The Dice Man is a 1971 novel by American novelist George Cockcroft, writing under the pen name "Luke Rhinehart". The book tells the story of a psychiatrist who makes daily decisions based on the casting of a diсe. Cockcroft describes the origin of the title idea variously in interviews, once recalling a college "quirk" he and friends used to decide "what they were going to do that night" based on a die-roll, or sometimes to decide between mildly mischievous pranks. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy user site describes the novel as a book that was viewed as subversive, as having "anti-psychiatry sentiment", and as "reflecting the mood of the early 1970s in permissiveness". It has content that includes the protagonist's decisions to engage in rape and murder, and is described as having been "banned in several countries".
William Clement Stone was an American businessman, philanthropist and New Thought self-help book author.
Oliver Napoleon Hill was an American self-help author and conman. He is best known for his book Think and Grow Rich (1937), which is among the best-selling self-help books of all time. Hill's works insisted that fervid expectations are essential to improving one's life. Most of his books were promoted as expounding principles to achieve "success". Hill is a controversial figure. Accused of fraud, modern historians also doubt many of his claims, such as that he met Andrew Carnegie and that he was an attorney. Gizmodo has called him "the most famous conman you've probably never heard of".
Think and Grow Rich is a book written by Napoleon Hill and Rosa Lee Beeland released in 1937 and promoted as a personal development and self-improvement book. He claimed to be inspired by a suggestion from business magnate and later-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. However there is no evidence that the two ever met.
Wayne Walter Dyer was an American self-help author and a motivational speaker. Dyer completed a Ed.D. in guidance and counseling at Wayne State University in 1970. Early in his career, he worked as a high school guidance counselor, and went on to run a successful private therapy practice. He became a popular professor of counselor education at St. John's University, where he was approached by a literary agent to put his ideas into book form. The result was his first book, Your Erroneous Zones (1976), one of the best-selling books of all time, with an estimated 100 million copies sold. This launched Dyer's career as a motivational speaker and self-help author, during which he published 20 more best-selling books and produced a number of popular specials for PBS. Influenced by thinkers such as Abraham Maslow and Albert Ellis, Dyer's early work focused on psychological themes such as motivation, self actualization and assertiveness. By the 1990s, the focus of his work had shifted to spirituality. Inspired by Swami Muktananda and New Thought, he promoted themes such as the "power of intention," collaborated with alternative medicine advocate Deepak Chopra on a number of projects, and was a frequent guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show.
Dominic Savio was an Italian student of John Bosco. He was studying to be a priest when he became ill and died at the age of 14, possibly from pleurisy. He was noted for his piety and devotion to the Catholic faith, and was canonized a saint by Pope Pius XII in 1954.
Peter John Kreeft is a professor of philosophy at Boston College and The King's College. A convert to Roman Catholicism, he is the author of over eighty books on Christian philosophy, theology and apologetics. He also formulated, together with Ronald K. Tacelli, Twenty Arguments for the Existence of God in their Handbook of Christian Apologetics.
Augustine "Og" Mandino II was an American author. He wrote the bestselling book The Greatest Salesman in the World. His books have sold over 50 million copies and have been translated into over 25 languages. He was the president of Success Unlimited magazine until 1976 and was inducted into the National Speakers Association's Hall of Fame.
A History of Western Philosophy is a 1946 book by British philosopher Bertrand Russell (1872–1970). A survey of Western philosophy from the pre-Socratic philosophers to the early 20th century, each major division of the book is prefaced by an account of the historical background necessary to understand the currents of thought it describes. When Russell was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950, A History of Western Philosophy was cited as one of the books that won him the award. Its success provided Russell with financial security for the last part of his life. The book was criticised, however, for over-generalizations and omissions, particularly from the post-Cartesian period, but nevertheless became a popular and commercial success, and has remained in print from its first publication.
The Ten Commandments, or the Decalogue, are a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship that play a fundamental role in Judaism and Christianity. The text of the Ten Commandments appears twice in the Hebrew Bible: at Exodus 20:2–17 and Deuteronomy 5:6–21.
Metaphysics is one of the principal works of Aristotle, in which he develops the doctrine that he calls First Philosophy. The work is a compilation of various texts treating abstract subjects, notably substance theory, different kinds of causation, form and matter, the existence of mathematical objects and the cosmos, which together constitute much of the branch of philosophy later known as metaphysics.
Paul McKenna is a British hypnotist, behavioural scientist, television and radio broadcaster and author of self-help books.
The Great Commandment is a name used in the New Testament to describe the first of two commandments cited by Jesus in Matthew 22:35–40, Mark 12:28–34, and in answer to him in Luke 10:27a:
... and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" He [Jesus] said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the greatest and first commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."
The law of attraction is the New Thought spiritual belief that positive or negative thoughts bring positive or negative experiences into a person's life. The belief is based on the idea that people and their thoughts are made from "pure energy" and that like energy can attract like energy, thereby allowing people to improve their health, wealth, or personal relationships. There is no empirical scientific evidence supporting the law of attraction, and it is widely considered to be pseudoscience.
Dr. Orison Swett Marden (1848–1924) was an American inspirational author who wrote about achieving success in life and founded SUCCESS magazine in 1897. His writings discuss common-sense principles and virtues that make for a well-rounded, successful life. Many of his ideas are based on New Thought philosophy.
Frederick Fell Publishers, Inc. is an independent American publishing company specializing in self-help books in genres such as business, entertainment, children, health, and cooking. Their motto is "A World of Books That Fill A Need".
Jules Leonard "Buddy" Kaye was an American songwriter, lyricist, arranger, producer, and author. His songs were recorded by top performers, including Frank Sinatra, Bob Dylan, Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington, Ella Fitzgerald, The McGuire Sisters, Glenn Miller, Sammy Kaye, Perry Como, Elvis Presley, Charles Aznavour, Tony Bennett, Cliff Richard, Pat Boone, Harry Belafonte, Bobby Darin, Little Richard, Barry Manilow, Karen Carpenter, Diana Krall, and Dusty Springfield. He scored number-one hits on the Billboard charts in 1945 with "Till The End Of Time", recorded by Perry Como, and in 1949 with "'A' You're Adorable ", recorded by Como and The Fontane Sisters. Among his most recognizable tunes in pop culture are the theme songs to the Famous Studios theatrical cartoons Little Lulu and Little Audrey; the international hit song "Speedy Gonzales", recorded by Pat Boone; and the co-written theme song to the television series I Dream of Jeannie. In 1976, he won a Grammy Award for best children's album for his production of The Little Prince, narrated by Richard Burton.
Max Lincoln Schuster was an American book publisher and the co-founder of the publishing company Simon & Schuster. Schuster was instrumental in the creation of Pocket Books, and the mass paperback industry, along with Richard L. Simon, Robert F. DeGraff and Leon Shimkin. Schuster published many famous works of history and philosophy including the Story of Civilization series of books by Will Durant and Ariel Durant.
Inner Engineering: A Yogi's Guide to Joy is a 2016 book authored by an Indian yogi and mystic Jaggi Vasudev. The book was featured among The New York Times Best Seller in the spirituality and self help category for November 2016. The book is intended to be a spiritual guide with practices for personal growth, and also a look at the author's own spiritual journey.
"Peasants" is an 1897 novella by Anton Chekhov. Upon its publication it became a literary sensation of the year, caused controversy but in retrospect is regarded as one of Chekhov's masterpieces.
