The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom

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Summary: Simple and Powerful messages
Review: The four agreements is an astonishing book that can change your life if you understand the underlying message.
Some of the greatest truths are from simple concepts. When you are pondering about the essence of life, the last thing you want to be is confused over wording or foreign concepts. Mr. Ruiz does an excellent job at communicating his truths with brief, easy to understand language. And although the concepts seem simple, they are very difficult to follow. However, Mr. Ruiz offers a way to improve your life - a simple, yet powerful way, to become stress free and happy! I would also recommend The Power of Now by Eckhard Tolle.

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Summary: Four Agreements? Don't bother.
Review: I was in college when the big name evangelists were being toppled for tax evasion and sexual mischief. My friends and I were going to start a religion, because it was clear that if you held unusual beliefs and paraded them around, you'd get rich and famous. That's what this guy has done. Bottom line: he believes that everything we've learned is a lie, and that everyone's motivation is based in fear. If that's for you, and you don't have a mind of your own, I guess this your kind of book. But if you're a free thinker, and believe more in the goodness of mankind, and a belief system that is positive instead of negative, you'll stay as far away from this guy as you can.

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Summary: This book is a pure nonesense
Review: The cover and insert description of this book are the best part of it, and mask the internal waste of its pages. The author should have stuck to surgery. This book, as stated in other reviews here, is written in 4th grade language with the use of very shallow and overly-simplistic phrases like "you are stupid" throughout. It is NOT concise. It is not educational. It is not even based on anything but a few "common sense ideas", not fact or knowledge or background. The writer repeats himself as if he's trying to fill up the pages with words and more words based on what he claims is Toltec wisdom. If I were a Toltec, I would not be proud of this piece of "work". The introduction about the stars and light and mirrors is thought-provoking, but that's where anything of interest ends. I cannot believe this "man-u-script" has a high star rating! Did the author's and publisher's friends and family do most of the positive reviews? When I saw the cover, I thought it would be a great gift, and thought I would buy several copies as gifts. Thank goodness I only bought one copy, at least I can use it to light my barbecue grill. I'd rather read "Willy the Sand Grain" for children. At least Willy is more educational. This author could have written his 4 "agreements" in 4 short paragraphs, but then it wouldn't be a sellable book by this publisher, would it? Sorry, but this one gets 2 thumbs down. It's not worth the money, and mostly it is not worth the time. If you want real wisdom and knowledge and a thought-provoking, ancient, truthful and applicable life-changing work, read a book on Buddhism instead or the Bible. Or, listen to Tony Robbins!!! Or, just sit by the ocean or somewhere quiet, close your eyes, and breath in, breath out, breath in, breath out and focus only on your breathing. This "work", in my opinion, is a total piece of crap! A pure waste of time and money. A rip-off at any price.

Rating:
Summary: Bad News
Review: This book is bad news. Not only has the author written this book on a 3rd. grade reading level, the book just goes on and on and on about essentially the same thing. And his references to the Bible...I wonder if he has actually read the Bible because his interpretation is way off base. This book is ridiculous . Don't waste you time and money.

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Summary: I was "dreaming" when I bought this...
Review: I found this book a complete waste of time. Luckily it was not very long. Anyone with a shred of common sense already knows and understands the 4 "agreements" without this book! What about courtesy for others, right vs. wrong, etc? Based on the "wisdom" of this book I could decide to be a murderer and feel justified.

Rating:
Summary: strange
Review: I got this book as a graduation present. It has some good ideas in it about how to change and take control of your life, but a lot of it was mired down by strange hokey-pokey dreamworld advice. I guess I was a little too rational for this book, but it was a good read nonetheless.

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Summary: Sweet, small, simple, and yet very very BIG. . .
Review: A great little book to keep by your bed and read before you go to sleep. Simple slow, adapted Toltec wisdom, but basically a new spin on a timeless lesson on the simplicity of ethics and life.

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Summary: DON'T MAKE SENSE TO ME
Review: Maybe I missed something but why bother
with agreement one if two is in place. If a
person says "I love you." dont take it personal?
If everyone discounts what the other says why
do we have teachers, leaders, and
friends. Why dont we all just quit talking and
live in our own little world --Heaven on Earth.

Rating:
Summary: New common sense?
Review: It is amazing how much better we could feel and those around us, if we could really live by Sr. Ruiz's "simple principles", but it is easier read than done. There is nothing new in the knowledge of the power of words, but what is new is the realization of how we fail to see and do what should be common sense to all of us. After all, if we grasped it all, why are we searching for help to achieve a better, more fulfilled life? His book is like a good recipe, and although we all have the ingredients required for enlightenment, we don't all have the sight to put it together into actions/words as he has done with his book. It takes courage to see ourselves in his words and to realize it only takes us to feel better and start a new life.

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Summary: I like books for REAL people
Review: I read this book because it was recommended to me by a therapist that I respect and admire. I still admire the therapist, but this book was not for me at all. I tried hard to understand and get some pearls of wisdom out of it, but it was work. I could have spent my time in more useful ways. Sure, the ideas are great . . . it's just that most human beings can't be that perfect. In my opinion, to try to be would be completely unrealistic.