Maxim Books

I was first given this little book by the CEO of our company. I have given it away and replaced it numerous times. It is worth rereading annually as it helps us to remember all the things we already know - like "Keep Secrets, Remember People's Names, Don't Expect Money to Bring You Happiness and Never Eat the Last Cookie".

A real winner!

I ordered six of these as graduation presents for a group of high school students. Regardless of whether you are 17 or 70, though, this pithy collection of wisdom resonates and offers sound and inspiring insights for us all. The sayings range from Big Picture ("Don't expect life to be fair ..") to the micro (" Don't leave your car keys in the ignition.")

Not only a great and inexpensive gift book or stocking-stuffer, but a treat to dip into again and again!

Very insightful thoughts that teaches a lot of things.
A great buy for such a small book!

This is the second volume in a series. It is delightful, easy to read and full of practical wisdom. It can be read in one sitting. The suggestions(512) are short, one or two sentences and were written by Brown to his son. The gems of wisdom are what you typically think of as being handed down from generation to generation.

It should not be read an stuffed in the bookshelf. While we probably have heard or know most of these bits of wisdom, we do need to be reminded of the thoughts. So it is helpful to read them ever so often. The more you read them, the deeper your understanding and appreciation of these truths.

A few of my favorites:

Act with courtesy and fairness regardless of how others treat you. Don't let them determine your response.

Spend your time and energy creating, not critizing.

Keep your private thoughts private.

Treat your employees with the same respect you give your clients.

When you lose, don't lose the lesson.

The book is entertaining and enlightening. Well worth reading a few times a year.

There are literally dozens of these little books, or little books like this one around today. You can seem them on many a desk of offices across the country. Most of them are pretty good at best, and rather mundane at worse. This one though is quite a few notches above most of the pack. H. Jackson Brown Jr. has given us over 500 (511 to be exact), short bits of wisdom in the form of little one liners. I've read them all and to be frank, actually learned much from most of them and was reminded of a lot of things that have been pushed to the back of my mind over the years. These are little thoughts and zaps of wisdom that simply make your life more pleasing to live and most of them make you smile and feel a bit better. Little things like "floss your teeth everyday," sort of reminds me of my dad. Little things, yes, but don't all the little things all add up in our lives to make a whole? This is a great gift or a great buy for yourself. You will be richer for having read it.

These 300 maxims by the disobedient Jesuit of the 17th century are practical rules to live by if you would succeed in human society. While not rising (or sinking) to the level of Machiavellian, it must be stated that pragmatism is the guiding light behind this guide to advancement in life. It's not strictly immoral, and indeed Gracian urges the cultivation of virtue, but it also recognizes the fact that one's success depends on the approbation of a fickle, superficial and jealous humanity which sometimes has to be treated with guile, cunning and artifice when flattery, style and native talent just won't cut it. While the idealist might shrink from the book's subject matter, the realist will smile at its insightfulness.

I am afraid many supporters of Gracian will curse me for describing this "classic" as so so! How dare I criticize a Spanish masterpiece once translated by Schopenhauer! However, as a pragmatic self help book lover, I must say that the 300 maxims highly condensed in 171 content pages really do me little good. The maxims written nearly four centuries ago are alright, yet common sense nowadays, though common sense is not that common. Nevertheless, sorry to say that the absence of true core values behind those maxims (at least I cant grasp those, or at most per Maxim 300: In one word, be a saint), and many somehow contradictory maxims (perhaps I just dont understand them deep enough with the less than 100 words of elaboration for each maxim) really cut the value of the book. For sure it would be okay to read one, and re-read, which is necessary. But I am obliged to say that there are plenty of better alternatives to enhance your edge of survival in the world of concrete jungle.

Usually the beauty of a book like this is that the author has trancended the ego and offers insights from a spiritually elevated place, one to which we can all aspire. "The Art of Worldly Wisdom" at least acknowledges that much of what we want as ordinary humans is to get ahead; make more money, achieve fame, have more friends...basically have more than the next guy.

