Book Review: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck

Another book review on the way!




So I got this book as a present last year, but I had only the chance to read it this year. The book is called The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson. At first glance, I thought this book would be about just caring less about everything, but I was so wrong. It discusses more where you should truly focus your attention more to be able to have a good life.

I'll follow the same pattern how I did my book review for The Alchemist, by starting off with the quotes that resounded to me in the book and later on will be the book reflection.

Warning: There is a lot of swearing on the quotes.

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QUOTES

"The key to a good life is not giving a fuck about more; it's giving a fuck about less, giving a fuck about only what is true and immediate and important." 

"Being open with your insecurities paradoxically makes you more confident and charismatic around others."

"The avoidance of suffering is a form of suffering. The avoidance of a struggle is a struggle. The denial of failure is a failure. Hiding what is shameful is itself a form of shame." 

"Maturity is what happens when one learns to only give a fuck about what's truly fuckworthy."

"I see practical enlightenment as becoming comfortable with the idea that some suffering is always inevitable - that no matter what you do, life is comprised of failures, loss, regrets, and even death. Because once you become comfortable with all the shit that life throws at you (and it will throw a lot of shit, trust me), you become invincible in a sort of low-level spiritual way. After all, the only way to overcome pain is to first learn how to bear it."

"...the greatest truths in life are usually the most unpleasant to hear."

"...hope for a life full of good problems."

"...negative emotions are a call to action. When you feel them, it's because you're supposed to do something." 

"Solution lies in the acceptance and active engagement of that negative experience- not the avoidance of it, not the salvation of it."

"Who you are is defined by what you're willing to struggle for."

"The rare people who do become truly exceptional at something do so not because they believe they're exceptional. On the contrary, they become amazing because they're obsessed with improvement."

"...when we deny our problems, we rob ourselves of the chance to solve them and generate happiness."

"One day, in retrospect, the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful."

"Nobody else is ever responsible for your situation but you."

"...we should seel to chip away at the ways that we're wrong today so that we can be a little less wrong tomorrow."

"Being wrong opens us up to the possibility of change. Being wrong brings the opportunity for growth."

"The more we admit we do not know, the more opportunities we gain to learn."

"The openness to being wrong must exist for any real change or growth to take place."

"We can be truly successful only at something we're willing to fail at. If we're unwilling to fail, then we're unwilling to succeed."

"...it's growth that generates happiness, not a long list of arbitrary achievements."

"If you lack the motivation to make an important change in your life, do something-anything, really-and then harness the reaction to that action as a way to being motivating yourself."

"To build trust, you have to be honest- that means when things suck, you say so openly without apology."

"Perhaps the worst moment of my life was also the most transformational."

"Our culture today confuses great attention and great success, assuming them to be the same thing. But they are not. You are great. Already. Whether you realize it or not."

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BOOK REFLECTION


At the beginning of this post, I mentioned that I initially thought that this book would tell me to just don't give a f*ck about anything to get the most out of my life. 

But I was so wrong.

This book actually talks about caring about something. And make sure that something is worth caring for. We have to focus our attention and energy on things that matter most to us. Not everything that's going on in our lives is actually worth our time, so we have to identify what we think are the most important to live our lives to the fullest.

The book points out that our end goal should not be on finding happiness. But trying to find joy along the way. The journey is more important than the destination, and sometimes, the road to our success is more worthwhile than the success itself. Most of our lives are actually spent on defining what we really want. We have to appreciate the time we spent to explore the possibilities. There is also no shortcut to getting what we want or to knowing ourselves... so trust the process, and savor each little step we take.

This book also tells us the harsh truth that we are not special. Yet, even if we are not, we are still capable of doing great things. And to be able to do these great things, we will encounter sufferings and failures along the way. These sufferings and failures will teach us more lessons than on our happy moments. How we go about these trials will actually define us more than the pleasant events in our lives. 

At the end of the day, we have to realize we're all going to die. Find that legacy that the people you leave behind will remember you by.

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Done with another book review! 🙌

How about you? Did you read anything recently? How was it?


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1 Comments

  1. I have this on my reading list but you convinced me to move it to the top spot!

    ReplyDelete