Download or read book The Questions That Matter Most written by Jane Smiley and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2023-08-08 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Clear, vibrant” essays on reading and writing by the Pulitzer Prize–winning, New York Times–bestselling author: “A reader feels smarter just taking it in” (The Boston Globe). From the author of A Dangerous Business, A Thousand Acres, and Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel, this volume “gathers essays (and two stories) composed with wit, enthusiasm, expertise, and candor” (Booklist). Long acclaimed as a preeminent American novelist, Jane Smiley is also an unparalleled observer of the craft of writing. In this book, she offers penetrating essays on some of the aesthetic and cultural issues that mark any serious engagement with reading and writing. After a personal introduction tracing Smiley’s migration from Iowa to California, she reflects on her findings in the literature of the Golden State, whose writers have for decades litigated the West’s contested legacies of racism, class conflict, and sexual politics through their work. With meticulous attention, she also dives beneath surface-level interpretations of authors like Marguerite de Navarre, Charles Dickens, Anthony Trollope, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Louisa May Alcott, Mark Twain, Willa Cather, Franz Kafka, Halldór Laxness, and Jessica Mitford. Throughout, Smiley seeks to think harder, and with more clarity and nuance, about the questions that matter most. “Valuable . . . Smiley gives educators, readers, and writers much to discuss.” —Library Journal (starred review) “Her literary criticism . . . brims with the same keen observations, inquisitiveness, and humor as her novels. . . . Fleet-footed and smart, this delights.” —Publishers Weekly

Download or read book Life s Biggest Questions written by Erik Thoennes and published by Crossway. This book was released on 2011-06-23 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If we were to compile the biggest questions pertaining to life, we would face some daunting submissions: Does God exist? What is God like? How will it all end? In this accessible book Erik Thoennes—a preaching pastor and theology professor—asks and answers 15 of the most important questions we can ask about God, the Bible, Jesus, and the church. Readers will find his answers clear, helpful, and above all biblical. Life's Biggest Questions is a great resource for new Christians and for those looking for concise ways to answer difficult questions. Each chapter concludes with a Scripture verse for meditation and memorization, questions for application and discussion, and suggestions for further study.

Download or read book The Four Things That Matter Most 10th Anniversary Edition written by Ira Byock and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2004-03-08 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “This beautiful book, full of wisdom and warmth, teaches us how to protect and preserve our most valuable possessions—the relationships with those we love. It shows that the things that matter definitely aren’t ‘things,’ and how to empower your life in the right direction.” —Dr. Stephen R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Four simple phrases—“Please forgive me,” “I forgive you,” “Thank you,” and “I love you”—carry enormous power to mend and nurture our relationships and inner lives. These four phrases and the sentiments they convey provide a path to emotional wellbeing, guiding us through interpersonal difficulties to life with integrity and grace. Newly updated with stories from people who have turned to this life-altering book in their time of need, this motivational teaching about what really matters reminds us how we can honor each relationship every day. Dr. Ira Byock, an international leader in palliative care, explains how we can practice these life-affirming words in our day-to-day lives. Too often we assume that the people we love really know that we love them. Dr. Byock demonstrates the value of “stating the obvious” and provides practical insights into the benefits of letting go of old grudges and toxic emotions. His stories help us to forgive, appreciate, love, and celebrate one another and live life more fully. Using the Four Things in a wide range of life situations, we can experience emotional healing even in the wake of family strife, personal tragedy, divorce, or in the face of death. With practical wisdom and spiritual power, The Four Things That Matter Most gives us the language and guidance to honor and experience what really matters most in our lives every day.

