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Great Quotations that Shaped the Western World

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If indeed this wonderful work is "conservative," it is because Carl Middleton is extremely so but, way more than that, has selected much of the best from the human brain that ought to be conserved. Unlike other compilations of Man's profundity, Middleton's book has "Middleton" all through it, which endows the work with wonderful grit and makes it therefore not simply 784+ pages of detached and bloodless pith. I am a militant liberal in my opinions and in my behavior on almost every issue except that of the intellectual and historic voice of our species, and so I say to any listerner that Great Quotations that Shaped the Western World reflects the shape of intelligent thinking not just in the West but everywhere else, around the globe. Thus, though the book may appear at times to lean far to the right, the truth is that, like the "ship" it is, its course is straight ahead, and its voyage is universal

The words and the great people who say it - "Great Quotations That Shaped The Western World" is a near 800 page tome filled with the wisdom of the ages. From the words of Moses, Aristotle, King Henry VII, to many quotes in the modern era, this is a secular but no holds barred look at the entirety of western history and how each and every one of these quotes impacted society and changed it. "Great Quotations That Shaped the Western World" is a highly recommended reference for community library history collections.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Chock full of pithy, relevant nuggets. At any time I can turn to any page and find several short, useful passages or just sentences that are self-contained and easily grasped, and satisfying to me. Most of the selections are arranged chronographically (if you don't know what that means, this probably is not the book for you.) Another long section is arranged thematically. All the classics of Western Civ seem to be represented, and well picked. I will admit to being a scholar of sorts, but I do find this to be a treasure. Enthusiastically recommended! And it is grounded in morals and ethics, and the best in our culture.

You might expect to use this as a reference. Instead, I am reading it from cover to cover. Middleton introduces each topic with a brief and usually insightful overview, then he gives a few quotes. Clearly, he loves his topic and is interested in showing the best that each person (or movement or civilization) has to offer.

I was very satisified with the copy of Great Quotations that Shaped the
Western World and thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I highly recommend to all.

This book was apparently written because Bartlett's Familiar Quotations only contained three quotes from Ronald Reagan. Throughout the book -- even in places inappropriate to do so -- jabs are taken at communism, atheism, socialism and evolution. Although the title of the book implies that all of these quotes were influential on western civilization, I don't see how this Charles Darwin quote applies: "I can indeed hardly see how anyone ought to wish Christianity to be true."

That being said, it is a decent collection of quotations. There is a chapter on investment wisdom, quite a few inspirational citations from the King James Bible, and interesting factoids intermingled here and there (for example, 25% of self-made millionaires are dyslexic). If you're a conservative that likes FOX News, this is right up your alley.

This book is ok. Nothing inspiring. Some of the quotes read as though the author changed them to make them neutral.

This book is the kind of thing that people laugh about, one way or the other, like God is the answer to the kind of questions that people do not understand. Snap judgments might occur to a reader of this book, but it is not adequate for anyone who has deep concerns about a world which is entering an era like Germany suffered through while hoping that Woodrow Wilson's proposals for peace would be adopted by a hostile world following the great war and a worse flu in 1918. Though this book is probably right, that Woodrow Wilson died in 1924, I'm disappointed that this book is not providing much of a Woodrow Wilson leg for the world to stand on. I'm not going to be more specific, but ten trillion dollars of national debt seems ripe for items in the real world which become a fable in this book as our knowledge increases faster than the interest payments that result from a legal system taking its own sweet time.

I am getting way off the track by reporting the kind of thinking that strikes me as insulting my intelligence. In a fashion which is typical of GREAT QUOTATIONS THAT SHAPED THE WESTERN WORLD, the entry for Helen A. Keller states, "Keller, an atheist and admirer of Communism, overcame her handicaps only because she was raised by Christians in a capitalist nation." Helen Keller wrote a book called "My Religion" which forms the basis for a large collection of her thoughts called "Light In My Darkness." She read works by Swedenborg when she was fourteen years old, and thinking that she has turned to atheism reminds me of the struggle that took place between philosophy and theology two hundred years ago in Germany. Fichte tried to make God a personification of the moral world order, and was called an atheist by theologians who considered that a violation of their own form of orthodoxy. Way back in 1766, Kant published his DREAMS OF A SPIRIT-SEER attacking Swedenborg because the supernatural powers being reported did not coincide with the religious orthodoxy that controlled religious thinking in Kant's time and place. Calling such stories fictions and fables has a long history, but hardly as unreal as the glorious future that political thinkers keep supporting with the kind of ideas that Middleton supports.

I happen to think Robert S. McNamara was a great Secretary of Defense from 1961 to 1967 because he took full responsibility for Nam without going hog wild about things America could do in such a situation. Middleton does not consider Nam as a political situation which allowed South Vietnamese to think in 1968 that they could get a better deal from the Republicans than LBJ would get them in a conference in Paris. Bob Dylan provides an interesting perspective on Nam in a song called "Seeing The Real You At Last."

I don't mind a reasonable amount of trouble.
Trouble always comes to pass.
I'm just glad it's over, and I'm seeing the real you at last.

The ten trillion dollar national debt will be over when someone can whip out ten trillion dollars and pay everybody back. God is not standing around waiting for that to happen like "IN GOD WE TRUST" shadows George Washington's pony tail on the 1999-2008 quarters of the fifty states.