But the real challenge of life is the possibility of trancendance, the possibility of being something other than ordinary, the possibility of caring about something bigger than oneself. This book is enjoyable in that it tells it like it is, and with the abundance of feel good, sentimental, new-age quackery out there...that's refreshing. But in the final analysis it must be said that this book is nothing other than an eloquent reaction to fear. Listen to this bit of wisdom: "Let someone else take the hit. You will shield yourself from malevolence: sound policy in those who govern. Having someone else take the blame for failure and be the butt of gossip does not spring from a lack of ability, as malice thinks, but from superior skill. Not everything can turn out well, and you can't please everyone. So look for a scapegoat, someone whose own ambition will make him a good target." If that passes for wisdom, then I am the King of Siam reincarnated. I guess this is the supposedly "enlightened" self-interest that masquerades as a philosophy for living well in our culture.

This guy has never made it out of the "I need" phase of spiritual developement. The book is interesting as a period piece, but Balthazar Gracian lives in a simple and selfish world. Do you?

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A very small book--literally the size of a credit card, and only half an inch thick--of three-hundred maxims, covering practically all of the wisdom one needs to go through life. Each maxim covering less than a tiny page, often only half. (The size of THIS PARTICULAR EDITION is NOT meant to make one feel cheated of what one paid for. It IS meant to be COMPACT, to carry in the pocket or bag, for frequent reference, in brief quiet moments. There are hardcover versions around.)

Originally written in Spanish in 1637 by a Jesuit scholar, it has been translated into eight European languages. This one translated by another scholar and literary critic named Joseph Jacobs, who also collected folklores (including English and Celtic fairy tales, as well as the fables of Aesop).
This particular translation is known to preserve Gracian's epigrammatic style, including his word plays and puns, albeit later updated where necessary due to being unclear and/or dated in grammar and syntax, and revised in comparison with other known English versions.

In contrast to Machiavelli, who put CRUDE REALITY into words, Gracian is more on the side of a little IDEALISM and NOBILITY in living one's life. Which is not to say he aims for ASPHYXIA; much is given to living a happy life, part of which is giving oneself a break and a breather.

[NEGATIVE] A few maxims are of limited use for its obviousness--in essence, "sometimes go left, sometimes go right". (Uhm, aren't those ALL of the very choices from which one must pick? And doesn't EVERYBODY ALREADY know that.) The wisdom of everything else in the book in nonetheless undiminished.

The brevity (not concise; some maxims are translated rather long-windedly) of the maxims does not mean that they are to be read as many in one stretch. After all, the benefits only start when wisdom is absorbed and lived out. Best to read through a dozen at most at a time; re-read and re-read, giving each time to sink into the heart and mind; only then move onto the next dozen or two.

Quite ENLIGHTENING. Worth keeping one copy of. Or perhaps two--a hardcover edition, too, in one's library, work desk, coffee table or reception room . . . for anyone who might walk in or anyone being made to wait, and who could use the time literally wisely.
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Excellent book with many useful ideas for living in todays world.

Noblesse Oblige' or Noblus Obligus:

With Honor; Obligation

The Art of Courtly (Noble) Conduct

Ernest Hemingway changed the way people wrote. Victor Hugo, writing a mere fifty years before, has a sentence in 'Les Misrables' which spans two pages. After Hemingway, that, no one would dare.

The editors have culled virtually all Hemingway's remarks on writing. Very useful to have in one place. I bought this little book on publication in 1984 - been with me ever since. Unlike other writing manuals, this one can be read piecemeal - savored in bits - like the poetry of the craft it is.

Two favorites:

"The most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in, shockproof, sh[...]t detector." (famous)

"Eschew the monumental. Shun the Epic. All the guys who can paint great big pictures can paint great small ones."

Think of 'The Old Man And The Sea'. Epic - transcendent - speaks to almost all of us - probably, for almost all time. But, it's only a story about some old fisherman Hemingway may have known and the one that got away. May have even heard the storyline somewhere.

This is a review of the product (paperback version), not of the writing, nor of the editor's selections, which are well reviewed by other customers. I bought the book online so I did not get a chance to leaf through it before buying it. Had I been able to do so, I would probably not have bought it. The publisher has used every possible trick to stretch the limited quantity of material over as many pages as possible.

The main culprits are the huge margins. I measured the area of the page, and then the area used for printing the actual content (excluding the chapter and book names at the top and excluding the page number at the bottom) and found only 41% was being used. As a rough comparison, Stephen King's 'On Writing' (paperback version) uses almost 63% of the page.

Then there is the separator between quotations - over two centimeters for each. On pages containing three of them, almost 40% of the content area is taken up by these separators.

