These books have defined my life, giving me focus, direction, and purpose through a career that embraced 25 years at the United States Senate at senior staff levels and then served as the inspiration to co-found four national charities, including the Heart of America Foundation (HOA). The resulting activities have touched the lives of millions of adults and children and blessed my life beyond belief. I am a voracious reader with an extensive backlist of favorite books I have read and, in some cases, re-read. They are interesting, informative, and entertaining, but these books are a step beyond. This is where I go when I need hope and inspiration.
I wrote...
Be the Light: A Blueprint for a Happy and Successful Life
This book changed my life. I found it during a troubled time. I was struggling post-Vietnam and having trouble reintegrating into society. Nothing I read or did seemed to help. A friend recognized my struggle and recommended this book.
I found a copy and read it in a single sitting. I was so impressed that I did something I had never done before and sent Dr. Frankl a fan letter—a simple statement of my appreciation. To my surprise, he answered my letter. That began an exchange that carried over through my adult life. Dr. Frankl became my friend and mentor. Much of what I have written and almost everything I have done has stemmed from this root.
I am not alone in admiring this book. The Library of Congress has called Man’s Search for Meaning "one of the ten most influential books in the English language." Their opinion is well deserved. It’s a must-read.
One of the outstanding classics to emerge from the Holocaust, Man's Search for Meaning is Viktor Frankl's story of his struggle for survival in Auschwitz and other Nazi concentration camps. Today, this remarkable tribute to hope offers us an avenue to finding greater meaning and purpose in our own lives.
De Tocqueville’s book is the first and probably still the best examination of the genius of America. At times like these, it's good to be reminded of what makes America work. Frankl would firmly understand and concur. The essence of America is our responsibility. Frankl would break it up into two words: “response-ability.”
I first read this book when I was in college. I have read it at least once in every subsequent year. It’s nice to be reminded of who we are. Ultimately, De Tocqueville teaches that this country will be whatever we make it. If we don’t like what’s going on, it’s our responsibility to change it.
When it was first published in 2000, Harvey Mansfield and Delba Winthrop's new translation of Democracy in America was lauded in all quarters as the finest and most definitive edition of Tocqueville's classic - complete with the most faithful and readable translation to date, impeccable annotations of unfamiliar references, and a substantial introduction placing the work and its author in the broader contexts of political philosophy and statesmanship. Mansfield and Winthrop's astonishing efforts have not only captured the elegance, subtlety, and profundity of Tocqueville's original, but they also offer proof of how very essential this masterpiece continues to be.
LeeAnn Pickrell’s love affair with punctuation began in a tenth-grade English class.
Punctuated is a playful book of punctuation poems inspired by her years as an editor. Frustrated by the misuse of the semicolon, she wrote a poem to illustrate its correct use. From there she realized the other marks…
I love the depth of research and detail Tim Love provides in this book—literally years of research and hundreds of interviews to answer a question that has long been asked but never fully answered.
He delves deeply into what has become one of the most challenging topics of our day. How does one discern truth when so many people are committed to its misuse and destruction? It is essential reading in the age of disinformation.
Discovering Truth is an insight-filled exploration of the role of media in communications and how today's social media affects trust in institutions and divides an increasingly polarized society. From the rise of fake news to destabilizing foreign and domestic extremist content, more information does not necessarily lead to more facts. Through the voices of experts and the efforts of an author whose long career is dedicated to marketing communications, Discovering Truth reveals how people have struggled throughout history in seeking and defining truth whenever new forms of communication influenced our values, culture, and the ways in which we receive and…
I met Jane Goodall in Washington on her birthday 25 years ago. At that time, all I knew of her came from her beginnings as a chimpanzee researcher. It was hard to believe this slight, elderly woman had found the courage to strike out alone into the deepest part of the African forest and even harder to believe her discovery there had changed the world.
This draws on her decades of work since that time by the world’s most famous living ethologist and environmentalist. It’s an uplifting journey around the globe that highlights the good work that will inspire people to make a difference in the world around them. As one of the UN’s Ambassadors of Peace, she offers four pillars of hope drawn from her unique experience: the amazing human intellect, the resilience of nature, the power and dedication of young people, and the indomitable human spirit.
Those who know Jane Goodall through her many books, speeches, and National Geographic television specials, know she is obviously no ordinary scientist. She is a genuinely spiritual woman who cares passionately about the preservation and enhancement of life in all its forms.Based upon the many spiritual experiences that have graced and shaped her outlook on life, Dr. Goodall is convinced there is a higher purpose to life, and that this purpose can best be served by a sense of reverence for creation- a commitment to opening our hearts and minds to the spiritual ties that bind us to the Earth.In…
LeeAnn Pickrell’s love affair with punctuation began in a tenth-grade English class.
Punctuated is a playful book of punctuation poems inspired by her years as an editor. Frustrated by the misuse of the semicolon, she wrote a poem to illustrate its correct use. From there she realized the other marks…
Frankl, de Tocqueville, Love, and Tocquigny focus on affirmative action, success, meaning, and purpose, and Arendt provides a sobering reflection on the alternative. After observing the greatest horror the world has produced, she concludes much of the wickedness in the world is created by people in the neutral zone, people with no allegiance to good or evil, people who “just let it happen.”
What happens when we don’t choose but are content to let others choose for us when we deny our “response-ability.” Who is responsible when no one is responsible?
'A profound and documented analysis ... Bound to stir our minds and trouble our consciences' Chicago Tribune
Hannah Arendt's authoritative and stunning report on the trial of German Nazi SS leader Adolf Eichmann first appeared as a series of articles in The New Yorker in 1963. This revised edition includes material that came to light after the trial, as well as Arendt's postscript commenting on the controversy that arose over her book. A major journalistic triumph by an intellectual of singular influence, Eichmann in Jerusalem is as shocking as it is informative - a meticulous and unflinching look at one…
This book powerfully illustrates through the example of hundreds of individuals, rich and powerful, humble and small, that everyone matters and everyone can make a difference.
Meaning and purpose in our lives is a choice, a byproduct of kindness and service to others, an affirmative recognition that it only takes a single ray of light to dispel the darkness. Deciding to act as a ray of light in the light of others in challenging situations leads to a more fulfilling and meaningful existence.
