Reviewed Date: August 17th, 2025
Oliver Burkeman is one of my favorite authors. His work, Four Thousand Weeks, is the book that impacted me profoundly. It made me rethink and evaluate my deeply held beliefs and notions. It is pretty rare for me to like a book, until and unless it offers strong arguments and offends positively.
Coming to Meditations for Mortals, the author makes us question our perspectives and mindset in an attempt to minimize our suffering and live a meaningful life. He hits us by saying that we don’t have unlimited time and cannot do everything, as life usually deludes us into thinking is possible. He says, since our time is limited, we have to choose a few things to do that make our lives meaningful and satisfactory.
I agree with the author on several points. Most notably, you don’t have to care about everything. The problem with the internet is that it pushes us to feel and react to worldly sufferings as if they were happening to our loved ones. But in the process, we exhaust ourselves and do nothing important. You need to pick a few battles that you care about deeply.
The book pushes us to see things in a new light. The author argues that there is no cosmic significance to life. We happen to be born, and we have to live. And we shouldn’t pressure ourselves to achieve something great to be remembered after. Simply living is enough, as, sooner or later, everyone will be forgotten.
It might sound pessimistic, but it offers realistic advice. It keeps us grounded. I enjoyed this book throughout. I highly recommend this book. And Four Thousand Weeks, too.
P.S: I met the author in Toronto. Such a lovely guy. He signed my copy. We had a brief conversation.
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