What I learned from reading Socrates: A Man for Our Times by Paul Johnson.
Socrates was the first person to demonstrate that life is open to philosophy at all times, in every part, among all kinds of people, and in every experience and activity.
Often hailed as the founder of philosophy, Socrates taught and indeed strove to embody his credo that how each of us chooses to live and die has great meaning.
He influenced the way in which we think about moral choices, as well as the way we make them in our daily lives.
In this brilliant biography, renowned historian Paul Johnson offers a fresh and fascinating portrait of a charismatic man whose ideas still shape our decision making, our ethics, and our ideas about the body and the soul.
That was from the back cover of the book that I want to talk to you about today, which is Socrates, a man of our times.
And it was written by Paul Johnson.
I wanted to read this book now because a few episodes ago, on episode 249, there was a quote from Steve Jobs that I thought was interesting.
And he said, I would trade all of my technology for an afternoon with Socrates.
And I thought reading a biography of Socrates and then talking to you about it would help put context for you and I into what that statement by Steve Jobs meant.
And then when I went to search for a biography of Socrates made sense.
In the last year, I've discovered the author, Paul Johnson.
I've read now three.
This is the fourth biography of his that I've read.
So back on episode 225, I read his Winston Churchill biography, which was absolutely fantastic.
On 226, I read his book called heroes, from Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar to Churchill and de Gaulle.
And then on episode 240, I read his biography of Mozart.
And one of the things I like about Paul Johnson is he writes these 200 page biographies on a bunch of historical figures.
I think he's got, like, ten or twelve of them.
And reading these shorter books is a great way to get some ideas from historical figures into your brain quickly.
And then, if you want, like it's a good introduction, say, hey, I found that person interesting.