Bạn nào mình yêu quý lắm, mình sẽ giới thiệu quyển này cho mà đọc. Sách hay đến bất ngờ. Nội dung dễ hiểu, lời lẽ giản dị, xen lẫn đâu đó là giọng điệu hài hước không lẫn vào đâu được của Nguyễn Hiển Lê - gì chứ cứ là sách của bác này dịch thì mình luôn tin tưởng hết mực.
Mở ngoặc là mình ghét sách kiểu self-help + how to lắm, nhưng cứ sách của bác Nguyễn Hiển Lê dịch là mình đắm đuối đọc và học theo, chẳng hiểu vì sao đóng ngoặc.
Điều mình thích vô cùng ở quyển này là sự thấu hiểu đến tận tâm can người trẻ, đọc đến đâu chỉ biết ồ à ố á kiểu trời ơi sao đúng quá vậy :D. Có đoạn đọc xong phải dừng lại ngẫm nghĩ, có đoạn phải lập tức lấy bút chép lại, có đoạn lại tự dưng mỉm cười vì đã nhận ra một điều hay ho mà bấy lâu nay không hề để ý.
Mình đọc đi đọc lại rồi quyết định luyện tập theo quyển này. Vì mình đang trẻ, và mình muốn sống cho trọn thứ mà cuộc sống ban tặng cho mình mỗi ngày: 24 giờ - không hơn không kém.

It was more of a Philosophical book than a Self-help. It started well with n  how-to be productive on a day and self-analysis nbut then Arnold Bennet dived into philosophy. Classical books should be republished with modern norms. I did not find any classical book worthy to be read.

n  In short, I'm disappointed after reading How to Live on 24 Hours a Day.n

Initially I thought this book would be another compilation of time-management advice. Not at all! Its emphasis is on the word "live" in the title, and the goal is to help you arrive at a feeling of having lived your life, rather than passing through it and feeling vaguely dissatisfied. The advised process by which you may achieve this is to revisit how you employ your non-work hours, and to use them to greater personal benefit through a combination of mental focus exercise, self-analysis, and enriching education in topics that interest you. This summary probably sounds a bit dry -- the actual text is delightfully entertaining, with a strong author voice. Even better, you can listen to it as an audiobook for free through librivox! The total listening time is only 1.5 hours, so I imagine it'd be an even faster read. Enjoy!

My first reaction to this book was that it was evidently written for an Edwardian man - a man who has a wife telling him that he looks tired, or a love interest, but no domestic obligations (save for walking a dog) and no noticeable children. My intention in pointing this out is not to complain about gender inequality, but to say that modern people who take active part in raising their children and have no cleaning or cooking help might feel somewhat handicapped when it comes to blocking out 90 minutes per day (more, actually) for self-development.

Having said that, this is not a bad book. Bennett explains, lucidly and persuasively, how to train the monkey mind, and how to change one's habits, and with what aim in mind:

Man, know thyself. (...) I am entirely convinced that what is more than anything else lacking in the life of the average well-intentioned man of to-day is the reflective mood.
We do not reflect. I mean that we do not reflect upon genuinely important things; upon the problem of our happiness, upon the main direction in which we are going, upon what life is giving to us, upon the share which reason has (or has not) in determining our actions, and upon the relation between our principles and our conduct.(...)
All I urge is that a life in which conduct does not fairly well accord with principles is a silly life; and that conduct can only be made to accord with principles by means of daily examination, reflection, and resolution.

Bennett explains that increased knowledge of the world - music, art, architecture - will enhance one's experience of the world:

You would live at a promenade concert, whereas previously you had merely existed there in a state of beatific coma, like a baby gazing at a bright object.

He suggests studying philosophy (Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, Pascal, La Bruyere, Emerson), and any science that enables one to start noticing the cause-and-effect patterns in the world.

