The Consolation of Philosophy
by Boethius
Written in prison awaiting execution in 524: Lady Philosophy visits the author and argues him from despair to peace through the nature of fortune, the insufficiency of worldly goods, and the question of providence and free will. It was the most-read book in Europe for a thousand years.
Read it if…
you have lost something unfairly and want company from someone who lost everything.
Skip it if…
you want modern psychology; this is late antiquity.
Three things you will actually use
- Fortune's nature is to turn; do not be surprised when she does.
- What can be taken was never truly yours.
- The only lasting good is the one within.
Do this first
Read Book 2 on Fortune's wheel; it is the most immediately consoling.
Our verdict
Written in a condemned cell.
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