Ask Aesop

Created for adults and adolescents, Ask Aesop enables you to access rapidly Aesop's wise counsel on a wide range of issues. This representative collection of 125 fables has a unique Thematic Keyword Index that enables you to find the right fable for a given topic or dilemma. Aesop doesn't tell us what to think: our response to a fable tells us where we stand. Our prejudices, likes and dislikes, and, above all, weaknesses are exposed. We become aware of our foibles and the principles and issues involved in co-existing with others. By engaging with fable, we open ourselves to new perspectives and the possibility of our everyday self accessing the wisdom of our higher self. As free autonomous individuals, we are responsible for our decisions and actions. Asking Aesop can aid us on this journey, but our decisions are our own. Ask Aesop is both a self-help book and an educational resource. As a self-help book, it encourages readers to think around their issues; as an educational resource, Ask Aesop provides a springboard for pragmatic, secular discussions of morality. Finally, in keeping with the fables' original purpose, the Thematic Keyword Index also allows you to find the right fable for a debate or speech, without first having to trawl through the whole collection. The 125 unembellished fables in this representative, unillustrated collection have been retold by the author with reference to literal translations.