- Paperback: 448 pages
- Publisher: HarperCollins; (Reissue) edition (3 Jun 1996)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0006374301
- ISBN-13: 978-0006374305
- Product Dimensions: 19 x 13 x 3.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 229,556 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
From the moment of conception we are in the business of surviving. We come into the world expecting that we can have everything and seeing no reason why we should not have it. But we learn fast, learning that we can't always get what we want. The accompanying feelings of loss, frustration, anger, aggression, resentment and sadness can dominate the rest of our lives. This book is all about the frustration endemic in our experience of life. It is about the strategies we evolve to cope with that frustration and convince ourselves that we can, after all, have everything. One strategy might be unlimited greed for possessions and power, and absolute determination to achieve the required goal without heeding any impediment. Another strategy might be to assume responsibility for everything, to saddle oneself with guilt for the world. Then there is the strategy of martyrdom, of "having everything" by publicly denouncing one's needs for anything. This book shows how the reader can free themself from the pain of loss, mourning, resentment, envy and greed to learn to live in the present, enjoying what they have.
From the Back Cover
To be human is to suffer. We enter this world expecting that we can have everything, but we learn very quickly that we can't always get what we want. The accompanying and constant feelings of loss, frustration, anger, aggression, resentment and sadness can dominate us for the rest of our lives.
The strategies we evolve to cope with these feelings – greed for possessions of power, a propensity for assuming responsibility for everything, saddling ourselves with guilt for the world, martyrdom, envy or utter selfishness – do not lead to happiness. But Dorothy Rowe shows us how, once we understand the nature of our longing and the conditions that prevent its fulfilment, we can arrive at a state of wanting which does hold the possibility of fulfilment, and which does lead to happiness.
"'Wanting Everything' is such a startling book, so eloquent in its intelligence and in its compassion, in its requirement that we pay attention and reform – and in so doing remake not just ourselves but society – as to have the force of a modern-day bible"
FAY WELDON
"Dorothy Rowe is essentially a chronicler of emotional pain, a suggester of solutions. Her perspective on existence acknowledges sadness, pain, anger but it instantly makes things seem meaningful"
GUARDIAN
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback
This book teaches you to grow up, take responsibility for your life and stop looking for "things" to make you feel better. Feel better properly and with conviction. A non clinical way of analysis which I have found full of common sense (which isnt common) and a robust approach to a life well lived, if you want it.
13 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
there is wisdom here but it is like being stuck in a taxi cab with a rambling ranting driver on a downer....I enjoyed a couple of her other books but this just seems like a journey through a dissection of a certain persons vision of all kinds of unhappiness in the world and how they al kind of fit together into one big ball of unhappiness based on a theory she is pushing at you that you dont quite get. maybe it was me - I got about 3/4 of the way through then remembered the title and thought... life's too short.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2 reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Don't be confused by the title!
18 Nov 2000
Format:Paperback
This is not a self-help book! A friend gave me this book several years ago. I have no background in psychology, behavioural science or sociology but this book gave me a framework in which to ponder and discuss the behaviour of people such as Mother Theresa and the person next door. I think Sophie's Choice did the same thing in relation to philosophy. I have recommended it to many of my friends and colleagues since. There is a lot of anxiety born of confusion in the world because people aren't able to analyse or comprehend their own and other people's behaviour. Dorothy discusses this in terms of a perpetual wanting of more and an inability to recognise it in ourselves. Well done Dorothy!
The World is your oyster!
22 Dec 2011
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is one of the best 'popular psychology' books I've ever read. Dorothy Rowe has a unique view of human development and psychology and a great writing style. She has a knack of making hard truths about the human condition palatable by creating a context for her ideas - it certainly has helped me in my understanding of myself and others.
The copy I've just bought from Amazon is for my 18 year old nephew who is just starting out in the big wide world. This book contains all the practical wisdom of 'getting to know yourself' and understanding how we each fit into the wider world. The world really can be your oyster, if you have the right head space!
I would also recommend the author's newer book "Why We Lie."
The copy I've just bought from Amazon is for my 18 year old nephew who is just starting out in the big wide world. This book contains all the practical wisdom of 'getting to know yourself' and understanding how we each fit into the wider world. The world really can be your oyster, if you have the right head space!
I would also recommend the author's newer book "Why We Lie."
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