- Paperback: 240 pages
- Publisher: Harper Perennial (May 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0060932228
- ISBN-13: 978-0060932220
- Product Dimensions: 20.5 x 13.5 x 1.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,453,473 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Robert Fulghum's books All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, It Was on Fire When I Lay Down on It, Uh-Oh, Maybe (Maybe Not), and From Beginning to End have struck a chord with readers everywhere, making him one of the bestselling authors of our time with six New York Times bestsellers in a row. There are currently more than 14 million copies of these books in print in 27 languages and 93 countries.
In Words I Wish I Wrote, Fulghum reveals the works of writers who have inspired him. As he says, "When I look deep beneath my declarations I see the underlying thoughts of others. As hard as I have tried to speak in my own voice, I realize now that nothing I have said is original or unique. My expressions echo and imitate the statements of others. Thought is forever being revived, recycled, and renewed. I have found that someone else has always been this way before me. And they have spoken of the way in words I wish I had written -- in language I could not improve upon".
The confirming statements, quotes, and credos that influenced Fulghum through the years are collected here, organized thematically into such sections as Companions, God, Bene-Dictions, Contra-Dictions, Simplify, and Believe. Each section begins with a short, introductory essay by Fulghum followed by inspiring passages drawn from a diverse group of sources, from Jerry Garcia to Albert Camus, Dylan Thomas to Franz Kafka, Marcel Proust to Beatrix Potter. In addition, at the end of each section, Fulghum offers readers his own personal commentary on the sources. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
What do i believe? Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
What do i believe? Read the first page
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Concordance
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Fulghum usually provides snippets of humour or insight through humourous or anecdotal everyday stories. Here he shows his versatility by sharing insightful and humours angles of some of the greatest philosophers, poets, writers, and thinkers. The works that he chooses to recite from are must-haves in any thinking man's library. I have used mine for everything from a memorable wedding toast to a reminder of the everlasting principles required in times of tumultuous decision-making.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
I've read most of the Robert Fulghum's works from "Maybe Maybe not, True Love, ... and this Words I Wish I Wrote." Honestly speaking, I am not a native-English speaker, but ever since I contacted with Fulghum's works, I'd loved it. Most of his works are witty, humorous and pretty.
Sure, Including this one. His work will inspire people in a mystical way as to move the deepest part of his heart. I did learn much from his works. I am suprised at that as well, and more confident in realizing this world. I do suggest you read this book. But I recommend you read his other works first. You have to know him more before you get to the great sayings he cherishes all his life.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
22 reviews
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
A Book of "Words I Wish I Wrote"
3 Mar 2000
Format:Paperback
This book has to be one of the best that I have ever read. The effect that it has on the reader is immediate and profound, for it has a way of showing you life through the simplest and yet most obtuse terms. It is truly a piece that will expand the mind and inspire the imagination, a much read for any "thinker."
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Labor of love
12 July 2000
Format:Paperback
Fulghum's an independent thinker, and I respect him for that. Yeah, his works may not be classed among the greats of philosophy, but I like them. He combines a lust for life to rival Henry James with the knowledge of a lifelong reader and the wisdom born of a varied and examined life experience. I think this book is mostly a labor of love, a tribute to the thinkers who have influenced him as he hopes to reach others. (And if I recall correctly, he's donating the profits).
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Changed My Whole Perspective
1 Jun 2002
Format:Hardcover
I must say that when I started this book today, my day, in fact my week was going very badly. By the time I finished it a couple of hours later my whole perspective had changed, and I feel revived and refreshed. Robert Fulghum has given me back a renewed feeling of faith and hope again. How can I ever show my gratitude? Only by telling others how much it has meant to me. Thank you Robert Fulghum, for sharing the wisdom that you have garnered from these great writers. Although you didn't write their words, yours are so inspiring to me. I would like to share some of my favorites that I think are relevant to the theme of his book:
"The way a book is read -- which is to say, the qualities a reader brings to a book -- can have as much to do with its worth as anything the author puts into it." (Norman Cousins)
He ate and drank the precious words,
His spirit grew robust;
He knew no more that he was poor,
Nor that his frame was dust.
He danced along the dingy days,
And this bequest of wings
Was but a book. What liberty
A loosened spirit brings!
(Emily Dickinson)
'Tis the good reader that makes the good book; in every book he finds passages which seem to be confidences or asides hidden from all else and unmistakably meant for his ear; the profit of books is according to the sensibility of the reader; the profoundest thought or passion sleeps as in a mine, until it is discovered by an equal mind and heart.
(Ralph Waldo Emerson)
To sit alone in the lamplight with a book spread out before you, and hold intimate converse with men of unseen generations--such is a pleasure beyond compare.
(Yoshida Kenko)
For books are not absolutely dead things, but do contain a potency of life in them to be as active as that soul was whose progeny they are; nay, they do preserve as in a vial the purest efficacy and extraction of that living intellect that bred them. I know they are as lively, and as vigorously productive, as those fabulous dragon's teeth; and being sown up and down, may chance to spring up armed men.
(John Milton)
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