First published in 1894 in Germany after being banned in Leo Tolstoy's native Russia, "The Kingdom of God is Within You" is, in the words of the introduction, "one of the most remarkable studies of the social and psychological condition of the modern world". Thirty years in the making, Tolstoy expounds upon his earlier work "What I Believe" and argues that nonviolence is the very foundation of Christianity. Tolstoy believed that the teaching of Christ...

Life guidance from a famed Renaissance man. This influential work of philosophy by one of the great thinkers of the Renaissance era advises people of all walks of life how to approach political, professional, and personal situations in a dog-eat-dog world. Comprised of three hundred pithy aphorisms, it offers thought-provoking and accessible advice. Some subjects include 'Never Compete,' 'The Art of Letting Things Alone,' and 'Anticipate Injuries...

The final published book by Nobel Prize-winning author and philosopher Henri Bergson (1859-1941), La pensée et le mouvant (translated here as The Creative Mind), is a masterly autobiography of his philosophical method. Through essays and lectures written between 1903 and 1923, Bergson retraces how and why he became a philosopher, and crafts a fascinating critique of philosophy itself. Until it leaves its false paths, he demonstrates, philosophy will...

Shortly before he was assassinated in 1940, Leon Trotsky - one of Marx's most devoted converts and a key figure in the Russian Revolution - made this selection from Capital, to which he appended his own lengthy and insightful introduction. Compact and fascinating, this invaluable work not only presents Marx's thoughts in his own words but also places them in the swirling context of the 20th century. A critical analysis of ideas that have influenced...

An examination of the conflicts within and among nations, this treatise proposes a remedy based on true Christian doctrine: recognition of love as the supreme law of life. Written just before World War I, it articulates Tolstoy's famous dictum that it is morally superior to suffer violence than to do violence-a philosophy that has inspired Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and countless others. Famed for such popular novels as War and Peace and Anna...

These selections illuminate Philo's crucial role in assimilating Greek philosophy to biblical religion and accommodating Jewish belief to Greek thought. Topics include the knowledge of God; the mystic way; the soul and her God; man's humility, hope, faith, and joy; vices and virtues; and Israel and the nations.

Fourteenth-century Germany produced three authors - Eckhart, Tauler, and Suso - who wrote numerous sermons, tracts, and anecdotes in the vernacular rather than Latin. This survey chronicles their lives, critiques their works, and discusses their influence on the development of Christian spiritual expression along with that of their contemporaries, the Friends of God and the Franciscan friars.