do More-More-More, it is interesting to hear an argument for the opposite perspective. My favorite element of this book overall, is the way Ryan expertly weaves together so many different philosophies and religions to form a thought; convincing the reader further that there are many paths to Enlightenment. Thank you Ryan; I am big fan of your work and consider myself a more useful man, and a more peaceful and generally-better human for having read it... particularly your work in Stoicism. Thank you and your team again and again.