The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari: A Fable About Fulfilling Your Dreams and Reaching Your Destiny

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1996

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-2

Chapters 3-4

Chapters 5-6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Key Figures

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

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Discussion Questions

Key Figures

Robin Sharma

Sharma is a Canadian author of Indian origin who wrote The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari and other self-help and spirituality books geared toward readers in business professions, including Who Will Cry When You Die? and The Saint, The Surfer, and the CEO. He graduated from the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Formerly a lawyer, he became a full-time author and public speaker in 1997 after the publication of his second book, The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari. Sharma has been invited by companies like Microsoft and FedEx to provide training and has given speeches at universities like Harvard and Yale. Sharma’s own life mirrors Julian’s in The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari to the extent that both men give up a promising legal career to pursue their calling.

John

John is Julian’s junior colleague at the law firm and the narrator of The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari. The book is written from his perspective. He is tapped by Julian to assist on a big murder trial despite his relative inexperience and forms a bond with Julian after staying on at the firm. When Julian returns from his Indian expedition, he visits John’s home and shares his newfound wisdom with John. The junior lawyer comes to a spiritual awakening during this dialogue and resolves to change his life and share Julian’s wisdom with others.

Julian Mantle

Julian is a hotshot trial lawyer who appears to have it all until he suddenly collapses in the courtroom during “the Mother of All Murder Trials” (3). He leaves his firm and goes on a journey of discovery in India, where he finds the legendary Sages of Sivana deep in the Himalayas and becomes the student of elder sage Yogi Raman. Upon his return to the West, a transformed and youthful Julian visits John’s house and imparts his accumulated wisdom to his young colleague, making him promise to share this wisdom with others who need it. In addition to the wisdom of the sages, Julian reveals more about his personal life to John, including the tragic details of the death of his daughter and the breakdown of his marriage.

Yogi Raman

Yogi Raman is the eldest sage of the legendary Sages of Sivana located in a remote village deep in the Himalayas. He agrees to take on Julian as a student after the former lawyer finds the village and proves himself as a respectful and worthy pupil. The central bit of wisdom Yogi Raman imparts to Julian is a mysterious fable containing the seven basic virtues, which Julian spends the greater part of the book elaborating upon for John’s benefit. Like all the sages in the village, Yogi Raman is extremely youthful and vigorous despite his advanced age.