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Summary: About the Book
Review:
Wisdom of the Ages: A Modern Master Brings Eternal Truths into Everyday Life
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Bestselling author Wayne W. Dyer has crafted a powerful collection of writings, poems, and sayings by some of the greatest thinkers of the past twentyfive centuries. In succinct original essays, Dyer sets out to explain the meaning and context of each piece of wisdom, and, most important, how we can actively apply these teachings to our modern lives.
A beautiful and thoughtful gift, this book shows us a window to wisdom and a door to greatness.
SYNOPSIS
Bestselling author Wayne W. Dyer has crafted a powerful collection of writings, poems, and sayings by some of the greatest thinkers of the past twentyfive centuries.
FROM THE CRITICS
Wayne W. Dyer
This book is not about appreciating poetry and philosophy as much as it is about applying the wisdom of these writers to our everyday lives. All the selections in this book convey messages from sensitive, highly creative, and productive individuals who were alive here at one time, just as you and I are today.
Library Journal
This is intended as a handbook of wisdom gleaned from 60 sources, ancient and contemporary, ranging from novelists, poets, sages, and saints to statesmen, including the likes of Herman Melville, Dorothy Parker, Shakespeare, Buddha, Jesus, Mother Teresa, and Mahatma Gandhi. Each chapter, prefaced by a quotation from an individual whose contribution to history is summed up in a few lines, revolves around a specific theme, such as forgiveness, work, family and home, divinity, individuality, and so forth. These writings are often rambling and take inspiration from individuals who have no bearing on the selected quotations. This book is self-actualization guru Dyer at his presumptuous best, capitalizing on the wisdom of others and devoting the final chapter to himself as a master worthy of the last word. Not much to recommend here.--Bernadette McGrath, Vancouver P.L.
Kirkus Reviews
An enhanced version of a commonplace book, Wisdom of the Ages offers brief excerpts from the writings of 60 "teachers" (ranging from Buddha and Jesus up to George Bernard Shaw and Mother Teresa) followed by three- to four-page musings by Dyer (Real Magic) which attempt to explicate the sayings. The necessarily fragmentary nature of such an approach means that the book lends itself more to browsing than to study; the often bland and unsurprising analyses of the excerpts, and the only fitfully convincing effort to draw from each excerpt some plan of action for change and enhanced awareness would suggest that only the author's longtime fans are likely to find the volume of much interest or utility. (His fans are, of course, legion.)
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Summary: Less Ego please.
Review: Although Mr. Dyer's selection of great people and their work has a lot to offer, his ego spoiled the scene. He inserts numerous plugs for his other products, and too many examples from his own life. Perhaps reading the book would make it easier to avoid these distractions, but when listening to the CD, they are unavoidable. The overall effect is that of sitting down to a nice meal, only to discover a large hair in the dish after severl bites. Disappointing.
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Summary: Less Ego please.
Review: Although Mr. Dyer's selection of great people and their work has a lot to offer, his ego spoiled the scene. He inserts numerous plugs for his other products, and too many examples from his own life. Perhaps reading the book would make it easier to avoid these distractions, but when listening to the CD, they are unavoidable. The overall effect is that of sitting down to a nice meal, only to discover a large hair in the dish after severl bites. Disappointing.
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Summary: Great teachers can speak to us if we listen...
Review: Being an avid advocate of ancient wisdom, I immediately felt a connection with Wayne Dyer. I first saw his videos on Public Television. His relaxed manner and deep wise voice immediately had my attention. When I heard about his new book: Wisdom of the Ages, I knew this was a book I would want to own. Ancient wisdom is fascinating to me. It can teach us as much as it taught our ancestors so long ago. When I find a quote or a poem I feel a connection to, I collect it like a treasure. You know that you are learning something wise, something which is lost in the hurried twenty-first century. Wayne Dyer has captured the wisdom from sixty great teachers. They come from various backgrounds, cultures and religions, yet their writings hold truth. These are the writings of highly imaginative, productive and perceptive individuals. If you appreciate poetry, quotes, and prose selections which inspire; you will thrive for sixty days as your soul grows in a new garden of awareness. The words from our ancestral scholars hold keys to our own spiritual advancement. Wayne takes each portion of writing and unfolds the cocoon for us. He sets the butterflies of truth free to circle in our minds as we gaze on their beauty. He puts each piece of wisdom in the context of our lives today and gives a practical application. These short essays will speak to your heart. Each section begins with a selection and the explanation follows. Wayne Dyer is a natural teacher who so effortlessly draws on his own collected wisdom and the experiences in his life that most fully represent his new lesson. He challenges the reader to make his book a two-month project in which you read one section a day and try to apply the principles you have absorbed. As you read this great work, you will feel as though you have entered a unity of consciousness with the writers. Their world suddenly becomes yours, their lessons become a gift of enlightenment. Can pain in our lives help us to accent to a higher plane of acceptance? Can someone really make you unhappy without your consent? Can we turn anger over a situation in life into a peaceful and fulfilling solution? What are the six mistakes we all make? Here you will learn how to stop giving your precious energy to things you don't believe in, how to find a quite place, or how to become more aware of that feeling of peace you so desire. While I don't believe I am God, I do believe God can show his love through us and his son can live in us. The voices I heard through the words of the sixty writers did not conflict with my own beliefs. They reinforced some of the wisdom I knew to be truth and taught me more about who I want to be. I have just taken the first few steps in the long journey into eternity. If enlightenment means an immersion in and a surrounding of peace, you might just find it by applying the principles in this book. A Sample Poem included in Wisdom of the Ages: Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time. -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow You will also find the works of Pythagoras and Blaise Pascal, Buddha, Lao-tzu, Confucius, Patanjali, Marcus Tullius Cicero, Jesus of Nazareth, Epictetus, Omar Khayyam, St. Francis of Assisi, Jalaluddin Rumi, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Sir Edward Dyer, William Shakespeare, John Donne, John Milton, Kahlil Gibran, John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, William Blake, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Wordsworth, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Hentry David Thoreau, Chief Seattle, Oren Lyons, Rudyard Kipling, Robert Frost, Mother Teresa, Lewis Carroll and many, many more wise teachers.
