50 Self-Help Classics
Second edition (2017)
by Tom Butler-Bowdon

Thousands of books have been written offering the 'secrets' to personal fulfillment and happiness: how to walk The Road Less Traveled, How To Win Friends and Influence People, or Awaken the Giant Within. But which are the all-time classics? Which ones really can change your life? Bringing you the essential ideas, insights and techniques from 50 legendary works from Lao-Tzu to Benjamin Franklin to Paulo Coelho, 50 Self-Help Classics: Your shortcut to the most important ideas on happiness and fulfilment is a unique guide to the great works of life transformation.

This brand new updated edition is the only book to distill the classic, life-changing texts on happiness and fulfilment. New chapters include David Brooks' The Road to Character, Clayton Christensen's How Will You Measure Your Life?, Mari Kondo's The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Brene Brown's Daring Greatly and Charles Duhigg's The Power of Habit. 

Below is the list of books covered in 50 Self-Help Classics. Click on the links to view sample chapters.

  1. James Allen As a Man Thinketh (1904) 
  2. Marcus Aurelius Meditations (2nd Century) 
  3. The Bhagavad-Gita 
  4. The Bible
  5. Robert Bly Iron John (1990) 
  6. Boethius The Consolation of Philosophy (6thC) 
  7. Alain de Botton How Proust Can Change Your Life (1997)
  8. William Bridges Transitions: Making Sense of Life's Changes (1980)
  9. David Brooks The Road to Character (2015)
  10. Brené Brown Daring Greatly (2012) 
  11. David D Burns The New Mood Therapy (1980) 
  12. Joseph Campbell (with Bill Moyers) The Power of Myth (1988) 
  13. Richard Carlson Don't Sweat The Small Stuff (1997) 
  14. Dale Carnegie How to Win Friends and Influence People (1936) 
  15. Deepak Chopra The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success (1994) 
  16. Clayton Christensen How Will You Measure Your Life? (2012)
  17. Paulo Coelho The Alchemist (1988) 
  18. Stephen Covey The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (1989) 
  19. Mihaly Cziksentmihalyi Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (1991)
  20. The Dalai Lama & Howard Cutler The Art of Happiness (1999) 
  21. The Dhammapada (Buddha's teachings) 
  22. Charles Duhigg The Power of Habit (2011)
  23. Wayne Dyer Real Magic (1992) 
  24. Ralph Waldo Emerson Self-Reliance (1841) 
  25. Clarissa Pinkola Estes Women Who Run With The Wolves (1996) 
  26. Viktor Frankl Man's Search For Meaning (1959) 
  27. Benjamin Franklin Autobiography (1790) 
  28. Shakti Gawain Creative Visualization (1982) 
  29. Daniel Goleman Emotional Intelligence (1995) 
  30. John Gray Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus (1992) 
  31. Louise Hay You Can Heal Your Life (1984) 
  32. James Hillman The Soul's Code: In Search of Character and Calling (1996) 
  33. Susan Jeffers Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway (1987) 
  34. Richard Koch The 80/20 Principle (1998)
  35. Marie Kondo The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up (2014)
  36. Ellen Langer Mindfulness: Choice and Control in Everyday Life (1989) 
  37. Lao-Tzu Tao-te Ching (The Way of Power) 
  38. Maxwell Maltz Psycho-Cybernetics (1960) 
  39. Abraham Maslow Motivation and Personality (1954) 
  40. Thomas Moore Care of the Soul (1992) 
  41. Joseph Murphy The Power of Your Subconscious Mind (1963) 
  42. Norman Vincent Peale The Power of Positive Thinking (1952) 
  43. M Scott Peck The Road Less Traveled (1990) 
  44. Anthony Robbins Awaken The Giant Within (1991) 
  45. Florence Scovell-Shinn The Game of Life and How To Play It (1923) 
  46. Martin Seligman Learned Optimism (1991) 
  47. Samuel Smiles Self-Help (1859) 
  48. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin The Phenomenon of Man (1955) 
  49. Henry David Thoreau Walden (1854) 
  50. Marianne Williamson A Return To Love (1993)

​Source: 50 Self-Help Classics: Your shortcut to the most important ideas on happiness and fulfilment by Tom Butler-Bowdon (London & Boston: Nicholas Brealey)

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"A tremendous resource for anyone seeking a 'bite-sized' look at the philosophies of many self-help legends, including sacred scriptures of different traditions. Because the range and depth of sources are so huge, the cumulative reading effect is amazing. Alternatively, it educates and edifies, affirms and inspires. Often both."

Stephen R Covey, 
author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

"Butler-Bowdon has summarized some of the most remarkable thoughts - thoughts with wisdom I must add - that will enlighten and lead the reader to understand the very nature of human nature. It will soon become the 51st self-help classic!"

Warren Bennis, author of 
On Becoming A Leader


50 Self-Help Classics:

• Insightful commentaries on 50 key books.
• 300 pages of life-changing wisdom  and advice.
• Expanded features and profiles not on this site.

• Winner, 2004 Benjamin Franklin Award (US)
• Finalist, 2004 Foreword Magazine Book of the Year (US)
• Sold in 25 countries
• Translated into 18 languages

See reader reviews or buy:

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Also available in Kindle and Audio format.
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Samuel Smiles
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Dale Carnegie
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Norman Vincent Peale
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Susan Jeffers
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Stephen Covey