Literary Nonfiction. Memoir. Disability Studies. Self-help. Philosophy & Spirituality. Essay. Theater. Translated from the French by Michael Eskin. Foreword by Matthieu Ricard. Alexandre Jollien, who is the first and only major thinker and spiritual teacher in the history of philosophy to have been born with cerebral palsy, tells the story of how he grew up in a home for the severely disabled and was destined to roll cigars; how he discovered philosophy, which changed his life forever, helping him to confront his fate, endow it with meaning, and turn his disability into a source of strength and creative energy; how, against all odds, he fought his way out of the home and into high school and university, where as an undergraduate he wrote IN PRAISE OF WEAKNESS... Imbued with human warmth and wisdom, this modern Socratic dialogue is a poignant testament to the inestimable value of friendship, the power of imagination, and the will to overcome. A book that inspires and gives courage. "Alexandre Jollien proves that despite being born severely disabled it is still possible ... to construct a personality, build a family, and, most astonishingly of all, to become a philosopher, whose body of work has already been translated into German, Spanish, Italian and Japanese ..." — L'Express "... a remarkable philosophical work, concise and joyful ... a message delivered from another realm ..." —Libération "IN PRAISE OF WEAKNESS ... takes a fresh and insightful look at the nature of difference and the adaptive capacity of man." — The Irish Times