When Klein resolved as a young man to find the best way to live, he began compiling a notebook of sayings culled from the greatest philosophers—Aurelius, Epicurus, Pascal, Camus, and others—hoping these maxims would open a path for him. Though he abandoned this project decades ago, judging it foolishly naive, he here retrieves that discarded notebook, offering it to readers not as a completed credo but rather as a series of engaging reflections on issues everyone confronts. As he amplifies each of the philosophical quotations with his own musings, he opens perspectives on widely shared perplexities. Readers thus join Klein in pondering with Epicurus the problem of misdirected desire, teetering with Camus on the precipice of suicide, puzzling with Pascal on the ultimate wager of faith. To the degree that any thread unifies these idiosyncratic wanderings in philosophy, it is a thread of cerebral hedonism: Klein invites readers into the intensely personal philosophizing that invests every moment with radically personal pleasure. A refreshingly spontaneous plunge into deep thought.

In his early 20s and 30s, Klein (Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar...; Travels with Epicurus) kept a notebook titled "Pithies," containing his favorite philosophical quotes. He hoped that they would become a guide on how to live a meaningful life. However, the notebook was eventually packed away and not consulted again until now, with the author in his eighth decade. This book is Klein's musings upon the quotes he favored in his youth and what they taught, and still have to teach, him and others. The sayings include a wide range of philosophers and philosophical schools of thought while his reflections span the stories behind an entry's inclusion to a thought on a particular quote's logical implication for the individual and, sometimes, society. The chapters are short, making this a book that easily lends itself to brief, meandering reading spurts. The only downside? All the quotes are from authors in the Western philosophical tradition. VERDICT A delightful book that is easily applicable to any stage of life. Even when explaining the underlying theories behind a quote, the author's writing is understandable for readers who have no prior philosophy background. Yet, philosophy students will also enjoy seeing the discipline applied to everyday life.—