A Significant Life

Download or read book A Significant Life written by Todd May and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2015-04-02 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A tour de force. It is a thoughtful, subtle, beautifully written discussion of what it takes to live a meaningful life.” —Barry Schwartz, author of The Paradox of Choice Throughout history most of us have looked to faith, relationships, or deeds to give our lives purpose. But in A Significant Life, philosopher Todd May offers an exhilarating new way of thinking about meaning, one deeply attuned to life as it actually is: a work in progress, a journey—and often a narrative. Offering moving accounts of his own life alongside rich engagements with philosophers from Aristotle to Heidegger, he shows us where to find the significance of our lives: in the way we live them. May starts by looking at the fundamental fact that life unfolds over time, and as it does so, it begins to develop certain qualities, certain themes. Our lives can be marked by intensity, curiosity, perseverance, or many other qualities that become guiding narrative values. These values lend meanings to our lives that are distinct from—but also interact with—the universal values we are taught to cultivate, such as goodness or happiness. Offering a fascinating examination of a broad range of figures—from music icon Jimi Hendrix to civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer, from cyclist Lance Armstrong to The Portrait of a Lady’s Ralph Touchett to Claus von Stauffenberg, a German officer who tried to assassinate Hitler—May shows that narrative values offer a rich variety of criteria by which to assess a life, specific to each of us and yet widely available. They offer us a way of reading ourselves, who we are, and who we might like to be.

Download or read book A Significant Life written by Todd May and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2015-04-02 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Philosopher Todd May s latest book helps readers to find meaning in their lives, especially those readers who, like Camus, do not look to God. As Camus says of daily life, But then one day the why arises and everything begins in that weariness tinged with amazement. To move beyond that weariness tinged with amazement, we must look, May argues, toward a realm of values that inheres in our practices but that we rarely reflect on systematically: narrative values. Narrative values offer thematic meaning and a sense of worth to the trajectory of our lives. The book proceeds in five stages. In the first chapter, May raises the question of meaningfulness, and then rejects the answers he thinks are too easyGod and the universe. The second chapter considers and rejects the possibility that happiness is good enough. For a life to be meaningful in the sense many of us seek, it cannot only feel good to us: it must also meet certain, more objective criteria of meaningfulness. In the third chapter, the heart of the book, May proposes narrative values as offering those criteria or standards of meaning, values such as steadfastness, adventurousness, or gracefulness. In chapter four, May contrasts narrative values with both moral values and aesthetic ones, and in chapter five May defends the idea that we can have standards or criteria of meaning that are objectivenot simply a matter of personal opinioneven in the absence of God or some foundation upon which to rest our beliefs. May reflects on what it is to have a meaningful life, and how much or how little comfort we can take from the meaning our lives might express. Narrative values do not offer us an assurance that our lives have a cosmic significance, and they do not redeem all humankind. Instead, they give us a framework for reflecting on ourselves that allow us to make sense of and give value to the particular bent of the arc of our lives."

Download or read book A Significant Life written by Jim Graff and published by WaterBrook Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents an inspiration guide to living a more purposeful life, and contains five simple steps to personal courage, integrity, and determination.

Download or read book This Is Water written by David Foster Wallace and published by Little, Brown. This book was released on 2009-04-14 with total page 142 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this rare peak into the personal life of the author of numerous bestselling novels, gain an understanding of David Foster Wallace and how he became the man that he was. Only once did David Foster Wallace give a public talk on his views on life, during a commencement address given in 2005 at Kenyon College. The speech is reprinted for the first time in book form in This is Water. How does one keep from going through their comfortable, prosperous adult life unconsciously? How do we get ourselves out of the foreground of our thoughts and achieve compassion? The speech captures Wallace's electric intellect as well as his grace in attention to others. After his death, it became a treasured piece of writing reprinted in The Wall Street Journal and the London Times, commented on endlessly in blogs, and emailed from friend to friend. Writing with his one-of-a-kind blend of causal humor, exacting intellect, and practical philosophy, David Foster Wallace probes the challenges of daily living and offers advice that renews us with every reading.

Download or read book A Significant Life written by Jim Graff and published by WaterBrook Press. This book was released on 2006-09-19 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Are you yearning to live a life that matters? Many people wrestle with their significance. If you’re one of them, Jim Graff understands. And in his life-changing new book, he offers incredible insight and inspiration that can change the course of your life. A Significant Life helps you understand how to own your own worth–which is given and anointed by God–and live a more purposeful life. As a result, you’ll see an amazing transformation…not only in your life, but also in your church and community. Drawing on biblical models such as David, Esther, and Jesus himself, Jim shows you how personal courage, integrity, and determination can turn sparks into a holy fire. He’ll help you grab hold of the ways God wants you to be blessed. Learn to live your heart’s desire. And go out into the world as a person transformed with God-ordained significance. In A Significant Life, Graff reveals five keys that will give you the resources and the inspiration to live at your full potential as a person of eternal significance. Owning and living out of your true significance occurs by: ·Developing Confidence ·Being a person of Character ·Concentrating on God’s will ·Cooperating with God (and others) in carrying out God’s plans, and ·Participating in Community Discover the importance and impact of these five C’s in your life as you learn to live authentically within God’s unique design for you. And begin to own your God-given significance by living a purposeful life every day. From the Hardcover edition.

Download or read book The Top Ten Ways to Lead a Significant Life written by Dave Zimmer and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2005 with total page 50 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Top Ten Ways to Lead a Significant Life is a valuable resource for those who want to lead a life that truly matters. Author Dave Zimmer has a background of 12 successful years in public education as a teacher, coach and high school principal. He has guided numerous students, teachers and parents down a better path. Using a no nonsense approach, Zimmer identifies things that all people can do to lead a significant life. Zimmer also emphasizes how much control people actually have in their life. The Top Ten Ways to Lead a Significant Life covers a variety of topics, including: understanding the process of success pursuing your dreams making necessary changes in your life overcoming adversity being a person of character, etc. The Top Ten Ways to Lead a Significant Life is a practical guide for those looking for meaning, direction and purpose in their life.

Download or read book Significant Living written by Jerry Rose and published by Whitaker House. This book was released on 2009-02-27 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: You are invited to join in a celebration of life and a renewed meaning and significance for the “second half” of your life. It is never too late to find your purpose and continue growing—spiritually, emotionally, intellectually, relationally and vocationally. Jerry and Shirley Rose share life experiences with wisdom and humor and show how you can: Find greater joy in life Deal with past mistakes and right past wrongs Navigate the roadblocks of aging Forgive others—and yourself Discover answers to loneliness, defeat, and despair Overcome fears and failures Strengthen your relationships with others Maintain your physical health Leave a legacy for those who follow you Your latter years can be the most fruitful and satisfying season of your life. Follow the suggestions in this book and you will keep on course for a future of significance.