Audiobooks narrated by Charlton Heston

The Book of Virtues: 30th Anniversary Edition

Help your children develop moral character with this updated, 30th anniversary edition of the perennial classic The Book of Virtues. Almost 3 million copies of the Book of Virtues have been sold since it was published in 1993. It is one of the most popular moral primers ever written, an inspiring anthology that helps children understand and develop character—and helps parents teach it to them. Thirty years ago, readers thought that the times were right for a book about moral literacy. Back then, Americans worried that schools were no longer parents' allies in teaching good character. As the book's original introduction noted, "moral anchors and moorings have never been more necessary." If that was true in the 1990s, it is even more true today. The explosion of information with the Internet has left many unsure of what is valuable and what is not. Responsibility. Courage. Compassion. Loyalty. Honesty. Friendship. Persistence. Hard work. Self-discipline. Faith. These remain the essentials of good character. The Book of Virtues contains hundreds of exemplary stories offering children examples of good and bad, right and wrong. Drawing on the Bible, American history, Greek mythology, English poetry, fairy tales, and modern fiction, William J. and Elayne Bennett show children the many virtuous paths they can follow—and the ones they ought to avoid. For the 30th anniversary edition, the Bennetts have slimmed down the book's contents, while also finding room to introduce such figures as Mother Teresa, Colin Powell, and heroes of 9/11 and the War in Afghanistan. Here is a rich mine of moral literacy to teach a new generation of children about American culture, history, and traditions—ultimately, the ideals by which we wish to live our lives. The updated edition of The Book of Virtues will continue a legacy of raising moral children far into a new century.

Elayne Glover Bennett, William J. Bennett (Author), Andrea Martin, Barbara Bush, Charlton Heston, Claire Bloom, Dana Ivey, David Mccallum, Dorian Hairwood, Ed Asner, Elayne Glover Bennett, Eunice Wong, Faith Prince, Fritz Weaver, Harriet Walter, Janina Edwards, Jenn Bennett, Joe Morton, Kate Nelligan, Kirby Heyborne, Leon Nixon, Matt Stango, Michael York, Richard Thomas, Robert Petkoff, Timothy Andrés Pabon, Tom Selleck, Tonya Pinkins, William J. Bennett (Narrator)

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Naked Jungle

Charlton Heston reprises his film role as Christopher Leiningen, a cold and remote plantation boss in South America. He is joined by a widow, Joanna, who has agreed to marry him. However, Leiningen rejects her, and so the following week she will return to the United States. But before she can leave news comes through that millions of marching ants will soon be here to destroy all before them.

Anonymous (Author), Charlton Heston (Narrator)

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Aristotle: Greece (384—322 B.C.): The Giants of Philosophy Series

Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) was Plato's student, but revised his teacher's ideas to be more consistent with ordinary experience. He thought human beings are one with the rest of nature, yet set apart from it by their ability to reason. Aristotle systematized the laws of thought, gave a complete account of nature and God, and developed an attractive view of the good life and the good society. He also provided the first systematic expositions of physics, biology, psychology and the standards of literature. The Giants of Philosophy is a series of dramatic presentations, in understandable language, of the concerns, questions, interests, and overall world view of history's greatest philosophers. Special emphasis on clear and relevant explanations gives you a new arsenal of insights toward living a better life.

Thomas C. Brickhouse (Author), Charlton Heston (Narrator)

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Arthur Schopenhauer: The Giants of Philosophy Series

Arthur Schopenhauer was the most articulate and influential pessimist in the history of human thought. He was convinced that the space and time of ordinary life is an illusion, that the world consists of two aspects: representation (visible appearances) and will (hidden reality). Will is a unitary, blind, irrational force underlying all nature and expressing itself throughout it. Since human actions are blindly propelled by this will, not reason, prescriptive ethical rules have little force. Our will to live is a continuing cycle of want, temporary fulfillment, and more want. New desires replace any satisfied ones, so no lasting happiness is possible. The Giants of Philosophy series is a collection of dramatic presentations, in understandable language, of the concerns, questions, interests, and overall outlook of the world’s great philosophers and philosophical traditions. Special emphasis on clear and relevant explanations gives you a new arsenal of insights toward living a better life.

