Quotations Books

I bought the book for one of my gothic friends thinking it was about misery but when I opened it up I was entranced by the quotes. I don't view it as a negative book even though most of the quotes are not cheerful. It makes you think and it was very captivating to see how some of my favorite authors had hidden meanings in their writing which I did not see until it was taken from the context as a quote. I great book for those who are into quotes and looking into a different type of reading material.

If you are a nihilist or are just interested (or curious -I know I was) in nihilism then you should definately check out this book. I got mine at the library and ended up buying multiple copies. It helps me put forth evidence in essays and other things I write of how nihilism has been present through out the ages.

Excellent Work by Grambs! If you need the cutting edge of literary description of anything from homes to people in incessant and meticulous detail. In fact, of my expansive and elaborate literary library, it is my favorite! Undeniably the best work for a beginning writer. Undeniably the best resource for writers needing to talk shop with their own souls. Irrepressible, benevolent, indeliable to the articulation of the imagination! Buy it Today!

Cameron Rowe

Gramb's Describer's Dictionary is one of the finest books written about the written word. It's a dictionary, but it is much more than that. It's important to note the subtitle of this book (A Treasury of Terms and Literary Quotations for Readers and Writers) because this subtitle gets to the heart of what makes this book so special.

To begin, this dictionary/book lists over 2,000 useful words for describing things, animals, and people to include the following subgroups: shapes, patterns, surface and textures, size, position, relation, proportion, emblems, symbols, light, colors, building structures, terrain and landscape, climate, clouds, species adjectives (e.g., bovine and many many more), types, technical terminology, perceived attractiveness, body types, face, heads, hair, eyes, noses, ears, mouths, lips, teeth, skin coloring, hand, fingers, legs, knees, feet, jaws, walk, voices, necks, mannerisms, general appearance, and more. In other words, this dictionary will help reader, writer, and observer to economically and accurately identify his (or her) surroundings.
Just one look at the pages of this book should be enough to hook those who enjoy the art of description.

There are some great words in this book (some common, but many underused useful words are listed as well--even the most well-versed will find hundreds of gems in this book), but what really makes this book essential for those interested in accurately (and beautifully) describing their surroundings is Gramb's inclusion of passages from great literature. This gives the reader a real sense for how powerful (and beautiful) words are. Authors on display include Carver, Twain, Cummings, Updike, Baldwin, Percy, Dickens, Melville, Hawthorne, Woolf, Faulkner, Joyce, Orwell, Nabokov, and many more.

Those interested in words, description, and great writing will love this book. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

This book should convince most readers that reading the Desert Fathers (and Mothers) is enjoyable religious reading for the common spiritual seeker. The translations and the art accompanying them create a presentation that will appeal easly to those who enjoy the collections of Anthony de Mello, Idries Shah, various Jewish collections, Zen Buddhist stories ...

The tales and sayings themselves are short and evocative. For example: "Abba John the Little said: We have abandoned a light burden, namely self-criticism, and taken up a heavy burden, namely self-justification." It is accompanied by a picture in Japanese style with two women carrying loads on their head (sticks and basket) and two men with Sumo wrestler builds with large, heavy loads. The picture is as effective as the story at drawing the reader into the story.

After reading these stories, read Roberta Bondi's excellent theological introduction To Love as God Loves and the translations of additional tales by Merton, Ward and others.

Yushi Nomura has put together a collection of roughly 100 sayings from the 4th and 5th century monks that we now collectively refer to as the Desert Fathers. In addition, each saying is illustrated with Japanese style brush drawings, which gives this collection a distinctive flavor when compared to either the collections by Thomas Merton or Helen Waddell.

This is not a comprehensive collection of sayings. Rather it serves as a superb introduction to this body of Christian literature. The sayings of the Desert Fathers are characterized by their pithy and direct nature. You will not find abstract theologizing here; the desert was a place where the hard realities of living the Christian life - humility, hospitality, forgiveness, failure, mindfulness of everyday things - were confronted every day.

Originally published in 1982, this new edition from Orbis includes a wonderful epilogue based on Henri Nouwen's unpublished lecture notes for a course on "Desert Spirituality and Contemporary Ministry" that he taught at Yale in the early 1980's. It was Nouwen's course that introduced Nomura to the literature of the desert and began the process that led to this book.