The first page of each chapter (there are thirteen chapters in a book of 140 pages) also wastes more space than necessary - 45% to 48% percent of the page is used for the chapter heading.

I could not enjoy this book because I was constantly distracted by the realization that I had bought a very small book dressed up to look much bigger.

I found the book interesting enough for a quick glance, but not fascinating enough to recommend it as a must-have. The book is comprised of excerpts from different sources that deal with the topic of writing. Since Hemingway never wrote extensively on the topic of writing, he considered it bad luck; this is the most thorough book on the subject for Hemingway fans. But BECAUSE Hemingway never wrote much on the subject, the reader has to settle for an incomplete tome on the subject of writing.
In conclusion this is the best book on Hemingway's thoughts on writing, but not a comprehensive book on the subject.

Eye-opening excerpts from many Hemingway letters to his closest friends, typos and all. Insightful and revealing. A must-have for any Hemingway fan or aspiring writer. Mice: Pick this up at your own peril. This is true Hemingway, he pulls no punches. Such a short read though, regrettably much too short, although the Hemingway gems scattered throughout this sparse booklet are still well worth the price. Being that he never intended this material to be published, it shows his honesty as a writer as much as it reveals in snapshot style, his honesty in how he lived and survived his short, magnificent life. It's editor (Phillips) unwittingly perhaps, might have made Hemingway proud after all. Including not one, but many of the truest sentences you'll ever read.

This book is little more than sentence fragments and out of context quotations attributed to Ernest Hemingway. This book is not the least bit useful to a person interested in learning to write better. This book is not useful to a person hoping to learn more about the life or character of Ernest Hemingway.

The book is 140 pages, but each page has almost as much white-space as text.

This book is a sham, a scam, a ruse. [...] Or perhaps "assembled" would be a better word. [...]

Save your money. Don't buy this book.

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R32UTBALIT3SLG

I loved this book. It contained a lot of great wisdom on investing, and life.

My husband & I take a lot of road trips, and listen to audio books to pass the time. This one was interesting enough, although somewhat repetitive. No earth shattering info, but funny at times.

Warren Buffet is a man of integrity. He is a true teacher about career, family, financial investment and life itself. This is a great book for everyone including accounting students, MBA grads, novice investor, and anyone who wants to save for retirements.

"The Tao of Warren Buffett" is a concise Bible of the world's most successful investor's thoughts on business, investing, and life! Its a wonderful read and I highly recommend it! The Buffett quotes are both enlightening and often very funny, and the commentary to the quotes is aimed at giving the reader greater insight into Buffett's investment methods. I particulary found this comment insightful:

"The key to Warren's success is that he has been able to identify exactly what the economic characteristics of a wonderful business are - a business that has durable competitive advantage that owns a piece of the consumer's mind. When you think of gum you think of Wrigley, when you think of discount store you think of Wall-Mart, and when you think of a cold beer you think of Coors or Budweiser. This elevated position creates their economic power."

It is simply one of the most entertaining and enlightening investment books out there!

I have this book on my desk at work. As my staff comes into my office, I make it a practice to read the daily words of inspiration. It creates a positive atmosphere in my working environment.

Yoga is so much more than just Asanas. And this book reminds you of that. Another great book by Judith. A must have for those gentle reminders. This book is also great for those of you teaching yoga. Share these great little clips with your class.

I love this book! it's tiny, so you can fit it in your yoga bag, and has an inspirational way to live your yoga everyday. It came in great condition, and pretty quickly.

I really enjoyed this nice little book. It helped me to start my day in a great way.

This small hardback book falls under the category of "calendar book" and is also what I term a "bathroom book."

You don't sit down and read this like a novel - what you get are tiny, thoughtful blurbs, one for each date of they year, about bringing yoga into all areas of your life.

Sometimes the book is a bit too simple with nuggets like: You need a red pair of shoes! Drive the speed limit! Or, chocolate is sacred and you deserve to eat some!

And there are a lot of family-oriented homilies such as reminders to model behavior for your grandchildren. This is a wasted day if you don't have children, much less grandkids! But in the days where something does not apply to me I try to mentally replace the words, as in, "model behavior for your nieces," or just flip around to find a blurb that speaks to me instead of the one slotted for that particular date.

