Product Description

"Talkers are no good doers."-- William Shakespeare

"The height of cleverness is to be able to conceal it."-- FranÇois, Duc de La Rochefoucauld

"It is hard to believe a man is telling you the truth when you know you would lie if you were in his place."-- H. L. Mencken

"It is not enough to succeed. Others must fail.-- Gore Vidal

"Women keep a special corner of their hearts for sins theyhave never committed."-- Cornelia Otis Skinner

"You lose it if you talk about it.-- Ernest Hemingway

"The worst thing about some men is that when they are not drunk they are sober."-- William Butler Yeats

"Money is like a sixth sense without which you cannot make a complete use of the other five."-- William Somerset Maugham

You don't have to be a genius to sound like one. Here's a collection of the most profound and provocative wit and wisdom in the English language in two lines or less. Edited by entrepreneur John M. Shanahan, who created the wildly successful Hooked on Phonics program, this wonderful book presents the best that has been thought and said on every imaginable topic.

Classified by such themes as "Truth, Lies, and Deception," "Men, Women, and Relationships," and "Passions, Virtues, and Vices," these quotes contain timeless messages for all humankind. Oscar Wilde: "A man who marries his mistress leaves a vacancy in that position." Charles de Gaulle: "The cemetery is filled with indispensable men." Abraham Lincoln: "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." Sophocles: "Men of ill judgment oft ignore the good that lies within their hands, till they have lost it."

Perfect for anyone who has ever been left speechless, this book will make you as glib as Oscar Wilde, as profound as Winston Churchill, and as wise as Aesop. Inspirational, entertaining, and thought-provoking, this is one collection that no library or bookshelf should be without.

• Free CD Included

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7877 in Books
• Published on: 1999-06-01
• Released on: 1999-05-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 336 pages

About the Author
John M. Shanahan is a true Renaissance man. He is the creator of the nationally acclaimed reading program Hooked on Phonics, and original syndicator of the number one talk radio show in America. This highly successful entrepreneur is also an accomplished composer, gourmet chef, and collector of antique automobiles and historic documents. John and his wife, Alice, have three grown children Julie, John, and Sean.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chapter One Excerpts

Wit makes its own welcome and levels all distinctions. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882

He who is most creative conceals his sources the best. -- Anonymous

We are inclined to believe those whom we do not know because they have never deceived us. -- Dr. Samuel Johnson, 1709-1784

The graveyards are full of indispensable men. -- Charles de Gaulle, 1890-1970

To think is to say no. -- Linde Auguste Chartier, 1868-1951

When we ask advice we are usually looking for an accomplice. -- Charles Varlet Marquis de La Grange, 1639-1692

If you don't bring Paris with you, you won't find it there. -- John M. Shanahan, 1939--

Clever liars give details, but the cleverest don't -- Anonymous

The opposite of talking isn't listening. The opposite of talking is waiting. -- Fran Lebowitz, 1950--

Nobody forgets where he buried the hatchet. -- rank McKinney "Kin" Hubbard, 1868-1930

It is a golden rule not to judge men by their opinions but rather by what their opinions make of them. -- Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, 1742-1799

Have a care, therefore, where there is more sail than ballast. -- William Penn, 1644-1718

Fortune does not change men; it unmasks them. -- Suzanne Necker, 1739-1794

The wicked are always surprised to find that the good can be clever. -- Luc de Clapiers de Vauvenargues, 1715-1747

Our years, our debts, and our enemies are always more numerous than we imagine. -- Charles Nodier, 1780-1844

Experience is not what happens to a man. It is what a man does with what happens to him. -- Aldous Leonard Huxley 1894-1963

You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you. -- Eric Hoffer, 1902-1983

Only dead fish swim with the stream. -- Anonymous

All the people like us are We, and everyone else is They. -- Rudyard Kipling, 1865-1936

When the fight begins within himself, a man's worth something. -- Robert Browning, 1812-1889

When people do not respect us we are sharply offended; yet deep down in his heart no man much respects himself -- Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens], 1835-1910

Customer Reviews

Most of the most intelligent one-liners of all time
This is a great little book to read when you are looking for illumination by humanity's intellects and wags. Shanahan has done a good job of editing these into topical sections. My only complaint with the book is that the editor decides to include a number of his own thoughts among the "Most Brilliant". Now he is a smart man, to be sure, but it is just a little too prideful to include yourself in such a book. His first self quote appears on the very first page of quotes. What his self inclusion does do, however is illustrate the difference between the truly brialliant thoughts and those that aren't. Shanahan's editorial job is delightful, his self promotion to most brilliant embarassing for him at best.

Great book to peruse once a day.
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Summary:

Great book to review each day and contemplate one or two thoughts from some of the world's foremost "thinkers".

The point is to contemplate their thoughts, not to just accept them. Just like reading your daily astrology, some quotes can be so general as to lack basis.

Good reference tool for writers, or leaders who need to quickly and capably convey thoughts, or ideas.

Includes a CD to listen to in the car, etc.

Review:

Shanahan has put together many great one liners into a single volume; about 6 per page.

Contents are logically divided:

Acknowledgments
1.....The Human Condition
2.....Success, Fortune, Failure, and Misfortune
3.....Truth, Lies, and Deception
4.....Talk, Talk, Talk
5.....Passions, Virtues, and Vices
6.....It's Only in Your Mind
7.....Men, Women, and Relationships
8.....Religion, Nature, and God
9.....Life's Passages
10....Human Foibles
11....Pursuits - Artistic and Otherwise
12....History and Government
13....Stuff to Think About
Sources

The "Sources" lists each author alphabetically, with the quote source and quote placement with the page numbers.

Negative:

1.....The CD has no look-up capability, so you can only listen to it linearly, and cannot use it as a search tool.

2.....There is no index, or topical list for searching for quotes using specific words (like searching for "love", "ocean", "heart", etc).

A Mite Self-Serving
The title alone makes the modest person back up a little and think, "Are you SURE?" And yes, the author considers a few of his own Most Brilliant Thoughts worthy of inclusion. (We blush for him.) I was surprised that the "Reader's Digest" was the source for some of the material, and a few (very few, to be fair) of the brilliant thinkers were Oprah, Erica Jong, and Marlene Dietrich. Delightful ladies all, but Most Brilliant Thinkers of All Time?

I am a junkie for books of quotes and maxims, though I freely admit this shows a certain lack of depth. There are many quotes included that you wish you had for ready reference, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson's

"People seem not to see that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character."

My, wouldn't I just like to spring that one on some of my more pessimistic friends! However, unless you memorize the ones you like, "Most Brilliant, etc." is not user-friendly. It has no subject or line index, which I find very irritating and a major drawback.

The sections are vague, and quotes are repeated in different sections. It could be Mr. Shannahan thought one quote applicable to many situations, but it seems like padding. The book is handsome, with the quotes well spaced and easy to read. I met a few I had never seen before, and am stirred to further inquiry on some of the authors. Grade: C-