Nomura's collection was my first introduction to the Desert Fathers back around 1984. The book has long held a special place in my heart, and I am overjoyed to see it reissued.

when I started to read this book I read the whole thing in one sitting.

Perhaps because he's Canadian (so am I, but I'm completely objective here), Kinsella has a superb understanding of the psyche of baseball -- which is truly America's national sport.

It's not all that odd. Alexis de Tocqueville, from France, wrote "Democracy in America" in (1835 and 1840), still the most penetrating and insightful view of the character and core values of American democracy. It took Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw to best understand the English -- no Englishman could write "Pygmalion" upon which "My Fair Lady" is based.

Novelist Bernard Malamud summed it up nicely, "The whole history of baseball has the quality of mythology." In about 150 quotes, this book brings that mythology to life.

Kinsella is a master observer of baseball. His "Shoeless Joe" became the classic "Field of Dreams" in 1989, the best film yet about the spirit that motivates boys and men to play, watch, understand and love baseball. This is a story of redemption and faith in the best American tradition, and the film captures the magic of Kinsella's story.

Baseball is not like other sports. It is a game in which each individual player faces the entire opposing team alone, in batting and base running to score points. Think of Canada's ice hockey in similar terms -- requiring a single player to face nine opponents to score a goal. It's tough enough to "kill a penalty" in hockey when a team is one player short; hockey, like most sports, is a team effort.

Baseball reflects the American spirit, a "lone eagle" against the world. Yet, it is also the poetry in action of superb teamwork; from pitching to fielding, from the subtle grace of a curve ball to a double or triple play, it has the grace of a lyrical ballet perfomed on fresh mown grass instead of a dull indoor stage.

In a world of factoids, sound bites and trivia, "Diamonds Forever" collects the best sayings about baseball by players, fans and others. Kinsella's skill is knowing what to include and what to omit, and he offers up the meaning of life as well as the inner qualities of baseball. Like Tocqueville who understood American democracy before Americans could define it, Kinsella offers an outsider's view of the magic that makes baseball the quintessential American sport.

Baseball isn't automatic success. Thomas Boswell wrote, "If you do everything right, you'll still lose 40 percent of your games -- but you'll also end up in the World Series." Ted Williams said much the same, "Baseball is the only field of endeavour where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer."

Tired of being criticized ? Reggie Jackson noted, "Fans don't boo nobodies." It's why, as Humphrey Bogart noted, "A hot dog at the ball park is better than steak at the Ritz." Casey Stengel of the Yankees offered the surest wisdom for a happy life, "The secret of managing is to keep the guys who hate you away from the guys who are undecided."

As broadcaster Bryant Gumbel said, "The other sports are just sports. Baseball is a love." Or look at it philosophically by Dagwood Bumstead (drawn by Chic Young), "Baseball, my son, is the cornerstone of civilization." Perhaps Hall of Fame catcher Roy Campanella expressed it best, "You gotta be a man to play baseball for a living but you gotta have a lot of little boy in you."

True enough. Baseball is a game for those who have the enthusiasm and faith of little boys - - who know everything is possible. It's why only Americans have walked on the moon, it's why the US is what it is today.

Kinsella, like Tocqueville, understands the spirit of baseball. It makes this book eminently worth buying. Beg, buy or borrow it, read it, think about it and remember the best of its quotes for a perceptive insight into America and her game.

As for the title of this review, it was originally said by sports writer Red Smith. It's like America itself, as expressed by pitcher Satchel Paige, "Ain't no man can avoid being born average, but there ain't no man got to be common."

Now . . . . . as an afterthought - - - why doesn't some public spirited American do the same for Canada and hockey ?

Reviewed by: Tyrone Banks of Betsie's Literary Page
Highly Recommended
5 out of 5 points

A daughter's tribute to her father's love to be shared with your family.

Joe Connally kept a diary in which he faithfully recorded the daily activities of his young daughter, Alice Mary. Joe lost his wife and Alice Mary lost her mother on December 31,1943. During this time, although surrounded by family, Joe and Alice Mary shared a special bond that was created by Alice Sr.'s untimely death. This diary chronicles the daily events as they unfolded during the World War II era as seen through Joe's eyes and Alice Mary's memories.

