The School of Life
The School of Life is a global organisation helping people lead more fulfilled lives.
We believe that the journey to finding fulfilment begins with self-knowledge. It is only when we have a sense of who we really are that we can make reliable decisions, particularly around love and work.
Sadly, tools and techniques for developing self-knowledge and finding fulfilment are hard to find – they’re not taught in schools, in universities, or in workplaces. Too many of us go through life without ever really understanding what’s going on in the recesses of our minds.
That’s why we created The School of Life; a resource for helping us understand ourselves, for improving our relationships, our careers and our social lives - as well as for helping us fi
If you like author The School of Life here is the list of authors you may also like
Buy books on AmazonTotal similar authors (37)
-
Carissa Potter
Originally from Minneapolis, Carissa Potter lives and works in Oakland, California. Her prints and small-scale objects reflect her hopeless romanticism through their investigations into public and private intimacy. Speaking both humorously and poignantly to the human condition, Carissa's work touches chords we all can relate to - exploring situations we've all experienced at some point in our lives and conveying messages we simply long to hear. Carissa Potter is a founding member of Colpa Press and founder of People I've Loved. Since 2010, she has been an artist in residence at Kala Art Institute in Berkeley, where she teaches letterpress. She also serves as a mentor in Southern Exposure's One-on-One Mentorship Program. Carissa received he
Buy books on Amazon -
Alan W. Watts
Alan Wilson Watts was a British philosopher, writer and speaker, who held both a Master's in Theology and a Doctorate of Divinity. Famous for his research on comparative religion, he was best known as an interpreter and popularizer of Asian philosophies for a Western audience. He wrote over 25 books and numerous articles on subjects such as personal identity, the true nature of reality, higher consciousness, the meaning of life, concepts and images of God and the non-material pursuit of happiness. In his books he relates his experience to scientific knowledge and to the teachings of Eastern and Western religion and philosophy.
Buy books on Amazon -
Edward Slingerland
I'm Distinguished University Scholar and Professor of Philosophy at the University of British Columbia. I work in a lot of academic areas, including early Chinese thought, comparative religion, cognitive science of religion, virtue ethics, cognitive linguistics and science-humanities integration.
Buy books on Amazon
My first trade book, Trying Not to Try, was published by Crown/Random House in March 2014. My new book, Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization, is forthcoming from Little, Brown Spark on June 1, 2021. I have also published many academic books, translations, articles and book chapters.
For information about my books, articles, teaching and research, please see my personal website: edwardslingerland.com -
Philippa Perry
Philippa Perry, author of How to Stay Sane, is a psychotherapist and writer who has written pieces for The Guardian, The Observer, Time Out, and Healthy Living magazine and has a column in Psychologies Magazine. In 2010, she wrote the graphic novel Couch Fiction, in an attempt to demystify psychotherapy. She lives in London and Sussex with her husband, the artist Grayson Perry, and enjoys gardening, cooking, parties, walking, tweeting, and watching telly.
Buy books on Amazon
http://us.macmillan.com/author/philip... -
Lawrence Freedman
Sir Lawrence David Freedman, KCMG, CBE, PC, FBA is Emeritus Professor of War Studies at King's College London.
Buy books on Amazon -
Katherine May
Katherine May is an internationally bestselling author and podcaster living in Whitstable, UK. Her hybrid memoir Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times became a New York Times, Sunday Times and Der Spiegel bestseller, was adapted as BBC Radio 4’s Book of the Week, and was shortlisted for the Porchlight and Barnes and Noble Book of the Year. The Electricity of Every Living Thing, her memoir of a midlife autism diagnosis, is currently being adapted as an audio drama by Audible. Other titles include novels such as The Whitstable High Tide Swimming Club, and The Best, Most Awful Job, an anthology of essays about motherhood which she edited. Her journalism and essays have appeared in a range of publications including The New
Buy books on Amazon -
Gill Hasson
Gill Hasson is the author of Mindfulness: Be mindful. Live in the moment works with people from diverse backgrounds and situations. Her key motivation is her belief in the ability of people to positively change their way of thinking - about life, other people, and themselves.
Buy books on Amazon
She is a freelance journalist and writes articles on personal development and relationships for a variety of magazines, including Psychologies and Take A Break, and for a number of websites.
