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Before I Go: Letters to Our Children About What Really Matters
 
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Before I Go: Letters to Our Children About What Really Matters [Hardcover]

Peter Kreeft (Author)
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)

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Book Description

October 15, 2007
Most parents have no trouble telling their children how to dress, drive, study, or shave, but struggle to talk with them about how best to live—about real love, faith, integrity, values, true enrichment, and success. In the tradition of Tuesdays With Morrie, Catholic philosopher Peter Kreeft shares with us the wisdom that he has compiled for his children as his best gift to them. Readable and browsable, these heart to heart chats present priceless truths to live by in a casual yet compelling way.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

This extraordinary book is a collection of luminous, practical, edifying, and hilarious insights into life—into real love. They are the heritage that the author/father, easing into the end phase of his life, has garnered from long experience and deep reflection, and which he seeks to pass down to his children and grandchildren, and the coming generations. Kreeft's 'last words' are in turn wise, witty, earthy, pithy, and frequently sublime. This is neither an abstract tome nor a 'how-to' manual. It's simply a treasure that should be handed out gratis to all young couples planning to be married—in fact, to all those embarking on the human adventure. In a word—to everyone. (Michael D. O'Brien )

Kreeft's latest book, presented as homey advice about life to his own children, appears deceptively simple, but it is profound and thought-provoking. This is no surprise for all Kreeft fans, myself included. (Father Benedict J. Groeschel, C.F.R. )

Peter Kreeft exhibits four gifts: he writes beautifully, he has a sense of humor, he really loves wisdom, and he is not afraid to share that love. Fortunate the young people into whose hands falls this book. (Lawrence S. Cunningham )

Readers rightly look for both wit and sagacity from Peter Kreeft. They will find both in this book. But they will find that both spring from the heart of a very wise father who walks with the Father of us all. (Thomas Howard )

The book offers 163 lessons for the good life based on Kreeft’s own experiences and study and just plain living (more than six decades). It is common sense delivered with uncommon ease and sincerity. The reader—and this is a book for all ages—will stop often along the way, so obvious are these bits of wisdom we fail to remember. Topics range broadly: making choices wisely, prioritizing, handling worry, time management, prayer life, sacrifices, marriage and family, keeping a chapbook, love, death. Before I Go belongs in every Christian family’s library, to be dipped into often. (Patricia A. Kossmann America )

The book offers 163 lessons for the good life based on Kreeft’s own experiences and study and just plain living (more than six decades). It is common sense delivered with uncommon ease and sincerity. The reader—and this is a book for all ages—will stop often along the way, so obvious are these bits of wisdom we fail to remember. Topics range broadly: making choices wisely, prioritizing, handling worry, time management, prayer life, sacrifices, marriage and family, keeping a chapbook, love, death. Before I Go belongs in every Christian family’s library, to be dipped into often. (Patricia A. Kossmann America )

Little books of advice such as the Chicken Soup series or Tuesdays at Morrie's have been popular for a long time now. Here is one that is just as interesting, just as easy to read, but far more profound—because, of course, it is far more Catholic. Apologist and philosopher Peter Kreeft is at his best with this collection of 163 mini-essays. . . . It's everything you want your children to understand about life, love, and God, expressed with Kreeft's keen wit. (Faith and Family )

Little books of advice such as the Chicken Soup series or Tuesdays at Morrie's have been popular for a long time now. Here is one that is just as interesting, just as easy to read, but far more profound—because, of course, it is far more Catholic. Apologist and philosopher Peter Kreeft is at his best with this collection of 163 mini-essays. . . . It's everything you want your children to understand about life, love, and God, expressed with Kreeft's keen wit. (Faith and Family )

These 'chats' are worth reading or re-reading for a lifetime. . . . They are all well-written, and important. (Fcs Quarterly, Fall 2008 )

Reading Before I Go will be a pure pleasure for the thoughtfully reflective, and a valuable gift for many parents to use in passing on wise words to their children before they lose the ability to say those final, important words. (Dr. Michael Philliber Reader Views, November 2007 )

Reading Before I Go will be a pure pleasure for the thoughtfully reflective, and a valuable gift for many parents to use in passing on wise words to their children before they lose the ability to say those final, important words. (Dr. Michael Philliber Reader Views, November 2007 )

About the Author

Peter Kreeft has been featured on the PBS series "The Question of God." He is professor of philosophy at Boston College and lives in West Newton, Massachusetts.

