Clear, sparkling, universal and timeless short-form wisdom from one of the masters of self-development Robert Greene.
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Genre: Non-fiction, self-help, self-development, psychology
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Review in one word: Brilliant
Robert Greene‘s Daily Laws are clear bite-sized wisdom taken from his vast oeuvre of incredible writing. Written in Robert’s direct, accessible, deeply compelling style – this book is a rich treasury of knowledge that will spark daily insights and realisations. It’s a book to shock you out of your daily ennui that may sometimes occur with the regular work, sleep, eat cycle.
I have mountains of respect for Robert Greene and his work. He is the author of several highly impactful and internationally best selling books including Mastery, The 48 Laws of Power, The Art of Seduction and The Laws of Human Nature.
A self-made man and an autodidact who studied Classical History, throughout his early life, he consumed endless books ended up being a translator, magazine editor, construction worker, and Hollywood movie writer. However he was deeply dissatisfied with these jobs and always wanted to be an author. He met a lot of people along the way and a lot of the basis of his books are about these experiences with various people and workplaces.
On initially encountering Robert Greene and his work about a decade ago, I was a bit suspicious, who was he to be dishing out advice on what power and seduction means and the laws of human nature? I looked for the PhD in various things to call him an expert. I now realise this was a huge bias on my part.
I humbly eat these words because having read Mastery, The 48 Laws of Power and The Laws of Human Nature, I can honestly say Greene’s wisdom, knowledge and advice for life is steeped in huge historical, psychological and philosophical depth. He goes far deeper than most other authors and uses real world examples of individuals from throughout history to illustrate the complexities and oddities of human behaviour.
At various points in my life, reading his books has changed the course of my life – and only in the best kind of way!
Reading Mastery about 10 years ago spurred me to realise the immense power of bootstrapping myself with consistent daily work and how achieving great things takes a lot of time, persistence, ambition, dogged determination and the main elusive ingredient – finding joy and working towards a higher goal of purpose and meaning.
Sound vague? It really isn’t in the way Greene explains it. As a direct consequence of reading his book, I got off my ass and started a global animal rights and indigenous rights movement which ended up being very successful.
Reading the Laws of Human Nature made me realise just how alike I was to other people. No longer a strange outsider, I felt a sense of kinship with others, in how I saw the world anew, and saw how the world sees me – that quite frankly nobody gives a shit about me and what I do. That I had the power to create myself in whatever way I choose, not in the way that society deems appropriate for someone of my gender, skin colour, ethnicity, family, socio-economic status etc. All of this was hugely liberating for me to realise. Realising as well how everyone else experiences pain and has painful and traumatic memories (not just me) also made me have greater empathy and understanding of others.
If you are new to Robert Greene, are time-poor and want some fast nuggets of timeless wisdom, I highly recommend this book. Equally so, it’s worth subscribing to his Youtube channel for bite-sized chunks of wisdom in short video format. It’s perfect to have on your bedside table and to glance at its daily passage (wisdom according to a particular calendar day) before going to sleep.
Each passage is 300 words or less long, with a short and punchy summarised version at the end. I know that I will be re-reading this book of wisdom for many years to come and still finding something new to understand.
Some examples from the book:
Do Not Let Success Intoxicate You
“Daily Law: After any kind of success, analyze the components. See the element of luck that is inevitably there, as well as the role that other people, including mentors, played in your good fortune.”
Robert Greene
See Into Your Own Nature
“We’re very complicated. We don’t know where ideas come from. We don’t know where our emotions come from. But you can get closer to that. You can have some degree of clarity. You can start to see that kind of shadow side or that stranger within. And that’s really the only hope because when you’re in denial, you don’t realize that you’re being a narcissist, you don’t realize that you’re being governed by your emotions. You could think you’re superior to other people just because of the opinion you hold. You can let your shadow side come out without even being aware of it. You need to come to terms with the fact that 95 percent of your ideas and opinions are not your own—they come from what other people have taught you, from what you’re reading on the internet, from what other people are saying and doing. You’re a conformist—that’s who you are. I’m like that and everybody is like that and you realize that only by throwing some light on yourself and realizing that these qualities, these flaws that are built into us, they are inside you too.
Robert greene
“Only then can you begin to overcome them and use them for productive purposes. Question, question, question. Don’t assume that the reason that you feel something, and that it’s right just because you feel it. And in that kind of process, you will become rational, you’ll become somebody who can use empathy, you will have the ability to judge people properly and accept them for who they are as opposed to continually moralizing, wishing people were something that they’re not. You’ll have a much smoother path through life, and you’ll be much calmer and more peaceful without all that emotional baggage that drags you down. But it starts with looking inward and questioning yourself and not assuming that everything you feel or think is right.”
The Madness of Crowds
“Whenever you feel unusually certain and excited about a plan or idea, you must step back and gauge whether it is a viral group effect operating on you. If you can detach yourself for a moment from your excitement, you might notice how your thinking is used to rationalize your emotions, to confirm the certainty you want to feel.
Robert Greene
Daily Law: Never relinquish your ability to doubt, reflect, and consider other options—your rationality as an individual is your only protection against the madness that can overcome a group.”
The Power of Association
“Humans are extremely susceptible to the moods, emotions, and even the ways of thinking of those with whom they spend their time. The incurably unhappy and unstable have a particularly strong infecting power because their characters and emotions are so intense. They often present themselves as victims, making it difficult, at first, to see their miseries as self-inflicted. Before you realize the real nature of their problems you have been infected by them. Understand this: the people you associate with are critical. The risk of associating with infectors is that you will waste valuable time and energy trying to free yourself. Through a kind of guilt by association, you will also suffer in the eyes of others.”
Robert Greene
Think for Yourself
“You need to be fearless. You need to be able to get rid of everything you’ve ever believed in before. You need to get rid of all the strategies you’ve used before. All the conventional ideas. Commandment: You need to think for yourself and not be tied to what other people have told you is reality.”
Robert Greene
Confront Your Dark Side
“Daily Law: Recognize and examine the dark side of your character. Once subjected to conscious scrutiny, it loses its destructive power.
Accept People as Facts
“Interactions with people are the major source of emotional turmoil, but it doesn’t have to be that way. The problem is that we are continually judging people, wishing they were something that they are not. We want to change them. We want them to think and act a certain way, most often the way we think and act. And because this is not possible, because everyone is different, we are continually frustrated and upset. Instead, see other people as phenomena, as neutral as comets or plants. They simply exist. They come in all varieties, making life rich and interesting. Work with what they give you, instead of resisting and trying to change them. Make understanding people a fun game, the solving of puzzles. It is all part of the human comedy. Yes, people are irrational, but so are you. Make your acceptance of human nature as radical as possible. This will calm you down and help you observe people more dispassionately, understanding them on a deeper level. You will stop projecting your own emotions on to them. All of this will give you more balance and calmness, more mental space for thinking.”
Robert Greene
I hope you will enjoy this book and treasure it as much as I do. You can buy it at all good independent bookstores!
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