Customer Reviews

The Book of Positive Quotations

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This is the best book on quotations covering positive topics, and since inspiration, motivation and uplifting are so often the goals of lectures and writing, it is an excellent resource.

There are hundreds, maybe thousands of quotation books. Some are massive attempts to cover all different subjects. Some cover a single subject, like love, politics or friendship. Others cover specific sports or authors. This one covers the big area of things positive. As a lecturer and writer on Positivity and Positive Psychology and a collector of over 400 quotation books, I find this one a real gem. It is loaded with thousands of great quotes you won't find anywhere else as well as popular quotes that show up in the biggest and best giant quote collections.

What's nice about it is the inclusion of spiritual quotes and quotes from eastern approaches, as well as more current psychology and new age texts, authors and speakers.

You can pick a topic for a lecture or writing project or just peruse it randomly and you can expect to be uplifted and inspired.

I had a pleasant surprise one day. After my 10 year old son was browsing it while sitting on the John browsing the book (he picked it up of his own accord and was reading it. That's great!) -- a he came out and showed me how he'd looked in the index and discovered a quote attributed to me-- one from a cover article I'd written for Writer's Digest in 1983, which had later been included among Reader's Digest's Points to Ponder.

I love a good quote... love to use it at the end of my letters or emails... in newsletters that I write for my church. This book of quotes compiled and arranged by John Cook is thoroughly helpful and useful, and very precious. Cook draws quotes from the Bible and also from the famous and the not-so-famous people. You can find quotes from D.H. Lawrence to an old Zen saying to Ovid to Sean Connery. The quotes can be serious and sometimes down right funny, too. The parts of the book are well-categorized into sections such as "Peace of Mind" and "Living One Day At A Time". These main parts with subdivisions with titles such as "Forgiveness", "Acceptance", "Change", "Hope" and "Prayer". There are well over 60 subcategories (7000 total quotes!) which you can find a POSITIVE quote for just about every feeling and emotion. These are also easy to cross-reference and find by looking up the person quoted in the back of the book. I find myself using this book all the time for several purposes. Sometimes I like to flip through it for encouragement and for inspiration. It's one of my most often used desk references. For any quotation lover, this book is a must.

Some of my favorites from "The Book Of Positive Quotations":

"Aim at heaven and you get earth thrown in; aim at earth and you get neither." - C.S. Lewis

"Far away in the sunshine are my highest inspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see the beauty, believe in them and try to follow where they lead." - Louisa May Alcott

This is a huge, fascinating collection of inspirational and motivational quotes. It's easy to use because it groups quotes not just by their broad headings, but by more specific concepts. The section on "The Past," for example, is divided into eight sub-headings which include quotes on such topics as "Learning from the Past" and "Its Important to Bury the Past, to Let It Go -- To Move On." I keep this book by my bedside so I can browse through a couple of sections before going to sleep.

Not surprisingly, this book originated as "a selection of life-affirming quotations I compiled for my nephews and niece for Christmas 1989." That's exactly what this book would be great for - a present - to another or to yourself.

It proves a valuable resource for anyone who strives to gain knowledge, wisdom, and a positive direction in life. Organized by subjects ranging from peace of mind, preparing for success, & making dreams come true, The Book of Positive Quotations provides thousands of powerful and witty quotes from famous stalwarts such as Sophocles, Churchill, Shakespeare, FDR, Confucius, Benjamin Franklin, & Cher(don't ask why) just to name a few. Also provided is a helpful index of all authors of the quotes.

I draw from this book on a regular basis for both enjoyment and wisdom & willingly recommend it to anyone with a certain degree of intellect. My favorite quote:
"Faith in oneself...is the best and safest course." - Michelangelo

My main reason for picking this book up was not for personal inspiration, but rather for more practical reasons associated with my work at a college. I am often called on to develop teaching and learning guides, training materials and various project documents. Quotes are a great tool for drawing people in to a piece, enhancing learning of the content, and providing focal points for discussion. If they can inspire and motivate as well, all the better. For me, where The book of Positive Quotations really excels is in its excellent organization of the highly nuanced categories of quotes it includes, which extends to its very well conceived index. Instead of just a section on quotes related to "goals", for example, you have associated topics of "achievement," "determination", and "hard work." This allows the reader to easily evaluate just which nuance they are looking for. Though there are indeed many quotes which are inspirational, the book really reflects a very broad range of human experience. For this reason, its practical usefulness is similarly broad and would be a useful tool for anyone who writes a lot or makes presentations as part of their job. My only suggestion for improvement would be to include a cross-reference section which lists those quoted alphabetically and provides the occupation and time period of the quoter, and perhaps the context of the quote. All in all, however, this book provides the most substance of any quote book I have seen.

I'm a senior medical student...so I've read a lot. This book helps build relationships, it helps get you through life! Today I didn't do so well on a urology test...I'm not sure if I passed it. (Don't worry, I'm not going into urology! :) ) I went home and cried. Then I picked up this book and read the section on failures. I read and read and slowly began to perk up. Sir Winston Churchill said, "Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm." I began to smile. Somehow, I'll be more prepared for the next exam. My husband and I take this book with us when we go out to dinner. We sit over drinks and read to each other and sometimes discuss the quotations. I'm buying 10 copies of this book for Christmas presents.. That's how much I love it. Everyone should own it!

In this cynical, troubled age, how wonderful it is to have a quote book such as this. It is replete with quotations that not only make one "feel good", but that are often profound and that encourage one to ruminate over life's issues and challenges. Not every quote (or quoter) represented in the book is inspiring, or even the best choice, but the very great majority of the content of this tome is indeed worthwhile. The book would be a recommended purchase at even a much higher price than the present offering. As it is, the publication is a must-buy, considering both price and content!

Whether you have a website, newsletter, are writing an article, or just want to send inspiration and enlightened wisdom to a friend, Positive Quotations is THE book to have. Jam packed with wisdom from countless extraordinary people from Benjamin Franklin, Aesop, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Napoleon, Walt Whitman, Henry Ford, Paramahansa Yogananda, Albert Einstein, and countless others.

There are six parts of this treasure of a book broken down further into fantastic sub categories. Part 1, Peace of Mind. Part 2, Living One Day at a Time. Part 3, Preparing fro Success. Part 4, Knowing What to Do. Part 5, Overcoming Negatives and Uncertainties. Part 6, making Dreams come true. The categories have fantastic, succinct topic relevant mini categories that address just about every area of human life.

This book is more than just positive quotations, it is a great read for awakening, wisdom, and positive focus to uplift your life in all areas. Highly Recommended!
Barbara Rose, author of, `Individual Power' and `If God Was Like Man'

This is an excellant book for anyone who is out there looking for a source of motivation. This book will show what tremendous, positive powers words have over people. This is definently a book to buy. I simply wanted the motivation to get me working out so I can gain muscles. Now, I have the body I've always wanted, thanks to this book!

Postive quotations. That's what we need now days..Here's a good one on page 451: "To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you lived, this is to have succeeded." - In this book it appears in more poetic form, although the words are the same. To the best knowledge of this reviewer it was not in Ralph Waldo Emerson's book of poems. It was in the essays. The basic twelve volumes of Emerson contain 156 essays. If this reviewer knew what essay it was in, he would say it right here. He just senses that he read it in Emerson. The book only mentions the author, not the exact source.