The Right Words at the Right Time

Rating:
Summary: An amazing and inspirational book
Review: Has there ever been a time in your life when a few words from a special person have made all the difference?
You're not alone.
In this amazing new book, "The Right Words At The Right Time," actress Marlo Thomas has compiled stories gathered from over 100 of today's most influential people - instances when just a few words changed forever the way they lived their lives.
This would make an incredible book for high school and college graduates. It would also be great for anyone facing life-altering events in their lives. And it makes for good reading for the rest of us who just enjoy a good story from people we admire.

Rating:
Summary: this is a wonderful book
Review: This book is for everyone who has felt discouraged, overwhelmed, embarassed, saddened and confused. The experiences of the contributors in this book are so diverse as our the contributors themselves. They are comprised of actors, CEOs of major companies, movie directors, talk show hosts, musicians, athletes, activists, journalists, artists and politicians. These are some of the stories, people, and words that stood out for me.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani who learned that life is a combination of great tragedy and great beauty from a woman who lost her father, husband, and son all in one year. He learned to celebrate the beauty and the positive things in life. Oprah Winfrey was inspired by the words of a producer who said just be yourself when she felt overwhelmed starting out as a talk show host years ago. Her main compettion was Phil Donahue who was the king of talk shows at the time. The same idea motivated Marlo Thomas when she was started out as an actress. Her legendary father advised her to run her own race. Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon.com learned an important lesson by listening to the words of his grandfather It is much harder to be nice than clever. I thought those words as like so many in this book to be profound. Actress Jennifer Aniston was inspired by a speech written by Marianne Williamson given by Nelson Mandella. The gist of the speech is that we all have a light or gift within us that we all need to share. Journalist Ted Koppel took the words of Roy Rogers to heart when he read that everyone is ignorant just on different subjects. Steven Spielberg was inspired by the words of a Davy Crockett movie The words Be sure you're right, then go ahead gave him the confidence to drop out of college and become a director.

Some of the most interesting insights come from people who are not as famous. Doris Kearns Goodwin, a historian who worked with President Johnson writing his memoir was inspired by the words of psychologist Erik Erikson that the richest lives attain an inner balance comprised of work, play and love. Erikson concluded that we should not sacrifice one need to pursue another. The contribution by Dr. David Ho is interesting to me because of what he does for a living. David Ho is the director of AIDS research and through his efforts with different drugs patients live longer and healthier lives. Patients focus on living and not dying because of him. I enjoyed the wisdom in the story of political advisor Mary Matalin who learned from her father that confidence is what separates successful people from unsuccessful ones. Confidence is created from 3 things being prepared, having experience, and never giving up. This is an idea I will never forget.

There are some cliches in this book, but they are interesting because of the people who were motivated by them achieved great things. Astronaunt Sally Ride was inspired by the words reach for the stars and became the first woman in space. Toni Morrison was motivated by the words anything worth doing is worth doing well. Morrison won the Nobel Prize for her novel Song of Solomon later in life. Designer Ralph Lauren was inspired by the music of Frank Sinatra and the song My Way.

The Right Words at the Right Time is an excellent book filled with pearls of wisdom. This book has wonderful insights about life, work, character and love.

Rating:
Summary: Who knew I would love this book?!
Review: To the few reviewers of this book who gave it a negative rating:

what's wrong with you?! You CLEARLY missed this point of this gem of a publication.

I was browsing around the bookstore at the local mall just passing time while my eye glasses were being repaired. I was standing near the bestsellers section, when for no particular reason, this book's cover caught my eye. I picked up a copy, glanced at it, flipped the pages, then discarded it back on the shelf and thought, uhgg, one of those chicken-soup, pseudo-inspirational, publications; you know, a book version of a "chick flick"...ah, no thanks. Then, and maybe it was the fact that I noticed the NY Times bestseller band at the top, or maybe the sincerity of Marlo's expression -- I don't know -- but I picked it up, again flipped through the selections until I found a contributor I recognized: Matt Groening. I read his, the another, then got to Mel Brooks..BAM..I was hooked. I've got to admit, the old widsom you can't judge a book by it's cover took on a literal truth in this case. When I glanced at the back cover and saw that all of the royalties of the book go to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, I was instantly sold and proceeded to register to buy it.

The idea for this book and it's ultimate objective are both obvious and genious. Bravo Marlo and Friends!

This isn't literature, no, it's light reading with most entires being 3 or 4 pages; the contributions are from a diverse collection of musicians, actors, activists, entertainers, doctors, CEOs, journalists, politicians, direcors, writers, politicians, artists, and other people who are well known because of the success they've attained.

But the entries from the likes of Sidney Portier, Jay Leno,
and Itzhak Perlman are golden nuggets; personal experiences
of pivitol points in these contributors lives and given up in the name of charity -- awesome!

There are lessons and wisdoms in this book you can bank on. To say this book is replete with inspiration and would be an understatement. Best of all, you can read an entry in like 2 minutes!

