God's Little Instruction Book for Men: Inspiration and Wisdom for Men on How to Live a Happy and Fulfilled Life

A delightful little collection of proverbs,sayings,dictums,gnomes,adages,old saws,maxims,aphorisms,or for a fancy name you can call them "apophthegms". A small tome of 160 pages,with one per page;but with a somewhat different twist.It has been reprinted many times,so I guess it is somewhat a mini-classic for this sort of gift book. It is one of many in the series of "God's Little Instruction Books". Probably,most of these proverbs can be found in other collections or sources;but the thing here is that each one is accompanied by a quote from the Bible that conveys much the same message ;the chapter and verse is also noted. Acknowledgements are also given for the quotes,but for some unfathomable reason they are given at the end of the book. No doubt some of these proverbs have been attributed to more than one person,and maybe that is the reason that no person was credited with the proverb I used as my title.Some readers might be surprised that all these proverbs can be associated with some quote in the Bible;but I suppose those with a good background with the Bible would not be in the least surprised. If there is anything that one might "quibble" about here is is the title using "Men",where "Man" might be more appropriate. You will find included many you have heard before,but never gave any thought to being inspired by the Bible. A couple examples are; "If you tell the truth,you don't have to remember anything." Mark Twain (Proverbs 12:17 NIV) "Life is a coin.You can spend it any way you wish,but you can spend it only once." Lillian Dickson (Matthew 23:11,12) "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience,but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." Dr.Martin Kuthur Kinh Jr. ("If thou faint in the day of diversity,thy strength is small." Proverbs 24:10)

I'm not a big fan of inspirational books of quotes or sayings, so this is not a book I would have purchased on my own. I actually received this book from my church, and it does make for a nice gift. God's Little Instruction Book for Men is unusual in that it combines inspirational quotes with scriptural references. Thus you get the advice of individuals and the Biblical advice of God in one neat package. You won't find very many of the clichéd sayings you hear all the time; almost all of these were unfamiliar to me. They do offer sage advice for men on living a happy and truly successful life of virtue, integrity, and faith. In some cases, the personal quotation offers helpful insight into a Bible verse you may have heard many times in the past, and quite often the scriptural quote offers additional meaning to the inspirational saying accompanying it. At 155 pages, this book can be read quickly, yet you can also pick it up any time you have a quiet moment or have a few minutes to kill. Even if you pick it up and only glance at it, you may well come across a quote or reference that will catch your attention and maybe even offer you a bit of advice you may not have known you even needed at the time. The only complaint I have of this little book is the fact that the sources of the personal quotations are not listed alongside the quotes. There is a list at the back of the book identifying the source of most of the quotes, but these are only referenced by page number. As for the Biblical quotes, they are taken from a number of different translations but are clearly identified.