Most Good, Least Harm: A Simple Principle for a Better World and Meaningful Life by Zoe Weil
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(Paperback)
- Pub. Date: January 2009
- 224pp
- Sales Rank: 348,233
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Product Details
- Pub. Date: January 2009
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group
- Format: Paperback, 224pp
- Sales Rank: 348,233
- ISBN-13: 9781582702063
- ISBN: 1582702063
Synopsis
With a world steeped in materialism, environmental destruction, and injustice, what can one individual possibly do to change it? While the present obstacles we face may seem overwhelming, author and humane educator Zoe Weil shows us that change doesn't have to start with an army. It starts with you. Through her straightforward approaches to living a MOGO, or "most good," life, she reveals that the true path to inner peace doesn't require a retreat from the world. Rather, she gives the reader powerful and practicable tools to face these global issues, and improve both our planet and our personal lives.
Weil explores direct ways to become involved with the community, make better choices as consumers, and develop positive messages to live by, showing readers that their simple decisions really can change the world. Inspiring and remarkably inclusive of the interconnected challenges we face today, Most Good, Least Harm is the next step beyond "green" -- a radical new way to empower the individual and motivate positive change.
Biography
Zoe Weil is the cofounder and president of the Institute for Humane Education and the author of Above All, Be Kind and The Power and Promise of Humane Education among other books. She created the first M.Ed. degree and certificate programs in humane education in the United States. Zoe leads MOGO and humane education workshops throughout the United States and Canada. She lives in coastal Maine. Visit zoeweil.com for information on workshops and presentations.
Customer Reviews
Everyone Can Live a MOGO Life!by CompassionInAction
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January 06, 2009:
It?s the New Year, which brings the chance for new hope, new goals, and positive change. With all the cruelty, injustice, destruction, violence, oppression, and exploitation in the world, it can be challenging to feel hopeful and powerful enough to help create true positive change. But according to Zoe Weil, in her new book, Most Good, Least Harm: A Simple Principle for a Better World and Meaningful Life, we all have the power to support and nurture a world of compassion, sustainability, kindness, justice and peace, both through our daily choices, and through helping transform systems.
In Most Good, Least Harm, Weil introduces the MOGO Principle (MOGO stands for ?most good?) as a new ?Golden Rule,? which focuses on our doing the most good and least harm for all: ourselves, other people, animals and the planet. According to Weil: ?When we do the most good and the least harm through our daily choices, our acts of citizenship, our communities, our work, our volunteerism, and our interactions, we create inner and outer peace.?
Weil?s book is divided into three sections. The first, ?Looking Inward,? leads us through making choices via her Seven Keys to MOGO:
? Live Your Epitaph
? Pursue Joy Through Service
? Make Connections and Self-Reflect
? Model Your Message and Work for Change
? Find and Create Community
? Take Responsibility
? Strive for Balance
Weil outlines the keys and gives examples of each in action.
?Choosing Outward? offers an exploration and analysis of the impact of our daily choices, such as the products we buy, the food we eat and the work we do. Weil also emphasizes the importance of involving ourselves in systemic change and community building. The last section, ?Getting Started? offers a ?MOGO Questionnaire and Action Plan,? as well as ?10 Principles for a MOGO Life,? suggested resources and a few statistics.
Weil?s book doesn?t try to tell us what to think or believe, nor does it offer a prescription of 50 simple things we have to do to save the world. She doesn?t pretend that major change is easy or simple, or that there is one right answer (or even that she has all the answers). Weil highlights that change on both a personal and systemic level is essential to creating a humane world. She emphasizes that no one is perfect, and that pursuing a MOGO life to the best of our ability will bring inner peace to us and a more humane world to everyone. Additionally, unlike many ?green? or ?sustainability? books, Weil does not exclude animals as individuals from the MOGO circle of concern, nor does she set up false either/or dichotomies. She emphasizes the importance of our relationships with all beings and insists that we look for both/and solutions that benefit everyone.
Weil?s book is filled with questions for us to ask ourselves, encouraging us to really pay attention to the impact of our choices and to analyze how well our lives reflect the message we want it to express. Most Good, Least Harm is also filled with stories of people trying to live MOGO lives, which I found hopeful and inspiring.
Most Good, Least Harm will lead you on an incredibly empowering, inspiring, heartening and joyful experience and will give you the tools and inspiration to discover greater inner peace, as well as to help create a peaceful, compassionate, sustainable world for all.
I can't wait to share it with my friends and family!
We are ready for the message of Most Good, Least Harmby TheMavensMap
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January 06, 2009:
Whether a concerned citizen, a parent, educator, or activist (or if you consider yourself in all of these ways), I can say with certainty that you will appreciate the wisdom and heart of Most Good, Least Harm: A Simple Principle for a Better World and Meaningful Life (aka MOGO, short for most good). MOGO is a thoughtful, brave and visionary work of art and author, Zoe Weil is a beacon of light and hope.
Filled with hands-on practical tools including questionnaires, step-by-step action plans, facts and statistics and a plethora of intriguing personal stories, MOGO sets the novice truth seeker on a profound path and the old-timer on an equally thoughtful path. I've been doing nonprofit work for over 10 years now and I've experienced the range of emotions and thoughts that can come with the lifelong journey of doing things differently and felt this book was speaking directly to me at this point on my path. Weil wisely anticipated every question I pondered and provided thoughtful space for the "answers" to those questions.
MOGO is a guiding principle that reflects acting peacefully and living with compassion and respect for everyone, people, animals, and the earth - with the premise that when we make that commitment and live it fully, we will experience greater inner peace.
Weil explores the specifics of what we buy, eat and wear; what we do for work; how we participate in creating positive change; how we take care of ourselves, and yet doesn't dictate an exact formula for how that will look. She invites us to take on the committed, honest and integrity-filled path to create a compassionate reality for ourselves. The ultimate hope being that our daily choices, acts of citizenship, communities, work, volunteerism and interactions reflect inner and outer peace.
I can hardly wait to get copies of MOGO to my loved ones. For the sake of the planet, I hope MOGO finds its way into your hands and into the hands of those you love.
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