Wisdom Of The Ages: A Modern Master Brings Eternal Truths Into Everyday Life
By Wayne W. Dyer
In Wisdom Of The Ages, author Wayne Dyer collects quotes and excerpts from
sixty different great thinkers and expands on their underlying ideas. The
brilliant minds he features in his book all came from different walks of
life. They made their home in varied geographical regions and lived at
vastly different times of history. As Dyer points out, however, they still
seem to speak to us through the words of wisdom they left behind: their
writings, speeches, sayings, and statements.
Dyer shares his sense of wonder when he notes that these intellectuals
"actually walked the same ground, drank the same water, watched the same
moon, and were warmed by the same sun." To be specific, he is alluding to
scientists and mathematicians like Pythagoras, Pascal, and Leonardo da
Vinci; as well as spiritual and inspirational teachers like the Buddha,
Christ, Lao-tzu, Confucius, Patanjali, and St Francis of Assisi.
Dyer does not neglect history's poets and philosophers, either. He shares
wisdom from John Donne, John Milton, Shakespeare, Goethe, Emerson, Whitman,
Keats, and Wordsworth; and even covers political statesmen like Mahatma
Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr, and Nelson Mandela. We inhabit a planet with
a very rich heritage!
Wisdom Of The Ages covers topics that touch and affect all important aspects
of human life: hope, mercy, laughter, grief, ego, non-violence, prayer,
love, truth, beauty, death, and immortality. In most of the essays in this
book, the spiritual side of human mortality is explained.
For example, in Ode On A Grecian Urn, Keats contemplates "the figures of the
lovers on the Grecian urn". This poem was written while Keats himself was
coping with ill health and grappling with the recent death of his brother.
The Ode "concludes with two lines that summarize an approach to living that
is transcendent" and speaks of the true source of happiness:
"Beauty is truth, truth beauty" - that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.
The spark of divinity defies mortality. That's the beauty of this truth, and
thus it is a source of perennial joy. In Sanskrit, this truth would be
expressed as: "Sathyam, Shivam, Sundaram."
Readers will find the same defiance of mortality in On Time, by Milton. The
last lines read:
Attired with stars, we shall for ever sit,
Triumphing over Death, and Chance, and thee, O Time.
Of course, this is just one topic in Wisdom Of The Ages. The other topics
covered are equally engaging and thought-provoking. The underlying idea is
the application of the wisdom gleaned from these teachers. Or as Longfellow
says,
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime
In the words of the writer: "The book is not about appreciating poetry and
philosophy as much as it is about applying the wisdom of these writers to
our every day lives." Readers who wish to enrich their lives with the
thoughts of some of humanity's greatest minds can find this book in the
adult non-fiction section of the Prince George Public Library.
- Reviewed by Bal Sethi, trustee for the Prince George Public Library Board
Preacher and The Boys
Stories by Garth Ennis; illustrations by various artists
For adult comic book fans who like the graphic novel equivalent of smart,
dirty jokes, Garth Ennis is your man. Hailing from Northern Ireland, Ennis
was part of the second wave of talent from the UK (Neil Gaiman and Alan
Moore made up the first wave). Like those two giants, Ennis's writing is
sharp and quick, his characters memorable, his plots thick with intrigue.
But where Ennis has made his mark is his skilful combination of black comedy
in with the horror. If you can't laugh at absurd, disgusting sex and
violence, best to move on.
In his graphic novel series Preacher, Ennis created his own wicked universe
surrounding a messed-up pulpit pounder named Jesse Custer, his former
kickass girlfriend Tulip O'Hare and a boozy Irish vampire named Cassidy.
Nothing is sacred after Custer is inhabited by Genesis, an unholy spawn of
an angel and a demon, who gives him the power to command all living things
to obey his words. Custer and his companions hit the road to find God and
get some answers.
At heart, Preacher is an ode to the western, with its broad story arc,
relentless but troubled hero and incorrigibly evil villains. Alamo and
Monument Valley are prominently featured at key points in the story. The
most fascinating character Custer crosses on his journey is the Saint of
Killers, an Angel of Death that Clint Eastwood would have to play if they
can ever get the Preacher movie off the ground.
The Boys, Ennis's most recent graphic novel series in progress, is just
plain fun held together with one serious question. If there were superheroes
in the world, who would police them? Here, the author applies his black
humour brush thickly. The top superhero group, controlled by corporate
interests, requires the newest female member to perform sex acts as part of
her initiation. Meanwhile, the toughest member of The Boys is the only
woman, mysteriously known as The Female, who only speaks with dark glares
before parting the limbs from her male adversaries.
All nine volumes of Preacher and the first five collected books of The Boys
are available in the graphic novel section at the Bob Harkins Branch of the
Prince George Public Library.
- Reviewed by Neil Godbout, Administrative Communications Coordinator at the
Prince George Public Library
