Shelfology Book Pairing

A Book for Everyone and No One

by Friedrich Nietzsche

Friedrich Nietzsche's most accessible and influential philosophical work, misquoted, misrepresented, brilliantly original and enormously influential Nietzsche was one of the most revolutionary and subversive thinkers in Western philosophy, and Thus Spoke Zarathustra remains his most famous and influential work. It describes how the ancient Persian prophet Zarathustra descends from his solitude in the mountains to tell the world that God is dead and that the Superman, the human embodiment of divinity, is his successor. Nietzsche's utterance 'God is dead', his insistence that the meaning of life is to be found in purely human terms, and his doctrine of the Superman and the will to power were all later seized upon and unrecognisably twisted by, among others, Nazi intellectuals. With blazing intensity and poetic brilliance, Nietzsche argues that the meaning of existence is not to be found in religious pieties or meek submission to authority, but in an all-powerful life force: passionate, chaotic and free. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

by Lao Tzu

The pursuit of power, happiness, and life's meaning is as old as history itself, as the Tao Te Ching (The Book of the Way and Its Virtue) attests. Dating from two and a half millennia ago, this timeless text consists of 81 brief chapters that form one of the world's most profound and influential spiritual traditions. The Tao played a significant role in the development of Buddhist thought, and this classic of meditative insight continues to inform modern readers with its emphasis on mindfulness. Centered on the principle of wu wei, or naturalness and simplicity, its teachings outline an attitude of spontaneity and noninterference that fosters individuality and self-awareness. This high-quality gift edition of the authoritative James Legge translation is an enduring companion on the mystical path to spiritual freedom.