A Message to Garcia (Life-Changing Classics) [Paperback]

Elbert Hubbard (Author)

Book Description

Series: Life-Changing Classics | Publication Date: June 1, 2002

A Message to Garcia has carried its simple message of hard work, integrity and dependability to readers around the world for over 100 years. One of the keystones of American self-improvement literature, this short celebration of the diligence and loyalty shown by one man is truly a life-changing classic that demands to be read again and again.

Editorial Reviews

Review

I gave a beggar a dime with the suggestion that he invest it in a copy of Elbert Hubbard's A Message to Garcia. --Napoleon Hill, The Law of Success

From the Publisher

Kessinger Publishing reprints over 1,500 similar titles all available through Amazon.com. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Executive Books (June 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0937539651
• ISBN-13: 978-0937539651
• Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 3.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (57 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #484,753 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #5 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Business & Investing > Biographies & Primers > Inspiration

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loyalty Pays, April 18, 2002

By 

Matthew Dodd (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Message to Garcia (Hardcover)

Reading and discussing Hubbard's small classic, "A Message To Garcia" should be a pre-requisite for anyone about to work anywhere for a boss. Much is written about leaders, and this book helps to fill the huge gap in what is written for and about followers. The few minutes it takes to read this book could change the rest of your life. I first read it back in 1985 and I re-read it frequently.

Hubbard's inspiration for his "preachment" was an obscure but important event in the 1898 Spanish-American War. President McKinley needed someone to quickly deliver a message to an insurgent general somewhere in the jungles of Cuba. An army officer was recommended and McKinley personally handed the message to this officer with the mission to deliver the "message to Garcia." This officer's unhesitating acceptance of his mission with no superfluous questions and his subsequent completion of the mission is Hubbard's definition of an invaluable subordinate.

Hubbard's lessons of initiative (doing the right thing without being told) and loyalty to yourself, your boss, and your organization (doing the right thing when told only once) are timeless and well told. Hubbard spoke to all leaders and subordinates when he wrote, "It is not book-learning young men need, nor instruction about this and that, but a stiffening of the vertebrae which will cause them to be loyal to a trust, to act promptly, concentrate their energies: do the thing -- "Carry a message to Garcia.""

32 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The virtue of submission--, September 4, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: A Message to Garcia (Hardcover)

In Hubbard's booklet lies the secret of service. It sounds simple, but so few people are able to swallow their giant egos to do it.

Using the true story of a messenger in the Spanish-American War as an example, Hubbard teaches this lesson: when a superior asks you to do something -- no matter how difficult or crazy or impossible it may sound -- just go get it done. Don't say anything; don't make any funny faces; don't look to others for help -- just go and do it.

In a society where authority is too often degraded, Hubbard's old-fashioned-radio-editorial-style essay reminds us that conformity can be good. I would qualify this by saying that any conformity should be conscientious conformity (you must not do something that goes against ethical principles).

To anyone really considering buying this really, really short, really, really over-priced book: you can find it online for really, really free.

31 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A reader from California misses the point, May 7, 2003

By 

R. C. Lavalley (Dearborn, Michigan USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Message to Garcia (Life-Changing Classics) (Paperback)

The message of Hubbard's commentary on Col. Rowan's mission is not to do what you are told without question, but to think for yourself. What Col. Rowan did was amazing. He was asked to carry a message from President McKinley to an insurgent leader in Cuba named Garcia. This was leading up to the Spanish-American War and Cuba was hostile territory. If captured, Rowan would be shot by the Spanish. What you now know about Rowan's mission is what he knew at the time he took it up. And he succeeded! Hubbard's lament is that all employees are not more like Col. Rowan.