A well-thought-out compilation that offers many intriguing insights.
Jones presents a collection of wise words from famous names and sources throughout history.
This book of quotations includes chapters on topics such as “War & Peace,” “Science & Technology,” and “Education.” Each chapter includes musings by a wide range of famous figures, from Oprah Winfrey to Socrates to Joseph Conrad. The topic of “Government, Politics & Social Justice” includes such varied sources as Benjamin Franklin (“Pardoning the bad is injuring the good”) and Margaret Thatcher (“When people are free to choose, they choose freedom”). “Creativity, Innovation & Curiosity” quotes filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille (“Creativity is a drug I cannot live without”) and novelist Ellen Glasgow (“No idea is so antiquated that it was not once modern. No idea is so modern that it will not someday be antiquated”). Each chapter includes further commentary from Jones. On the contents of “Spirituality, Faith & Philosophy,” he points out that “we are warned not to lose our leisure if we want to retain our souls.” Additional elements include the intriguing “Great Minds Think Alike,” in which Gore Vidal is credited with “A work of art is never finished; it is only abandoned” and George Lucas with “Films are never completed, they are abandoned.” Sports figures Bobby Unser, John McEnroe, and Tommy Lasorda all share thoughts on the desire to win, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Cicero, Woodrow Wilson, and George Bernard Shaw offer views on the responsibilities of liberty. “Wisdom Meditations” provide readers with an opportunity to use ideas from several sources to focus on a “Central Question,” such as “What is happiness?” or “Why am I not more creative?”
Much of the content is undeniably thought provoking. For example, “Humor & the Immortal Yogi Berra” includes an insightful remark from Shaw: “When a thing is funny, search it carefully for a hidden truth.” A page devoted to “The Many Sides of Failure” contains familiar gems such as “Failure is the fertilizer of success” from motivational speaker Denis Waitley. Although the idea is nothing new, hearing it from a group of successful people has real impact. Some quotes, though, are perhaps a bit too recognizable to have much power; J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Not all those who wander are lost,” from The Fellowship of the Ring, or Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s “Well-behaved women seldom make history,” appear in many similar collections. Nevertheless, what sets this book apart from others is the author’s clear goal for readers to make complex connections and learn something from it all. Each chapter contains recommendations for other chapters, and the “Wisdom Meditations” offer a novel way of thinking deeply on various questions. The emphasis is not on simply reading the quotes for fun, but on using them in practical ways. As the author concludes, “Wisdom’s true value becomes realized when we put it into action.” Overall, this is certainly not just a random assortment of quotes, since it allows for contemplation in a carefully curated way.
A well-thought-out compilation that offers many intriguing insights.Pub Date: May 5, 2024
ISBN: 9780998324029
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Dreamquest Publishing
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
An important dialogue at a fraught time, emphasizing mutual candor, curiosity, and respect.
Two bestselling authors engage in an enlightening back-and-forth about Jewishness and antisemitism.
Acho, author of Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man, and Tishby, author of Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth, discuss many of the searing issues for Jews today, delving into whether Jewishness is a religion, culture, ethnicity, or community—or all of the above. As Tishby points out, unlike in Christianity, one can be comfortably atheist and still be considered a Jew. She defines Judaism as a “big tent” religion with four main elements: religion, peoplehood, nationhood, and the idea of tikkun olam (“repairing the world through our actions”). She addresses candidly the hurtful stereotypes about Jews (that they are rich and powerful) that Acho grew up with in Dallas and how Jews internalize these antisemitic judgments. Moreover, Tishby notes, “it is literally impossible to be Jewish and not have any connection with Israel, and I’m not talking about borders or a dot on the map. Judaism…is an indigenous religion.” Acho wonders if one can legitimately criticize “Jewish people and their ideologies” without being antisemitic, and Tishby offers ways to check whether one’s criticism of Jews or Zionism is antisemitic or factually straightforward. The authors also touch on the deteriorating relationship between Black and Jewish Americans, despite their historically close alliance during the civil rights era. “As long as Jewish people get to benefit from appearing white while Black people have to suffer for being Black, there will always be resentment,” notes Acho. “Because the same thing that grants you all access—your skin color—is what grants us pain and punishment in perpetuity.” Finally, the authors underscore the importance of being mutual allies, and they conclude with helpful indexes on vernacular terms and customs.
An important dialogue at a fraught time, emphasizing mutual candor, curiosity, and respect.Pub Date: April 30, 2024
ISBN: 9781668057858
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Simon Element
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A conversational, pleasurable look into McConaughey’s life and thought.
All right, all right, all right: The affable, laconic actor delivers a combination of memoir and self-help book.
“This is an approach book,” writes McConaughey, adding that it contains “philosophies that can be objectively understood, and if you choose, subjectively adopted, by either changing your reality, or changing how you see it. This is a playbook, based on adventures in my life.” Some of those philosophies come in the form of apothegms: “When you can design your own weather, blow in the breeze”; “Simplify, focus, conserve to liberate.” Others come in the form of sometimes rambling stories that never take the shortest route from point A to point B, as when he recounts a dream-spurred, challenging visit to the Malian musician Ali Farka Touré, who offered a significant lesson in how disagreement can be expressed politely and without rancor. Fans of McConaughey will enjoy his memories—which line up squarely with other accounts in Melissa Maerz’s recent oral history, Alright, Alright, Alright—of his debut in Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused, to which he contributed not just that signature phrase, but also a kind of too-cool-for-school hipness that dissolves a bit upon realizing that he’s an older guy on the prowl for teenage girls. McConaughey’s prep to settle into the role of Wooderson involved inhabiting the mind of a dude who digs cars, rock ’n’ roll, and “chicks,” and he ran with it, reminding readers that the film originally had only three scripted scenes for his character. The lesson: “Do one thing well, then another. Once, then once more.” It’s clear that the author is a thoughtful man, even an intellectual of sorts, though without the earnestness of Ethan Hawke or James Franco. Though some of the sentiments are greeting card–ish, this book is entertaining and full of good lessons.
A conversational, pleasurable look into McConaughey’s life and thought.Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-13913-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
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