The VAST majority of the daily aphorisms (teachings) are quite thoughtful, providing good spiritual reminders towards bringing your yoga practice into your daily existence. Sometimes I resist these little "daily dose" type books as simplistic and honey, but this one is worthwhile.

For example, September 23 reminds us the nature of the mind is to be agitated. The author gently reminds us in an aphorism about meditation that this is to be expected, and that's it's better to *be* with your mental agitation than to try to control or eliminate it. June 29th just recently reminded me to love people in spite of themselves, in spite of myself (a very useful daily mantra when seeking peace in all kinds of frustrating interactions).

One can use this book also as an adjunct to writing in a personal yoga journal. If I wasn't lazy about journaling, I think I'd find that pretty useful. :)

More uses: this would be a very nice gift book for anyone exploring yoga. It would make a good by the bedside kind of book, for people to meditate on these ideas upon arising or before sleep. Or take the book along on any mass transit commutes, to read and think when traveling.

As for myself, I keep it in the bathroom, so I may mull over my relationship with the teachings as I sit on the throne. :)

Here is a "time travel" adventure without time travel as the hero relives the past through visions of ancestral memories. A good plot, interesting characters, and well-written. My only reason for not giving this five stars was that it becomes a bit overlong. This book could have said and done all it had and still been had 80% less verbose. The author is recommended to all readers. I liked some of his other books a little bit better - especially "Shadow Box." You can count on John R Maxim for a good read every time out.

I struggled with writing this review, only giving three stars amidst all of the five star reviews. I wondered what about the book that I missed. I approached the book with great enthusiasm. The concept was very intriguing. And while the book, in the end, was satisfying, I struggled at times maintaining interest. I'm not completely sure whther it was Maxim's writing style (this is only the second book of his that I've read) or whether I simply tired of flashbacks after a few chapters. Surprisingly, about half the way through the book, the 1980's excerpts were holding my attention while the 1880's excerpts seemed repetitive and occasionally uninteresting. That caught me by surprise, because an interest in the 1880's era is what attracted me to the book in the first place. Jonathan Corbin is a wonderful character. Tilden Beckwith was simply not as interesting.

Serendipity - an unexpected pleasant occurrence. That's this book for me. I had hoped for a standard thriller, having never
read this author before. What I ended up with was a book that had me totally hooked in the first 10 pages. Followed by intricate plotting, intelligent observation and real excitement. I am an instant fan and will be trying his other works.

I loved this book!! I was into it by the first few pages. Better yet the first paragraph grabbed me right away. I would highly recommend this to all John Maxim fans plus all fans of time travel novels. Being a native New Yorker I found it fascinating to read about this city back in the 1800's. Run to your nearest book store or get on amazon.com asap, you won't regret it.

Without question, the best mix of time-travel and love for both the city and the people in it is Jack Finney's Time and Again. Time and Again is the book Maxim wished he had written. Every page of Time Out of Mind reminded me of how each situation was better handled and more interesting in Finney's book and it's sequel.

Certainly there are differences between Maxim and Finney, but its clear who Maxim read while thinking about his book. Time Out of Mind is ok, but instead of having to time travel back and stop yourself from potentially wasting valuable time, grab some of Maxim's other books... and while you are at it, grab a copy of Finney's Time and Again.

I am the co-founder of "Animal Place," and I enjoyed this book.

I really got into this book. It was a present that I actually liked. Now I'm going to investigate this info. further. Made me feel guilty, when I usually think I'm pretty good.

I'm the Assistant Director of Programs for the American Anti-Vivisection Society. I thought it's a great book and worth passing the word around about it.

I found this book engrossing in a depressing sort of way. It's sad we are still basically exploiting other living beings just because we can dominate them. Then we pompously rationalize how this horror is justified. I bet if Christ came back to earth again, we would crucify Him again, for sure.

This little gem is packed with amazing quotes and stats. Awealth of information on animal rights issues.

Let's give credit where credit's due. Mark Twain would give it to Robert Green Ingersoll, America's great agnostic. Read Colonel Bob's many lectures and you'll see what I mean.

This "compilation" is more for a STUDENT of MT, then for someone casually reading his finer, posthumously-published works. If you are in a college literature class, then this is probably a textbook in it. If not, it's probably TOO "academic" to be digested in one sitting.