While he tells his readers to keep reading novels, he advises them not to consider reading them, even the classics, improving, since this requires no mental strain - "You do not set your teeth in order to read "Anna Karenina" - and suggests poetry instead; "Paradise Lost", or, for the less daring, Hazlitt's essay on poetry https://www.uni-due.de/lyriktheorie/t... first, followed by a novel in verse ("Aurora Leigh" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning http://digital.library.upenn.edu/wome...).

Above all, he warns his readers against boring others with our newly-gained knowledge, judging people who don't use their time to improve themselves, becoming slaves to the self-improvements programme and losing sense of humour.

Written in 1907 with a great sense of humor, the wise advice by Arnold Bennett is still applicable today:

1- Don't waste your "free" time doing nothing, but plan at least 1.5 hours to cultivate the mind by learning about a topic that interests you, whether it's art or science or any other topic that you find interesting.
2- On the way to work or while waiting anything, don't read the newspaper, but use this time to train your mind on concentration by bringing it back everytime it's distracted.
3- Dedicate time for self reflection and understanding and live by your principles.

Quotes:

"I have seen an essay, "How to live on eight shillings a week." But I have never seen an essay, "How to live on twenty-four hours a day." Yet it has been said that time is money. That proverb understates the case. Time is a great deal more than money. If you have time you can obtain money—usually. But though you have the wealth of a cloak-room attendant at the Carlton Hotel, you cannot buy yourself a minute more time than I have, or the cat by the fire has."

"People say "One can't help one's thoughts." But one can. The control of the thinking machine is perfectly possible. And since nothing whatever happens to us outside our own brain; since nothing hurts us or gives us pleasure except within the brain, the supreme importance of being able to control what goes on in that mysterious brain is patent. This idea is one of the oldest platitudes, but it is a platitude whose profound truth and urgency most people live and die without realising. People complain of the lack of power to concentrate, not witting that they may acquire the power, if they choose."

"Mind control is the first element of a full existence."

"And yet you are in search of happiness, are you not? Have you discovered it?
The chances are that you have not. The chances are that you have already come to believe that happiness is unattainable. But men have attained it. And they have attained it by realising that happiness does not spring from the procuring of physical or mental pleasure, but from the development of reason and the adjustment of conduct to principles."

"Now in the cultivation of the mind one of the most important factors is precisely the feeling of strain, of difficulty, of a task which one part of you is anxious to achieve and another part of you is anxious to shirk; and that feeling cannot be got in facing a novel. You do not set your teeth in order to read "Anna Karenina." Therefore, though you should read novels, you should not read them in those ninety minutes."

"Imaginative poetry produces a far greater mental strain than novels. It produces probably the severest strain of any form of literature. It is the highest form of literature. It yields the highest form of pleasure, and teaches the highest form of wisdom. In a word, there is nothing to compare with it. I say this with sad consciousness of the fact that the majority of people do not read poetry."

"The second suggestion is to think as well as to read. I know people who read and read, and for all the good it does them they might just as well cut bread-and-butter. They take to reading as better men take to drink. They fly through the shires of literature on a motor-car, their sole object being motion. They will tell you how many books they have read in a year.
Unless you give at least forty-five minutes to careful, fatiguing reflection (it is an awful bore at first) upon what you are reading, your ninety minutes of a night are chiefly wasted. This means that your pace will be slow."

"Another danger is the danger of being tied to a programme like a slave to a chariot. One's programme must not be allowed to run away with one. It must be respected, but it must not be worshipped as a fetish. A programme of daily employ is not a religion."

I like Arnold Bennet's novels a lot. Most of them are serious, but "The Card" and my favorite, "Buried Alive"(which shows his genius) have a subtle sense of humor that is appealing. This short booklet has some of that humor also, here and there in addition to intelligent advice on improving one's mind. If you wish to get the real feel of this work, listen to it on Librivox, where the excellent reader, Mark F. Smith, by his skill, adds greatly to the interest and enjoyment of it. You'll probably miss a lot, if you try to skim through it or complete it in one sitting. I got more out of it by listening to 2 or 3 brief chapters at a time, and sometimes repeating parts to absorb his points. Although other reviewers listed quotes from this work, some I considered the most humorous or of special importance were missed and if I have time I will add them.