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Summary: DYER BLOWS IT IN THE FINAL CHAPTER
Review: Great topics written by Dyer...until he includes HIMSELF among the great thinkers, writers. What nonsense! "Brisbane" Oooooh!!! Sorry, Wayne, you should have kept your ego in check. Read the book, but skip the last entry.
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Summary: An Enjoyable Read!
Review: I go back to this book from time to time because of the way it names its chapters. For instance, my girlfriend just broke up with me and I'm so angry I never want to speak to her again - I would go to the chapter "Forgiveness" and it really helps to calm me down. Some bad points are the poems; do people really understand them? I don't! I just jump right to the discussion part. The summary at the end of each chapter don't really summarize the chapter and sometimes adds new thoughts from the author! I am also not satisfied with the spiritual or god explanation because I'm not religious. For anyone thinking of buying this book, definitely get the hard cover, I did, and happily, I was able to remove the cheesy cover and have just a nice plain blue cover.
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Summary: Great to Study with Friends Along the Journey
Review: I picked up this book early last year for my friend and I to go through together and discuss our insights and lessons learned from the readings. We have not been disappointed. Some of the readings appear to have been written in a hurry, with less deep thought.... But for the most part the readings are high quality, thought evoking, and focus on fairly familiar passages from wise people from across belief systems and traveling through time. It was my first time realizing there really WAS an "Omar the Tentmaker" (I thought my brothers made him up to taunt me!) and I enjoyed remembering and reading Dyer's perspectives on St. Francis of Assisi, Patanjali, William Blake, Rumi and many others we admire in common. I also suggest reading this title with at least one friend if not more. It is a great conversation starter and can easily drive an intentional, spiritual growth oriented discussion.
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Summary: Best Book Anybody In Search Of Meaning Could Read!!!
Review: I was upset to see that the ratings could only go up to 5...1,000 words could never truly express to you how much this book has influenced my life. Dr. Dyer captures the lessons and messages that our great minds and hearts through history dedicated their lives to teaching. He unites our world's greatest teachers from all different cultures and time periods, making this book suitable for anybody, no matter their sex, colour, religion, age. Dyer presents the reader with truth, enlightenment, and hope. He does sugar coat the bad things in life, like many self help books do, but rather let's the reader know that while times may be tough, we can conquer our trials, but the conquership begins within ourselves...While reading this book you feel yourself becoming each individual person quoted, as Dyer expands on their teaching and relates it to our own lives...If you do infact buy this book don't expect it stay in mint condition...My copy is already highlightena dn dogeared beyond recognition...if you open your heart, this book will truly transform yourself as it has mine...
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Summary: i see an error
Review: in one of the texts, he used E.E. CUMMINGS, instead of e.e. cummings. what a fool. plus he does advertise more of his works in the book which take away from the original meaning. I find many parts of this book to have irrelevant entries in it. I could have written better information than this wise@55.
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Summary: An Enjoyable Read!
Review: The person who titled their review "This Book Left Me Baffled" dated March 28, 2000, is being a bit unfair to Mr. Dyer. His exact statement from the introduction to this book reads as follows: "As I wrote each of these essays, I looked at a portrait or photograph of the teacher I was highlighting and I would literally ask the individual, 'What would you like those of us here today to know?'---and I would listen and surrender. I allowed myself to experience their guidance and my writing became almost automatic. It may sound strange, but I actually felt the presence of those writers and poets with me as I wrote each of these sixty pieces." I personally don't see anything at all occult about this approach. Mr. Dyer did thorough research for each article, as he explains in the text of the book, and, in my opinion is simply stating that he was seeking inspiration before writing each essay. I highly recommend this book. Mr. Dyer has done a remarkable job of extracting gems of wisdom from 60 of the really great minds who came before us and explaining usually in 3-4 pages what he thinks they were trying to tell us. Buy the book. It's easy to read and worth the investment in time and money. I don't agree with everything he says, but he has certainly made me rethink some of my opinions.
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