Download or read book Questions that Matter Most written by Floyd Hiatt Ross and published by . This book was released on 1954 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Ask Powerful Questions written by Will Wise and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2017-04-22 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is revealed when you authentically connect with the people around you?In Ask Powerful Questions, Will Wise explains how the questions we traditionally ask are virtually meaningless when it comes to establishing connection. Introducing a set of practical tools for accessing and understanding others by changing the way we ask questions, Will shows how to transform "How are you?-I'm fine, thanks" into a conversation that changes not only how you lead, but who you are as a person. It took years of research, university teaching, and hundreds of client projects for Will to formulate his concept behind the art of asking powerful questions. In his book, Will breaks it down into six simple steps for all of us to be able to understand. The Asking Powerful Questions Pyramid(tm) shows you how to build: Intention Rapport Openness Listening Empathy Business professionals, personal coaches, teachers and anyone in a position of leadership will relate to the personal successes and failures Will shares as he unpacks the art of asking questions that elicit unconventional answers. Powerful questions can be used everywhere: from the board room to the city park, the dinner table to the grocery store. If you want to connect with employees at a team building retreat, hone your leadership skills as a new boss, improve the company culture where you work...this book is for you. If you want to navigate difficult conversations with your spouse or a friend, or practice presence-based listening with your kids...this book is for you. If you want to become a better educator and facilitate an ice breaker conversation with colleagues...this book is for you. Ask Powerful Questions invites the reader on a journey that explores: the clarity of intent, connecting through rapport, creating openness, reflective listening, and empathy. How can we explore the space between ourselves and others, and exchange meaningful perspectives? Just ask-powerfully.

Download or read book Who Am I and Why Do I Matter written by Chris Morphew and published by The Good Book Company. This book was released on 2022-03-01 with total page 82 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Helps kids grow in faith and confidence by looking at what the Bible says about their identity. Sooner or later, kids ask big questions about themselves and their faith: Who am I? Where do I fit in? Am I good enough? What do people think of me? What does God think of me? Christian Studies teacher and school chaplain Chris Morphew has been answering big questions from kids for over a decade. In this warm, empathetic book, he shows children how to embrace and enjoy their identity as those loved by God and made in his image. He also gives lots of practical advice on how to remember what God says about who they really are. Lively stories and illustrations make this book easy for 9-13s to engage with. Readers will be helped to replace fear and anxiety with faith and confidence as they find their self-worth in what God says about them.

Download or read book The Ones Who Matter Most written by Rachael Herron and published by Berkley. This book was released on 2016-04-05 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "From the acclaimed author of Splinters of Light and Pack Up the Moon comes a beautiful novel about two very different women who are about to get a second chance at creating a family. After her husband dies unexpectedly, Abby Roberts comes across something startling: wedding photographs of him with another woman, along with pictures of a baby boy. Shocked, Abby does something utterly impulsive: She embarks on a journey to discover the family her husband apparently left behind. Even though money has been tight, single mom Fern Bailey has returned every monthly check her ex-husband has sent. Except this month, in place of a check, a perky woman with far too many questions appears on her doorstep. Unfortunately, her young son is so taken with Abby that Fern doesn't have the heart to send her away. What begins as one woman's search for truth becomes a deep bond forged between the unlikeliest of people, and the discovery that there are many ways to make a family as long as you take care."--

Download or read book Three Things Matter Most written by Brett Atlas and published by Addicus Books. This book was released on 2021-08-27 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Are You Focused on What Matters Most? If you were asked to tell your life story, would it be one of a life well-lived? According to author Brett Atlas, as our lives evolve at an ever-increasing pace, we have become detached from the universal truths which define our existence. As a result, we risk prioritizing the immaterial while neglecting the essential.In Three Things Matter Most, Atlas explains that how we approach time, relationships, and money has the biggest impact on our lives. The way we balance these three precious resources makes the difference between a life filled with meaning and a life rife with disappointment. Drawing from centuries of wisdom, philosophy, and psychology, as well as from personal experience, Atlas offers an easy-to-follow road map to self-fulfillment and happiness. You're Here Only Once. Make It Count.

Download or read book The Years that Matter Most written by Paul Tough and published by Mariner Books. This book was released on 2019 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The bestselling author of How Children Succeed returns with a devastatingly powerful, mind-changing inquiry into higher education in the U.S.

