The Practice of Wisdom

A master class from four renowned Harvard professors—a physician, a theologian, an anthropologist, and a historian—on living wisely and well in uncertain times.

The Practice of Wisdom is a sweeping exploration of the pursuit of beauty, goodness, and meaning amid uncertainty and change. Written by distinguished Harvard professors Davíd Carrasco, Arthur Kleinman, Stephanie Paulsell, and Michael Puett, and based on the authors' acclaimed Harvard course, this resonant volume encourages us to understand wisdom not as a destination but as a way of being in the world.

Spanning eras and cultures, The Practice of Wisdom encounters the vastness of the human drama, as diverse characters meet illness, upheaval, and moral trial through acts of imagination, faith, courage, and reflection. The authors draw from rabbinic tales and Confucian rituals; Christian art and Islamic pilgrimage; Aztec philosophy; Hindu temple architecture; Latin jazz; African dance; modern works of poetry, painting, and film; and their own deeply personal stories, revealing how the practice of wisdom joins body and mind, individual and community.

At the heart of the quest for wisdom lies the image of the labyrinth, evoking both difficulty and grace: the turns through caregiving and bereavement; solitude and ritual; the eradication of self; and moments of revelation, spiritual and otherwise. The Practice of Wisdom concludes with a conversation with Wendy Doniger, the renowned scholar of Hinduism, whose reflections illuminate an enduring and ever-unfinished art of seeking.