Product Description

In the Fall of 1930 Will Durant found himself outside his home in Lake Hill, New York, raking leaves. He was approached by a well-dressed man who told him in a quiet tone that he was going to kill himself unless the philosopher could give him a valid reason not to. Not having the time to wax philosophic on the matter, Durant did his best to furnish the man with reasons to continue his existence. Haunted by the encounter with the despondent stranger, Durant contacted 100 luminaries in the arts, politics, religion and sciences, challenging them to respond not only to the fundamental question of life's meaning (in the abstract) but also to relate how they each (in the particular) found meaning, purpose and fulfillment in their own lives. Durant turned their answers and his own into a book entitled "On The Meaning Of Life", which was released to the general public in 1932. Unpromoted, the litte treasure found its way into few hands, and almost no copies of the book exist today. Now available for a new generation through Promethean Press, "On The Meaning Of Life" is a powerful book on a very powerful topic. In this book Will Durant has fashioned an unprecedented "dream team" of luminaries that is both profound and diverse: poets, philosophers, saints, inmates, athletes, Nobel Prize winners, college professors, psychologists, entertainers, musicians, authors and leaders. Within their varied insights, despite their uniqueness as individuals and the very different lives they led, the reader will note a consistent thread running through their viewpoints, revealing a commonality among human beings who not only seek meaning in life, but who actually achieve it.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #322796 in Books
• Published on: 2005-03-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 116 pages

Customer Reviews

Will Durant asks THE QUESTION.
Durant asked prominent people of his time "What is the meaning of life" The answers he received are in this tiny paperback. Anything Will and Ariel wrote are worth your time, and H.L. Mencken's reply is absolutely worth the pittance spent for this book.

insights of busy people
On the meaning of life W. Durant

The upshot of this effort is that really famous people were too busy to think deeply about Durant's assignment. Nor are the driven insightful about the roots of their own frenetic behavior. These difficulties were expected and the outcome predictable. Nonethless, it is an interesting collection of disparate reactions.

WOW! A Jewel Pops Out of Amazon's Recommendation System
EDIT of 30 May 2009 to add flyleaf notes.

I was utterly THRILLED to see this book by Will Durant, published in 2005, pop up out of Amazon's recommendation system. Now I'm hooked.

The book opens with suicide statistics to point out the ultimate sacrifice or loss when hope is not to be found. One million in the world, 81,000 in the USA, 84.5 per day, 1 every 17.1 minutes. I have had 18 professional and one personal suicide in my life, What an important opening.

Finished, it surprises and delights with the common sense selections.

Key insights, remembering that this book is an edited collection of many people responding in one page to the QUESTION from Durant, who sent out 100 letters. First published in 1932, all the answers are grounded in the real world.

1) Uncertainty fosters greed.

2) Corruption of a society does not preclude the emergence of great minds that can catalyze further progress.

3) 1000 citivilizations have died in the course of history.

4) Citing Aristotle, all things have been discovered and forgotten manytimes over. Man--imperfect man--is the constant.

5) Utopia would be birth control, enfranchisement of all, emancipation of all--all of this is undone by crime, corruption, and war, none of which are necessary

Four quotes I feel should be here to encourage purchase of the book:

a) "We are driven to conclude that the greatest mistake in human history was the discovery of 'truth.' It has not made us free, except from delusions that comforted us and restraints that preserved us." Page 14

b) "Where such a faith [that gives hope], after supporting men for centuries, begins to weaken, like narrows down from a spiritual drama to a biological episode, it sacrifices the dignity conferred by a destiny endless in time, and shrinks to a strange interlude between a ridiculous birth and an annihilating death." Page 17

c. "We discovered birth control, and now it sterlizes the intelligent, multiplies the ignorant, debases love with promuscuity, frustrates the educator, empowers the demagogue, and deteriorates the race." Page 29

d. "The greatest questions of our time is not communism vs. the West, it is whether men can bear to live without God." Page 34

All of the above are Durant's words. Then the book goes forward with two pages for each of those responding, one a graphic etching, the other their text.

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