Download or read book Dying Well written by Ira Byock and published by Penguin. This book was released on 1998-03-01 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Ira Byock, prominent palliative care physician and expert in end of life decisions, a lesson in Dying Well. Nobody should have to die in pain. Nobody should have to die alone. This is Ira Byock's dream, and he is dedicating his life to making it come true. Dying Well brings us to the homes and bedsides of families with whom Dr. Byock has worked, telling stories of love and reconciliation in the face of tragedy, pain, medical drama, and conflict. Through the true stories of patients, he shows us that a lot of important emotional work can be accomplished in the final months, weeks, and even days of life. It is a companion for families, showing them how to deal with doctors, how to talk to loved ones—and how to make the end of life as meaningful and enriching as the beginning. Ira Byock is also the author of The Best Care Possible: A Physician's Quest to Transform Care Through the End of Life.

Download or read book The Book of Questions written by Gregory Stock and published by Workman Publishing. This book was released on 2013-09-10 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The phenomenon returns! Originally published in 1987, The Book of Questions, a New York Times bestseller, has been completely revised and updated to incorporate the myriad cultural shifts and hot-button issues of the past twenty-five years, making it current and even more appealing. This is a book for personal growth, a tool for deepening relationships, a lively conversation starter for the family dinner table, a fun way to pass the time in the car. It poses over 300 questions that invite people to explore the most fascinating of subjects: themselves and how they really feel about the world. The revised edition includes more than 100 all-new questions that delve into such topics as the disappearing border between man and machine—How would you react if you learned that a sad and beautiful poem that touched you deeply had been written by a computer? The challenges of being a parent—Would you completely rewrite your child’s college-application essays if it would help him get into a better school? The never-endingly interesting topic of sex—Would you be willing to give up sex for a year if you knew it would give you a much deeper sense of peace than you now have? And of course the meaning of it all—If you were handed an envelope with the date of your death inside, and you knew you could do nothing to alter your fate, would you look? The Book of Questions may be the only publication that challenges—and even changes—the way you view the world, without offering a single opinion of its own.

Download or read book 344 Questions written by Stefan G. Bucher and published by New Riders. This book was released on 2011 with total page 106 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents a collection of questions to help readers determine where they are in their life and career, formulate goals, and how to achieve them, along with questions and answers from a variety of writers, musicians, and artists that they were asked on their way to success.

Download or read book Questions Are the Answer written by Hal Gregersen and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2018-11-13 with total page 351 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 2018 Nautilus Book Awards Silver Winner What if you could unlock a better answer to your most vexing problem—in your workplace, community, or home life—just by changing the question? Talk to creative problem-solvers and they will often tell you, the key to their success is asking a different question. Take Debbie Sterling, the social entrepreneur who created GoldieBlox. The idea came when a friend complained about too few women in engineering and Sterling wondered aloud: "why are all the great building toys made for boys?" Or consider Nobel laureate Richard Thaler, who asked: "would it change economic theory if we stopped pretending people were rational?" Or listen to Jeff Bezos whose relentless approach to problem solving has fueled Amazon’s exponential growth: “Getting the right question is key to getting the right answer.” Great questions like these have a catalytic quality—that is, they dissolve barriers to creative thinking and channel the pursuit of solutions into new, accelerated pathways. Often, the moment they are voiced, they have the paradoxical effect of being utterly surprising yet instantly obvious. For innovation and leadership guru Hal Gregersen, the power of questions has always been clear—but it took some years for the follow-on question to hit him: If so much depends on fresh questions, shouldn’t we know more about how to arrive at them? That sent him on a research quest ultimately including over two hundred interviews with creative thinkers. Questions Are the Answer delivers the insights Gregersen gained about the conditions that give rise to catalytic questions—and breakthrough insights—and how anyone can create them.

Download or read book Common Grounds written by Ben Young and published by B&H Publishing Group. This book was released on 2003 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Brad, Lauren, and Jarrod sit around a table at Common Grounds, enjoying their weekly Sunday evening get-together. The three are old college friends and, like many of their classmates, they started their careers in Houston . . . they make time on Sunday evenings to catch up, laugh, and compare notes on life . . . " Three friends all at different places in the journey. A Southern Baptist, a nonpracticing Catholic, and a non-believer all meet a retired seminary professor who becomes their Socratic guide to explore Christ's teachings.

