What If You Could Acquire Four Thousand Years of Wisdom in One Book?
Eighteen wise leaders...
Four millennia...
Spanning the entire globe. In Sage Advice, you will examine the lives and maxims of eighteen sages selected for their unique contributions to human thinking. You’ll find a short thought-provoking biography of each, followed by quotes from their carefully collated texts that address timeless topics like patience, wisdom, making mistakes, and leadership, among others. Many reject the world’s great religious figures, philosophical traditions, and secular heroes due to their perceived flaws. But we needn’t blindly embrace religious or cultural dogma to learn from history’s luminaries. We can still find wisdom and discover timeless truths by studying some of the great thinkers and achievers who have helped shape the world.
Who Are the Sages?
•Ptah-Hotep •Confucius •Buddha •Aristotle •Seneca •Jesus •Marcus Aurelius •Muhammad •Zhu Xi •Elizabeth I •Benjamin Franklin •George Washington •Catherine the Great •Johann Wolfgang von Goethe •Theodore Roosevelt •George Washington Carver •Mahatma Gandhi •Winston Churchill
As an introduction to classical thought, Sage Advice provides an accessible entry point to learn about your own canon, whether religious or philosophical, and other notable traditions. Richard K. Borden has curated a well-rounded body of wisdom for the ages. Never before have these individuals been examined and these ideals highlighted in this manner.
Borden examines surprising and relatively obscure details of his visionaries’ lives alongside their better known ideologies, which he shares in snippets to capture readers’ attention. He writes of Aristotle’s first wife and their distinctive bond that, despite her death at a young age, prompted his last wishes for his bones to buried with hers, and he divulges Teddy Roosevelt’s remarkable fascination with the badlands of North Dakota—and melees between unusual pets in the White House, including a badger “whose temper was short but whose nature was fundamentally friendly.” Some of the more conventionally inspirational accounts, meanwhile, include Zhu Xi’s efforts in the neo-Confucian movement, Catherine the Great’s creation of Russia’s first national education system, and George Washington Carver’s endeavors in sustainable agriculture.
Borden closes with memorable maxims from each figure, organized into relatable topics—such as “work-life balance,” “virtue and character,” and “passions”—to illustrate the commonsense knowledge of his models. Some readers will wish for more female icons, though Borden acknowledges that history has disallowed women’s empowerment to “fully express themselves” while noting, in the wise words of Elizabeth Tudor, that “the past cannot be cured.” Borden’s casual commentary will please lighthearted history and inspiration buffs.
Takeaway: A lighthearted examination of the wisdom offered by a brace of leaders throughout history
Great for fans of: Walter Isaacson’s The Genius Biographies, Derek Wellington Johnson’s The Wisdom of Leaders.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: B
Marketing copy: A
