The Answers

This book continues to be the star jewel in my treasure of motivational and spiritual books. It's simplicity is it's strength and every page provides thought provoking advice. It's the written version of the "Magic Eight Ball". Remember as a kid, you'd hold the magic 8-ball in your hands, close your eyes and focus on the overriding question in your mind, then after a vigorous shaking, you'd turn the 8-ball over to see it's answer?! Well, this book is the grown up version of that only far more sound in it's guidance than a simple "yes", "no" or "maybe". When in a quandry or merely in need of a different perspective, I refer to "The Answers". I have given this book to many friends as a gift and they all were surprised to find how often they really do pick up "The Answers" and reflect. It's a great coffee table conversation piece as well. As the author hoped, it has indeed become a good friend to me! The introduction reads: "The values of friendship are many but one important essence of a good friends is their readiness to offer support and advice. And, as you use this book, I hope that over time you will come to regard it as a friend, always there to give a few useful and helpful words. To use the book is easy and it is based upon one of the oldest divinatory systems, that of divining by lines or picking a passage from a book at random and applying it to your situations. It is known that the ancient Greeks and Romans consulted the works of Homer and Virgil for divinatory purposes and since then, many have used the Bible, the I Ching and dictionaries or drawn from books chosen by chance. However, the chosen lines can be difficult to interpret or apply to what is being asked. The Answers has been written and compiled specifically for the purposes of divining by lines and throughout it's pages are proverbs, maxims and advice that have been included for their value and insight. It makes this ancient divination system easier to do and understand. In using this book, it is best to quiet your mind and think over the question, issue or situation you want to address. Keep your thoughts simple and clear. Then, with your question firmly in mind, close your eyes and open the book at random or flick through the pages until you feel ready to stop. When you have made your choice of page, open your eyes and discover the response given. Read it carefully and reflect on it's meaning and how the sentiments could apply...."

Each quotation provides nice food for introspection and analyzing how it might apply to your current situation. This is the main interest of all "oracles", in that they provide you with a posibility of confronting your analysis of your situation with another viewpoint. That's one of the aspects of the meditation process: reconsidering one's beliefs. This one is full of it.

Calvin Coolidge--"Do what you can do now." I collect quotes so I was very happy that this book found me. Yes, you heard right. I was shopping for the ultimate Nursing Diagnosis/Care Plan book and was drawn to a section and saw this book, liked the size and the lovely red cover with gold and of course the title which intrigued me so I picked it up and randomly opened to, "The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it." With a chuckle and a smile, I purchased it with my other books. "Answers" is full of wisdom--including some anonymous and many quotes from great people along with proverbs from many cultures. I believe quotes are like windows to the soul of the speaker, the heart of something they learned, more often than not--the hard way--and wish to share to make someone else's load a bit easier. This book isn't meant to give you all the answers you are seeking, as only you can do that; "Answers" is here to give you smile, a word of wisdom and just perhaps, if you'll let it, give you a little push in the right direction. I hope we all find our answers. If we want to find them, we've just to be bold and to begin and Soar!

This is a book you'd use when you want some sort of guidance to questions that need either a "yes" or "no" answer. And I use it every now and again when I don't want to think too much about a question I have because there are too many threads that I can grasp hold of and try to find meaning in. In a nutshell I use it when I want a fast answer/guidance that to a question I don't want to think about too much. In the end however any decision we make in our life is based on what WE want as individuals and no book on earth will give us the definitive answer to any question, what we can get from this book is a sense of guidance, and remember this, you don't have to follow what answer/guidance is offered in the book, it's not written in stone and YOU have free will It will do well to remember that when you use this book.