Download or read book Eight Dates written by John Gottman and published by Workman Publishing. This book was released on 2019-02-05 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Whether you’re newly together and eager to make it work or a longtime couple looking to strengthen and deepen your bond, Eight Dates offers a program of how, why, and when to have eight basic conversations with your partner that can result in a lifetime of love. “Happily ever after” is not by chance, it’s by choice– the choice each person in a relationship makes to remain open, remain curious, and, most of all, to keep talking to one another. From award-winning marriage researcher and bestselling author Dr. John Gottman and fellow researcher Julie Gottman, Eight Dates offers an ingenious and simple-to-implement approach to effective relationship communication. Here are the subjects that every serious couple should discuss: Trust. Family. Sex and intimacy. Dealing with conflict. Work and money. Dreams, and more. And here is how to talk about them—how to broach subjects that are difficult or embarrassing, how to be brave enough to say what you really feel. There are also suggestions for where and when to go on each date—book your favorite romantic restaurant for the Sex & Intimacy conversation (and maybe go to a yoga or dance class beforehand). There are questionnaires, innovative exercises, real-life case studies, and skills to master, including the Four Skills of Intimate Conversation and the Art of Listening. Because making love last is not about having a certain feeling—it’s about both of you being active and involved.

Download or read book Things That Matter written by Joshua Becker and published by WaterBrook. This book was released on 2023-12-12 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: #1 WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER • Discover practical steps you can take today to live a life focused on things that matter, from the bestselling author of The More of Less and The Minimalist Home. “Things That Matter points the way to free ourselves from the distractions of everyday life so that we can build the lives we seek to create.”—Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project Everywhere around you are distractions: That text you respond to quickly, just to get it out of the way. The newest money-making side hustle to cross your mind. The evening spent organizing your overflowing kitchen cupboards. Disruptions are the enemies of a life well lived—both the new distractions of our generation and timeless ones that have existed for centuries. They all add up to make you feel restless, tired, and unfulfilled. They’re keeping you from living with joy, from accomplishing the good that only you can do. But that can change today. In Things That Matter, Joshua Becker uses practical exercises, questions, insights from a nationwide survey, and success stories to give you the motivation you need to • identify the pursuits that matter most to you • align your dreams with your daily priorities • recognize how money and possessions keep you from happiness • become aware of how others’ opinions of you influence your choices • embrace what you’re truly passionate about instead of planning that next escape • figure out what to do with all those emails, notifications, and pings • let go of past mistakes and debilitating habits Things That Matter is a book about living well. It’s about overcoming the chatter of a world focused on all the wrong things. It’s about rethinking the common assumptions of today to find satisfaction and fulfillment tomorrow. How do we get to the end of our lives with minimal regrets? We set aside lesser pursuits to seek lasting meaning. And we discover the joy of doing it every day.

Download or read book Rescuing Socrates written by Roosevelt Montas and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2023-03-21 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Dominican-born academic tells the story of how the Great Books transformed his life—and why they have the power to speak to people of all backgrounds What is the value of a liberal education? Traditionally characterized by a rigorous engagement with the classics of Western thought and literature, this approach to education is all but extinct in American universities, replaced by flexible distribution requirements and ever-narrower academic specialization. Many academics attack the very idea of a Western canon as chauvinistic, while the general public increasingly doubts the value of the humanities. In Rescuing Socrates, Dominican-born American academic Roosevelt Montás tells the story of how a liberal education transformed his life, and offers an intimate account of the relevance of the Great Books today, especially to members of historically marginalized communities. Montás emigrated from the Dominican Republic to Queens, New York, when he was twelve and encountered the Western classics as an undergraduate in Columbia University’s renowned Core Curriculum, one of America’s last remaining Great Books programs. The experience changed his life and determined his career—he went on to earn a PhD in English and comparative literature, serve as director of Columbia’s Center for the Core Curriculum, and start a Great Books program for low-income high school students who aspire to be the first in their families to attend college. Weaving together memoir and literary reflection, Rescuing Socrates describes how four authors—Plato, Augustine, Freud, and Gandhi—had a profound impact on Montás’s life. In doing so, the book drives home what it’s like to experience a liberal education—and why it can still remake lives.