The adages and snippets of moral story that the author tries to fit into the book are stuck in seemingly at random, sometimes too few and far between to follow, and sometimes packed so close together that they blend and lose all significance.

Your mind is full of waves because you feel separated from, and often threatened by, an unplanned, unwelcome occurrence. I'm always skeptical of people who claim that the only way to achieve true happiness and peace of mind is to subscribe to their philosophy 100%, but this was okay, well worth the read.

The two main characters are complete opposites: A young fool who questions everything and can't see the answers even when they're dangled right in front of his eyes, and a wise, confident, almost super-human old man devoted to his unlikely young apprentice's 'education. Dan Millman is in the spotlight, a junior at the University of California – Berkeley, who seems successful and happy.

It's a good thing I didn't read the book when I first received it, because I don't think I was at a stage in my life where I could appreciate such a book, or absorb its insights. Because of that, it's impossible to maintain any semblance of belief that this could be real or actually happen, and as a book that says it's nonfiction, that makes it impossible for me as the reader to take it seriously. Socrates talks to Dan about Satori, a Zen concept that refers to the state of being present in the moment.Learn to enjoy the entire process — the hunger beforehand, the careful preparation, setting an attractive table, chewing, breathing, smelling, tasting, swallowing, and the feeling of lightness and energy after the meal. The central concept of "Soc's" philosophy is this: that one must live entirely in the present moment.