Words to Live By: (A Not All Inclusive L...

Words to Live By (a Not All Inclusive Look at Life in Words) gathers inspirational quotes and arranges them by subject for quick browsing, creating a daily reminder of different insights on life, captured in quick snippets of wisdom by a wide range of thinkers.

 

There are numerous quotation and inspirational books on the market already; but what makes Words to Live By special is its arrangement by thought-provoking (different) subject categories ('On Life', 'On Toasts', 'On Personal Care'), and how the chosen quotes often represent plays on words.

 

Many are contributions by Dr. Kogut himself ("Life is a piece of cake. It all depends on how you slice it."). Others are nuggets of wisdom by such diverse names as Will Rogers, Groucho Marx, Robert Frost, Mark Twain, and other literary and pop culture figureheads.

 

This inclusion and emphasis on names from popular culture also sets Words to Live By apart from other inspirational guides that tend to rest almost solely on the names of literary figures and philosophers.

 

There are also numerous citations from 'Anonymous' that are often just as hard-hitting as those penned by well-known personalities: "Why pay money to have your family tree traced; go into politics and your opponents will do it for you."

 

The last big note on this little collection is that it's not only easy to read and packed with surprises and wisdom, but every saying is linked to approaches to daily life that will leave readers reflecting on their own choices and values.

 

If a quick, inspirational read is desired, holding more broad appeal and wisdom than most, then Words to Live By is the item of choice, recommended for being a standout in its field, and quite accessible to literary and everyday audiences alike. 

Beyond Words - John Humphreys John Humphreys is a grumpy old man for sure and yet everything he espouses in this short rant of a book is perfectly fair. Yes, it starts as you would expect, as a treaty against poor grammar, inappropriate use of the apostrophe and poor use and understanding of the English language in general. Most of this seems to have been generated by people writing to him after the previous book. Mr Humphreys moves on after this onto the subject of ‘management speak’ and insipid and inappropriate use of words (I was reminded of Ben Elton’s ‘Epic’ Baked Bean) and how spin, advertising and public relations is ruining and devaluing the language. There is nothing new in this, but it is entertainingly written and as someone who went to a ‘Modern Progressive Comprehensive School’ (and as such never even knew what grammar was until I stumbled upon on book of the subject 10 years later) I enjoyed it a lot.

Not nearly as clever as the Sniglet books of long ago, but some of these are pretty funny or at least useful.