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The Unwritten Laws of Life: Unofficial Rules Handed Down by Murphy and Other Sages
 
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The Unwritten Laws of Life: Unofficial Rules Handed Down by Murphy and Other Sages (Hardcover)

by Hugh Rawson (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
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Product details

  • Hardcover: 360 pages
  • Publisher: Carbolic Smoke Ball Co; 1st UK edition edition (1 Aug 2008)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0955655714
  • ISBN-13: 978-0955655715
  • Product Dimensions: 18.6 x 13 x 3.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 20,887 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

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Product Description

Product Description

Unwritten Laws is a wonderfully entertaining treasury of more than 500 rules, axioms and insights, each associated with a particular individual. None of the laws appears on the Statute Book, yet they shape human affairs more profoundly than any Act of Parliament or by-law. As Catt's Law states: No written law has ever been more binding than unwritten custom supported by popular opinion. To compile this collection, Hugh Rawson has drawn on biographies, novels, plays, interviews, TV, film, and popular folklore. Many of his lawmakers were and are figures of historical importance in the arts, sciences, and professions. Others are ordinary individuals who made a chance remark about some aspect of life, only to find it celebrated as an immutable truth. Rawson's skill has been to knit together these diverse elements and place them in context. Thus, for each law, he cites subsidiary laws, corollaries and inversions which add subtlety, wit and depth to the original. The result is an immensely enjoyable book which informs and amuses in equal measure. It is a particularly valuable reference for speechmakers, teachers, and business leaders, but also provides excellent guidance for ordinary people who have an interest in words, history, and the slings and arrows of life! A handful of the 500 Laws in this collection are shown below. In the book itself, each law is amplified by a commentary on the person who devised it, the context in which it was created, comments (often droll) on it by other people, and ways in which the law can be seen at work in real life. This additional text makes the law much more rounded and satisfying. Astor's Axiom: 'All women marry beneath them.' Capone's Law: 'You can get a lot more done with a kind word and a gun than with a kind word alone.' Goldsmith's Law: 'Silence gives consent.' Hensley's Law 'The less teeth the women have, the better the bar.' Lance's Law: 'If it ain't broke, don t fix it.' Miller's Law: 'The quality of food in restaurants is in inverse proportion to the number of signed celebrity photographs on the wall.' Osler's Law: 'The greater the ignorance, the greater the dogmatism.' Paley's Law: 'White lies always introduce others of a darker complexion.' Roosevelt's Law: 'Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent.' Swanson's Law: 'When the water reaches the upper deck, follow the rats.' Vidal's Law: 'It is not enough to succeed. Others must fail.' Walpole's Law: 'Every man has his price.'


About the Author

Hugh Rawson is a former director of Penguin Reference Books in the U.S. as well as editor of the Bulletin of The Authors Guild. He lives in Roxbury, Connecticut.

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Customer Reviews

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Average Customer Review
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Treasure Trove of Humour, 30 Oct 2008
By William Cohen (London) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)      
I work as a speechwriter, so I'm always looking for titbits to liven up a presentation. Rawson has gathered together an erudite and witty collection of laws which keep you thinking for days. What I like about it is that it's humour with intelligence. Each law offers an insight into human affairs, be it frivolous or profound.

You can follow up the laws and find out about writers and theorists you've never heard of - giving you hours of pleasure.
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5.0 out of 5 stars A Guide to Life, 4 Jun 2009
By M. L. Mears (U.K) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I kept this book by my bedside for many days, and dipped into at random and was never disappointed. If only I could call on all this wisdom at any time life would be so easy.
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