The Secret to Everything: How to Live More and Suffer Less

Self-help, with a twist

There is a secret to everything.

Not because it is hidden, but because it is extraordinarily difficult to see.

Can you discover it before this book reveals it?

Can you figure out the Secret to Everything before this unconventional self-help book reveals it? With insight from philosophy, religion, science, and more, a psychiatrist and philosopher shares deep wisdom and practical advice throughout—while saving the underlying secret for the end. —BookBub

This secret has been known to mystics and philosophers for millennia and is now finding unexpected support from modern science.

Each of the book's ten chapters explores a different practical application of that insight while never naming it outright. At first glance, the chapters seem unrelated. Yet each illuminates the same hidden truth from a different angle. As you read, your challenge is to discover what connects them. The answer is revealed at the end, but don't peek or you'll spoil the game.

About the author

Dr Neel Burton is a psychiatrist, philosopher, and award-winning author who lives and teaches in Oxford, England. He is a Fellow of Green Templeton College at the University of Oxford and the recipient of the Society of Authors' Richard Asher Prize, the British Medical Association's Young Authors' Award, the Medical Journalists' Association Open Book Award, and a Best in the World Gourmand Award. His writing has appeared in Aeon, Psychology Today, and elsewhere, and has been translated into several languages.

What readers are saying

No other work of inspirational or self-help literature contains the sentence, 'Let me paint you a picture of a Dionysian orgy.' If another somehow did, it's difficult to imagine its author justifying its inclusion so adeptly… Burton's advice and conclusions are original even when drawn from the best-known writing of the world's most famous thinkers. —The BookLife Prize

Neel Burton draws from religion, philosophy, art, and science, yet this never feels like a heavy text. It is highly accessible while remaining deeply thought-provoking. Each chapter ends with practical steps for life—and if you notice the parallels between them, you may just discover the Secret before the book reveals it. —Jamie Bee, Amazon.com Top 50 Reviewer

Burton offers gentle guidance for creating one's personal credo that retains the possibility of a fearless, spontaneous experience of the unexpected. —The US Review of Books

Burton is never short of an interesting and sharp judgment. —Prof Peter Toohey, Psychology Today

Burton's writing blends deep knowledge of his subject with lively anecdote and a genuine concern for how we might draw on the insights of psychology and philosophy to live a better life. Highly recommended! —Gareth Southwell, philosopher and writer

Contents

Introduction

•How to See
•How to Dream
•How to Be Religious
•How to Be Wise
•How to Be Fearless
•How to Live
•How to Love
•How to Win
•How to Party
•How to Think

Conclusion: The Secret to Everything

Read closely. Think deeply. Can you discover the Secret before the final page?