THE DRIVE TO SUCCEED

Twenty-five vest-pocket profiles of individuals who display profound motivational qualities.

In this collection, Klees highlights characters who remained true to their nature–they strived, overcame obstacles and endured. Many are household names, including Anton Chekhov, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Mother Teresa, Emily Dickinson and Vincent van Gogh. Others are known only in smaller circles, such as Frederick Delius, Alice Paul and Paul Wittgenstein. The author’s purpose is simple: to hold these people up to the light, to marvel at their characteristics and achievements, and to take a few pointers from them about resilience and energy on the road to self-actualization. His choices are solid, with both genders equally represented and decent geographical sweep. The vignettes aim for objectivity and a bounty of facts, and the variety of motivational qualities, from overcoming limitations to feeding the fire of creativity without egotistical needs, gives breadth to the selection of role models. There are times when the writing is repetitive, when Klees gets stuck in a rut and spins his writing wheels to extricate himself, and there are instances when he hits sour notes–“Many of us could not have overcome the obstacles that confronted these individuals”–that run counter to the grain of the endeavor. To characterize someone’s cause as so just that it was “inevitable” he or she would succeed–players in the women’s rights movement, anti-apartheid activists–diminishes their contributions, which were often carried out with death hovering in the wings. But of greater evidence is Klees’ sincere admiration for his subjects and his steady playing of the inspirational motif without getting ham-fisted. Certainly part of the fun here is to think of others who might be added. Wallace Stevens would be good in the dual careers category, maybe Ray Charles for rebounding time and again, or Thomas Paine for endurance in just causes.

A righteous, emulative company of motivational men and women.