In the third story, ‘The sacrifice’, the strain on the grandfather and the grandson tugged at my heart, kept me on the edge with hope till the end, and rewarded me with liberation and uplifting. This is my favorite one !!!!"

A powerful spiritual experience, coming from an author still alive!!

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the author took refuge in France, was living in an inner city project housing at the time he got the Nobel Prize.

A deeply enriching story of his journey, which is at the same time entertaining. A powerful combination of depth and lightness. I haven't come across a chronicle of journey like this for a long time. It fits so well with his Nobel Prize speech, in wisdom and modesty.

What happened Friday night in Paris was about to send me into a severe depression, but I recalled how I’ve decided to take charge of my emotions, by reading optimistic & constructive books. So, Saturday morning I started to read this book again, and, within an hour, it lifted my spirit.

A quote from this book that fits well to the disaster in Paris, and has given me the strength to see the event in a different light:

'Emergencies send sparks to the darkest corners of us. They wake up our hormones and neurotransmitters. They remove the rust from our body and mind, and they show us we can still handle crises with poise.

Emergencies push us to our limits. At those limits, the best inside us comes out. The eyes of our mind open, exceptional vision occurs to us, and we have a chance to become extraordinary.'

That's what is amazing about the eternal and universal wisdoms contained in such constructive books: they fundamentally change our perspective on life, so we become autonomous to take charge of our emotions, and move on by taking proactive actions.

I read this book to understand the meaning of 'Soul', from a Western point of view, after I've read quite a few books on this subject from the East.
The chapter 'De Anima' in this book does a great job in illuminating this, if one takes the patience to read through it, and if one remembers that it was Aristotle who developed the notion of rhetorics in the first place.

It's a dense but complete read, not only one the subject of soul, but also on everything, from Physics to Medicine to Politics!! It's amazing how a man can be so versatile, and can have insight into so many truths.