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 How To Live on Twenty Four Hours a Day
by Arnold Bennett
One of
the first "self-help" books ever written, Readers who
begin this book with the question: "How can I get it all
done?" will soon be asking: "What am I going to do with all
my free time?"
This classic personal
time-management book originally published in 1908 has
inspired generations of men and women to live deliberate
lives. Not just another collection of timesaving tips, this
book is more of a challenge to leave behind mundane everyday
concerns, focus on pursuing one's true desires, and live the
fullest possible life. Reflection, concentration, and study
techniques make it easier to accomplish more truly rewarding
undertakings than anyone ever dreamed possible.
 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.
 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.
 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."
Laugh and Live by Douglas Fairbanks
The movie actor offers his course of self-improvement.
Selected
contents: Taking stock of ourselves; Energy, success and laughter; Honesty, the
character builder; Keeping ourselves democratic; Living beyond our means;
Wedlock in time; A "close-up" of Douglas Fairbanks as only his family
and closest friends would have known him.
 What
Is Man? by Mark Twain
Mark Twain's offbeat 1906 work is a dialogue between an old man and
a young man who argue about whether a human being is controlled more
by his mind or by his environment.
[The Old Man and the Young Man had been conversing. The Old Man had
asserted that the human being is merely a machine, and nothing more.
The Young Man objected, and asked him to go into particulars and
furnish his reasons for his position.]
Old Man. What are the materials of
which a steam-engine is made? Young Man. Iron, steel, brass,
white-metal, and so on. O.M. Where are these found? Y.M. In the
rocks. O.M. In a pure state? Y.M. No - in ores. O.M. Are the metals
suddenly deposited in the ores?
 The Majesty of Calmness:
Individual Problems
and Possibilities... by
William George Jordan
Author of "The Kingship of Self-Control"
Nature is very un-American. Nature never hurries. Every phase of her working
shows plan, calmness, reliability, and the absence of hurry. Hurry always
implies lack of definite method, confusion, impatience of slow growth. The Tower
of Babel, the world's first skyscraper, was a failure because of hurry. The
workers mistook their arrogant ambition for inspiration. They had too many
builders --and no architect. They thought to make up the lack of a head by a
superfluity of hands. This is a characteristic of Hurry.
 The Power of Concentration
by Theron Q. Dumont
Through concentrated thought power you can make yourself whatever you please. By
thought you can greatly increase your efficiency and strength. You are
surrounded by all kinds of thoughts, some good, others bad, and you are sure to
absorb some of the latter if you do not build up a positive mental attitude.
This course of of lessons, first published in 1918, is intended to teach
you how to concentrate, with
the belief that the person who is able to concentrate can better utilize
constructive thoughts and shut out the destructive ones.
Lessons include:
Concentration Finds the Way; The Self-Mastery, Self-Direction Power of
Concentration; How to Gain What You Want Through Concentration; Concentration;
the Silent Force that Produces Results in All Business; How Concentrated Thought
Links All Humanity Together; The Training of the Will to Do; The Concentrated
Mental Demand; Concentration Gives Mental Poise; Concentration Can Overcome Bad
Habits; Business Results Gained Through Concentration; Concentrate on Courage;
Concentrate on Wealth; You Can Concentrate, But Will You?; Art of Concentration
with Practical Exercise; Concentrate So You Will Not Forget; How Concentration
Can Fulfill Your Desire; Ideals Develop by Concentration; Mental Control Through
Creation; Concentrated Will Development; Concentration Reviewed
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