The Courage To Be Disliked

Outline

The Courage to Be Disliked (2013) is a Japanese bestseller built on the ideas of the psychologist Alfred Adler. Written as a dialogue over five nights between a philosopher and a troubled young man, it explains why our past does not decide our future, why every problem is a relationship problem, and how separating our tasks from other people's sets us free. It has sold millions of copies around the world.

• Your past does not decide your future, so you are not bound to repeat what happened to you.
• The ideas come from the psychologist Alfred Adler and are presented as a conversation between a philosopher and a troubled young man.
• Every problem you face is, at its root, a problem in how you relate to other people.
• Separating your own tasks from other people's tasks is what sets you free to live your own life.

Ichiro Kishimi, born in Kyoto in 1956, is a Japanese philosopher and one of Japan's leading experts on Adlerian psychology, working as a counsellor and lecturer. Fumitake Koga, born in 1973, is a writer and editor of many bestselling non-fiction books. Together they also wrote the sequel, The Courage to Be Happy.