As well as delivering adult education courses in personal development, she is an associate tutor for the University of Sussex where she teaches career and personal development and academic study skills. She delivers training in child and adolescent development to preschool, youth and -
Joel Beath
This author is a dedicated writer and passionate advocate for sustainable living and innovative apartment architecture and interior design. With a keen eye for detail and a commitment to reducing our environmental footprint, their contributions to our website provide valuable insights into creating beautiful, eco-friendly living spaces.
Buy books on Amazon -
Lawrence Yeo
Lawrence Yeo is the writer and illustrator of More To That. He creates illustrated stories on the human condition, and his work has been read by millions of people across the world.
Buy books on Amazon -
Mason Currey
Mason Currey is a writer and editor living in Los Angeles. His first book, Daily Rituals: How Artists Work, was published by Knopf in 2013 and has been translated into 17 languages. A sequel, Daily Rituals: Women at Work, came out in 2019. He also writes a free newsletter on routines, rituals, and wriggling through a creative life.
Buy books on Amazon -
Ben Gazur
Ben Gazur holds a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Edinburgh. Giving up the glitz and glamour of the lab he became a freelance writer who has written widely on history and science for the likes of the BBC, All About History, and the Guardian newspaper. His first book was a biography of the philosopher Epicurus.
Buy books on Amazon -
Sara Maitland
Sara Maitland is a British writer and academic. An accomplished novelist, she is also known for her short stories. Her work has a magic realist tendency. Maitland is regarded as one of those at the vanguard of the 1970s feminist movement, and is often described as a feminist writer. She is a Roman Catholic, and religion is another theme in much of her work.
Buy books on Amazon -
Marcus Buckingham
In a world where efficiency and competency rule the workplace, where do personal strengths fit in?
Buy books on Amazon
It's a complex question, one that intrigued Cambridge-educated Marcus Buckingham so greatly, he set out to answer it by challenging years of social theory and utilizing his nearly two decades of research experience as a Sr. Researcher at Gallup Organization to break through the preconceptions about achievements and get to the core of what drives success.
The result of his persistence, and arguably the definitive answer to the strengths question can be found in Buckingham's four best-selling books First, Break All the Rules (coauthored with Curt Coffman, Simon & Schuster, 1999); Now, Discover Your Strengths (coauthored with Donald O. -
Eva Hoffman
Eva Hoffman is a writer and academic. She was born Ewa Wydra July 1, 1945 in Cracow, Poland after her Jewish parents survived the Holocaust by hiding in the Ukraine. In 1959, during the Cold War, the thirteen years old Eva, her nine years old sister "Alinka" and her parents immigrated to Vancouver, Canada, where her name has been changed to Eva. Upon graduating from high school she received a scholarship and studied English literature at Rice University, Texas in 1966, the Yale School of Music (1967-68), and Harvard University, where she received a Ph.D. in English and American literature in 1974.
Buy books on Amazon
Eva Hoffmann has been a professor of literature and creative writing at various institutions, such as Columbia University, the University of Minne -
Tom Head
Author of It's Your World So Change It (Que/Pearson), Civil Liberties A Beginner's Guide (Oneworld UK), and 22 other nonfiction books on a wide range of topics; About.com guide to civil liberties.
Buy books on Amazon -
Radim Malinic
Radim Malinic is a creative director and designer living and working in South West London. He runs Brand Nu, a multidisciplinary award winning studio.
Buy books on Amazon
Before finding his calling in the creative industry, Czech born Malinic was an ice hockey player, a bassist in death metal bands, an indie DJ, music journalist and student of Economics and Business management. At the break of the new millennium, Malinic moved to the UK to explore the expansive music scene, only to find even a greater interest in art and graphic design. Since then his eclectic interests have seen him working with some of the biggest brands, companies and bands in the world. Clients include Harry Potter, London Film Museum, SyCo, Sprite, WWF and USAID amongst many others.
Aside -
Michael Bungay Stanier
Hi - I'm a book reader, writer and lover.
Buy books on Amazon
I'm best known for *The Coaching Habit*, the best-selling book on coaching this century. (Close to a million copies sold!)
I'm also the host of the podcast *2 Pages with MBS* where brilliant people read the best two pages of a favourite book. -
Thomas Ashley-Farrand
The works of Thomas Ashley-Farrand give unprecedented, detailed instruction in how to empower yourself using the techniques of the ancient sages and rishis. After many years of teaching and sharing, he has been persuaded by his friends to publish the techniques of mantra sadhana in which he was initiated over the course of decades by Eastern masters. Additionally, as we enter the new millenium, he has decided to share some of the moving experiences that he has had with spiritually advanced beings, as well as the lessons that he learned from each encounter.
