50 Self-Help Classics: 50 Inspirational Books to Transform Your Life from Timeless Sages to Contemporary Gurus [Paperback]

Experience, as never-before, the words and ideas of some of our deepest thinkers, spiritual teachers, and poets who represent the true inspiration for our new world:

James Allen • Robert Bly • Boethius • Alain de Botton • Dalai Lama * Ralph Waldo Emerson • Benjamin Franklin • Pierre Teilhard de Chardin * Henry David Thoreau

Explore the wisdom of ancient philosophy and religion:

Marcus Aurelius • The Bhagavad-Gita • The Bible • The teachings of Buddha in The Dhammapada • Lao-Tzu’s The Way of Power.

Learn from contemporary philosophers and inspirational gurus:

Martha Beck • William Bridges • David Burns • Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers • Richard Carlson • Dale Carnegie • Deepak Chopra • Paulo Coehlo * Stephen Covey

• Mihaly Cziksentmihalyi • Wayne Dyer • Clarissa Pinkola Estes * Viktor Frankl • Shakti Gawain • Daniel Goleman • John Gray • Louise Hay * James Hillman • Susan Jeffers • Richard Koch • Ellen Langer • Maxwell Maltz Abraham Maslow • Phil McGraw • Thomas Moore • Joseph Murphy • Norman Vincent Peale • Carol Pearson • M Scott Peck • Ayn Rand • Anthony Robbins * Florence Scovell-Shinn • Martin Seligman • Samuel Smiles • Marianne Williamson

Thousands of books have been written offering the ‘secrets’ to personal potential, fulfillment, and happiness: how to walk The Road Less Traveled, Win Friends and Influence People, or Awaken the Giant Within. But which are the all-time classics? Which ones really can change your life?

Tom Butler-Bowdon has cut through the bewildering array of choices to bring you the essential ideas, insights, and techniques from the ‘literature of possibilities’. In works that span the world’s religions, cultures, philosophies, and centuries, he summarizes each work’s key ideas and finally makes clear how these legendary classics can educate, affirm, and motivate anyone searching for the inspiration to make a meaningful life change.

The 50 classics examined here – from the ancient teachings of Buddha and Lao-Tzu and the character-building works of Benjamin Franklin and Samuel Smiles, to contemporary bestsellers such as Emotional Intelligence, Learned Optimism and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – represent the very best of what has become known only since the early 20th century as "self-help".

50 Self-Help Classics is the first and only ‘bite-sized’ introduction to the classic works of life transformation - a unique guide that acknowledges everyone’s yearning for a more meaningful and successful life, yet appreciates that each of us is inspired by different philosophies and ideas.