''The path to Mecca is exteremely hard and stony, and the worst of it is that you never quite get there after all.''

Some parts were very interesting and to the point, other parts were fairly dry. As a whole it was a profitable read for me. One of my favorite quotes from this book is this (speaking about reading) "Choose a limited period, or a limited subject, or a single author. Say to yourself: 'I will know something about the French Revolution, or the rise of railways, or the works of John Keats.' And during a given period, to be settled beforehand, confine yourself to your choice. There is much pleasure to be derived from being a specialist."

"Talk about an ideal democracy! In the realm of time there is no aristocracy of wealth, and no aristocracy of intellect. Genius is never rewarded by even an extra hour a day. And there is no punishment. Waste your infinitely precious commodity as much as you will, and the supply will never be withheld from you. . . . Moreover, you cannot draw on the future. Impossible to get into debt! You can only waste the passing moment. You cannot waste tomorrow; it is kept for you. You cannot waste the next hour; it is kept for you."

Concise and amusing, if somewhat dated. The jist of his advice:
1) Examine your time use honestly.
2) Stop frittering away evening hours at home.
3) Train your mind to truly focus on a topic in your spare moments, rather than letting your mind wander.
4) Choose a subject to become an expert in, and make that your goal for your evening hours.

Rating: 4.5/5

When I started reading this book, I had no idea about it being hundred years old!

At the start, I felt that the tone of the writer is far different than what I am used to reading, after few pages I started loving the book, only after which I googled about it!

As the name says, the book teaches you how to live with satisfaction. It talks about your daily life & points towards the wrongs being done by you.

I have read several self-help books, most of them share more or less the same ideas, but this book is original, It made me ponder over my lifestyle, It told me things I never thought about.

I loved the way author communicated with the readers.

This book is quite short too, I recommend everyone to read it!






Below are my favourite quotes from the book



You have to live on this twenty-four hours of daily time. Out of it, you have to spin health, pleasure, money, content, respect, and the evolution of your immortal soul.


We never shall have any more time. We have, and we have always had, all the time there is.


Beware of undertaking too much at the start. Be content with quite a little. Allow for accidents. Allow for human nature, especially your own.

3/5 because I cannot fathom why a 71 paged "book" would be priced at $13.99

But also, 3/5 stars because I greatly enjoyed Bennett's wit & humor. Also read the whole thing with an English accent inside my head, which, if you know me, and/or have heard my amazing english accent, is great fun.

tl;dr: in the most English way, get your head outta that work-obsessed arse and start cultivating that mass inside your skull.

How?

Think more, dumba-s

You have 24 hours a day. You spend 8 hours working, 2 hours eating, 7 hours sleeping (variable). That still leaves 7 more hours. Are you really /that/ tired you can’t bear to read a few hours more? To write? To reflect?

But, (Arnold writes in warning with a tireless hand), beware not to become a Prig.
God forbid.
“A pert fellow with an air of superior wisdom” “a pompous fool” “a tedious individual”

“Unconsciously to become a prig is an easy and a fatal thing”
Well, RIP to a few individuals I know.

And lastly, finally, Arnold urges us -idle timewasters- to read Marcus Aurelius.

Arnold writes: “for myself, you do not catch me travelling without my Marcus Aurelius.”

Good man

Wow, me sorprendió muchísimo que partiendo del hecho de que vivimos sin aprovechar las 24 horas que nos brinda el día se desarrolle todo un ensayo sobre tantas cosas. Definitivamente causó un impacto muuuy positivo en mí y estoy seguro que aplicaré muchos de los consejos que vienen aquí.


El único detalle que me hizo no darle 5 estrellas es: ¡¿Quién le dijo al señor que leer cualquier novela no es cultivar la mente y es lectura “sencilla”?! Me pareció alarmante que una persona que ha escrito tanto y que tiene tanto conocimiento crea que leer cualquier ficción es simplemente relajar la mente y volar.