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The Classics
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The
Conduct of Life by Ralph Waldo Emerson
The essays in this book, first published in 1860, were developed
from a series of lectures on "The Conduct of Life" delivered by
Emerson during the early 1850s. The published essays, on "Fate,"
"Power," "Wealth," "Culture," "Behavior," "Worship," "Considerations
by the Way," "Beauty," and "Illusions," show Emerson's interest in
many practical aspects of human life, and reflect his increasing
involvement in politics--chiefly in the antislavery movement--during
the decade before the Civil War.
It chanced during one winter, a
few years ago, that our cities were bent on discussing the theory of
the Age. By an odd coincidence, four or five noted men were each
reading a discourse to the citizens of Boston or New York, on the
Spirit of the Times. It so happened that the subject had the same
prominence in some remarkable pamphlets and journals issued in
London in the same season. To me, however, the question of the times
resolved itself into a practical question of the conduct of life.
How shall I live? We are incompetent to solve the times. Our
geometry cannot span the huge orbits of the prevailing ideas, behold
their return, and reconcile their opposition. We can only obey our
own polarity. ‘Tis fine for us to speculate and elect our course, if
we must accept an irresistible dictation.
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The "Goldfish"
by Arthur Train
Being the Confessions of a Successful Man
At thirty a professional man is
younger than the business man of twenty-five. Less is expected of him; his work
is less responsible; he has not been so long on his job. At forty the doctor or
lawyer may still achieve an unexpected success. He has hardly won his spurs,
though in his heart he well knows his own limitations. He can still say: "I am
young yet!" And he is. But at fifty! Ah, then he must face the facts! He either
has or has not lived up to his expectations and he never can begin over again.
A
creature of physical and mental habit, he must for the rest of his life trudge
along in the same path, eating the same food, thinking the same thoughts,
seeking the same pleasures - until he acknowledges with grim reluctance that he
is an old man. I confess that I had so far deliberately tried to forget my
approaching fiftieth milestone, or at least to dodge it with closed eyes as I
passed it by, that my daughter's polite congratulation on my demi-centennial
anniversary gave me an unexpected and most unpleasant shock. "You really ought
to be ashamed of yourself!" she remarked as she joined me at breakfast.
"Why?" I
asked, somewhat resenting being thus definitely proclaimed as having crossed
into the valley of the shadows. "To be so old and yet to look so young!" she
answered, with charming "voir-faire."
"They're like 'goldfish' swimming round and round in a big bowl. They can look
through, sort of dimly; but they can't get out?" --Hastings
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My
Life and Work by Henry Ford
"We have only started on our development of our country - we have not
as yet, with all our talk of wonderful progress, done more than
scratch the surface. The progress has been wonderful enough - but
when we compare what we have done with what there is to do, then our
past accom-plishments are as nothing. When we consider that more
power is used merely in ploughing the soil than is used in all the
industrial establishments of the country put together, an inkling
comes of how much opportunity there is ahead.
"And now, with so many countries of
the world in ferment and with so much unrest every where, is an
excellent time to suggest something of the things that may be done
in the light of what has been done. When one speaks of increasing
power, machinery, and industry there comes up a picture of a cold,
metallic sort of world in which great factories will drive away the
trees, the flowers, the birds, and the green fields. And that then
we shall have a world composed of metal machines and human machines.
With all of that I do not agree. I think that unless we know more
about machines and their use, unless we better understand the
mechanical portion of life, we cannot have the time to enjoy the
trees, and the birds, and the flowers, and the green fields."
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The Second Generation
by David Graham Phillips
David Graham Phillips
worked as an investigative journalist for the New Your Sun
and the New Your World in the late 19th century. He then
turned to authoring, and his first work, "The Great God Success"
sold so well that he left journalism altogether to concentrate on
writing fiction. Although written as fictional accounts, most of his
works explore a variety of social problems. In the Second
Generation, he takes a critical look at the issue of inherited
wealth.
Extract from the book:
"Will I die?" -- Schulze slowly surveyed all Hiram's
outward signs of majesty that had been denied his own majestic
intellect, noted the tremendous figure, the shoulders, the forehead,
the massive brow and nose and chin -- an ensemble of un-abused
power, the handiwork of Nature at her best, a creation worth while,
worth preserving intact and immortal. "Yes," he answered, with
satiric bitterness; "you will have to die, and rot, just like the
rest of us." Schulze reflected, rubbing his red-button nose with his
stubby fingers. When he spoke, his voice had a sad gentleness. "You
can bear hearing it. You have the right to know." He leaned back,
paused, said in a low tone: "Put your house in order, Mr. Ranger."
Hiram's steadfast gray eyes met bravely the eyes of the man who had
just read him his death warrant. A long pause; then Hiram said
"Thank you," in his quiet, calm way.
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 The Analysis of Mind
by Bertrand Russell
One of Russell's most important and
interesting books which reconciles the materialistic
tendency of psychology with the anti-materialistic tendency
of physics.
All of his ideas are clearly stated and
made more apparent with the use of simple illustrations. He
covers all aspects of what we presently call our mind and
allows us to judge for ourselves the relative importance of
each aspect. While this work is older than 80 years, I find
it quite amazing that the physiological evidence to his
interpretations of the mind is only now becoming apparent
The work has
been given in the form of lectures both in London and
Peking, and one lecture, that on Desire, has been published
in the Athenaeum.
Russell was awarded the Order of Merit
in 1949 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950.
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As a Man Thinketh
by James Allen
This brief but revered self-help classic was written by a 19th-century
Englishman who
is partly responsible
for the creation of the entire personal development
industry. Allen borrowed the
title from the Biblical verse, "As a man thinketh, in his heart, so is he."
In a
clear and accessible argument, Allen builds on the idea that one's thoughts
shape one's character, and also one's circumstances, environment, and destiny.
Allen's practical philosophy stresses responsibility: "Man is made or unmade by
himself." But he also clearly values those who are dreamers, and he sees the
ultimate goal of his spiritual practice to be serenity.
Most contemporary Personal Development authors
and teachers credit this little book for providing
foundation to their principles. It is a set of
philosophical musings on the power of our thoughts. Earl
Nightingale, widely regarded as the father of modern day
personal development, in his best-selling recording, called
the ideas in this book, "The Strangest Secret". The secret,
he said, is "we become what we think about".
"All that we achieve and all that we fail to
achieve is the direct result of our own thoughts."
"As a Man
Thinketh" is a classic in the truest sense: few books have
been so widely read, have stood the test of time so well,
have had such an impact on generations of readers, and have
carried such a simple, profound message: You are what you
think.
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