Though small in size, this book steals the secrets of giants.
Snippets from captains, kings and trailblazers throughout history.
Executive and entrepreneur Harpool (The Little Book of Planning Wisdom, 2013) has compiled bite-sized quotations on leadership from more than 185 sources, ranging from ancient Chinese philosophers to 21st-century business moguls. Harpool promises that contemplating them will yield a “great return on investment” for aspiring leaders. The book has no narrative; instead, the quotations are neatly classified by origin. One chapter, for example, is devoted to U.S. presidents and world leaders. Abraham Lincoln’s gravitas—“Important principles may and must be inflexible”—finds a home in the same chapter as a stirring exhortation from Winston Churchill: “Never…Never…Never…Never Give Up!” Given the subject, most of the sources are predictable. No book on leadership would be complete without the eloquence of John F. Kennedy or a few salty words from George S. Patton; even Yoda’s Jedi wisdom finds a seat: “Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.” The less familiar sources, however, often provide the most practical advice. A Japanese proverb offers a remedy for dysfunction: “Fix the problem, not the blame.” As diverse as the sources are, recurring themes suggest leaders share common traits such as passion, creativity and perseverance. Above all, heroic leaders are people of character who see their powerful positions as a way to serve their fellow man. Regrettably, the book suffers from a weakness common to compilations: lack of context. The index provides only scant biographical data and no clues about what challenges these leaders overcame. When Hannibal says, “I will find a way, or make a way,” readers are expected to know that the Carthaginian warrior crossed the supposedly impassable Alps to invade Italy in 218 B.C. Pairing the quotes with a sentence or two describing a noteworthy accomplishment would have made the text more potent. Despite this flaw, the book offers quick inspiration—perfect for a dose of fortitude before that make-or-break meeting.
Though small in size, this book steals the secrets of giants.Pub Date: April 10, 2014
ISBN: 978-1492289371
Page Count: 144
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: June 19, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.
The legendary booze-addled metal rocker turned reality-TV star comes clean in his tell-all autobiography.
Although brought up in the bleak British factory town of Aston, John “Ozzy” Osbourne’s tragicomic rags-to-riches tale is somehow quintessentially American. It’s an epic dream/nightmare that takes him from Winson Green prison in 1966 to a presidential dinner with George W. Bush in 2004. Tracing his adult life from petty thief and slaughterhouse worker to rock star, Osbourne’s first-person slang-and-expletive-driven style comes off like he’s casually relating his story while knocking back pints at the pub. “What you read here,” he writes, “is what dribbled out of the jelly I call my brain when I asked it for my life story.” During the late 1960s his transformation from inept shoplifter to notorious Black Sabbath frontman was unlikely enough. In fact, the band got its first paying gigs by waiting outside concert venues hoping the regularly scheduled act wouldn’t show. After a few years, Osbourne and his bandmates were touring America and becoming millionaires from their riff-heavy doom music. As expected, with success came personal excess and inevitable alienation from the other members of the group. But as a solo performer, Osbourne’s predilection for guns, drink, drugs, near-death experiences, cruelty to animals and relieving himself in public soon became the stuff of legend. His most infamous exploits—biting the head off a bat and accidentally urinating on the Alamo—are addressed, but they seem tame compared to other dark moments of his checkered past: nearly killing his wife Sharon during an alcohol-induced blackout, waking up after a bender in the middle of a busy highway, burning down his backyard, etc. Osbourne is confessional to a fault, jeopardizing his demonic-rocker reputation with glib remarks about his love for Paul McCartney and Robin Williams. The most distinguishing feature of the book is the staggering chapter-by-chapter accumulation of drunken mishaps, bodily dysfunctions and drug-induced mayhem over a 40-plus-year career—a résumé of anti-social atrocities comparable to any of rock ’n’ roll’s most reckless outlaws.
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.Pub Date: Jan. 25, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-446-56989-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2009
IN THE NEWS
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
