Staying sane in a crazy world

Sherwin Wine's Staying Sane in a Crazy World may well be the best self-help and personal development book published in a generation. Reader-friendly and clear, it is a practical guide for living in our increasingly complex, confusing, dehumanizing times. Like Kahlil Gibran, Wine urges, "Let passion fill your sails but let reason be your rudder." Reason, Wine insists, is the best tool we have for successfully meeting life's challenges. He critically examines the shortcomings of traditional religions, such as the notion that the universe gives meaning to human existence; on the contrary, he writes, "it is human desire that gives meaning to the universe."Wine counsels realism and the discarding of illusions as necessary for staying sane, dignity and courage as essential to human happiness, and the importance of ethics derived from human experience in a universe indifferent to human values and concerns.Realistic living, Wine concludes, is the courage to acknowledge truth even when painful, the courage to strive for happiness even when it is unlikely, the courage to face uncertainty, the courage to improve the world even in the face of failure, the courage to stay sane in a crazy world.