Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • 21 Letters on Life and Its Challenges

  • By: Charles Handy
  • Narrated by: Scott Handy
  • Length: 4 hrs and 24 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (38 ratings)

$0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
21 Letters on Life and Its Challenges cover art

21 Letters on Life and Its Challenges

By: Charles Handy
Narrated by: Scott Handy
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £7.99

Buy Now for £7.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Second Curve cover art
Following the Path cover art
The Empty Raincoat cover art
Accomplishment cover art
The Great British Dream Factory cover art
Happy as a Dane cover art
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team cover art
I Know What to Do, So Why Don't I Do It? cover art
Fooled by Randomness cover art
Better than Good cover art
The 60-Something Crisis cover art
The Question cover art
Napoleon Hill's Philosophy of Success cover art
Do Epic Shit cover art
The Philosophy of Success: Lessons from Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and Warren Buffett cover art
Get Out of Your Own Way cover art

Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

Charles Handy is one of the giants of contemporary thought. His books on management - including Understanding Organizations and Gods of Management - have changed the way we view business. His work on broader issues and trends - such as Beyond Certainty and The Second Curve - has changed the way we view society.

In his new book, Handy builds on a life's work to glimpse into the future and see what challenges and opportunities the next generation faces. How will people cope with change in a world where the old certainties no longer apply? What goals will and should they set themselves? How will they find purpose and fulfillment in their lives? Clear-eyed and optimistic by turns, he sets out the questions that everyone needs to ask themselves and points us in the direction of the answers.

©2019 Charles Handy (P)2019 Penguin Audio

More from the same

Love Books? You'll Love Audible.

Transform your day

Transform your day

Replace endless scrolling with endless listening. Chores can be fun.

Listen everywhere

Listen everywhere

You can’t turn pages while you drive—but you can press play.

Carry your entire Library

Carry your entire Library

Your stories go where you go. Audiobooks don’t weigh a thing.

Listen and learn

Listen and learn

Discover stories that can change your mind, your well-being, and your life.

Reach your reading goals

Reach your reading goals

Download titles to listen offline, wherever you are in the world.

Find your niche

Find your niche

WIth thousands of titles to explore, there’s something for everyone.

Try for £0.00 £7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

What listeners say about 21 Letters on Life and Its Challenges

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    34
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    35
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    34
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A beautiful reading of his fathers tender and wise letters.

A book that everyone should read. Helpful guidance for all ages. I highly recommend it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Inspiring

I loved the letters as it inspired me to think about how I will love it the rest of my life. Thought provoking.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Superb

Amazing lessons for us all. Beautifully told. Thank you for writing this! It’s going to serve me and my family well.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Great letters with fantastic lessons for life

This is a book consisting of 21 letters that the entrepreneur Charles Handy wanted to pass on to his children and to us, to help us understand life and its challenges. He is in his eighties, and has learnt a lot. It begins with a brilliant quote: “tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?“. I love it. And these letters are like a lighthouse, there to light your way and to stop you hitting the rocks. The basic message is that life will be full of changes, and if we can adapt to them and accept them, perhaps our life will be a little easier. We can also learn more from great novels about human behaviour than we can sometimes read and learn from factual books. You are humane if you can practice five things such as respectfulness, truthfulness, intelligence and generosity. And laugh often and find pleasure in being with others. Another letter is to accept that everyone including ourselves can be wrong. Take nothing for granted, question everything, doubt the certainty of your superiors as well as yourself but sometimes keep your doubts to yourself until the time is right. There are some valuable lessons about money, love, knowing what’s important, more on change and these are often illustrated by some wonderful words of wisdom written through the years by others. And when sadness overtakes you, as it will do in one of the letters, there is advice on dealing with that also. We still have to accept that life goes on and adapt to that change too. The final lesson includes a few lines on how to lead a more fulfilling and worthwhile life. This is a nice book that shares features with Dan Rather’s book ‘what unites us’ which is also great.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Such a wonderful, heartwarming book

I feel so much reacher and better equipped to take on life after I finish these letters. I am very grateful that I had the fortunate opportunity to stumble upon and listen to this book. It has left me with so much appreciation for the author. This is an ageless classic that everyone will enjoy and learn from.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!