This Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life

This speech is amazing. It's so sad that DFW couldn't bear life, because he definitely explains both why he could not but also how to actually live it. I could've read much more.

I lovely short boo..each page reads almost like a Japanese koan, which was why, I think, it is written this way. One sentence to a page.. The texture of the boo also makes it a nice formal read. One can stop and reflect upon each Wise sentence as one carefully absorbs the rich meaning behind what is said and how the author chooses to say it. The book presentation is part of what the author intended to enhance meaning and it works! The audio book does not let in these pauses and the meaning and power of the words suffer from it. This book is NOT for listening, but is a short enough thing to have, to touch and to think upon as one goes through it... It clearly explains deep concepts about how adults should approach complex issues which require more than knee-jerk thoughts in response to what is written. The texture of this little book, it pages, its small size, all belie the raw power of the thoughts expressed so gently and with compassion for the reader and the author, both. DEEP nut simple. Lie zen for the American mind.

A quick reminder of the powerful thoughts and words of DFW. A quick read with some nice takeaways. A good kick in the butt to remember that we have choices when it comes to how we treat the people and situations around us.

Poor packaging, arrived slightly damaged. 4 stars.

This audiobook explains simple truths of life in a unique way. I felt really connected to the message. It makes you stop and think about how we live every day. It’s short, but really powerful. I would definitely recommend it to everyone.

I honestly do not even know where to begin in describing this book. Fosters concise insights into the human condition are a revelation. I've purchased this book several times as a gift for friends, family, and co-workers because of my belief in the usefulness of this book. That's a funny way to describe a book isn't it? Useful. Certainly books can expand the mind and offer new ways of thinking about things, but often the enlightenment they offer is not practical. Plato's Republic is bound to give you plenty to think about and illuminate your understanding the human condition, but how can you truly put those lessons to use in the modern era? This is Water is a guide to life. Foster offers scenarios we are all familiar with and our reactions to them. He then proposes an alternate approach to these mundane activities that can relieve the stress and tension they so often create. My two takeaways from this book would be mindfulness and humility. Mindfulness in understanding that you are not alone in how you feel and that unknown circumstances you could sympathize with may be at factor in your interaction with others. Humility in that you do not know everything and that you are not the center of the universe. The ideas in This is Water are bound to be so obvious that you might dismiss it altogether, but that's the point. Foster explains how often it's the things right in front of us that we take for granted and the solution is putting that understanding in the forefront of our thoughts more often. William S. Burroughs famously said "The job of the artist is to show you what you already know." And in my opinion Foster satisfies that function.

This is water, this is life , is about all of us and what to do and not do is all up to all humanity

Short, succinct but pierces the heart. This may be a tiny book but loaded with T-Truth. My favourite takeaways from it: "The really important kind of freedom involves attention, and awareness, and discipline, and effort, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them, over and over, in myriad petty little unsexy ways, every day." "Your education really is the job of a lifetime, and it commences — now."

Se lee en 15 minutos pero te deja pensando durante días y aprendes que la forma de pensar la eliges tú.

Read it. It is really inspirational, it has very much in common with what I read about Sikhism. Read it.

I really enjoyed this book. I'll keep it on the shelf forever.

It’s quite wonderful but it isn’t a book. It’s a short commencement speech. Nonetheless, if everyone around were to read it and actually understand it, the world would undoubtedly be a better place.

Simple, powerful and life-changing. What a compassionate approach, and what a great civilisation we would be if we were successful at David's suggestion.