Stephen Mitchell

An ugly duckling spends an unhappy year ostracized by the other animals before he grows into a beautiful swan.

"In The First Christmas, Stephen Mitchell brings the Nativity story to vivid life as never before. A narrative that is only sketched out in two Gospels becomes fully realized here with nuanced characters and a setting that reflects the culture of the time. Mitchell has suffused the birth of Jesus with a sense of beauty that will delight and astonish readers. In this version, we see the world through the eyes of a Whitmanesque ox and a visionary donkey,...

With the help of Iron Hans, the wild man of the forest, a young prince makes his own way in the world and wins the hand of a princess.

"In A Mind at Home with Itself, Byron Katie illuminates one of the most profound ancient Buddhist texts, The Diamond Sutra (newly translated in these pages by distinguished scholar Stephen Mitchell) to reveal the nature of the mind and to liberate us from painful thoughts, using her revolutionary system of self-inquiry called 'The Work.' Byron Katie doesn't merely describe the awakened mind; she empowers us to see it and feel it in action. At once...

Mitchell has composed this innovative work drawn from the work of Lao-tzu's disciple, Chuang-tzu and Confucius's grandson, Tzu-ssu to offer Western readers a path into reality by providing commentary that shows what it means to be in harmony with the way things are. Its wisdom provides a psychological and moral acuity as deep as the Tao Te Ching itself.

Breathing, you invisible poem! World-space in pure continuous interchange with my own being. Equipose in which I rhythmically transpire. Written only four years before Rilke's death, this sequence of sonnets, varied in form yet consistently structured, stands as the poet's final masterwork. In these meditations on the constant flux of our world and the ephemerality of experience, Rilke envisions death not only as one among many of life's transformations...

Though the emperor banishes the nightingale in preference of a jeweled mechanical imitation, the little bird remains faithful and returns years later when the emperor is near death and no one else can help him.

“A spiritual innovator for the new millennium.” —Time
“Byron Katie’s Work is a great blessing for our planet.” —Eckhart Tolle
Inspirational quotes to help you along your journey of self-inquiry as you navigate love and relationships; sickness and health; work and money; and much more.
The profound, lighthearted wisdom embodied within is not theoretical; it is absolutely authentic....

"The first great adventure story in the Western canon, The Odyssey is a poem about violence and the aftermath of war; about wealth, poverty, and power; about marriage and family; about travelers, hospitality, and the yearning for home. In this fresh, authoritative version--the first English translation of The Odyssey by a woman--this stirring tale of shipwrecks, monsters, and magic comes alive in an entirely new way. Written in iambic pentameter verse...

"When Emily Wilson's translation of The Odyssey appeared in 2017--revealing the ancient poem in a contemporary idiom that was "fresh, unpretentious and lean" (Madeline Miller, Washington Post)--critics lauded it as "a revelation" (Susan Chira, New York Times) and "a cultural landmark" (Charlotte Higgins, Guardian) that would forever change how Homer is read in English. Now Wilson has returned with an equally revelatory translation of Homer's other...