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Philip Novak
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The World's Wisdom: Sacred Texts of the World's Religions Hardcover – January 1, 1996

by Philip Novak (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 553 ratings
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In this perfect companion to Huston Smith's bestselling The World's Wisdom, Philip Novak distills the most powerful and elegant expressions of the wisdom of humankind. Authentic, poetic translations of key texts are coupled with insightful introductions and "grace notes."
Previous page
  1. Print length
    419 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Book Sales
  4. Publication date
    January 1, 1996
  5. Dimensions
    5.75 x 1.75 x 8.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0785807187
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0785807186
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Book Sales; reprint edition (January 1, 1996)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 419 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0785807187
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0785807186
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.55 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.75 x 1.75 x 8.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 553 ratings

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Philip Novak

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
553 global ratings
Better than The World’s Religions.
4 Stars
Better than The World’s Religions.
Got this book for a religions class and was pretty impressed. Bought used and came in great condition. It is meant to go with The World’s Religions which I also read (it was VERY dry). The author did a nice job at filtering through a lot of crap in religious texts and really did a great job at keeping excerpts in context as well as explaining their significance. In the class, I had to pick a text/excerpt in the book and write a paper on it. I chose an excerpt from an interview with Elie Wiesel and the essay turned out great. I loved how there were greater discussions about religion with such excerpts—it made the read much more interesting.
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Top reviews from the United States

Jad El Dib
5.0 out of 5 stars Rich Selection of Sacred Texts
Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2017
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I read “The World’s Wisdom” while reading Huston Smith’s “The World Religions”. The content of the book is so rich, and the chosen translations are of the highest quality. For example, the Tao Te Ching selections are so poetic and better than any of the other translations that i had read.
Each chapter covers one of the religions described in Huston Smith’s book, and highlights the major religious texts involved.
It is a book that can be revisited over and over again, especially for those interested in comparative religions. I highly recommend.
2 people found this helpful
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Aurora
5.0 out of 5 stars college textbook
Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2024
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it was the exact book i needed for my class
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Ed
4.0 out of 5 stars A tremendous and affordable little book.
Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2009
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To begin, Novak assembled this book as a compendium to accompany Huston Smith's book on world religions, so you may want to give both of them a shot at the same time, reading Novak's sections after the corresponding Smith sections.

Concerning the book itself, it is a fantastic collection of original sources and it looks like you can get a used copy + shipping for less than $10. For me, that says a lot. Concerning what was selected, there is no doubt that Novak put some serious effort in selecting what he did. The reader will get a very nice exposure to many elements within each religious tradition. However, the translations chosen are not so impressive, but there may be issues beyond the author's control here, so I cannot fault him too much. For example, the Dao Dejing was translated by Stephen Mitchell, who did an alright job, but his is hardly considered to be the authoritative translation. The good news is that it is nearly published in it entirety! On a similar positive note, the citations in the back are often quite informative. With a flip to the back, you will be brought to the original source. Now, I don't want to say that this book is showing its age, but many of the sources seem a bit dated. My suspicion is that this was how the price of the book was kept to a minimum. Also, in the last fourteen years since this was published, a lot of good translation work has come from Chinese philosophy. I worry that some of the older translations may give false impressions as to the state of the research today.

With this book, you have to take the good with the bad, and the best part seems to be the affordability. You will not be able to find a collection as thorough as this for anywhere near the price.
13 people found this helpful
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WKT
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Collection!
Reviewed in the United States on April 21, 2011
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It is, to say the least, a rather daunting and thankless task to undertake. To gather bits and pieces of the worlds wisdom and spiritual writings into one small text--it is certain that you won't please everyone. However the author does a beautiful job here and has selected some real gems for you to savor and to spur the novice on to further reading. This makes a fantastic night stand book--and that is no slight of the book in any way. But I enjoy reading a few passages out of this before falling to sleep. It's not that the book will put you to sleep, rather it's best to read these sort of writings when your mind has settled from the turmoil of the day.
One person found this helpful
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Will Jerom
5.0 out of 5 stars Good Highlights / Essentials - not perfect, but good.
Reviewed in the United States on June 24, 2016
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I don’t think any summary of world religious literature is going to be perfect. This could get 5 stars, because there really are some good or representative samples of world religions. Or you could give it 4 or 4 and a half stars because it doesn’t have selections from Jainism or Shinto, nor from Mormonism or Bahai. But what it does cover (Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Indigenous Religions) it does fairly well. I’ve looked at many different selections for world religion classes, and this one I think does the job very well. So as I’ve said, no selection is perfect, but this one of the better ones.
2 people found this helpful
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Zayna
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book!
Reviewed in the United States on May 13, 2022
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Purchased this for a class and I have to say I really enjoyed reading it! Well written and quality was perfect!
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Connie
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Reference Material
Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2009
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This book, filled with excerpts of sacred texts of many of the major world religions, is a planned companion in structure to Huston Smith's masterpiece, World Religions. It offers the sacred texts without commentary or judgement to support the reader in simply BE-ing with the texts and finding their own interpretation of the essence of the writings. "The World's Wisdom" is a book I will continue to reference throughout my ministry - and that I will share with interfaith students as a valuable source of inspiration and comparison.
4 people found this helpful
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Isa Rose
3.0 out of 5 stars An okay start, but you’ll need more
Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2020
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Book came in perfect condition. I needed it for class and I find that the excerpts from different religious texts to be both helpful and informative. But, I would suggest to look more into the texts yourself. These are only EXCERPTS and you won’t get the full picture with just this.
3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Hanan Chaudhry
5.0 out of 5 stars Great
Reviewed in Canada on June 23, 2023
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This book is great for comparative study of all major religions but I don't think it does have deep details here because only few papers is here to cover religious knowledge. Concept of God is only available in Abrahamic religions whereas it's quite absent in Dharmic religions and quite confusing when it's come to other religions other than Abrahamic. Overall great.
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meepmeep
5.0 out of 5 stars instead of a bible!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 12, 2012
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Bought this product for godson and goddaughter instead of the traditional bibles - they are a bit young to give feedback at present - but I thought it was a good present!
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Joanne S.
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!
Reviewed in Canada on February 27, 2019
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I bought this book, as it was required for one of the university courses I'm taking. It was cheaper to buy from Amazon then the university bookstore, and arrived quickly. The book itself is well written and interesting, as it provides wisdom from various world religions.
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Johnny P
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 16, 2017
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A great book!
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Tony henry
3.0 out of 5 stars Book about holy books and texts
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 27, 2022
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Great book and great price and got to me quickly
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