This book is definitely a touching tribute to the love between a parent and their offspring. As I read through the pages I felt as if I lived during that era and experienced the turmoil and tranquility firsthand. I could see a lot of my daughter's characteristics in the young Alice Mary and this book touched my soul in a special way.

Alice Mary has paid tribute to her father and she has created something that will live on forever in print. The diary entries are separated by quotes, anecdotes and even the last words of famous personalities. It is a very entertaining and smooth read that you will definitely enjoy. The plot is just as uncertain as life itself and as you read the pages you experience the spontaneous emotions and feelings that have always been a part of human life, but from a unique standpoint.

What I take from this book is this. Love your loved ones and cherish them as if they will be gone tomorrow. No one's time on earth is promised and each moment is a precious entry in the diary that chronicles your life experiences. I commend the author for committing this work to print and I thank her for sharing this personal experience with us.

This is such a good book. I sat down and started to read, not intending to finish it right away. Well I got through the first few pages and I was so interrested I couldn't put it down! This book will make you laugh, cry and feel as though you could have been there, at that point in time. I recommend this to anyone who loves a good read and is interrested in the stories of real people living in the past!

Fred Levit's book is far and away the most helpful and complete Dickens glossary I've been able to find anywhere. I work with high school students who read at various points A Christmas Carol, Great Expectations and David Copperfield. Dickens's vocabulary is one of the most extensive of any author's, and it isn't hard for a student to wind up with at best a foggy idea of what's going on at key points, and at worst in a state of total bewilderment, slogging blindly through the swamp. Earlier dictionaries and glossaries we found ranged from completely unhelpful to mildly helpful. With this impeccably researched glossary as a guide, students are now able to navigate the material with a far greater degree of certainty, not to mention a tremendously enhanced appreciation for the richness of the language. I thought I was fairly knowledgeable on the subject myself until I started cross-checking some of my earlier assumptions. My own love for Dickens increased correspondingly. The book gets an A+. No reader of Dickens should be without it.

A glossary that's fun to read. Contains words and expressions that I've not been able to find in any dictionary. Makes reading Dickens an even greater pleasure!

A Dictionary of Cinema Quotations From Filmmakers And Critics by Stephen Ringler. Not a movie quotes or snatches-of-dialogue book, this is instead an unparalleled source for the best quotations ever uttered by those involved in the filmmaking business.

Brilliant observations and witticisms by Hollywood's best and brightest, covering over 100 years. Mostly zingers you've never heard before (where did Ringler find all these?!) Peerless in its selection, this book entertains, enlightens and illuminates like no other. A costly little commodity for its 207 pages, it makes up for it in the sheer quality of its 3,400 entries. A few worthy examples:

"I always thought the actors were hired to ruin the writers' lives." - Robert Benton

"Audiences attract dollars; stars attract audiences; characters attract stars." - David Geffner

"Show business is high school plus money." - Stephen Speilberg

"Hollywood never learns from its own failures, only other people's successes." - Robert Redford

The top tome on my movie book shelf.

Writers, critics, toastmasters and others involved in the film industry will find this book useful for supplying quotes from the industry's best. And the book's organization and index supply all the buttons to gain access to what you're looking for.

But beware, all who are looking for a quickie quote. You'll open a page that's just your subject and come up for air hours later. The book might be great as a reference tool, but it's also wonderfully entertaining.

In the course of competitive debate, there arises a need for quotations to support one's point of view. Reading the actual books and excerpting them takes far more time than is available, so summaries become necessary. This leaves one two options: quote dictionaries or 'beginner's guides.' the latter include few actual quotations, just the voice of some omniscient narrator stating his opinion. quote dictionaries have a diffeent failing: they are full of 'literary merit' and 'popular idiom', but they contain relatively few quotations of actual substance. this book is the answer. it is so well edited that i could follow the philosophers entire train of thought in his own words without parentheticals. it even includes an excellent index and is very modestly priced for a book of this magnitude. if you've ever had the desire to understand all the philosophers, great and obscure, in their own words, then reference them handily, this is the book for you.

