“The only true wisdom is knowing you know nothing.”
Socrates, Greek philosopher
Have you read any good books lately?
When I ask that question, I always feel sorry for the folks who say they’re too busy to read.
The trouble for me is people write books and get them published faster than I can read. If, by some magic, my home office became an airplane, it would never get off the ground simply because the weight of the books I have there would be too much. I’m happy and healthy to the point of my doctor telling me each year during my annual exam that I’m a boring patient. Even so, the odds of me living long enough to read all the books that interest me are at best pretty slim.
Occasionally I will load up a box of books and donate them to the local twig at a bookstore benefiting the hospital here in town. It doesn’t seem to help my situation all that much because I tend to pile them up quicker than I give them away. And even though I’m a regular patron at the library, I still like the idea of owning a book.
If you happen to draw my name for the Christmas gift exchange, one suggestion would be to give be a package of highlighters and maybe a glue stick or two. You see I like to highlight what I think are the most important passages in the self-help books I read. Then I go back and reread those highlights several times to make sure the information sinks in. If I plan on keeping a book, I’ll use that glue stick to add a cartoon, picture, or inspirational quote to the inside cover.
So regarding my book collection, you may ask, “How many is enough?” Mark Twain said it better than I ever could, “I was gratified to be able to answer promptly and I did. I said I didn’t know.”
There will be sixty-nine candles on my next birthday cake this year. Knowing the odds makers will likely say I have more birthday cakes behind me than I do ahead of me, I started thinking about what to leave behind for my grandson. How about some of the books that have helped me up the street and down the road. I’ll start with these.
The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale
Leo the Late Bloomer by Robert Kraus
The Fall of Freddie the Leaf by Leo Buscaglia
Silver Boxes by Florence Littauer
The Game of Life and How to Play It by Florence Scovel Shinn
Thank and Grow Rich by Pam Grout
I Want to Grow Hair, I Want to Grow Up, I want to Go to Boise by Erma Bombeck
As a Man Thinketh by James Allen
The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp
You Don’t Have to Be Blind to See by Jim Stovall
Be Happy by Monica Sheehan
The Flower Man by Mark Ludy
theartofbecomingawildflower 