Dr. Mark Stone, Mark Stone (Author), Charlton Heston (Narrator)

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Baruch Spinoza

A Portuguese Jew living in Holland, Spinoza sought a life of "supreme and unending happiness". Unable to find deep satisfaction in the usual pleasures of social life, politics or business (or in riches, fame, or sensual pleasure), Spinoza sought a more stable source of contentment. And he found this contentment in God, though not the God of Moses or the Christian Trinity. Spinoza wrote in the rationalist style of a geometric proof to develop his idea that God is a permanent, indwelling cause of all things. He sees God as a single, unified, all-inclusive causal system that is virtually synonymous with nature. Spinoza believed that the Biblical account of creation is demonstrably false; that there is no such thing as a free will, either for God or man; all things are necessary and inevitable; and all objects, including humans are part of God's active self-expression. Spinoza saw the presence of God in the constant and orderly working of nature. Spinoza's sophisticated moral psychology sees evil in the "unruly passions," and says they can be overcome by stronger, positive passions. Our minds can participate in the eternity of God by focusing on natural laws and the way all things follow from God or nature.

Professor Thomas Cook, Thomas Cook (Author), Charlton Heston (Narrator)

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St. Thomas Aquinas

In the late 13th century, this quiet reflective Dominican scholar concentrated his work on philosophical concerns that today would be considered to be partly theological. He combined the work of Aristotle with Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and pagan thought to reconcile reason and faith; he believed we can know that God exists, but not what god is like. Thomas's masterpiece, the Summa Theologiae (Summa Theologica), contains over 10,000 objections and replies to fundamental questions about God and the world. It enumerates virtues and vices, and it includes Thomas's famous "five ways" to prove God's existence, which are (1) the unmoved mover, (2) the uncaused cause, (3) the necessary being, (4) the perfect Goodness, and (5) the guiding intelligence. Thomas believed that God is absolutely simple, perfect, good, infinite, omnipresent, changeless, eternal, and unique. God is "Pure Subsistent Act of Being," continuously communicating the possibility of existence to all worldly creatures and objects. For Thomas, intellectual knowledge is a sign of the spirituality that energizes the human center. He saw the Bible as a substitute for the wisdom of a lifetime's study and learning. All in all, Thomas concluded that mortal happiness (felicity) is uncertain, but immortal happiness (beatitude) is the ultimate end of life; beatitude is to pass beyond death to "see the face of God."

Kenneth L. Schmitz (Author), Charlton Heston (Narrator)

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St. Augustine

Aurelius Augustinus was a key figure in the transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages. He lived at a time when no distinction was made between philosophy and theology, and the purpose of both was to show the way to wisdom, happiness, and blessedness. Augustinian thought is perhaps best capsulated in Anselm's famous maxim: "I believe in order to understand." Augustine believed the principal business of life is to arrive at the blissful vision of God, but he came to see that this can be done only after death. Only eternal and unchangeable goods are worth enjoying, and all other joys or pleasures are mere stops along the way. Temporal life is a "living death, a dying life"; its primary characteristic is the dizzying flux of time and change. Evil is not an active, threatening force; it is a lack, a privation, a corruption. For Augustine, every time we make a judgment of relative value, we implicitly acknowledge an absolute standard of value; and this absolute is God. Our final end, the contemplation of God after death, is a blissful, changeless, restful, and peaceful stillness of vision.

Professor Robert O'Connell, R. J. O’connell (Author), Charlton Heston (Narrator)

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Soren Kierkegaard

For Kierkegaard, truth is a subjective reality which we must live, not simply something to consider and discuss. His self-consciousness and self-examination highlight the practical demands of existence, and he opposes the speculative thinking of philosophical idealists (especially Hegel). Kierkegaard urges the reader to commit to make choices about how to live. In Either/Or, he concentrates on sensual indulgence versus duty, the avant garde versus tradition. Fear & Trembling dramatically distinguishes between ethical and religious existence, based on the biblical story of Abraham. We must choose to be a "knight of infinite resignation" (giving up hope for this life). Kierkegaard says much of life's meaning depends not on external conditions, but on our internal choices about relating to them. Kierkegaard urges us to live with purpose, to see life as an intentional act rather than a series of meaningless events. Our task is not knowing but doing, not understanding but living. He criticizes intellectualism and escapism in favor of believing and committing. In Sickness Unto Death, Kierkegaard diagnoses a spiritual disease throughout society: despair. We are estranged from the source of our very being as we try to escape the moral responsibility of the self. We must decide whether or not to embrace faith in "paradoxical religion," even if its teachings offend our reason.

