Notes on the Art of Life is Haim Shapira's version of Sei Shonagon's Pillow Book – a discursive and intensely personal collection of thoughts on life; a tribute to the importance of the here and now; the value of the moment and of paying attention to it.  This is a personal, cheerful and idiosyncratic tour through the thoughts and experiences of philosophers, artists and academics, finding a path through the contradictions of philosophy and the intractable challenges of life (both existential and mundane). Content includes: Exploring a wide range of philosophies, from Aristotle to Zhuang Zhu and Epicurus to Socrates Tour the arts and thoughts of Abd al-Rahman III to Tolstoy, via Chekhov and Goethe Examine a myriad of essential topics, from silence and regret to happiness and other small things of absolute importance. And arriving finally at love. This book is like having a chatty and quite excitable friend guide you round a library of good books and different schools of thought. A companion who aims to comfort and reassure you about the complexities and challenges of life and of thinking about life. 

Haim Shapira was born in Lithuania in 1962 and immigrated toIsrael in 1977, where he earned a PhD in mathematical genetics for hisdissertation on Games Theory and another PhD for his research about themathematical and philosophical approaches to Infinity. He teaches mathematics,psychology, philosophy, and literature. Haim is an author of seven best-sellingbooks. Shapira is not trying to makehis readers agree with him, but simply encourages them to enjoy thinking. He isone of Israel's most popular andin-demand speakers and giveslectures on creativity and strategic thinking, existential philosophy andphilosophy in children's literature, happiness and optimism, nonsense andinsanity, imagination and the meaning of meaning, as well as friendship andlove. He is also an accomplished pianist and an avid collector of anythingbeautiful.