Peter Kreeft has been featured on the PBS series "The Question of God." He is professor of philosophy at Boston College and lives in West Newton, Massachusetts.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 264 pages
  • Publisher: Sheed & Ward (October 15, 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1580512240
  • ISBN-13: 978-1580512244
  • Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5.1 x 1.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #42,981 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Peter J. Kreeft (Ph.D., Fordham University) is professor of philosophy at Boston College where he has taught since 1965. A popular lecturer, he has also taught at many other colleges, seminaries and educational institutions in the eastern United States. Kreeft has written more than sixty-seven books, including The Best Things in Life, Christianity for Modern Pagans, Fundamentals of the Faith and The Handbook of Christian Apologetics.

Dr. Kreeft's MP3 audio lectures can be purchased on Amazon, such as
"Christianity in Lord of the Rings".

Free articles, audio lectures, the speaking schedule and more info from Dr. Peter Kreeft can be found at his popular web site:
http://www.peterkreeft.com


 

Customer Reviews

13 Reviews
5 star:
 (11)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
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Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

200 of 201 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Book That Really Matters, October 31, 2007
By 
Charles Schmidt (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Before I Go: Letters to Our Children About What Really Matters (Hardcover)
Peter Kreeft is an outstanding philosophy professor at Boston College who has written over 40 books, most of which are excellent. Professor Kreeft is similar to G K Chesterton and C S Lewis in that he is a Christian philosopher who writes very clear and profound books that are full of wisdom.

BEFORE I GO consists 162 life lessons that Kreeft has learned, and each lesson is covered in 1 to 3 pages. Lesson 6, "The Most Important Person" is a hierarchy of what a person's priorities in life should be, with God first, one's spouse second, one's children third and so on. Lesson 9 is a succinct description of "What is a Good Person?"

Lesson 48 has a funny litmus test on how to tell if a book is a great book; funny because it rings true. And Lesson 51 has a poignant lesson learned too late from the poet Thomas Carlyle. Kreeft's advice on how to keep marriages intact in Lesson 87 is short, sweet and dead-on-target.

"Before I Go" is short - it took only about 3 hours to read - and full of wisdom. This is indeed a great book in that it gives cogent guidance on the good, the beautiful and the true. Were Socrates to read this book, he would realize that he had finally found that wise man that Socrates sought in ancient Greece but never found. This is Kreeft's 2nd best book - exceeded only by his outstanding HANDBOOK OF CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS - and I give it my highest recommendation.
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35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars before I go, March 25, 2008
This review is from: Before I Go: Letters to Our Children About What Really Matters (Hardcover)
I liked the readable format in which to share some universal "words of wisdom" with my children. Perhaps reading them in another person's time & space will reinforce the significance for all.
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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Pass it on before you go too :), July 5, 2009
This review is from: Before I Go: Letters to Our Children About What Really Matters (Hardcover)
How much more SINCERE can a book get than one written by a father for his children? How much more LOGICAL than one authored by a renowned philosopher?

Peter Kreeft has received honors such as the Woodrow Wilson, Yale-Sterling Fellowship, Newman Alumni Scholarship, Danforth Asian Religions Fellowship, and Weathersfield Homeland Foundation Fellowship.

Spectacular. But I think I'm safe in guessing his greatest achievement to date includes his children, for whom this book is written.

Kreeft saves his best nuggets of wisdom for his latest, easiest-to-digest work. Whether you want to know the four most imporant choices in your life (I'm not going to spoil it but they're simpler than you think), how your life is art, or how simplicity can literally change the world, you'll find it in the pages of BEFORE I GO.

Treat yourself to this gem of a publication. It's one you'll likely want to pass on to YOUR children as well.
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