THE FOUR AGREEMENTS AND THE FIFTH AGREEMENT are #370 and #384 in my book Journey in the Non Fiction category. I find a lot of self-help books to be preachy, strict and unyielding. However, Ruiz takes these philosophies from an ancient Toltec wisdom that is remarkedly fresh for our time. It “advocates freedom from self-limiting beliefs that may cause suffering and limitations in a person’s life”. In the first book he advocates four agreements to strive for and in the second book he adds a fifth agreement. That fifth agreement really hit home for me by saying, “be skeptical, but learn to listen”. He says not to believe yourself or anybody unconditionally and to use the power of doubt to question everything you hear and to listen to the intent behind the words and we will understand the REAL message. I think this means to challenge things but be open to new ways of thinking. This brings us to a deeper level of the awareness of the power of Self, and returns us to the authenticity we were born with. This is the natural place we were before we were “domesticated”.
In the present world of non-truths and our future with artificial intelligence this seems like a perfect time to learn how and why to be skeptical. Ruiz reminds us that the greatest gift we can give ourselves is the freedom to be who we really are. Combined, these two books have an important message in the best way to live the one life we are given. I hope you will give them a try and tell us all what you think.
BonniesBookEscape.com 
I may have to look into these! I like it when you give a little detail but not tons of focus on the summary— and then share your own perspective like this. It makes it more personal and interesting to hear what you thought about the books. Good job mama!
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I plan to do more analysis and critiques going forward. Thanks for the comment!
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