Customer Reviews

Thick Face, Black Heart: The Warrior Philosophy for Conquering the Challenges of Business and Life

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Rarely does a book come along that gets labled "companion", but Thick Face Black Heart is just that. Like Gracian's "The Art of Wordly Wisdon", this book is a companion for life. To be read and re-read.

I searched and read for a long time differing books on succeeding in life. I bought this book based on a comment from a reviewer inside which said, "If I had to carry only two books on a runway it would be Sun Tzu's Art of War and Thick Face Black Heart."

Being a huge long time fan of SunTzu, I figured I had to give this book a chance. It was one of the best decisions I have made.

The clarity into how life works whether you like it or not is worth the cost alone. Too many people (myself included) have a hard time believing that the world (and life) itself is a battlefield. This illumination will not depress you - in fact it will rejuvinate you.

My copy is dog-eared to no end. I read it through at least twice a year and keep it by my bed (whether at home or on the road).

This is not money wasted.

The best compliment I can give about this book? After having read Thick Face Black Heart the first time, I threw all other self-help books I owned (Tony Robbins included)in the trash. I haven't missed them since.

This book is great! The author has many examples to illustrate her points. The book explains what it is to have a thick face (similar to a "thick skin" but more encompassing) and a black heart (being ruthless in the pursuit of your goals). Though this sounds bad, it really isn't. An example of black heart in practice, given by the author in the book, is of a doctor in the Old West that is treating an injured person. The person is screaming because of his injury (and because there is no anesthesia), but the doctor is emotionless as he performs his duties. If he were sensitive to the screams of the person he is operating on, he would be unable to carry out his duties to the best of his abilities. He knows inside that it is better to cause pain now in order to save the man's life.

There are a multitude of topics covered in the book including how to get what you want, how to figure out what you want, how to be in harmony with nature (seriously), how to turn your apparent negative traits into plusses, and many more. The book is far too varied to be able to explain it all in a simple review. I suggest to anyone interested in improving themselves that they have an open mind and read this book. I have read other self help books, but this is very different and definitely worthwhile. I have a new outlook on life now. I see things that used to frustrate or irritate me in a new light. If you think there is more to life than what you are experiencing right now, this book will help put you on the right path to figuring out what you want and then achieving your goals.

Chin-Ning Chu (C-NC) in this wonderful,compassionate, and easy to read masterpiece shows you how to face your fears, overcome them and indeed use them to your advantage. This book will give you all the tools you need to lead a passionate successful life on every level. This book is filled with great quotes, great stories and the wisdom of the ages. They help lay the foundation for compelling standards we all should employ. If followed these standards will help you conquer the most deadly opponents whether real or imagined and lead to a healthier and happier life. You will come to realize how to use your inner strengths to understand what you want. You will then have the tools to achieve what you want. But, do you want what you can achieve? Reading and applying these standards will test you. But, ultimatly, if you follow these strategies, you will achieve what is your destiny even in the face of all the negative vibes you receive from others. First though C-NC frees you from the bondage of self defeatism. C-NC convinces you to face your fears and then to use them to your advantage. You then come to realize there are no excuses; if you do not succeed it is because you gave into your fears and emotions. She shows the dark reality that you were not willing to make the tradeoffs necessary for what you wanted - you just followed the crowd. You failed because that is where you wanted to be. But she brings you through this tunnel of darkness to a new bright reality of fulfilling dreams. Life is a tough game which you can win if you have the courage to make your dreams come true.

Much like judo masters who uses their opponents weight and strength against them C-NC illustates how you can disguise your reality so your opponent under or over estimates you. C-NC is your guide on how to harvest the untap powers of your mind so you are a competive, cunning, productive and happy individual. As you succeed in all life endeavors you make this a better world to live in reducing your tension and those around.

C-NC shows you throughout this book that you must have the heart and stomach to become the person you want yourself to be. You must have the strength to conquer yourself and pursue your dreams. This will also let you be a leader by example helping others to be the best they can be.

Each day we face landmines and great opportunties. C-NC explains you must keep yourself centered throughtout all these good and bad encounters. As the wise sage said it is not what happens to you but how you handles what happens that counts. She shows we are not always at our best and she illustrates life is a paradox. For example, postive/negative thinking can be an asset or seeds of success are often in our failures and sometimes being cruel is kind. But don't take my word read C-NC words to unlock the meaning of these insights.

C-NC teaches you to set realstic goals. If you constantly set goals or make promises you never keep your reputation will suffer. But she then guides you to ignore the criticism of others and be self-confident and respect yourself so you can within your mind expect great things of yourself. Through discipline, self respect, setting tough standards for yourself and with the ability to step outside yourself and look at the reality of each situation C-NC puts you in a postion to set high goals for yourself which are achievable. This book brought a new clearer meaning to my mission and it can bring the same to yours. But first you must read this compelling guidebook which through its stories and principal will build a new reality for you. This book will set your spirit free to fly as high as you desire. Its your life, your reality make it work for you.

In the world of self-improvement books, TFBH is unique.
It took me just a few days to read because I was really taken with it, and although it is by no means perfect, I give it five stars because I enjoyed it so much.
It preaches a hard-edged warrior-type philosophy which is frankly not only refreshing but also realistic in this day and age.
Let's face it, when you go out into the real world, you have to face aggression, from finding a parking space in the supermarket to getting a job, and sometimes "positive thinking" just doesn't do it.
This is an excellent book to give to someone who is in a job they are finding tough, or any other kind of tough spot, quite an inspiration and a call to arms.
After all, to paraphrase TFBH, sometimes when you are slapped in the face, sometimes it is better to slap back twice than turn the other cheek.

I was highly disappointed by this book, particularly given the glowing reviews seen here. The "two star" rating is deserved only because the basic message of the book is correct: detachment and ruthless adherence to reality (not wishful thinking) is a valuable life philosophy.

The problem is that all the ideas here are better read elsewhere, in far less space and thus far more efficiently. Indeed, I am convinced that the important message of this book can be gleaned (and then some) in the first 40 or so pages of Robert Ringer's classic, Winning Through Intimidation (despite its cheesy cover art and misleading title). Perhaps not surprisingly, Chin-Ning Chu herself cites Ringer's book.

Further, Ringer's book is highly entertaining. This book, by contrast, is full of drivel and self-important but irrelevant chit-chat from the author. In sum, the ideas are old--which is ok--but the style silly, and the time to completion too long. Do yourself a favor, and read Ringer instead.

Motivation and success book for grown-ups. This book will not penetrate your psyche if you are still immersed in Tony Robbins motivational tapes and the Napoleon Hill Think and Grow Rich mentality. No, this is the next step up the ladder. If you've hit the wall with the forementioned, get this book. It works. But it will hit you in the face like a ton of bricks.

"Thick Face, Black Heart" is a view of the world through the lens of adversity. This is why its theme is about struggle and its principles are about winning in the battle of life. However, inside its pages, one can see the anguish of a spirit that longs to find a world filled with love instead of a world filled with self-interest and betrayal. The book creates faith and doubt at the same time and fast gaining adherents despite its harsh advice on how to survive and succeed in this world. It is becoming the new handbook of success.

I read this book three times trying to grasp the underlying message. I liked it less each time. At first, I found the book fascinating, but then I tried to make sense out of it all. When I finally did, what I found was "Decieving people is o.k. as long as they benefit according to your rules." I found that being focused on your goal of money or power is the way to get it. What I did not find were ethical considerations or the need for value clarification. Some of the people Ms. Chu quotes are not people that I admire, such as the oil monopolist and cutthroat capitalist T. Boone Pickens. I also couldn't help but think that Ms. Chu is trying to become a cult figure. I would rather read a book which tells me how to succeed AND be ethical. It is an interesting book for it's explanations of Chinese philosophical concepts, but for success strategies I will go on recommending Steven Covey or Anthony Robbins.

Thick Face, Black Heart is a good concept. In essence, it goes like this: You must identify the best course of action and then do it without concern for what others will think of you (Thick Face) and without wavering, even though it may produce side-effects that you dislike (Black Heart). The typical example is a general losing 5000 men in a battle in order to end a bloody war and save many more lives. He knows in is heart that this is the best decision, so he orders it, without allowing himself to be hindered by thoughts of criticism in the media or all the soldiers that will die.

After reading the book, I appreciate having this as another way to look at things and see how it can be useful. However, I would say that about 75 pages of 368 are actually worth reading and present new, worthwhile ideas. The rest is a waste of time.

Chapters 1, 2, and 12-16 are somewhat interesting and do a decent job of explaining her concept. The rest is, for the most part, boring and cheesy. The anecdotes are not that interesting and often *barely* applicable to her point. The writing style is simplistic, yet somehow still not concise or to the point.

Chu throws in a chapter here, a chapter there about various self-help issues, without providing any depth or coherence and without linking these ideas to her main concept (aside from frequently intoning such pointless lines as "__________ is the essence of Thick Face, Black Heart"). Give up too easily? Here's a chapter on perseverance. Money troubles? Here's a chapter on that, too. Feel like other people take advantage of you? Here's another chapter! These chapters are entirely unessential to the main idea and can be skipped entirely, unless you need help in those areas -- in which case you should probably get a whole book on that topic.

She even wanders so much within each chapter that it becomes difficult to see a big picture. Maybe that's why she included a "Summary of Points" at the end of each chapter -- however, her writing and concepts are so simplistic that the summaries only serve to lay bare how unfocused her writing is.

Much of the book is a simplified hybrid of various religions and philosophies which does little to clarify the main point. At times, it gets ugly. Chu oversimplifies Lincoln's choice to free the slaves (somehow missing the important detail that his Emancipation Proclamation only freed the Confederate slaves -- but what a great guy!), she throws in bits of an Indian epic, she quotes the Art of War... but she doesn't get at the guts of any of them. You can't expect all that in one book, but I personally think you shouldn't try. What particularly annoyed me was her claim to stay religion-neutral by using terms like "the Divine" and "the Creator". In reality, she takes on an essentially Christian viewpoint when talking about interaction with God and a vaguely Hindu/Buddhist viewpoint when discussing our place in the cosmos. This is not a unified theory, folks, it's a neo-pseudo-meta-spiritual Frankenstein. The one thing I will give her credit for is doing a pretty good job of portraying the concept of Dao (not easy!), especially as it pertained to the concept of TFBH.

So why the generous two stars? Because I think, despite all my criticism, the concept is valuable. Unfortunately, Chu has tried to cram in a bunch of other self-help concepts and some new-age feel-good blather. The truth is, if you understand and practice her TFBH concept, you can deduce the rest of it easily.

A 75-page, summarized version of TFBH, stripped down to the essentials, clearly organized, and with most of the boring anecdotes taken out, would be a great read. At 368 pages, this version is not worth the time.

What is best about this book is that it (I believe) conveys certain chinese philosophies regarding success which have not be translated into the western world. This book describes techniques and examples without moral regard, more like a how-to book for nascent dictators. -Thats what I like. The reason for my low rating is three pronged. First, the book is poorly written, some concepts being covered ad nauseum, some not at all. Second, the book is so-selfserving, flattering the reader every chapter that they are so wonderful as to be reading this book. And lastly, the book claims that practicing a black heart can be equated with spirituality. I don't believe this point, and can only guess the author included this concept to make the book palatable to the western reader.