Synopses & Reviews
"Alexander Green, one of today's most successful financial advisors, here applies his wisdom to even more important questions: how to live justly, creatively, and serenely amidst the distractions and frustrations we daily encounter. Drawing upon history, science, and the insights of spiritual teachers, Green's beautifully written essays will help readers form and act upon a philosophy of their own."Daniel Walker Howe, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 18151848
"In Beyond Wealth, Alex asks us to rethink what it means to be truly rich. It's not just about money or the things it can buy. It's also about raising your consciousness and understanding of the world. These essays are a good step in that direction. Highly recommended."John Mackey, founder and CEO of Whole Foods
"Alex Green shows one how to engage the material world without losing one's spirituality, meaning, and larger purpose. With an economy of words and poignancy of thought, Green cuts straight to the heart of what really matters in life." Michael Shermer, monthly columnist for Scientific American and bestselling author of The Science of Good and Evil and The Believing Brain
"There are spiritual issues that adults have to think about. Alex Green recognizes that, and writes about them beautifully." Charles Murray, bestselling author of The Bell Curve, Human Accomplishment, and Real Education
"Beyond Wealth is simply superb. Alex Green is a national treasure."Edgar F. Puryear, bestselling author of 19 Stars: A Study in Military Character and Leadership and American Generalship: Character Is Everything, The Art of Command
Synopsis
Beyond Wealth by New York Times bestselling author Alexander Green is a blueprint for personal prosperity. But the rewards are more than just financial. The book reveals fail-proof, time-tested strategies to help you achieve maximum success in both your business and personal life. One of the nation's highest-rated and most-admired investment analysts, Mr. Green offers ageless wisdom and a priceless perspective that draws on today's best business minds as well as many of the world's great philosophers from Ancient times right through to the Modern Era. Beyond Wealth is both a deeply inspiring read and a concrete plan that shows you the shortest and most direct route to what the author calls "True Wealth."
Synopsis
What does it mean to be truly wealthy?
As a longtime financial writer and nationally acclaimed investment advisor, Alexander Green understands the importance of money. But in this insightful and inspiring new book, he looks beyond traditional measures of wealth to explore how a rich life is one of significance, not just financial success.
As Green observes, money creates wealth, but so do character, conscience, attitude, and wisdom. Only by incorporating each of these elements into your day-to-day existence can you experience what the ancients called "the good life."
A generous, wide-ranging inquiry into what matters most, Beyond Wealth is a road map to a rich life, to what the author calls "True Wealth."
The book contains more than sixty-five commentaries on topics ranging from love, health, leisure, honor, courage, trust, philosophy, history, science, and spirituality. And the author's perspective on each subject is broadened and deepened by liberal quotations from Shakespeare, Thoreau, Emerson, Gandhi, Einstein, Tolstoy, and other great minds.
Beyond Wealth is full of practical wisdom. Yet it is also a book of contemplations, promoting both greater understanding and deep reflection. Each piece can be read alone and is characterized by brevity, wit, and a liveliness of mind that recalls the best of Montaigne and Swift.
Combining personal anecdotes with provocative insights and timeless truths, Beyond Wealth is a fascinating exploration of the unique intersection between money, personal fulfillment, and successful living.
Synopsis
It's not all about the money; the key to true richesLeo Tolstoy said, "Nobody knows where the human race is going. The highest wisdom, then, is to know where you are going." Yet many today chase the false rabbits of success: status, luxury, reputation and material possessions. In the quest to "have it all," our lives often lack real meaning and purpose. Beyond Wealth is the antidote.
New York Times bestselling author Alexander Green takes things right down to brass tacks: We are here for a short time. Knowledge is limitless. Therefore, the most critical knowledge is not any particular skill but rather wisdom about "how to live." Fortunately, men and women have had several thousand years to think about what it means to live "the good life." And the answers found here, from Plato and Aristotle to Mahatma Gandhi and Stephen Hawking, will both surprise and delight you.
Beyond Wealth provides insightful commentary on the most important aspects of our lives: love, work, honor, trust, freedom, death, fear, truth, beauty and other timeless issues. The book is both a thought provoking read and the ideal gift, guaranteed to ennoble, uplift and inspire.
About the Author
ALEXANDER GREEN is the Investment Director of The Oxford Club and the author of two national bestsellers: The Gone Fishin' Portfolio and The Secret of Shelter Island: Money and What Matters. He has been featured on Oprah & Friends, Fox News, The O'Reilly Factor, CNBC, MSNBC, and C-SPAN and has been profiled by the Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, Forbes, and many other publications. He currently lives in Charlottesville, Virginia, and Winter Springs, Florida, with his wife Karen and their children Hannah and David.
Table of Contents
Foreword.
Introduction.
Part One. Dollars and Sense.
Are the Rich Smarter than You?
Are You Losing Your Soul?
Impatient Optimism … and Radical Generosity.
You Can’t Google This.
The Only Thing that Really Matters.
The Principle Thing.
The One Thing that Changes Everything.
The Trouble with Happiness.
The Key to Personal Freedom.
Change Your Perspective, Change Your Life.
How Your World Will At Last Be Built.
The Most Important Job on Earth.
One of Life’s Great Miracles.
The Power of Negative Visualization.
How to Reclaim Your Life.
Why It’s One of the Seven Deadly Sins.
The Ruling Passion of the Noblest Minds.
Part Two. Wealth Beyond Measure.
Are You Uncurious?
The Road Not Taken.
They Make Us All Richer.
Are You Ready for the Grand Tour?
The Quintessence of Life.
What Women Really Want.
An Incandescent Drop of America File.
The Most Civilized Thing in the World.
How to Eat Like a Zen Master.
The Sublimest Activity of the Human Mind.
Drunken Monkey Ice Cream … and the Wisdom of Thornton Wilder.
The Lost Art of Conversation.
What Success Really Means.
What Are Your Sins of Omission?
The Beauty of Slowing Down.
When Entertainment Becomes Art.
Do You Have a Secret?
Are You Amusing Yourself to Death?
In Praise of Idleness.
The Tyranny if the New.
Why You Should Know “The Indispensable Man”.
A Revelation at 4,500 Feet.
Part Three. Knowing and Believing.
Tolstoy’s Forbidden Book.
A Shameless Veneration of Heroes.
A Path to Personal Freedom.
Your Greatest Risk.
Are You Part of “The Great Conversation”?
A 2,600-Year-Old Manual for Living.
If You Knew What Jim Brown Knows.
The Noblest Expression of the Human Spirit.
The Art of Living Consciously.
How to Let Your Life Speak.
A Legacy of Inspiration.
The Only Thing New in the World.
The University of Your Shelf.
We Are All Greeks Now.
The Wisdom of Hillel.
Meditations of the Philosopher-King.
Part Four. Matters of Life and Death.
Discovering a New Sense of the Sacred.
The Highest of Arts.
Emerson: The Quintessential American.
The Life You Can Save.
Coming of Age in the Milky Way.
The Literature of Truth.
Your Connection to Everything.
The Difference between Knowing and Believing.
The Lessons of Haiti.
Your Trip to “The Undiscovered Country’.
The Beginning of Wisdom.
Of Lost Souls and Lucky Stiffs.
How to Pull the Universe Out of a Hat.
It Makes Everything Meaningful.
The Truth about Myths.
Your Place In “The Great Story”.
Seven Principles of Spirituality.
Afterword.
Appendix.
Further Reading.
Acknowledgments.
About the Author.
Index.