Review By Marilyn Dalrymple

It is difficult to review a book that has been a classic for many years, and to say something that hasn’t all ready been said.  However, I’ll give it my best shot.

I had to leave reality behind in a sense, and open my mind to accepting a new experience.  Much of what is written in Way of the Peaceful Warrior isn‘t going to happen.   As much as I’d love to have a mentor called Socrates who will lead me through life and explain it to me, reality tells me we each have to be our own Socrates.

As much as I would love to say, “My body became a radian prism, throwing splinters of multicolored light everywhere,” I’m most likely not going to be able to experience that. 

What Way of the Peaceful Warrior does, however, is open a reader’s mind to the possibility of experiencing all that is around him in a new and more dramatic way.  The message Socrates wanted Dan to understand is expressed in a few sentences: 

“Dan [said Socrates], you’re no longer the young fool who walked into this office over a year ago.”

Socrates then said, “You’re a fool with spirit, Dan. And that’s a very big difference.”

If we all use what is available to us and focus our thoughts and sharpen our senses, we can be fools with spirit.  We have the choice of being alive, attuned, filled with wisdom and able to experience life on a different, advanced level.  It is our option and we can succeed at doing this if we choose to.

In the Afterword Millman says, “What matters is compassion, kindness, taking ourselves less seriously, and waking up to the gift of life in each passing moment.”  Therein lies the lesson of Way of the Peaceful Warrior. 

The writing could have been stronger in places, and some of the story is longer than necessary, but if you go away learning and believing the lesson presented, you will have benefited from the book.

Dan Millman is a former world-champion athlete, gymnastics coach, martial arts instructor, and college professor. His books have touched millions of readers in thirty languages. Dan travels worldwide, teaching fresh and realistic ways to live with a peaceful heart and a warrior spirit. His talks have influenced people from all walks of life, including leaders in the fields of health, psychology, education, business, politics, sports, entertainment, and the arts.  You'll find the author online at www.danmillman.com

Way of the Peaceful Warrior:  A Book that Changes Lives (New World Library/ Nov 2009) by Dan Millman

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