Being Better

Stoicism for a World Worth Living In

By: Kai Whiting, Leonidas Konstantakos

Narrated by: Liam Gerrard

Practical answers to the urgent moral questions of our time from the ancient philosophy of Stoicism.

Twenty-three centuries ago, in a marketplace in Athens, Zeno of Citium, the founder of Stoicism, built his philosophy on powerful ideas that still resonate today: All human beings can become citizens of the world, regardless of their nationality, gender, or social class; happiness comes from living in harmony with nature; and, most important, humans always have the freedom to choose their attitude, even when they cannot control external circumstances. In our age of political polarization and environmental destruction, Stoicism's empowering message has taken on new relevance. In Being Better, Kai Whiting and Leonidas Konstantakos apply Stoic principles to contemporary issues such as social justice, climate breakdown, and the excesses of global capitalism. They show that Stoicism is not an ivory-tower philosophy or a collection of Silicon Valley life hacks, but a vital way of life that helps us live simply, improve our communities, and find peace in a turbulent world.

©2021 Kai Whiting and Leonidas Konstantakos (P)2021 Tantor

Great history in Stoicism with modern relatability

Although a short book, feels in depth. Introduces lesser known stoics with deep dives into their stories. Intermixing the ancient stories with modern relatability to practice. A good introduction to stoicism, plus much more.

Bad narration

Decent introduction terrible narration he sounds like a British sesame Street character. Kind of distracting

What a great introduction to Stoicism

As someone struggling with finding ways to make Stoic practices relevant to my life, I found Being Better to be a great guide. This book helped me to find ways that Stoicism can directly guide me toward living a better life. I have highly recommended it to others and have given several copies to friends.

The best introduction to Stoicism!

The book provides a great introduction to stoicism and has many interesting stories/examples of ancient and modern practical stoicism.

Good. Needed. Smart.

What Kai and Leonidas have done here is transport the original essence of Stoicism, the practical and prescriptive parts of it especially, into the modern without mucking it up with a bunch of new age takes on this ancient philosophy. How they've managed to do that while keeping the text highly accessible is beyond me but they've done it. And to those of you purchasing the audio version, the narrator has a pleasant and easy-to-listen-to voice. Definitely recommend adding one to your physical or virtual bookshelf.

Excellent Book

This book helped me get a concise understanding of the theory and ways to practically exercise stoic thought as well.

Keep the politics out

Author injected left wing politics into a discussion of stoicism. So I stopped listening and removed the book from my device

Pomposity and Self-Righteousness Get In The Way

I've listened to Kai Whiting on the Practical Stoicism podcast and very much enjoyed his take on Stoicism. He brings a practical take and some of the discussions between him and Tanner are extremely thought provoking. If there is one topic that doesn't get enough focus regarding modern Stoicism, it is the idea of cosmopolitism and the focus that virtue isn't something to do just for personal growth but for the betterment of the whole.

As the subtitle implies this book focuses on using Stoicism for making a better world (as opposed to making oneself a better person). But unfortunately, right off the bat, the book comes out swinging with a treatise on how much more virtuous it is to be a vegetarian and while the author's talk about how "privileged" they are to be able to put it into practice, jumping off with a rather debatable conclusion and a charged topic to discuss virtue, puts the reader on notice. Additionally, the use of a very British narrator, adds to the self-righteous feel.

There was a nice section where they author's chose two contrasting figures Pat Tillman (who most Americans know for his service in the Iraq and Afghanistan War) and Katherine Gun (who leaked NSA memo exposing supposed blackmailing or bribing to get votes in the UN for Iraq War). The point showing how both people illustrated virtuous actions. However, afterwards it was all downhill and one sided.

From complaining that women don't get paid the same as men in sports (there is fairly obvious reason why and it has nothing to do with sexism), to half a chapter on the importance of raising the minimum wage, to generalities and cliches, such as that all Americans seem to live by "Greed is Good" motto, the politics get in the way of the message. Even if one is sympathetic to the issues the author's are bringing up (and I am to many of their points), there is a much better way to present the idea of "doing the right thing" and looking out for the good of the whole.

The point of stoic virtue is to use it wisely, rationally, to the best of one's ability, for the common good and to how to live a good/best life. How one chooses to do that, especially in today's age where everything is political, should be up to the individual to find their path. Presenting that point in either an even-handed approach or finding as apolitical examples as possible, would make the message resonate with many more readers. As mentioned, the narrator does the author's no favor's by his presentation of the material. There are a lot of good books on Stoicism, unfortunately this one falls short, which is disappointing because the concepts the authors are bringing to the table need more attention in today's Stoic circles.