30 Lessons for Living
Tried and True Advice from the Wisest Americans
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4.1 • 76 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
“Heartfelt and ever-endearing—equal parts information and inspiration. This is a book to keep by your bedside and return to often.”—Amy Dickinson, nationally syndicated advice columnist "Ask Amy"
More than one thousand extraordinary Americans share their stories and the wisdom they have gained on living, loving, and finding happiness.
After a chance encounter with an extraordinary ninety-year-old woman, renowned gerontologist Karl Pillemer began to wonder what older people know about life that the rest of us don't.
His quest led him to interview more than one thousand Americans over the age of sixty-five to seek their counsel on all the big issues: children, marriage, money, career, aging. Their moving stories and uncompromisingly honest answers often surprised him. And he found that he consistently heard advice that pointed to these thirty lessons for living. Here he weaves their personal recollections of difficulties overcome and lives well lived into a timeless book filled with the hard-won advice these older Americans wish someone had given them when they were young.
Like This I Believe, StoryCorps's Listening Is an Act of Love, and Tuesdays with Morrie, 30 Lessons for Living is a book to keep and to give. Offering clear advice toward a more fulfilling life, it is as useful as it is inspiring.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
As he dispenses concrete, practical advice on how to make the most of our lives, Cornell gerontologist Pillemer turns for answers to our elders those he believes are the experts, with the enormous advantage of life experience, whose limits have been tested by illness, danger, failure, oppression, and loss. His approximately 1,000 Americans age 65 and older from around the country and many walks of life share personal memories to explain what is important for a long, happy marriage: for instance, marrying someone a lot like yourself, trying to give more than you want to get out of the relationship, and learning how to fight are key. The seniors agree that you shouldn't choose a career based only on potential earnings; that you should do everything necessary to avoid a permanent rift with a child, even if it requires compromise on a parent's part; travel while you can, even if it means making financial sacrifices; and view aging as a quest and tidy up the loose ends of life before you go. Giving familiar advice a new spin by mining the rich resource of older Americans, Pillemer offers a refreshing, smart wakeup call about getting your priorities straight and living right.
Customer Reviews
Life Changing
I've begun to make changes in my life based off this inspirational book. I learned that the most important thing in life are personal relationships, whether it be at work, with a spouse, with children, or with friends.
Get the book, and change your life.
Idiots guide...
Find work which you love and is meaningful, learn from your experiences, spend time with your children ( and don't hit them), marry someone with whom you have common outlooks...there, you just read the book. This book offers very little to anyone who has common sense and an average vision of being a well-meaning adult. I love non-fiction, self-improvement books and have read many. This one, however, was so basic and obvious in content that I had many "no-duh" moments and no "ah-hah" moments. It's an idiots guide...
Fantastic book!
I made it a point early on in my life to learn as much as possible from those around me who are older... Unfortunately in the last 10-20 years I've gone away from that practice. Enter this wonderful book filled with decades, centuries, of wisdom! I loved this book and will recommend it to everyone I know!