Rating: 
Summary: the greatest book i have ever read
Review: for years now i have been searching for "the answer". i know that sounds vague, but i dont know how to better describe it. i have read so many books in the search, and it had gotten me nowhere. until i bought this book. it isnt filled with abstract and impersonal ideas like so many other books i have read. this one struck a chord with me. i think it really does contain the secret to happiness. thats just my opinion though. dont take my word for it. read it and make your own judgements
Rating:
Summary: Perception
Review: This is a wonderful story, although I will stop short of saying that it changed my life, I would recommend it to anyone. I found the fiction surrounding the real characters entertaining and capable of conveying a message of spiritual growth through perception of yourself and your surroundings. It definitely reminded of how not to let life embitter when an individual is confronted with personal hardship. It has been very helpful when applying simple rules to life - rules that each of us have known at one time or another.
Rating: 
Summary: I Wish I could...
Review: This is a very nice book that helps people to become better human beings, I just wish I could correctly follow the 'lessons' this book dibbies out. It's not that I don't have personal discipline, its just that the way the characters act in Dan's book is not condusive to modern living. I mean, I just don't have time to sit on a tire all day to think about how to be a humble person. I have to work 60 + hours a week to support myself in a very troubling economic climate, and when I try to live like Dan Millman would like me to live, it's just really hard being super-healthy, ultra-compassionate, intensely spiritual, super goal-oriented, etc., with all of the other duties I must perform every day. In 'Way of the Peaceful Warrior,' Mr. Millman introduces us to a strange character named 'Socrates', but this character is not the real Socrates from Greek times, but is as strange person who works at a gas station. Now, I sometimes exchange a few words with the people who work at the gas station when I go there, but they never seem to offer me too much advice beyond automotive products and snacks and debit cards and stuff. I mean, they are nice for the most part, and intelligent enough, but I just fear that the sort of people Dan Millman writes about in this book are not real sort of people, so it is not fair for Mr. Millman to put all these demands on us to live like Ghandi when we have problems like terrorist hijackings and a bearish economy to struggle through. I mean, I think I am a good person at heart, but c'mon Dan, what am I supposed to do? I only get about four hours of sleep a night as is. I think I should be reading 'How to Schedule three days in a row off of work in a year' instead of Dan's 'How to run around town looking for enlightenment when you don't need to worry about dealing with the pressures and realities of urban modern life.' Sorry Dan, but we all can't be authors with time to burn this sort of self-improvement stuff.
Rating: 
Summary: way of the self-centered warrior
Review: Millman, or at least his publishing company try to portray him as the intellectual equal of Socrates, or perhaps Plato. Sadly, all he does is re-hash "Bubblegum Zen" philosophy, advocate vegetarianism and equate gymnastics with some deep meditative process. Worse, he does it with little sense of writing style, numerous factual errors, and a creepy relationship between him and an underage girl named Joy. One would expect a warrior, even a peaceful one, to show qualities like courage, stoicism, honor, loyalty, and so forth. Millman's self-portrayal is a whining, self-pitying, individual who shows absolutely no loyalty to his first wife (the most likable character in the book) and daughter. Particularly saddening is that his daughter is little more than a footnote, the reader never gets to feel any parental emotion from Millman. Millman also is not so much an actor as something that is acted upon by outside forces. He has no apparent free will. His early ennui is caused by society, his enlightenment is caused by Socrates, his misery is caused by his wife, his happiness by Joy. He even blames her for leading him on about her age. I really don't understand how Millman could not have guessed that this girl for whom he was pining was not of age. He doesn't come across as dumb. His willingness to give in to every one of Socrates' demands too is a little bothersome, didn't the Heaven's Gate, Branch Davidian and Jonestown folks think their leaders were deeply enlightened? Think before you obey. The best thing about this book is that it is an easy read, and most philosophy books do read like bad VCR instructions. However, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, the Tao of Pooh and the Te of Piglet, are just as easy to read, a lot more fun, and have better messages. For that matter, Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten is also an easy to read book that changes lives. Some of you love this book, and that is really great, but please don't let this be an end to any search for enlightenment, after all there are five major world religions, dozens of minor ones, and dozens of schools of philosophy to explore. This book is a dip in a kiddy pool, let's try for the deep end.
