Customer Reviews

The Uncommon Wisdom Of Oprah Winfrey: A Portrait in Her Own Words (Unauthorized)

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

 

 

While this is a very interesting and well researched book on Oprah, keep in mind that it is an unauthorized biography. This book is basically a chronology of Oprah's life, and Adler does a decent job of stringing her quotes into a coherent history. A nice bonus is the section of short quotes on a wide variety of subjects. If you love Oprah, you'll probably love this book!

I purchased this book expecting to bathe in the luxury of Oprah's soothing whirlpool bath of motivational language, and I was not disappointed! I come to Operah through my long and growing interest in Dr. Phil, her advisor and close personal muse, and I was right in thinking that the acorn doesn't fall far from the original acorn. While Phil (Dr.) concentrates on homespun advice about how to be more like him (not tall, but living a good life, I mean), Oprah talks about motivational talking and finding your "spirit place", and although her "spirit place" often involves a separate home in the woods with waterfalls and a brook passing through the living room, you can get the same effect in a tent with a small fan or other noisy machine (one time I just left my car running and that seemed to do the trick - make sure your garage door isn't closed though!). I only give this book 3 stars because apparantly Oprah did not make this book herself but rather people followed her around and wrote everything down that she said without her noticing or hearing them. Still, though, it gives off her magic and essence, and is therefore worthy of your attention. Huzzah!

You can get lost in the fact that this is a collection of quotes by Oprah and not thoughts written by Oprah exclusively for this book.
Or you could be smart and glean wisdom from what she has to say.
How she grew up, what she learned from her errors, what she thinks of money and herself in relationship to it, the mental preparation to receive the abundance that she has and how she stays centered.

What I think thsi book is valuable for is insight, and perhaps personal inspiration for how to manage one's self in certain situations. The goal is not to become Oprah, it is to become the best YOU possible.

You take or you leave it, but you integrate it into the lessons and challenges of your own life. The same with John D. Rockefeller, Bill Gates, Jenny Jones (hahhahahaha----kidding).

Bill Adler has taken past interviews, articles, and speeches of Oprah Winfrey and complied _his list_ of her best quotations. It's an unauthorized book - meaning Oprah didn't write it nor was she involved in the production. Some quotations show the source of information with a date and some don't -- which makes it a bit disappointing not to have the history or context pertaining to the quote. If you have an extensive Oprah collection, you'll want this book just to say you have everything, otherwise there are many other good Oprah biographies available.

Author of Pay Attention to the Red Flags by Charlene Davis, MSW wrote: What a brillant job. I love this book. Thanks for all you do.

Oprah does have ways with words. She has proven that Her Own Way has made her life joyous and profitable. She has proven to herself Yes We Can! I would like to share a God Quote by Nelson Mandela who used this quote in his 1994 Inaugural Speech.
"Our deepest fears not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, taltened, and famous?" Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people wan't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence autmatically liberates other's."