Ethical Wisdom for Friends: How to Navigate Life's Most Complicated, Curious, and Common Relationship Dilemmas

by Mark Matousek

As imperfect human beings, we often face ethical and moral challenges as we relate with others on a daily basis, be it with our office mates, our Facebook friends, or our best friend since grade school. In this riveting and insightful tour of the meaning and purpose of connection, Matousek draws from personal experience, interviews, and letters from readers to provide a reservoir rich in wisdom about friendship, commitment, honesty, greed, jealousy, loyalty, competition, imitation, abandonment, and reconciliation. In twenty-four succinct essays, each followed by thought-provoking questions, he examines a plethora of moral dilemmas.

Backed by scientific evidence, interviews with experts, philosophical teachings, and psychological insight, Ethical Wisdom for Friends is a simple, edifying, and entertaining look at these concepts for everyday seekers who more interested in hands-on advice than abstract information.

233 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Mark is a bestselling author, teacher, and speaker whose work focuses on personal awakening and creative excellence through self-inquiry and life writing. He brings three decades of experience as a memoirist, editor, interviewer, survivor, activist, and spiritual seeker to his penetrating and thought provoking work with students. His workshops, classes, and mentoring have inspired thousands of people around the world to reach their artistic and personal goals.

He is currently working on a book about friendships and relationships that is set to be released in June 2013. Stay tuned!

Reviews

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, but not great. Gets you thinking a bit, but not for too long.

[Dana · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is just a collection of short "people" stories that end with a few questions about things like envy or how you feel about other people's business or other people's kids or a variety of situations. It basically has the author's feelings about how you should relate to other people. The author is a writer, not a psychiatrist or psychologist and the book is just stories and his thoughts and questions. It is not a self-help book or advice from an expert. It is simple and easy to read. I received this book free from Netgalley.

[Nikki Wood · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did enjoy this book because it was an easy read. That said, it was not completely worthwhile because of that. I expected the information to be backed up by research and experts, but very rarely was anything offered besides his own experiences. That is not completely valuable. If you approach it more like stories, then you will enjoy it.

[Jenny · Rating 2 out of 5]

Super fast read, not a lot of content - seemed like a series of blog posts. Good stories/anecdotes about ethical dilemmas that can arise in friendships and some suggested ways of dealing with them. I didn't agree with everything, but I enjoyed the opportunity to reflect on my experiences and the possibilities.