Rating: 
Summary: Quite interesting and engaging
Review: I found this book to be very interesting - at times quite fantastical. Its an inspirational book that left me wondering what to make of the story, and which aspects of it were fictional and which were fantasy. In the end, it emphasized some very important life lessons for a conscious spiritual path - lessons that are not unlike those offered in most books of this nature on the market today. The story is intriguing, but no deep revelations are offered up by this work. I would therefore prefer to give it 3 1/2 stars instead of the 4 that I have given to it. However, I believe that it is better than a 3-star rating although barely making it to 4 stars. Hence, my decision to rate it four stars. An earlier reviewer described this as Millman's best work. I hope not, because I am sufficiently motivated by this book to read some of his other books - I would not want them to be any less inspirational than this one.
Rating:
Summary: Don't judges books by covers, or titles
Review: I've seen Way of the Peaceful Warrior floating around for a few years now, but for a book that was a national bestseller, the only place I ever saw it, and I repeat, the ONLY place I ever saw it was at a gun show. Strange. Looking at the cover, and reading the title, I got the impression this was a book about a wanderer who came to hang out at a gas station, a quiet, calm man who was also a great brawler, held with strong moral codes and beliefs, somewhat like Cain on the old "Kung Fu" TV show. Instead, "Socretes" is an old gas station attendant with seemingly magical powers and unique worldview, who inspires the author in his own spirtual quest. I can't claim this book has really "changed my life," but it has made me think. Among the lessons I've learned by reading this book are: There are no ordinary moments, eat properly, live NOW and HERE, enjoy what you have, and take full responsibility for your actions.
Rating:
Summary: Dumb ending.
Review: This book was pretty good, and really inspirational in a lot of ways, until it got to the end. It was like the author ran out of ideas or something. The author goes through this mystical first-person journey of self-discovery guided by this old mystical guru he meets at a gas station, but then the culmination of that journey at the end leaves you going "What!? Is that it!? Is that what I read this whole book to learn!?" Dan Millman has some excellent insights on health, martial arts, longevity and fitness, but don't look for too much in the way of spirituality here. He tries, but fails in that department.
Rating:
Summary: Millman's Best
Review: I am a big fan of Dan Millman's and I think this book is his best. The semi-fictional story - well told in my opinion - includes simple concepts that can help create a powerful paradigm shift. I think it is especially good for young people who need some guidance in life. For the people who think the story is simplistic or too geared for young people you may want to try the Evolution of a Warrior by Regan. Definitely for a more mature audience, the Evolution of a Warrior is another excellent work of this genre.
Rating: 
Summary: Simplistic read with some good morals, good for teens
Review: For a book claiming that it "changes lives" it leaves a lot to be desired. But it is not a bad book per say. The ideas expressed in book are in general true, though highly exaggerated, it is written for a simple audience with 7th grade reading skills. The event in the book are forced and generally unbelievable and uninteresting.
The "wisdom" taught seems to come out of nowhere. Don't expect an Aristotilian logical methodology here, the author doesn't feel like using reason to make his point, his magical characters just "know" somehow. And often contradict themselves; there is a point where the realization is made that happiness can only be achieved by simply being "happy" not doing anything or thriving, the passive state of happiness and enjoying the grass growing. If that is such a good way of living, why is Mr. Millman, the author of the book publishing books and holding lectures? Why not just sit on a hill and enjoy the beauty that is nature until starvation or death "reunites" him with the eternal cycle? I mean why wait? Do as you preach and live the ideas you preach.
Rating:
Summary: Read it to Understand it.
Review: I am going to keep this review simple and to the point. 'The Way of the Peaceful Warrior' is one of the best books I have ever read. A good American friend of mine lent it to me whilst I was studying in Germany and I couldn't put it down. I was constantly thinking up excuses to feed my friends so I could slip away and read another chapter. The language of the book is simple and easy to read. The moral content of the story is more profound and so I think it is fitting that the language is basic. The spiritual messages are easily accessible. What you do after you have accessed them is up to you, however. Having said that, I would not want anyone to think that the book's language is like a young child's school reading book. Some parts are extremely well written and poetic. I persoanlly thought that it was the most profound and spiritually uplifting book I have ever read. Another friend of mine, however, read it and when asked afterwards what she thought, pondered the question for a moment before saying 'I guess it IS important to laugh'. I think she missed the point... several points the size of elephants. This book will not be everyone's cup of tea as we say here in England. You may find the medium which the author uses to tell his story and to get his message across simply too unbelievable. You have to be willing to just suspend disbelief in order to enjoy this book and get anything out of it. I was walking around on a spiritual high for weeks after reading this book. I just bought my own copy and am about to start reading it again. I vowed to myself after I finished reading it the first time that I would not forget some of the life-lessons the book taught me. That's all I have to say. I hope this book will inspire others as much as it inspired me.
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