Buy books on Amazon -
Kamo no Chōmei
Kamo no Chōmei (鴨 長明?, 1153 or 1155–1216) was a Japanese author, poet (in the waka form), and essayist. He witnessed a series of natural and social disasters, and, having lost his political backing, was passed over for promotion within the Shinto shrine associated with his family. He decided to turn his back on society, took Buddhist vows, and became a hermit, living outside the capital. This was somewhat unusual for the time, when those who turned their backs on the world usually joined monasteries. Along with the poet-priest Saigyō he is representative of the literary recluses of his time, and his celebrated essay Hōjōki ("An Account of a Ten-Foot-Square Hut") is representative of the genre known as "recluse literature" (sōan bungaku).
Buy books on Amazon
(fr -
Alexis Fernandez-Preiksa
Alexis Fernandez-Preiksa is the host of the hit podcast Do You F*cking Mind? and author of the bestselling book Be Bold. She became interested in the link between physical exercise and brain health through her work as a Pilates instructor and personal trainer, which led her to further her studies of the brain by undertaking a Master of Neuroscience. She is passionate about helping people change their relationships with themselves by understanding how their brains work on a physical and chemical level, and how the brain can be altered through changing behaviors, habits and thought patterns.
Buy books on Amazon -
Tobias Jones
Tobias Jones was on the staff of the London Review of Books and the Independent on Sunday before moving to Parma in 1999. He is a regular contributor for the British and Italian press.
Buy books on Amazon -
Robert DiYanni
Robert DiYanni is an adjunct professor of humanities and an instructional consultant at the Center for the Advancement of Teaching at New York University. In these capacities he teaches courses on critical thinking, interdisciplinary humanities, commerce and culture, and business and its publics, and conducts workshops and consultations with faculty throughout the university on aspects of pedagogical practice. Before coming to NYU, Dr. DiYanni taught at Queens College and Pace University and as a visiting professor at Harvard. He also served, for ten years, as Director of International Services at The College Board.
Buy books on Amazon -
Franz Kafka
Prague-born writer Franz Kafka wrote in German, and his stories, such as " The Metamorphosis " (1916), and posthumously published novels, including The Trial (1925), concern troubled individuals in a nightmarishly impersonal world.
Buy books on Amazon
Jewish middle-class family of this major fiction writer of the 20th century spoke German. People consider his unique body of much incomplete writing, mainly published posthumously, among the most influential in European literature.
His stories include "The Metamorphosis" (1912) and " In the Penal Colony " (1914), whereas his posthumous novels include The Trial (1925), The Castle (1926) and Amerika (1927).
Despite first language, Kafka also spoke fluent Czech. Later, Kafka acquired some knowledge of -
Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer was born in the city of Danzig (then part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth; present day Gdańsk, Poland) and was a German philosopher best known for his work The World as Will and Representation. Schopenhauer attempted to make his career as an academic by correcting and expanding Immanuel Kant's philosophy concerning the way in which we experience the world.
Buy books on Amazon
He was the son of author Johanna Schopenhauer and the older brother of Adele Schopenhauer. -
Alain de Botton
Alain de Botton is a writer and television producer who lives in London and aims to make philosophy relevant to everyday life. He can be contacted by email directly via www.alaindebotton.com
Buy books on Amazon
He is a writer of essayistic books, which refer both to his own experiences and ideas- and those of artists, philosophers and thinkers. It's a style of writing that has been termed a 'philosophy of everyday life.'
His first book, Essays in Love [titled On Love in the US], minutely analysed the process of falling in and out of love. The style of the book was unusual, because it mixed elements of a novel together with reflections and analyses normally found in a piece of non-fiction. It's a book of which many readers are still fondest.
Bibliography:
* Essays -
Will Durant
William James Durant was a prolific American writer, historian, and philosopher. He is best known for the 11-volume The Story of Civilization, written in collaboration with his wife Ariel and published between 1935 and 1975. He was earlier noted for his book, The Story of Philosophy, written in 1926, which was considered "a groundbreaking work that helped to popularize philosophy."
