Courage, By J.M. Barrie

I picked up this little copy of the "Rector's Address" that Barrie made at St. Andrews College in 1922, this past weekend and I'm very glad I did! It was a quick read, took me about 35 minutes to read from cover to cover, but definitely something that was meaty enough to read several times through. I wished that I'd taken a pen with me while I was reading it, but alas I read it while on the stationary bike in the gym and I can just imagine me trying to juggle book, paper and pen AND spin my legs at the same time...and honestly I doubt it would have been possible!
However, I did remember a few passages that I thought would be worth sharing with you so here goes...


" Go though life without ever ascribing to an opponent motives meaner than your own. Nothing so lowers the moral currency; give it up, and be great."

" Doubtless also ( the Almighty) could have provided us with better fun than hard work, but I don't know what it is. To be born poor is probably the next best thing. The greatest glory that has ever come to me was to be swallowed up in London, not knowing a soul, with no means of subsistence, and the fun of working till the stars went out. To have known anyone would have spoilt it."

"Where an old student given an hour in which to revisit the St. Andrews of his day, would he spend more than half of it at lectures? He is more likely to be heard clattering up bare stairs in search of old companions..."

~~~

These are just a few of the many gems in this little book...I think most of all is the striking comments on war to a people who were just barely coming out of WWI at the time...its amazing how true some of his thoughts are still today.

*Note: You may note that right now all the books in my list of books I plan to read are linked to where you can buy them. Once I actually read the book I hope to write up a little something to tell you what I thought of the book and thus change the link to my thoughts....of course, I'll still give you a little link to where you can find the book so you can decide if I'm right or not...hehehe!
Here is where you can find "Courage" by James Barrie