The classical four temperaments-sanguine, choleric, melancholic, and phlegmatic-form one of the oldest systems for understanding personality and human character.

This book is part of Know Yourself: The Temperaments Series by Alex Carberry.

Carberry's earlier work, Know Yourself, offers a masterful introduction to this now sadly neglected therapeutic tradition. Few readers reach the end of that book without recognising which admixture of the temperamental types-sanguine, choleric, melancholic, and phlegmatic-best describes their own personality.

This volume, the fifth and final book in the series, explores in depth the phlegmatic temperament. It examines the characteristic qualities that shape the phlegmatic personality, highlighting both the strengths and the weaknesses that commonly appear in the lives of people of this nature.

Practical guidance is offered on how these strengths may be cultivated and how the characteristic difficulties of the temperament may be mitigated. Yet the aim of the book goes beyond psychological description. As its title suggests, it opens the way toward a deeper project: the ancient and demanding task of self-knowledge.

Books in the Series:Know Yourself
Know Yourself: Sanguine
Know Yourself: Choleric
Know Yourself: Melancholic
Know Yourself: Phlegmatic