68 pages 2 hours read

Don Miguel Ruiz

The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1997

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Chapter 5

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 5 Summary: “The Fourth Agreement: Always Do Your Best”

The fourth and final agreement—Always Do Your Best—allows the other three agreements to become habits that will change one’s life. Ruiz begins the chapter by explaining that one’s best always differs depending on life circumstances, energy levels, emotional states, sobriety, etc. Nevertheless, Ruiz advises people to keep doing their best—no more, no less. Those who try too hard expend more energy than necessary, and it still won’t be enough. On the other hand, those who do less than their best often feel frustrated, angry, and guilty.

To illustrate this point, Ruiz cites an example of a man studying at a Buddhist temple. The man wants to transcend suffering in this life quickly, so he asks his Buddhist master how long he ought to meditate. The master responds that if he meditates for six hours, he may transcend in 10 years. The man asks how soon he’ll transcend if he meditates for eight hours instead, and the master replies that it would take 20 years to transcend. The man is understandably confused. The master tells him that if he can do his best in two hours of meditation but spends eight, he’ll miss the point of the meditation and only grow frustrated and tired.

Related Titles

By Don Miguel Ruiz

Study Guide

logo

The Mastery of Love

Don Miguel Ruiz

The Mastery of Love: A Practical Guide to the Art of Relationship

Don Miguel Ruiz