ANcient

PHILOSOPHY

In my book "The Rules of the Game of Life," my aim was not to provide completely new insights with regard to how to lead a happy and successful life. Rather, I wanted to pass on my own personal experiences to subsequent generations. Since I was guided by wise people early on, I was able to take their insights into account in my life and finally came to my conclusion through numerous experiences of my own.

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Many of my rules can be traced back to ancient Greece or Rome. In particular, Aristotle, Epicurus and the Stoics Epictetus, Seneca and Marcus Aurelius described the crucial aspects for a happy, successful and carefree life in simple and clear words more than 2,000 years ago. The insights of Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha), Lao-Tse and Confucius some 2,500 years ago in India and China show astonishing similarities with the thinking of the old Stoics.

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In order to check my rules of the game once again and thus to conclude my project, I have recently conducted extensive interviews with wise people, quotes from whom already appeared in the first edition of my book - in addition to those previously mentioned, e.g. also with Shakespeare and Goethe. How do you interview people who are long dead? You read their books and look specifically for quotes that they have left on the topics that are of particular interest to you. The interviews with philosophers were a nice last building block of my own search for the secrets of a good life.

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You too can start your search! What interests you? What do you want to know more about? Look around, listen around. You will not regret it.