Since the dawn of time there have been many great thinkers who have discussed may great topics. It would take me many more years than I have to find my through all of their readings. Therefore, I have been searching for a tool that can help me to navigate philosophical thought. This text does it well, Alfred Jules Ayer and Jane O'grady, who have already traveled down the same road that I am just starting on, have put together a incomparable piece of literature that can serve as a "roadmap" if you will, of philosophical thought. With this, I can read summaries of many thinkers readings and use the maticulous reference section to obtain the works of the thinkers who have most intrigued me. It also is listed alphabetically by authors name rather than topic which seems to be the standard for most other philosophical reference guides. This will provide the more experienced philosophers an excellent reference guide with a different means of query.

I've always enjoyed proverbs and their many cousins such as sayings,one-liners,dictums,aphorisms,maxims,epigrams or whatever else you want to call them. In my reveiws ,I don't generally try to write a summary of what is in a book,and this ne would certainly not be one I would like to get started on.
Yes, I actually read through all of them, and it took many sittings,if you get my drift. How many of these things are there,who knows? I would suggest that 6,ooo only scratches the surface. With their love and use of language ,I am sure you could find that many alone in Ireland,or might even I suggest one County in that fair land.Then there are the Jewish ones,I'd suggest 6,000 is just getting started. It isn't just centuries of a culture where we find the wonderful use of language and thinking;all we got to do is to look at the Deep South and the Redneck culture of America;and that's just from a couple of hundred years.
As you go through this book,you'll be wondering if it includes some of your favorites. Generally,I found most of those that I've heard many times. However; there were thousands that were new to me. Some ,you had to think over a bit ,especially where strange words from the past are involved. I did however,keep looking for one of my all-ime favorites,but didn't come across it; "If ifs and ands were pots and pans,there' be no need for Tinkers". Come to think of it,I didn't see any about tinkers
cobblers,jockeys,drunks,cowboys,hilbillys,the little people,cabbies,and on and on.I first thought perhaps this edition may have suffered from an overdose of Political Correctness,(come to think of it, there were none about that either); but then if you think of all those ones included about wives,women ,mistresses ,and particularly in Section 184 Women; you just gotta give Rosa Fergusson credit for not letting PC agendas get in the way of common sense. With a name like Fergusson ,you can bet nobody's gonna tell her what to do. Atta
Girl!!
One of my big interests is Birding,and just for fun ,I counted
at least 77 that involved birds.Then how about my interest in Proverbs and combining it with Birds? What do you know..how's this!
"A proverb is shorter than a bird's beak."
I was surprised that there was no section devoted to Books or
Reading;but there are many scattered throughout . The Index is a help for finding ones on books,but probably not all inclusive.However; there is no reference to any on Reading in the Index.
On the subject of writing,there is Section 188,with 18 Proverbs. As book lovers know,this just scratches the surface.
My favorite one here is;
"You cannot open a book without learning something."
Chinese Proverb

An excellent reference ,but also very enjoyable to just sit back and read. However;I would suggest that if you find some that you may want to find again,you may want to jot the number down in the back of the book.
The numbering system used is excellent for this purpoce. This book is a real 'keeper'.

The book of answers. Answers are what this book gives. It's a collection of all the wise and unwise advice ever given. Easy to use, easy to read and easy to remember what it says. If you were stuck on an island, all you'd need is this gem of a book to get through the emotional turmoil. It's a book you'll never finish, but always enjoy!

This is a very informative book. I liked it very much because it tells us information on the food of the Elizabethan age. It also has numerous recipes, that are easy to follow. I used this book to do a report, and i got most of my information on it. It tells the rituals, diet, and other little tidbits of information. It is very hard to find good information on the food and drink of the Elizabethan age in many books, muchless one thick book. this bok has all of the information you would ever need on the food and drink of the Elizabethan age.

This is a very informative book. I liked it very much because it tells us information on the food of the Elizabethan age. It also has numerous recipes, that are easy to follow. I used this book to do a report, and i got most of my information on it. It tells the rituals, diet, and other little tidbits of information. It is very hard to find good information on the food and drink of the Elizabethan age in many books, muchless one thick book. this bok has all of the information you would ever need on the food and drink of the Elizabethan age.