What are some good books for someone ages 5 - 12 to read that will guide them in life?
Is Meditations by Marcus Aurelius good for this purpose?
Nicomachean Ethics for traditional values.
Otherwise,The Ego and His Own.
>>7409738
Nicomachean Ethics seems a bit intense. Preferably looking for short books of axioms OR novels / novellas that deal with the theme of maturity and so on.
>>7409742
Blood Meridian
>>7409742
Good thing, then, that the Nicomachean Ethics is neatly divided in to book-like chapters, each with its own ethical propositions. I can admit that it might be too much for someone under the age of ten, but otherwise it is great. Try Tolkien or Lewis for younger children, giving them virtuous ideals in the form of fiction.
>>7409751
Preferable looking for non-fantasy stuff. I'm buying it as a gift for a friend's chidlren.
No Longer Human
Saga of the Volsungs
depends on temperament of course
if you give stoicism to a weakfag, he will just become a bigger weakfag. dont make me point out this triviality on /lit/ of all boards.
>>7409730
Le Petit Prince.
Maybe,"Les promesses de l'aube" by Romain Gary. Thoughts is too complex and deep .
>/lit/
>home of pretentious faggots
Infinite Jest
The Bible and other religious books that teach discipline and good morals.
>>7409730
My lord, if there is a twelve year old anywhere that could begin to grasp Marcus Aurelius I'll go find an owl and fuck it. Stupid motherfuckers on this board, to be honest.
The way of men
>>7409870
>taking this dummy board seriously
you're gonna give yourself an ulcer
>>7409730
gravity's rainbow
Mastery by Robert Greene.
Mastery by Robert Greene.
Mastery by Robert Greene.
Tell them to read it and git gud at something.
No. Meditations is a terrible choice. Don't give a young person pessimistic philosophy written by old people weighed down by cares. That's pretty much cruelty. It makes them old before their time--because they're absorbing the thoughts of an old person--and narrows their possibilities to "accept death and die."
>>7409888
Half the book is a guy spending his entire life coming to grips with the inevitability of death.I don't think he ever did
>>7409870
Wasn't there some kind of tradition in the West at some point where males in their early teens were given it to read as part fo their formal development?
>>7409730
The Stoic School is indeed probably one of the better philosophical schools for people in general to see that they are personally responsible for their own well being and excellence. Nothing and no one will make your life good besides you yourself.
A 12 year old with might be able to grasp the concepts of soft determinism, reason, etc. However it might be to difficult for young people to distill these concepts from the first sources (Aurelius, Seneca and Epictetus).
Lots of adults even confuse the messages from above writers with cynicism (modern meaning) and pessimism in general if one does not keep the leading principles of the Stoics and the general context of the writings in mind when reading them. So I don't know whether kids will actually benefit if even some adults are not even able to comprehend it perfectly.
My guess is that you might be better of giving the kid an introductory book to Ancient Philosophy which explains all the concepts in simpler terms. It also actually gives them their own choice on school of thought they like instead of already pushing them in one specific direction. However in general the more popular ancient philosophies are always good to have some knowledge about.
>>7409962
>Lots of adults even confuse the messages from above writers with cynicism (modern meaning) and pessimism in general
would a german stoic assassinate hitler in 1944 or not?
>>7409730
>making kids read the Greeks
>making your kids learn from stoics
>ever
fat load of good that did commodus
why don't you just make your kid play outside or something
OP here. Thread was spammed with memes sorry, thought it would die. I bought Meditations and Jack London's "Call of the Wild"
>>7409986
>Aurelius => Commode-ius
Truw. On the other hand, Aristotle => Alexander the Great.
>>7409994
I'm sure he'll make a fine young mopey furry. Buy him a couple of Sonic games and set him up with a DeviantArt account.
The Greeks.
>>7409995
Who says Marcus Aurelius had a lot of influence on Commodus?
You might as well say
>Epictetus => Marcus Aurelius
Since Aurelius read Epictetus a lot as a young fellow and Aurelius turned out to be one of the most loved emperors by his people.
Plutarch or Suetonius I'd say. It's entertaining and instills values (or was thought to do so for quite a lot of years)
>>7409911
LOL
>>7409730
Get them: Captain Bluebear if you want to improve their imagination, Petite Prince if you want to keep them innocent, Aurelius if the kids 10+ (and some kind of pretentious savant) and Horse and His Boy by Lewis if you want the best children's story ever told.
Have the kid start with the Greeks. Also Pinecone and Infinite Jest.
>>7409751
>giving them virtuous ideals in the form of fiction.
You mean delusions.
>>7409730
Just ya know... talk to them? They can read the actual shit when they're older.
>>7409730
The Knight in Rusty Armor
