The Eternal Ragpicker is a collection of philosophical essays that explore human nature, our modern world, our connection with others, and more.
These essays encourage the reader to pause their daily activities in order to self-reflect. They are not academic philosophy, but pertain to the field of practical philosophy. Each subject is related to our everyday life in the Stoic tradition, which considered philosophy as something that could help us live better rather than as the domain of specialists. The majority of essays are about "expanding our world" and growing by changing our perspective. For example, the author explains how we each live in our self-contained little "universes" of our work and interests and that it is by making the conscious leap of exploring the others' universes that we can truly understand our own. He also encourages to boldly leap into the Unknown and also embrace suffering as a path to growth.
Nicos Hadjicostis studied physics at King's College London and then managed the largest media group in Cyprus for over a decade. After leaving the media, he traveled around the world for six-and-a-half years, exploring the world as if it were one huge country, a single destination. His first book, the award-winning Destination Earth: A New Philosophy of Travel by a World-Traveler, was inspired by this journey. His second book, Conversing with Cavafy: Reflections on the Journey of Our Life, explores themes that are central to our everyday life and connects them with the poems of C.P. Cavafy, other writers and philosophers. He is now a writer of mainly philosophical essays and gives talks on various subjects, many of which can be found on his website NicosHadjicostis.com. This is his third book.