I am a fan of Mark Twain and have read all of his major works: Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer, Connecticut Yankee, Prince and the Pauper, etc... and so I was excited to discover this book at my local library. After reading it I realized why it is not as well-known as the other works; it is not as entertaining, endearing, humorous, or heart-wrenching. In short, this book is a collection of several writings. These include Twain's writings on the Bible, and commentaries written by others on Twain's writings on the Bible. The former is not one continuous work, but actually several different works written to parallel different parts of the Bible, primarily the Old Testament. The most notable of these is the story that mocks Genesis. Told from both Adam's and Eve's point of view, it retells the Genesis story and the life of the first humans with a touch of wit, dry humor, sarcasm, and ribaldness. Though funny at times, and probably at the edge of decency when they were first published, the humor and points made in these stories are nothing significant in today's world. All in all an alright edition to the canon on Twain.

In this book Mark Twain aims his satire at favorite stories from the Old Testament. He worked on these essays for most of his life but was afraid their irreverent nature would damage his career, therefore, he just kept re-writing and re-editing them. Most of them were not published until after his death and for some this is their introduction.

Adam and Eve, in their diaries, present bittersweet divergent stories of their dysfunctional relationship. Their accounts could be prototypes from a marriage counsellor's office, or short versions of "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus."

Captain Stormfield has a dream about ending up in Heaven when he thought he was going to the other place. "He was deeply religious, by nature and by the training of his mother, and a fluent swearer by the training of his father." In this original and inventive story, we learn all those things about heaven that were left out of the Bible - but would be included in an imaginary book, "How to experience Heaven in six weeks on $10 a day."

An "Etiquette in the Afterlife" excerpt: "Do not try to show off. St. Peter dislikes it. The simpler you are dressed, the better it will please him. Above all things, avoid overdressing. A pair of spurs and a fig-leaf is plenty...leave your dog outside. Heaven goes by favor. If it went by merit, you would stay outside and the dog would go in."

In the masterpiece, "Letters From The Earth," Satan has been temporarily expelled from heaven and is wandering around the universe. On a lark, he decides to visit earth, an outlying little spot in an outlying galaxy that God had once played around with for a few days. Satan is astounded at what he finds, and writes home:

"This is a strange place, an extraordinary place, and interesting. There is nothing resembling it at home. The people are all insane, the other animals are all insane, the Earth is insane. Man is a marvelous curiosity. When he is at his best he is a sort of low grade nickel-plated angel; at his worst he is unspeakable, unimaginable; and first and last and all the time he is a sarcasm. Yet he blandly and in all sincerity calls himself the 'noblest work of God'...if I may put another strain on you - he thinks he is the Creator's pet. He believes the Creator's proud of him; sits up nights to admire him; yes, and watch over him and keep him out of trouble. He prays to Him, and thinks He listens. Isn't it a quaint idea? Fills his prayers with crude and bald and florid flatteries of Him, and thinks He sits and purrs over these extravagancies and enjoys them. He prays for help, and favor, and protection, every day; and does it with hopefulness and confidence, too, although no prayer of his has ever been answered...he thinks he's going to heaven! He has salaried teachers who tell him that. They also tell him there is a hell, of everlasting fire, and that he will go there if he doesn't keep the Commandments."

Of course, Noah makes an entertaining appearance, and through it all, Mark Twain has an opportunity to expound about those things in the Old Testament that do not quite make sense to him.

The authors offer scholarly histories about these essays for those who are interested. When they finally let loose with the words of Mark Twain, the reader feels a breath of fresh air. This is a fine collection of satires on religion by perhaps America's premier homespun author; a very definite five stars, and well worth your time.

Its facinating how religious fanatics blindly believe every fairytale putforth in a fiction book written by early man with one hell of an imagination. Even when Mark Twain has ripped their world apart with deductive reasoning they will still hold on to their primitive beliefs with a vengence. Enuf of the soap box, I luv how this author gets deep into some of the Bibles fallicies and reveals it in a straight forward and sometimes comical manner. The story in paticular of God sending Moses to ravage the Midinaites slaughtering innocent men women and children even the livestock and houses and selling the young girls into prostitution has touched me deeply. Would I personally believe in a murderous vengefull God, Not unless I was brainwashed from early childhood and cud seriously overlook these atrocities and blindly believe everything I was force fed.
I wud reccomend this book to every one sitting on a fence wondering and thinking about things that dont make sense. I cant get off that soap box.

