Classics Literature Philosophy

Written around the 6th century BC by the sage Laozi and read by Emma Topping.

Ayn Rand's famous 1957 classic, Atlas Shrugged, has become more widely read and influential with each passing year, thanks in part to its brilliant dramatization of Rand's Objectivist philosophy and its celebration of self-reliance, integrity, rationality, and productive effort.

The Allegory of the Cave, or Plato's Cave, was presented by the Greek philosopher Plato to compare "[T]he effect of education and the lack of it on our nature". It is written as a dialogue between Plato's brother Glaucon and his mentor, Socrates, narrated by the latter.

Nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson, narrated by Richard Stibbard, is a foundational work of transcendentalist philosophy that explores the profound connection between humanity and the natural world.

Plato's dialogue, Critias, recalls the story of Atlantis attempting to conquer Athens. In ancient times, the Earth was divide by the gods - and gods tended the humans in their allotment as shepherds. Atlantis, allotted to Poseidon, becomes corrupt over time, and Zeus must take matters into his own hands.

Um jedoch in die große Mannigfaltigkeit der hierher gehörigen Ansichten und Ratschläge einige Ordnung zu bringen, will ich sie einteilen in allgemeine, in solche, welche unser Verhalten gegen uns selbst, dann gegen andere, und endlich gegen den Weltlauf und das Schicksal betreffen.

Meditations is former US President Bill Clinton's favorite book. This audio consists of a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor AD 161-180, setting forth his ideas on Stoic philosophy.

The Antichrist is a book by the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, originally published in 1895. Although it was written in 1888, its controversial content caused its publication to be delayed. The German title can be translated into English as either The Anti-Christ or The Anti-Christian, depending on how the German word Christ is translated. Nietzsche claimed in the foreword to have written the book for a very limited readership. In order to understand the book, he asserted that the reader "...must be honest in intellectual matters to the point of hardness to so much as endure my seriousness, my passion."

《论语》是儒家学派的经典著作之一，它以语录体和对话文体为主，记录了孔子及其弟子言行，集中体现了孔子的政治主张、论理思想、道德观念及教育原则等。…… 《論語》是儒家學派的經典著作之一，它以語錄體和對話文體為主，記錄了孔子及其弟子言行，集中體現了孔子的政治主張、論理思想、道德觀念及教育原則等。

This is Buber's landmark work in psychology and philosophy as well as in religion.

The Varieties of Religious Experience is considered to be the classic work in the field. To quote Wikipedia, "James was most interested in understanding personal religious experience. The importance of James to the psychology of religion - and to psychology more generally - is difficult to overstate. He discussed many essential issues that remain of vital concern today. What makes James writing so special is that he could take a very complex subject and, without watering it down, make it understandable to 'the rest of us.'"

The Antichrist is a book by the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, originally published in 1895. The reference to the Antichrist is not intended to refer to the biblical Antichrist but is rather an attack on the slave morality and apathy of Western Christianity. Nietzsche's basic claim is that Christianity is a poisoner of western culture and perversion of the words of and practice of Jesus.

The first modern treatise of political philosophy, The Prince remains one of the world's most influential and widely read books. Machiavelli, whose name has become synonymous with expedient exercises of will, reveals nothing less than the secrets of power: how to gain it, how to wield it, and how to keep it. But curiously, this work of outspoken clarity has, for centuries, inspired myriad interpretations as to its author's true message.

This is a delightful selection of old magical stories from the Punjab, including the wonderful adventures of Raja Rasalu. Reminds one, of course, of the Arabian Nights. Enthralling and enjoyable from a forgotten time not too long ago.

Nel libro V della Repubblica, di Platone, è Socrate, il sommo filosofo, l’interprete di un dialogo serrato su una Repubblica che ancora non esiste e che...

Somerset Maugham's success as a writer enabled him to indulge his adventurous love of travel, and he recorded the sights and sounds of his wide-ranging journeys with a unique urbane, wry style. The Gentleman in the Parlour is an account of the author's trip through what was then Burma and Siam, ending in Haiphong, Vietnam. Whether by river to Mandalay, on horse through the mountains and forests of the Shan States to Bangkok, or onwards by sea, Maugham's vivid descriptions bring a lost world to life.

This gripping tale of the future anticipates Ayn Rand's later masterpieces, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. In the dark ages of the future, individuals have no name, no independence, and no values. In this faceless world, one man dares to love the woman of his choice and to seek and find knowledge.

Charles Sanders Peirce is perhaps the greatest philosophical mind to emerge from the United States. He was hugely influential on William James, Alfred North Whitehead, and many other eminent thinkers. This small volume includes two famous essays by Peirce, "The Fixation of Belief" and "Questions Concerning Certain Faculties Claimed for Man." Also included is a short, intellectual biography of Peirce which focuses on his many contributions to science and philosophy. Chosen and very slightly edited by Professor David Christopher Lane, PhD.

Selections from Henry David Thoreau's Walden and Civil Disobedience, and Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Introduction to Thoreau", "Self-Reliance", "Nature", "The American Scholar", "Education", and "Politics". Thoreau dedicated his life to preserving his freedom as a man and an artist.

Nathan the Wise, a play published by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing in 1779, is a fervent plea for religious tolerance. It was first performed in 1783 at the Döbbelinsches Theatre in Berlin. The narrative is set in Jerusalem during the Third Crusade and describes how the wise Jewish merchant Nathan, the enlightened sultan Saladin, and a Templar Knight bridge the differences between Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. Its major themes are friendship, tolerance, the relativism of God, a rejection of miracles and a need for communication.