Author’s Official Edition

Universal Wisdom is an empowering collection of insights from seven extraordinary human beings — including Warren Buffett, Helen Keller and Nelson Mandela — by Brett Kelly, the founder and CEO of Kelly+Partners, the publicly traded global accounting network.

Following his bestselling book Collective Wisdom, Brett had even more questions about the meaning of life: What are you prepared to die for? What are you doing for others? What is love? And where do you get the confidence to recover after setbacks? And while studying personal stories from all over the world, looking for lessons about what gives people the certainty to do what they do, he was drawn to extraordinary people.

The seven lives profiled in Universal Wisdom — told in intensively researched biographies, developed in complementary essays, and featuring their own impactful speeches and quotes — reveal that there are, indeed, certain approaches to life that help in progressing from the ordinary to the extraordinary. And these approaches work across different times, situations, places, and cultures.

This is the second book in Brett’s Wisdom Series. Brett writes a book on wisdom every seven years, reflecting on what he has learned through interviews with prominent experts in their fields:

1998: Collective Wisdom

2005: Universal Wisdom

2012: Business Wisdom

2019: Investment Wisdom

Universal Wisdom is a rewarding listen that serves as a reminder to harbor your passion and find the right path. As these seven extraordinary people prove, with the right life approach, we all have the power to change the world.