Edler did a wonderful job gathering these quotes. They are very helpful. I read it one or two of its quotes every day. You should have it!

My father and Mr. Edler were friends for over 25 years. Unfortunately, Mr. Edler passed away recently. It was a loss.

I am writing this not just to set jastraub straight, as anyone who is capable of thinking rationally will see that jastraub's opinion is lacking of qualification. While it is possible he or she is very knowledgable about business there is no evidence of this in his or her comments.

I must admit I am biased regarding any of the books or projects that Mr. Edler was a part of. Not just because I knew him, but my father is one of the contributors to the book. I remember when I got a copy of the book before it was released. I was a 25-year-old police officer at the time. I have learned a great deal from "If" over the years. I keep one copy in my bedroom and a copy as a reader in my guest bathroom. While I cannot speak for Mr. Edler I believe that he wrote this book to help people in not only their career, but in life. If I am not mistaken all of his works were of a similar nature. I strongly recommend "Through the Valley", also by Mr. Edler. This is an excellent book for anyone, especially those involved in fields or situations where there is unexpected death (hospitals, law enforcement, etc.)

Thank you for reading my review. Take care.

It is an eclectic series of insightful one paragraph-ish stories. You can whiz through this on one plane ride.

There are a great many good books that share insight from business leaders on how young want-to-be-executives can advance through the ranks, unfortunately this isn't one of them.

On the positive side, there are a number of excellent quotes within the book, ranging from a suggestion of managing time by opening mail at 4:30 PM and thus not loosing control of your day every time a so-called emergency occurs to encouraging everyone to take more risks. The quotes are arranged into sections by their relevance to a particular topic. These topics include "things you should know", "things you'll be better off knowing", "things you'll be nicer off knowing" and "things learned the hard way". Edler does an exceptional job explaining some of the more cryptic or just incredibly short quotes.

Unfortunately, filling the 200-or-so pages not containing valuable insight are repeated suggestions to spend more time with family and find religion. While these topics are obviously important to their contributors, one really has to wonder if these people would be where they are now, if they had taken their own advice. Moreover, while the suggestions are clearly valid, they really don't need to be repeated numerous times throughout the book; some editorial discursion should have been exercised.

The 242 page book will take most readers only about an hour to complete, as many pages contain only 25-50 words, in very large print (note that this is not designed to be a "big print" book as Edler's side-column notes are generally printed in a very small print). Moreover, many of these "CEOs and Other Smart Executives" are virtual unknowns, like many of the companies that they work for. There are some pleasant surprises buried within, but much is simply filler.

If you are looking for a waxing, philosophical guide to living what the contributors feel would have been a better life, for them, then this is the book for you. If on the other hand, you are looking for a book about how to advance through the ranks, and become the successor to one of these contributors, you would be better served elsewhere.

Reading the book I guarantee, that every single reader will find at least one idea, advice or thought useful or important... Many of these ideas are absolutely new, were not published in quotation books. (I worked for a publisher, and we published several quotation books... I know, what's "out there".)
And if you only find one important thought in this stunning collection, don't you think it was worth to read it?

I came upon this book in a health food store and fell in love with it. It has become a book that I read a few pages in every Sunday morning. The book gives me permission to put myself first in my life without any guilt. How many of us don't! I have bought copies for my daughters and all of my close friends. I would highly recommend it!

This book is gold! The author writes a couple of profound sentences per page that gets the reader thinking about their own life. A simple book with such a big impact.

This is a simple book, yet a nice one. Each page has a very brief message, some more profound than others, but all with a theme of honoring our feelings and our worth. It is a quick read, and is a good source of
"instant inspiration".

I love this little book. The thoughts are so true, even to the statement the author makes that everything she says may not be for you. I have read my copy many times and now I am coming back to get copies for others. These are not new ideas, really, but they are old ideas restated in a sincere and helpful way.

When I first received this book, I just openned to a page and ouch, it hit my heart what Ms McMillen wrote. Then I picked a different page to read and again felt that ouch in my heart. What she wrote was so appropriate to how I was feeling for myself, as if she was with me the entire day and wrote words that would help myself be stronger. It's a wonderful book, I ended up buying more to give as gifts for those I love.