Krista Tippett is a Peabody Award-winning broadcaster and New York Times bestselling author. In 2014, she received the National Humanities Medal at the White House for "thoughtfully delving into the mysteries of human existence." She is the host of the public radio program and podcast On Being and Curator of the Civil Conversations Project (civilconversationsproject.org).
“If you measure the worth of a book by the volume of scribbles you
pen in the margins, the stars emphatically drawn, and the sentences
underlined, Krista Tippett’s Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the
Mystery and Art of Living—a compendium of wisdom, at once intimate
and expansive—stands a serious shot of emerging both splattered and
cherished. Tippett, the Peabody Award-winning radio host and
National Humanities Medalist, is a master of what she terms
‘generous listening,’ an act ‘powered by curiosity,’ and a
‘willingness to be surprised, to let go of assumptions and take in
ambiguity.’” —Chicago Tribune
“Krista Tippett [is] a modern-day Simone Weil. . . . Becoming
Wise is a tremendously vitalizing read in its totality—a
wellspring of nuance and dimension amid our Flatland of artificial
polarities, touching on every significant aspect of human life with
great gentleness and a firm grasp of human goodness.” —Maria
Popova, Brain Pickings
“Most of us can only dream of the dinner parties Krista Tippett
could put together. We're lucky, then, that her new book is the
next best thing to an invitation to sit down, make ourselves at
home and prepare for a mind-expanding exploration of what it means
to be human . . . Not light reading, but inspiring reading, for
those willing to pull up a chair.” —Minneapolis Star
Tribune
“Becoming Wise challenges all forms of dogma, in science,
politics and philosophy as well as religion, and it affirms the
holiness of the body and the glory of the inquiring mind. While our
dominant media suggest that humans are incorrigibly selfish and
greedy and cruel, Tippett and her conversation partners demonstrate
that the longing to lead a good life, a moral life, remains
powerful and pervasive in our day . . .” —Washington Post
“This is not just a selection of greatest hits. Instead, rooted in
Tippett's own keen insight, she provides an interlocking frame
based on five themes: words, the body, love, faith, and hope. With
dips into Tippett's childhood and early career, readers are
embraced by her own struggle, vulnerability, and thirst for
meaning. As researcher and TED-talk phenom Brené Brown told
Tippett, ‘Hope is a function of struggle.’ Tippett's striving here
is the grist for creative genius.” —Publishers Weekly (starred
review)
“A thoughtful examination of what it means to be fully human and
aware, open eyed in the face of the darkness that is woven
ineluctably into the light of life.” —Shepherd
Express
“We need Krista Tippett’s voice and wisdom now more than ever. She
has elevated the art of listening and the practice of being present
in a way that is both accessible and soulful. Becoming Wise is what
I’ve been waiting for—the opportunity to learn from her and her
experiences. This is brilliant thinking, beautiful storytelling,
and practical insight. You won’t forget what you read here.” —Brené
Brown, Ph.D., New York Times bestselling author of Rising
Strong
“Krista Tippett’s ecumenical generosity speaks both to high moral
standards and to diverse ways of conceptualizing and achieving
them. Her trade has been listening, and from that listening has
emerged a deep understanding of the mind and the heart and the
curious bridges between them. This is a book about kindness
and forgiveness and the insight that is contingent on abandoning
monolithic paradigms. Becoming Wise is an ambitious title, but
in culling the wisdom of others, Tippett achieves a distinct and
lovely wisdom of her own.” —Andrew Solomon
“A thoughtful chronicle of spiritual discovery. A hopeful
consideration of the human potential for
enlightenment.” —Kirkus Reviews
“I am a great admirer of Krista Tippett, who has spent years using
her mind as a gentle but probing research tool into the beautiful,
perilous, mysterious realm of the human soul. With this book, she
has gathered all her years of learning and listening to create a
masterpiece of philosophical and spiritual reflection. About
halfway through the book, I stopped flagging pages and highlighting
passages when I realized I was highlighting nearly every word. This
entire book is filled with things I never want to forget. The only
remedy will be to keep it near me, always.” —Elizabeth
Gilbert
“After over a decade doing in-depth interviews and accumulating
spiritual knowledge on her popular podcast On
Being, Tippett pulls from that well of conversations to
reconstruct her trail of investigation into the nature of wisdom.
She tells her own life journey—her Oklahoma upbringing, her
wide-eyed years in divided Cold War Germany, her decision to attend
Yale divinity school—alongside the spiritual evolution that came
while hosting the podcast. Pulling together and going beyond the
accumulated knowledge of her interviews, Tippett's book is an
incantatory trip into the paradoxical and
profound.” —Publishers Weekly (staff pick)
“Krista Tippett has tirelessly reminded us of the perennial
challenge, depth and complexity of the spiritual quest. At this
pivotal moment in history, when on all sides religion is being so
flagrantly abused, this marvellous book will inspire, excite and
reinvigorate the reader.” —Karen Armstrong
“Krista Tippett is one of America’s ablest listeners, and in this
book she assembles many of the people she has listened to and uses
their example, and her own, to show us how many surprising and
idiosyncratic paths still remain towards what even the most secular
among us can agree should still be called enlightenment.” —Adam
Gopnik
“When President Obama gave Krista Tippett the coveted National
Humanities Medal, he praised her for ‘thoughtfully delving into the
mysteries of human existence.’ This book is yet another piece of
evidence of the truth behind those words. Grounded in Tippett’s
‘life of conversation,’ the book offers more, much more than a
chronicle of her award-winning public radio program, On Being. In
Becoming Wise, Tippett not only gives us the voices of the
remarkable people with whom she’s conversed on-air. She speaks her
own voice as well, a voice informed by her lifelong search for
truth and meaning. Wisdom is a communal creation. Tippett is rare
in her ability to host a far-flung community of luminaries,
listeners and readers, who together uncover the wisdom that lies
within and between us.” —Parker J. Palmer, author of Healing
the Heart of Democracy, The Courage to Teach, A Hidden Wholeness,
and Let Your Life Speak
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