Most Good, Least Harm: A Simple Principle for a Better World and Meaningful Life by Zoe Weil (Beyond Words/Atria, 2009)

Most Good, Least Harm is a Silver Winner for the 2010 Nautilus Book Awards. The award “recognizes books and audio books that promote spiritual growth, conscious living & positive social change, while at the same time they stimulate the “imagination” and offer the reader “new possibilities” for a better life and a better world.”

With a world steeped in materialism, environmental destruction, and injustice, what can one individual possibly do to change it? While the present obstacles we face may seem overwhelming, Zoe Weil shows us that change doesn’t have to start with an army. It starts with you. Through her straightforward approaches to living a MOGO, or “most good,” life, she reveals that the true path to inner peace doesn’t require a retreat from the world. Rather, she offers powerful and practicable tools to face these global issues and improve both our planet and our personal lives.

Learn direct ways to become involved with the community, make better choices as consumers, and develop positive messages to live by, and discover that our simple decisions really can change the world. Most Good, Least Harm is the next step beyond ‘Green’ and a radically new way to empower the individual and motivate positive change.

Reading Group Discussion Guide for Most Good, Least Harm.

Most Good, Least Harm Q & A.

Download a PDF of the MOGO Questionnaire and Action Plan.

PRAISE FOR MOST GOOD, LEAST HARM:

“If you feel helpless in the world around you—as if you’re at the mercy of the BP oil spill, nuclear threats, environmental destruction, and war pulsing all across the globe—this is the tool that will make you feel empowered and ready for action!”
~ Sara Schmidt, Spirituality Bestsellers blog – Read the complete review.

“The book Most Good, Least Harm by Zoe Weil…is an amazing read – every page has something that has a life-changing thought on it if you choose to do something about it. It is truly an unbelievable book in the ideas that she’s writing about regarding a new way that each of us can live our lives so that we can each be gentle and compassionate.”
~ Joan Sinden, MOGO Online Participant, September 2009, and DogKisser blogger

“As a nature lover and environmental activist I’ve been recently uplifted by Most Good, Least Harm by Zoe Weil. She encourages individuals to do what they can do change the world. Her book gives a new hope and impetus to those who envision a better, healthier, more respected, and valued world. As a teacher I will use this book to encourage my students to make thoughtful choices in their lives.”
~ Judi Lindsey, from Christian Science Monitor Readers’ Picks

“Most Good, Least Harm is a self-reflective read, one that will leave you empowered, educated, and hopeful. It conveys a wealth of information, and excellent resource list, and is a welcome complement to the growing library of books that offer hope of healing the world — one individual, and one decision, at a time.”
~ VegNews, July/August 2009, p. 76.

“This book nicely ties together the principles of sustainability, animal welfare, environmentalism, simple living, and activism….[It provides] an excellent framework for someone to evaluate what they consider to be most important for a most good world, including an action plan for implementing a MOGO lifestyle.”
~ Tabita, Product Management Zen blog – Read the complete review.

“The wisdom of Most Good, Least Harm helps guide the reader to make mindful choices at each step of our daily lives, resulting in a collectively changed world.”
~ Lois A. Rogalski, New Age Retailer – Read the complete review.

“Clearly, creating a life of the highest integrity requires a great deal of introspection and the changes required can seem intimidating. But the author is not asking for overnight change; rather, she seeks to inspire us to think and act from a higher place and make the changes we feel we need to make, at our own pace and one at a time. MOGO is a process, and it’s one we urgently need.”
~ Sarah Irani, Ecosalon - Read the complete review.

“With an amazingly useful way of thinking and acting, Most Good, Least Harm is multi-faceted in its utility….The innovation in this book is…spreading a message of being socially, politically, and environmentally conscious when making decisions.”
~ Jordan Dacayanan, Sacramento Book Review – Read the complete review.