If you don't buy this book, it's your loss.

Rating:
Summary: Inspiring collection of personal revelations
Review: Loved reading THE RIGHT WORDS AT THE RIGHT TIME by Marlo
Thomas and Friends . . . this was the right book for me at the right time . . . it is an inspiring collection of personal revelations from more than 100 remarkable men and women who share a moment when words changed their lives.

I was moved by many of the first-person accounts of challenges
and victories . . . they inspired me as I read them, and I'm sure you will feel the same . . . for example, Al Pacino and Gwyneth Paltrow were instructed by words they heard during a crisis . . . Billy Crystal and Crhis Rock used their humor to guide them . . . Ruth Bader Ginsburg received advice from her mother-in-law that continues to help her on the Supreme Court.

There were many memorable passages; among them:
[Jennifer Aniston quotes a Nelson Mandela speech written by
Marianne Williamson] "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 everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we
unconsciously give other people permission to do the same."

[Jeff Bezos tells what his grandfather told him after he made
his grandmother cry when he criticized her smoking]: "You'll
learn one day that it's much harder to be kind than clever."

[David Boies mentions advice how his wife told him to think
of his son, David, whenever faced with a tough choice]: "You
just make whatever decision you would want David to make if
he were in your position."

Rating:
Summary: We've Heard It Before, But It Has Value
Review: Joining the "story about someone who did something great" bandwagon is Marlo Thomas. It is not as if such stories are unimportant. But it seems our bookshelves are packed with the tales of celebrities and how they overcame adversity or foolishness, each one blander than the next.

Thomas ain't Turkel. Pick up anything by Studs Turkel.

Itzhak Perlman's story is intriguing, but only because his adversity has always been as clear as his mastery of the violin. He doesn't seem to be playing the PR game.

Otherwise, there is a canned tone to the stories. I can't explain this, but something in the phrasing is so ordinary, it seems to miss the passion that must have been behind the people who lived the stories. Maybe it was overedited, or ghost-written by a cub writer who hasn't lived through any adversity. I think the stories have power, but not this version.

I recommend "The Right Words at the Right Time" as a easy summer read, the kind of book you read as a passenger or leave up at a vacation home...

Rating:
Summary: The Power of Words
Review: This book shares the personal stories of different celebrities from different areas of endeavors and of different political persuasions. As such, the collection is a bit of a mishmash - some thoughtful and meaningful stories; some rants and riffs of self-centered yammering that should have been edited - heavily. Also, the factchecking was surprisingly sloppy in places.

However, I took away a valuable lesson - the importance of our words, and how they radiate out into the world in ways we can't anticipate. For example - the simple words of a firefighter's grieving mother touched Rudy Giuliani and guided him and inspired him two weeks later on Sept. 11, 2001.

Who knows how what we say may change someone's life? This isn't the greatest book I've ever read, but that "lesson" will stay with me for a long time.

Rating:
Summary: Negative twenty stars
Review: This is trash. The book consists of two to three page stories about actors and politicians, and a very few stories about people who actually deserve respect. For some reason, we are supposed to care about important events in the lives of people we don't know, and who don't write long enough stories for us to get to know them. These stories are mostly poorly written, often nonsensical, and never though-provoking. In short, this book lacks substance, meaning, relevence, or literary merit of any kind.

If you want to read something inspirational, stay away from the chicken-soup-for-the-soul kind of "inspirational" books. Read some real literature. I reccomend the Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, and The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand.

Rating:
Summary: Tom Wolfe doesn't know what he's talking about
Review: I was really enjoying The Right Words at the Right Time until I got to Tom Wolf's essay. It was going along well, until I came to the paragraph that started with the English being masters at jujitsu wit, and holding up Oscar Wilde as an example of same. Well, I'm used to people who don't know better calling Oscar Wilde English, and was letting that one go whena mere two paragraphs later I found him using (G.B.)Shaw as proof that the Irish, too, are masters of this...ability. At that point, the blank stupidity of Mr. Wolfe's essay just lost me. If he's going to write for publication, the least he can do is get a clue as to what he is talking about. Both Wilde and Shaw were Irish--in fact, Wilde's mother was a rather famous Irish Republican. I'm ashamed of Mr. Wolfe, Ms Thomas, and the editors of this book, none of whom seem to know much of anything.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent inspiration for all ages!
Review: It's amazing how powerful a phrase or piece of advice can be. When I was growing up, my favorite book was Free to Be You and Me, and now I'd have to say this one ranks right up there in my top 10. Thanks!

Rating:
Summary: Right To The Heart Of The Matter
Review: Marlo Thomas gathered together the wit and wisdom of over 100 innovators, thinkers and cultural icons, who share a moment when words changed their lives. It's great to be able to share in the personal moments of these well known people's lives and glean some inspiration from their stories. Definitely a book to keep around on your coffee table to share with others.