Buy books on Amazon
They were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for literature in 1967 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977. -
Lynne Tillman
Buy books on Amazon
Here’s an Author’s Bio. It could be written differently. I’ve written many for myself and read lots of other people’s. None is right or sufficient, each slants one way or the other. So, a kind of fiction – selection of events and facts.. So let me just say: I wanted to be a writer since I was eight years old. That I actually do write stories and novels and essays, and that they get published, still astonishes me.
My news is that my 6th novel MEN AND APPARITIONS will appear in march 2018 from Soft Skull Press. It's my first novel in 12 years.
Each spring, I teach writing at University at Albany, in the English Dept., and in the fall, at The New School, in the Writing Dept.
I’ve lived with David Hofstra, a bass player, for many years. It makes -
Yuval Noah Harari
Yuval Noah Harari is an Israeli historian and philosopher. He is considered one of the world’s most influential public intellectuals working today.
Buy books on Amazon
Born in Israel in 1976, Harari received his Ph.D. from the University of Oxford in 2002. He is currently a lecturer at the Department of History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a Distinguished Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge’s Centre for the Study of Existential Risk. Harari co-founded the social impact company Sapienship, focused on education and storytelling, with his husband, Itzik Yahav. -
Philippa Perry
Philippa Perry, author of How to Stay Sane, is a psychotherapist and writer who has written pieces for The Guardian, The Observer, Time Out, and Healthy Living magazine and has a column in Psychologies Magazine. In 2010, she wrote the graphic novel Couch Fiction, in an attempt to demystify psychotherapy. She lives in London and Sussex with her husband, the artist Grayson Perry, and enjoys gardening, cooking, parties, walking, tweeting, and watching telly.
Buy books on Amazon
http://us.macmillan.com/author/philip... -
Alan W. Watts
Alan Wilson Watts was a British philosopher, writer and speaker, who held both a Master's in Theology and a Doctorate of Divinity. Famous for his research on comparative religion, he was best known as an interpreter and popularizer of Asian philosophies for a Western audience. He wrote over 25 books and numerous articles on subjects such as personal identity, the true nature of reality, higher consciousness, the meaning of life, concepts and images of God and the non-material pursuit of happiness. In his books he relates his experience to scientific knowledge and to the teachings of Eastern and Western religion and philosophy.
Buy books on Amazon -
Anil Seth
Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex
Buy books on Amazon -
Kate Young
Kate Young is a writer and cook. Her award-winning Little Library Cookbooks (The Little Library Cookbook, The Little Library Year, The Little Library Christmas, and The Little Library Parties) feature food inspired by beloved works of literature.
Buy books on Amazon
Her debut novel Experienced, a queer romcom set in Bristol, was released in summer 2024.
After a sunny Australian childhood, spent indoors reading books, she moved to London, which suited her much better. She now lives in the English countryside. -
Emma Gannon
Emma Gannon is the Sunday Times bestselling author of eight books, including ‘A Year of Nothing‘ and ‘Olive’, her debut novel, which was nominated for the Dublin Literary Award. Her second novel, ‘Table for One’, published in 2025 with HarperCollins. Emma also runs the popular Substack newsletter, ‘The Hyphen’, which has thousands of paid subscribers. She also hosts creativity retreats all over the world and was a judge for the 2025 Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction.
Buy books on Amazon -
Jodie Jackson
Jodie Jackson is an expert on the psychological impact of the news on our mental health and the health of our society. Her widely cited research has led to regular speaking engagements at media and mental health conferences around the world. Jodie Jackson is a partner at The Constructive Journalism Project and she holds a master’s degree in applied positive psychology.
Buy books on Amazon -
Gwee Li Sui
GWEE LI SUI is a bestselling poet, artist, critic, and translator from Singapore.
Buy books on Amazon -
Lan Cao
Lan is the co-author (with her teenage daughter) of the forthcoming memoir Family in Six Tones: A Refugee Mother, an American Daughter (Viking, September 15, 2020). She is also the author of the critically acclaimed novel Monkey Bridge, published by Viking in 1997. Her second novel, The Lotus and the Storm will be published by Viking Press in August 2014. She is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College and Yale Law School and worked as a litigation and corporate attorney in New York City for many years until she joined legal academia as a law professor.
Buy books on Amazon -
Piero Ferrucci
Piero Ferrucci is a psychotherapist and a philosopher. He graduated from the University of Torino in 1970.
Buy books on Amazon