Everything Has Two Handles: The Stoic's Guide to the Art of Living

I have never before written a review on Amazon, but this little book is truly remarkable. Stoicism has gotten an unfair reputation in the modern world for being a system that represses all feelings to the detriment of the practitioner. In fact Stoicism is a much more humane and realistic system, as Dr. Ronald Pies illustrates in a clear and concise manner. Upon receiving this book, I read it once through and then immediately again more carefully, highlighting points with a highlighter.Quotes from Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius and others demonstrate wisdom about human strengths and shortcomings that has transcended centuries. Although another reader complained about the references to Jewish philosophers, I very much enjoyed Pies including their words, especially when they provided a welcome contrast to the Stoics' views on when and how anger can be appropriately expressed. Personally, I think Pies would have been remiss if he had not included Jewish insight. Jewish philosophy reflects knowledge gained by surviving and thriving despite a long history of persecution. To be fair, Pies also includes several references to other religions, most notably referring to Buddhist wisdom at several points. That said, I highly recommend Everything has Two Handles as a primer that allows the reader to understand how Stoicism can be applied to the life of a modern reader.

I have long read the Stoics, and thought they have a philosophy of life that can benefit us all. But Stoicism, as an ancient philosophy, must be updated for modern audiences.Ronald Pies has done just that in Everything Has Two Handles: The Stoic's Guide to the Art of Living. Pies shows the links of Stoicism to CBT, Christianity, Judaism, and Buddhism. Certain Stoic ideas and techniques can be helpful to weather life’s difficulties, and can augment our modern religious experience. Pies has written a clear book that provides added shifts to Stoic philosophy for our time.

We can all read and want to express what we’ve learned but in your head is better than this book. Pretty Lame.

I read this book over a very long period of time, through many interruptions and disruptions, but I finally finished it today. It introduces the basics of Stoic thinking, often presented with similar ideas from other philosophies and religions. Plenty of examples are included to illustrate the working of the principles under discussion. A useful introduction to Stoicism.

This book is short and very easy to read- you don't need any formal philosophy education to understand or benefit from it. I found the book to be extremely helpful-- a real life changer. I have applied much of what i learned and found it to lower my daily stress level. I highly recommend it!

Everything Has Two Handles could become an obligatory reading for everybody 15 year-old and older. It has a magical communality and you could easily find yourself in some of the stories. I felt that it made me think and reflect while feeling that something was challenging me. I will read it again and again to learn more from this superb book.

This book is a must for youths because it explains in simple terms that importance of looking at situations and issues with an open mind...to consider more than one answer to every questions.

So many better books on stoicism out there

Not as fun as expected.

The Stoic philosopher Epictetus said (my loose translation):"Everything has two handles, one by which it can be easily carried, the other not at all. If your sibling is unfair, and you try to grasp the situation by the handle of this unfairness, you're using the handle that won't work. Grasp the situation by the other handle, that this is your family and the two of you were reared together [you are of the same stuff and from the same mould], and you can carry it well." The idea is that we are all of the same stuff and come from the same mould [interconnected to each other and the world by numerous threads] and if you keep this in mind "things do not touch the soul" and we can keep and equilibrium. The stoics did not wrestle with emotions and try to defeat them by pinning them to the ground. Instead, they tried to see the things aright and thereby not be destabalised by inapt emotions.After giving his potted version of the heart of stoic philosophy, Ronald Pies' tells us how we might avoid letting things touch our souls and destabilise ourselves by using stoic philosophy as a guide to improve our lives. In the process, he draws on his own clinical experience telling us little stories that illustrate the principles he is discussing.You might also like, William Irvine's "A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy".