Customer Reviews

Great Thoughts, Revised and Updated

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The story behind Seldes' gathering up these quotes and ideas, malaprops and famous last words are as interesting as the quotes themselves. After a glorious career as a world renown journalist and essayist, at age 70 he began to cull the ideas that helped shape Western Civilization. That beginning was in 1960. He forwarded the finished document to the publisher in 1984. He was ninty-four at the time. And the work became one of the best selling books of it's kind ever. The editors had to step in to pare down the number of pages he had of Freud passages from 40 pages to 20. Seldes could not easily part with some of the Freud citations. Editors have a raison d'etre, afterall. Aldous Huxley forwarded the idea that civilization's grand pronouncements and great ideas could be tempered by some grand pronouncements and not so great ideas--so, along side Emerson and Mandela in Seldes work, one may find Hitler and Castro. Shakespeare and the Bible were avoided as references...far too many quotes the author has noted. Plus, there are concordances of each which can give the reader a more thorough coverage than what Seldes can offer.I have always been able to open the book up anywhere and read some thought provoking idea. That's why I enjoy it so much: it's good for the casual browser. Also, it acts as an appetite whettor to those who are exposed to, say, the 3 or 4 citations from Nietsche's Also Sprach Zarathustra and feel as if they wish to read more. My advice, overall, to those who will listen has always been--"Open your mind. Open a book and read". This volume of The Great Thoughts will help you enjoy your journey.

I LOVE TO QUOTE OR PARAPHRASE IDEAS OF THOSE THAT HAVE INFLUENCED OUR SOCIETY. THIS COMPILATION OF WRITINGS ALLOWS THE READER TO EASILY OBTAIN PASSAGES FROM THEIR FAVORITE PHILOSOPHERS AND LEADERS. I HAVE RECOMMENDED THIS BOOK TO MANY FRIENDS AS A TOOL FOR INTRODUCING THEIR CHILDREN TO THE THOUGHTS THAT HAVE SHAPED THE WAY OUR SOCIETIES AND CULTURES EXIST.

This book was originally put together by a very successful journalist who had access to the most famous people of the times. Interestingly, various editions are, or at least, have been available in either author or subject categorized.

I really like the quotes Seldes selected and this is one of the 30 or 40 books (from among the 400+ quote books I own) I use most (in the subject listed format) to dig up quotes for topics I am researching.

It's not one of the top five I'd buy, but if you see one one sale, grab it. It's a nice one to add to a quotation collection or to give as a gift. ALso, the price is better than many others, and it's another book you can often get for just a few dollars at a used book shop or through one of the used book web vendors.

A wealth of insightful thinking from across the ages; the book is nothing short of amazing.

Seldes's work on this book is admirable. It is a good tool for finding what notable people had to say about most things. The index is useful for just such research, and the value in that is that this volume has a way of directing you to further material you may need. As a book of aphorictic expression, Seldes's Great Thoughts is entertaining too. It is a worthy read from cover to cover just to see what he thought "great" enough to include. I found the alphabetical-by-author format practical and, as said, the index works well for searching out subject material. What I find strange about the book is its puzzling tendency to value some patently impractical thoughts that are clearly not "great" or even all that influential, on the surface anyway, as well the absence of some historically significant material. No doubt Seldes had his logic, political and social, and that is also an interesting aspect of reading the book.

A collection of quotes organized by people this book gives highlights of great thinkers thoughts. In addition it has an index organized by subject. For a paper or merely pure inspiration this is the perfect book

The Great Thoughts was the first quote book that I used for writing cases in Lincoln Douglas debate in High School. I found that the quotations were thorough and wide-ranging. The Great Thoughts contains many useful authors from all time periods and all races. I have used quotations from Mahatma Ghandi to Plato. Another added bonus is that the book comes with longer quotations. A longer quote insures that a reader won't take a quote out of context. I've used The Great Thoughts for Debate, for school papers, and for my job as a writer at my school newspaper. I reccommend the Great Thoughts without any hesitations.

Sometimes I just flop this book open and start reading but I use it often when looking for a good quote to support my writing. I used it more when I was working for a newspaper than I do now. I have several other books of famous quotations but I'm partial to this one. The researcher can look up a quote by "author" or go to the index and look for quotes by "subject" matter.

Invariable when I go to this book for something in particular, I get sidetracked and end up browsing. It is a fun book and quite an effort by the author.

This is the book that got me reading Seldes. I used this book for many years before I even knew who George Seldes was. I have since read some of his other books.

He tends to be radical, leans left and is always controversial, but always interesting. He's heavier on the personal ego than say I.F. Stone, but he is very good. Always an enjoyable read. You get lots of information that is difficult to find elsewhere.

But this volume is a kick. I like it and I use it.

Richard Edward Noble - The Hobo Philosopher - Author of:

"Hobo-ing America: A Workingman's Tour of the U.S.A.."

I purchased the first 'The Great Thoughts' book about 20 years ago and I still have it. It is worn out, I have read it so much. I have taken this book with me through out my entire life. Every time I had a situation in my life that I didn't know what to do about or how to take, I would take this book out and find quotes or philosophy that inspired me or caused me to think deeply about how a quote or a philosophic view help me. This book was so inspiring and really helps you put things in perspective. It also inspired my love of book antiquities and now I own books published as far back as 1590. I highly recommend this book for deep thoughts and resolutions.

This gathering of quotations is a tribute to Seldes who loved to read and think and gather the best of what he thought. But all the thoughts here are far from great, and much the great great majority of what is ' great in thought ' is not here, in part because aphorisms, small sentences and paragraphs can take us only so far in thought. To develop a line of thought, or a whole argument, or a real essay in thought is something which cannot be done in a brief remark. "Sayings " as the saying goes" are not Literature" Or rather "not the greatest Literature"
Nonetheless there is a lot of good fare here to be dipped into and tasted. I would only warn that much of it taken out of context loses its strength and effect. And then too much is trite and trivial. It seems to be that other gatherings of quotations are far more successful, including Barlett's Quotations, the Viking Book of Aphorisms ed. Auden, Kronenberger, Safire's Advice books.
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