Words
Fables, Parables, and Wisdom for Modern LifeBy Spencer Shulem
Length3h 35m
About this audiobook
You don't wake up thinking "I need a Greek fable today." You wake up facing a situation — and you need wisdom that fits.
A farmer shrugs at bad luck: maybe good, maybe bad, we'll see. A monkey gets his hand stuck in a jar because he won't let go. Two monks argue for miles about a woman only one of them carried.
These stories have survived thousands of years because they work. They deliver a lifetime of judgment in thirty seconds, and they slip past our defenses because they're not about us — until suddenly they are.
Words collects 200+ of the best wisdom stories from around the world — Aesop's fables, Zen koans, Sufi tales, Hasidic parables, Taoist stories, Greek myths, African and Indian folk tales — retold in full, each with its origin and the lesson it carries.
Audiobook details
GenrePhilosophy, Spirituality and Religion
Length3 hrs 35 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateJul 12, 2026
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1The Cracked Pot
26The Fisherman and the Businessman
2Preface
27The Starfish Thrower
3When Things Go Wrong
28The Hummingbird and the Forest Fire
4The Farmer’s Horse
29This Too Shall Pass
5The Cracked Pot
30The Old Man and the Scorpion
Show all chaptersShow less
6The Oak and the Reed
31Everything is Best
7The Bamboo in the Snow
32In the Hands of Destiny
8Is That So?
33When You’re Stuck
9The Ugly Duckling
34The Chinese Bamboo Tree
10The Rainbow Crow
35The Tortoise and the Hare
11The Broken Tablets
36The Crow and the Pitcher
12Rumi and the Chickpea
37Water and Stone
13The Mustard Seed
38The Butcher’s Knife
14The Children of Lir
39The Archer and the Oil Seller
15The Firebird
40The Man Who Could Walk on Water
16The Man Who Forgot His Own Existence
41The North Wind and the Sun
17The Labors of Heracles
42The Mice in Council
18How the Zebra Got Its Stripes
43Nasrudin and the Lost Key
19The Serpent and the Eagle
44Nasrudin and the Moon
20The Lion and the Thorn (Androcles and the Lion)
45The Stone Mind
21The Donkey Carrying Salt
46The Story of Jumping Mouse
22The Pig and the Sheep
47The Monkey King
23The Burning House
48Odin and the Runes
24The Broken Vessels
49The Salmon of Knowledge
25The Two Bad Bricks
50Prometheus and the Fire
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