"<p>This book is like the old herbariums, which tried to answer questions about what to do when one's heart hurts or God has abandoned them with simple examples. It doesn't talk about ideals and heroes, but about what has to do with man. His writer wants to teach his fellow human beings through learning, by learning from the ancients, through the human heart, from the books, and through the signs from the sky. He wishes to impart elementary knowledge of the basic truths of human life. Written in 1943, Sándor Márai dedicates his work to Epictetus, his beloved Marcus Aurelius, Montaigne, and all the Stoics from whom he learned about power, cheerfulness, and a life without fear.</p>"