Humilitas: A Lost Key to Life, Love, and Leadership Review

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(More customer reviews)Our contemporary society may have eclipsed the past in terms of science, medicine and technology, but in some things we are "well below par" when compared to the ancients, according to John Dickson in this book. Real wisdom in life and leadership can be found by opening yourself up to centuries of human thinking on subjects such as communication, ethics, human nature, romantic love and natural human rights.
There are plenty of books which have been written about the virtues of humility, but I was intrigued to find out what a historian might have to say about the virtue of humility as applied to leadership. Humility, according to the author, is the noble choice to forgo your status, deploy your resources or use your influence for the good of others before yourself. Thus true humility presupposes that a person has status and influence, and is not to be confused with low self-esteem or being a doormat.
In subsequent chapters, the author asserts that:
*It is common sense for us to use humility to keep our pride in check.
*We are more attracted to great people who are humble than to those who are not.
*The ancient world admired honour, not humility, but Jesus of Nazareth caused a humility revolution.
*Humility generates learning and growth, and provides a firm basis for self-esteem.
*The humble are frequently more persuasive and inspiring than the arrogant.
*Humility inspires and lifts those around us.
*Humility means treating those who hold contrary beliefs with respect and friendship.
The book is reasonably brief and written in an entertaining style. The author admits that his perspective is that of a historian and not an experienced leader, and the scope of his references to leadership books is fairly narrow, with Jim Collins, John Kotter and the Harvard Business Review getting a fairly good workout, but that does not detract from the validity of what he has to say. I highly recommend this book to business and church leaders.

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Speaker and historian John Dickson shows how the virtue of humility was an important character trait for the 'greats' of history and figures prominently in the findings of psychology and sociology. Developing humility can transform your personal relationships and professional dealings.

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Beyond Wealth: The Road Map to a Rich Life Review

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(More customer reviews)I met Alexander Green a little over four years ago. As we got to know each other, we found we had similar interests: conversation, music, books, reading, and writing. He's a master at the latter, and I owe him a lot for mentoring me.
Alex's new book, "Beyond Wealth" can be read in the normal fashion, from front to back. But you can also pick it up, turn to any chapter, and just start reading.
There's no question you will learn something... perhaps even something about yourself you didn't know. Best of all, it will cause you to think and wonder, and you'll be a better human being for it. I know I am.
You see, I love being outside, in the woods... on a mountaintop... walking along a deserted beach... or on the water. Anywhere I can be alone... with my own thoughts. It's all very personal to me.
Perhaps that's why I enjoy Alex's new book Beyond Wealth so much. After pouring over endless financial data and company reports every day, picking up Beyond Wealth, kicking back, and reading a chapter or two is just the ticket for me... just when I need it.
There's a message in every chapter. Sometimes it's something we know we should be doing, but haven't been... or something we are doing, but shouldn't be.
Or something about a subject we haven't given much thought to. He always has something interesting to say. The world, indeed the universe, holds many mysteries. Alex explores many of them, one at a time.
With an incredibly articulate command of the English language... indeed, akin to Bill Bryson... Alex puts together a message in a few pages that always moves me in some way.
Beyond Wealth causes me to pause... take a step back... think differently about myself... about others... my family... my kids... my friends... the universe... my belief system... what I value most in life... the list goes on and on.
I can tell you with all sincerity you won't regret picking up a copy of Beyond Wealth. And you'll be all the richer for it.
David Fessler

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Leo Tolstoy said, "Nobody knows where the human race is going. The highest wisdom, then, is to know where you are going." Yet many today chase the false rabbits of success:status, luxury, reputation and material possessions. In the quest to "have it all," our lives often lack real meaning and purpose. Beyond Wealth is the antidote.
New York Times bestselling author Alexander Green takes things right down to brass tacks:We are here for a short time. Knowledge is limitless. Therefore, the most critical knowledge is not any particular skill but rather wisdom about "how to live." Fortunately, men and women have had several thousand years to think about what it means to live "the good life." And the answers found here, from Plato and Aristotle to Mahatma Gandhi and Stephen Hawking, will both surprise and delight you.

Beyond Wealth provides insightful commentary on the most important aspects of our lives: love, work, honor, trust, freedom, death, fear, truth, beauty and other timeless issues. The book is both a thought provoking read and the ideal gift, guaranteed to ennoble, uplift and inspire.

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Self-Reliance Review

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(More customer reviews)The first time I read "Self-Reliance," I didn't. It was assigned summer reading before my senior year AP English class and I was too busy golfing and playing pick-up basketball to waste my summer on a book written by a dead guy with weird sideburns. At age 23, I read it the second time, printing out a public domain edition using a temp job's laser printer then plowing through it on my lunch break. This week was my third time to read it and by far the most valuable thanks to the Domino Project's beautiful new special edition.
Stunning design by my friend Alex Miles Younger places all of Emerson's original text on the right side of the page in this slim 73 page volume, with notable pull-quotes from the book as well as complementary and supplementary quotes from famous people on the left side. OK, fine, it's a bit ironic that a book that preaches you needing to think for yourself highlights the lines that you SHOULD think are the most important. Except for the fact, those ARE the most important lines. They were to me at least.
I somewhat always dismissed and ignored Emerson because I thought he was like his friend Thoreau, who I kind of hate. But, whether it was because of my age or this special edition, "Self-Reliance"--finally!--resonated with me on this third read like few books have ever before. (It could be a fitting companion to my beloved Meditations (Modern Library) even.)
"Self-Reliance" is truly a book about artistic confidence and belief in one's own genius: "To believe your own thoughts, to believe what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, that is genius." It's a book about not sitting around waiting for someone else, someone anointed, to say the things you want to say: "Else, tomorrow a stranger will say with masterly sense what we have thought and felt all time, and we shall be forced to take with shame our own opinion from another." Devastating, and often so sadly true.
"Self-Reliance" preaches that one force himself to reject the conformity around him if he truly wants to live: "...for he who does not postpone his life, but lives already." It wonders why we're scared to bring our deepest, most private thoughts out into the real world: "These are the voices which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world."
You're betraying yourself when you're not letting your voice be heard and I'm reminded of both poet Alexander Pope and pimp Iceberg Slim.
Alexander Pope who said: "Whatever is, is right."
Iceberg Slim who said: "Chumps prefer a beautiful lie to an ugly truth."
Don't be a chump. Quit lying to yourself. We all lie to ourselves and to the public far too often. We need to stop doing that. We need to believe in ourselves, worship at our own altar, be our own philosopher. No one can do a better job of teaching you to be you...than YOU.
"Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles."
This book could have been written yesterday.


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