George Connell, Professor George Connell (Author), Charlton Heston (Narrator)

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Plato

Plato was the first person to organize and record the issues and questions that define philosophy. As Socrates' student, Plato preserved the teachings of his great mentor in many famous "dialogues"; these deal with classic issues like law and justice, perception and reality, death and the soul, mind and body, reason and passion, and the nature of love. The dialogues also discuss the value of moral principle vs. the value of life itself; how to achieve virtue; and how each of us can fulfill our true nature. The most famous of all Platonic doctrines is the "theory of forms." This theory that any object's true reality is found in its rational form or structure rather than in its material appearance. And Plato's Republic presents his distinctive (and much criticized) vision of the ideal state. Plato believed that philosophy begins in the sense of wonder. With Socrates, he sees philosophy as reason, unhindered by feelings, emotions, and the senses. And from these two great thinkers we have received perhaps the most well known of all philosophical utterances: "the unexamined life is not worth living."

Berel Lang, Professor Berel Lang (Author), Charlton Heston (Narrator)

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John Dewey

John Dewey wants philosophy to rise above old tired disputes to address new, more vital questions and problems. His views are known as "pragmatism," which emphasizes action and results. Here philosophy isn't a system of beliefs but a practical, empirical method of inquiry. Dewey created new theories of human experience, knowledge, education, social and political philosophy, ethics, art and religion. Art isn't separated from life in museums, it's part of daily activities. Religious experience isn't found in institutionalized religion but in everyday spirituality. God is natural (not supernatural), ideal (not real); salvation is found in continuing, common action. Ethical values describe a thing's relationship to its environment; inquiry must establish what is good as well as what we know (epistemology). Experience is a continuing, unstable social phenomenon, not a past event. Philosophy is one with education, which continually develops and renews the capacity for new habits. Democracy is a way of life more than a form of government; each person should help create and direct the social forces that affect our lives. Philosophy, experience, education, inquiry, and democracy are bound together, mutually implying one another.

John J. Stuhr, Professor John J. Stuhr (Author), Charlton Heston (Narrator)

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Jean Paul Sartre

Sartre's existentialism faces the evil in human existence and sees that humans are responsible for it. He doubts man can make moral progress, yet he embraces the possibilities for human life. Mankind is radically free and responsible. In every moment we choose ourselves; beyond this, we find no instructions for our lives. No external authority gives life meaning, so Sartre's existentialism is boldly atheistic. For most objects, "essence precedes their existence." But humans must continually create what they are in every moment; human existence precedes essence. "Existence" hides behind the way we see and talk about it. Conscious life is a type of "Nothingness"; we determine what we now are by the way we project the "not yet" of the future (we are not what we are, and we are what we are not.) Anguish before the future is one way we experience our radical freedom. We're not determined by outside forces; we constantly choose and re-choose ourselves with no assurance that we have a continuing identity or power. So we set up determinisms to ease our minds. An unstable and unpredictable human condition afflicts all human relations. We can't escape our involvement with others; conflict is inevitable. Death is the ultimate limit; the end of consciousness is the end of meaning.

John Compton, Professor John Compton (Author), Charlton Heston (Narrator)

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Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

Hegel created a vast speculative and idealistic philosophy, where truth is found not in the part but in the whole. Nature is an organic whole shot through with rationality akin to the reason in ourselves. Hegel's famous "dialectic" is an organic process of growth and development in three stages: beginning, advance and resolution. It has two sides: the rational patterns that determine all growth in the world and the logical form of reason. Each person is both a one and a many, a coexistence of opposites (unity and diversity). Self-consciousness (the self as subject knowing the self as object) requires mutuality - social interaction with others. And our minds have two functions: the understanding distinguishes between things, and reason synthesizes them. There are three stages of mind: subjective (concerned with the individual), objective (including customs and beliefs of communities), and absolute (Spirit expressing itself through art, religion, and philosophy). All phases of the dialectical process are brought together in the final unity of Absolute mind. For Hegel, history is a dynamic succession of novel and creative events, the gradual unfolding of reason. In Hegel's words, "what is rational is actual (real), and what is actual (real) is rational." Great men express the spirit of their age. And God is an absolute and living knower who apprehends the truth of all actuality.

John E. Smith, Professor John E. Smith (Author), Charlton Heston (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Charlton Heston