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  • Published: 15 April 2020
  • ISBN: 9780241331149
  • Imprint: Penguin Life
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 272
  • RRP: $26.00

Love for Imperfect Things

How to Accept Yourself in a World Striving for Perfection




A beautiful Sunday Times bestseller on learning to love ourselves, from the author of the internationally bestselling The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down

Many of us respond to the pressures of life by turning inwards and ignoring problems, sometimes resulting in anxiety or depression. Others react by working harder at work, at school or at home, hoping that this will make ourselves and the people we love happier.

But what if being yourself is enough? Just as we are advised on airplanes to take our own oxygen first before helping others, we must first be at peace with ourselves before we can be at peace with the world around us.

In this beautiful follow-up to his international bestseller The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down, Buddhist monk Haemin Sunim turns his trademark wisdom and kindness to self-care, arguing that only by accepting yourself - and the flaws which make you who you are - can you have compassionate and fulfilling relationships with your partner, family and friends.

  • Published: 15 April 2020
  • ISBN: 9780241331149
  • Imprint: Penguin Life
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 272
  • RRP: $26.00

About the author

Haemin Sunim

Haemin Sunim is one of the most influential Zen Buddhist teachers and writers in the world. Born in South Korea and educated at Berkeley, Harvard and Princeton, he received formal monastic training in Korea and taught Buddhism at Hampshire College in Massachusetts. He has more than a million followers on Twitter (@haeminsunim) and Facebook and lives in Seoul when not traveling to share his teachings. In Korea, The Things You Can See sold more than three million copies and spent 41 weeks at Number One. Love For Imperfect Things was Sunday Times Top 10 Bestseller.

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Praise for Love for Imperfect Things

A wonderful book . . . Zen teacher Haemin Sunim describes with great clarity the suffocating effect of perfectionism - how damaging it is to think your worth as a person is solely dependent on how you perform. Then, page by page, he shows you how to reclaim your freedom and your life

Mark Williams, co-author of 'Mindfulness: Finding Peace in a Frantic World'

A wonderful book

Mark Williams, co-author of 'Mindfulness: Finding Peace in a Frantic World'

A treasure! I don't have to be perfect? What incredible news. This book hit me like a ton of bricks and made many anxieties melt away

Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation

Haemin writes beautifully and simply so these vital life lessons resonate easily and deeply

Miranda Hart

Heartwarming, calming and simple . . . filled with wisdom and powerful truths that will teach us to love ourselves first in order to transform our relationships with our loved ones

Hector Garcia, author of IKIGAI: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life

The world could surely use a little more love, a little more compassion, and a little more wisdom. In Love for Imperfect Things, Haemin Sunim shows us how to cultivate all three, and to find beauty in the most imperfect of things - including your very own self

Susan Cain, author of Quiet

Beautifully wise insights into how we're all perfectly imperfect. A masterclass in letting go. As soothing to my whirring 'must do better!' mind as slipping into a hot bath when I'm cold

Catherine Gray, author of The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober