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An Intelligent Life

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"Don't worry, be happy" is easy to say but hard to do, because we have so little direct control over our feelings. Positive thinking is not enough; living intelligently is about positive action.

An Intelligent Life is a practical instruction book to help you make your life happier. It is a book about love, individuality, relationships and self-respect and is the result of Julian Short's thirty years of clinical practice as a psychiatrist.

Looking after ourselves means looking after our relationships. To feel good, we need to act well. We see ourselves in the mirror of other people's reaction and if we want to like the person we see, we need the skills to give and get as much love as we can. Dr Short offers specific techniques for managing relationships with lovers, friends, parents and children.

Living intelligently is not about winning, because the real measures of human worth are kindness and dignity, not success or status. An Intelligent Life is designed to show that we can lose and still like ourselves, liberating us to be hopeless at things, but sensational as people.

323 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

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Julian Short

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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
Profile Image for Charlee Webb.
22 reviews
October 23, 2025
Not usually engaged by self help books, but this is concise, straight forward, gives practical advice, and is basically a very good value psychiatry appointment …
Profile Image for Anthea Christie.
36 reviews1 follower
October 10, 2021
Some great themes and theory’s, but written in a he,she perspective that really isn’t perfect.
Profile Image for Jessica.
88 reviews2 followers
October 1, 2019
A really interesting and unique psychological take on relationships and self esteem from an evolutionary lens. Full of invaluable pockets of wisdom that I would highly recommend reading.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews

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