“Weil is inspiring. Her book is never for a single second judgmental or demeaning. There were isolated moments of feeling overwhelmed, but Weil’s humane intuition clearly guided her as she wrote – the moment you find yourself overwhelmed, Weil’s words are there to calm you. Most Good, Least Harm is like sitting with a really wise, close friend. She’ll tell you her opinion. She’ll tell you what’s right. But, she’ll never make you feel bad for being you. She’ll bite her tongue just enough to let you find your own course. And then she’ll be right there to congratulate you in the end. It’s MOGO, through and through. And you can be MOGO, too.”
~ Janelle Sorensen, Healthy Child, Healthy World blog – Read the complete review.

“…whether a concerned citizen, a parent, educator, or activist (or if you consider yourself in all of these ways), I can say with certainty that you will appreciate the wisdom and heart of Most Good, Least Harm: A Simple Principle for a Better World and Meaningful Life (aka MOGO, short for “most good”). MOGO is a thoughtful, brave and visionary work of art and author, Zoe Weil is a beacon of light and hope. Filled with hands-on practical tools including questionnaires, step-by-step action plans, facts and statistics and a plethora of intriguing personal stories, MOGO sets the novice environmental steward on a profound path and the old-timer on an equally thoughtful path.”
~ Dani Dennenberg, Northwest Earth Institute - Read the complete review. (PDF)


“Zoe Weil is a true educator with a fund of inspiring examples, a sound moral principle, and abundant common sense. Reading Most Good, Least Harm – and passing it on to others – will do lots of good and no harm.”
~ Peter Singer, author of Animal Liberation and professor of bioethics, Princeton University

“There is a deep and useful wisdom in this book. It is clean, courageous, and generous. Reading Most Good, Least Harm gave me a much greater understanding of how I can live a better life, a more conscious life, and a more joyful life.”
~ John Robbins, author of Diet for a New America, The Food Revolution, and Healthy at 100.

“Most Good, Least Harm is a brave, honest, important book. Zoe Weil not only teaches us how to think more comprehensively about today’s critical political, environmental and energy issues, but, more importantly, how to act more effectively. We learn about the necessity of personal engagement for the good of our communities, our democracy, and for the hope of a sustainable future. With facts and individual stories she shows us that the change in our behavior will be successful, not because of financial gain, but because of the deepening of joy and meaning in our lives.”
~ Robert Shetterly, artist

“By wedding a clarity of a new vision of community goodness with the clarity of meaningful citizen action, Zoe Weil’s amazing book is a recipe for saving the soul of America, and beyond. Most Good, Least Harm is a Must Read Now for everyone who wants to do something to make our country and the world a better place for the next generation, as well for all of us who have not been as effective as we could be in improving the human condition. It is a recipe for creating a nation of responsive social heroes, who collectively can achieve the positive changes we all desire.”
~ Dr. Philip G. Zimbardo, author of The Lucifer Effect.

“Zoe Weil’s pioneering book, Most Good Least Harm, offers a vision for how we cultivate a loving sense of appreciation for all forms of life. With a rare blend of wit, wisdom, and humility, she offers an inspiring roadmap for how to lead our lives in a way which brings balance to ourselves and the planet.”
~ Susan Feathers, executive director, John and Terry Levin Center for Public Services and Public Interest Law – Stanford Law School

“Zoe Weil’s beautifully distilled teaching is both hopeful and illuminates the way to a life that’s at once peaceful, purposeful and joyous. She offers potent medicine for the false and commonly-held belief that doing good requires personal sacrifice, and points the way to a path filled with congruence, reminding us that our inner and outer worlds are inextricably intertwined. She offers solid and clear prescriptions for a life well-lived, and one that is personally fulfilling and aligned, while recognizing the complexity of choices we all face, every day.”
~ Nina Simons, President and Co-Founder, Bioneers

“In a society where we often see ourselves as powerless to effect change, Zoe Weil provides a brilliant framework for leading us to a life of mindful choices, compassionate action and collective change. Most Good, Least Harm is a guide to blending spiritual activism, moral self-reflection and environmental concern for a more conscious life and a healthier planet.”
~ Gregg Krech, author of Naikan: Gratitude, Grace and the Japanese Art of Self-reflection