en-US Thu, 06 Mar 2025 01:35:32 -0800 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 27036528
Many of us insist the main impediment to a full, successful life is the outside world. In fact, the most common enemy lies within: our ego. Early in our careers, it impedes learning and the cultivation of talent. With success, it can blind us to our faults and sow future problems. In failure, it magnifies each blow and makes recovery more difficult. At every stage, ego holds us back.

The Ego is the Enemy draws on a vast array of stories and examples, from literature to philosophy to history. We meet fascinating figures like Howard Hughes, Katharine Graham, Bill Belichick, and Eleanor Roosevelt, all of whom reached the highest levels of power and success by conquering their own egos. Their strategies and tactics can be ours as well.

But why should we bother fighting ego in an era that glorifies social media, reality TV, and other forms of shameless self-promotion?  Armed with the lessons in this book, as Holiday writes, “you will be less invested in the story you tell about your own specialness, and as a result, you will be liberated to accomplish the world-changing work you’ve set out to achieve.”]]> 226 Ryan Holiday 1591847818 The Watcher 4 4.12 2016
author: Ryan Holiday
name: The Watcher
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2016
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Marcus Aurelius wrote the 12 books of the Meditations in Koine Greek as a source for his own guidance and self-improvement. It is possible that large portions of the work were written at Sirmium, where he spent much time planning military campaigns from 170 to 180. Some of it was written while he was positioned at Aquincum on campaign in Pannonia, because internal notes reveal that the first book was written when he was campaigning against the Quadi on the river Granova and the second book was written at Carnuntum.]]> 201 Marcus Aurelius 1916700233 The Watcher 4 4.49
author: Marcus Aurelius
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Alternate cover edition can be found here.]]> 368 George Orwell 0452284236 The Watcher 4 4.21 1949
author: George Orwell
name: The Watcher
average rating: 4.21
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]]> 61435653 Marcus Aurelius The Watcher 4 4.35
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]]> 97411 No man can live a happy life, or even a supportable life, without the study of wisdom

Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 BC-AD 65) is one of the most famous Roman philosophers. Instrumental in guiding the Roman Empire under emperor Nero, Seneca influenced him from a young age with his Stoic principles. Later in life, he wrote Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium, or Letters from a Stoic, detailing these principles in full.

Seneca’s letters read like a diary or a handbook of philosophical meditations. Often beginning with observations on daily life, the letters focus on many traditional themes of Stoic philosophy, such as the contempt of death, the value of friendship, and virtue as the supreme good.

Using Gummere’s translation from the early twentieth century, this selection of Seneca’s letters shows his belief in the austere, ethical ideals of Stoicism – teachings we can still learn from today.]]> 254 Seneca 0140442103 The Watcher 4 4.33 64
author: Seneca
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