The book that changed me: how Pierre Hadot's Philosophy as a Way of Life taught me to 'love a few old truths'

Marble heads of four philosophers in the British Museum. From foreground: Socrates, Antisthenes, Chrysippos and Epicurus. Wikimedia Commons

The most life-changing books can seem like they have always been there. What they say may seem obvious, once we’ve read them. But that’s only because they’ve reshaped how we look at things.

The French philosopher Pierre Hadot (1922-2010) began his intellectual career as a trainee priest and philologist (a student of ancient books), with an interest in forms of mysticism. Yet through his philosophical studies and writing, he has become globally renowned, exerting a huge influence in the realm of modern Stoicism.