Scan barcode
jsammichve's review
4.0
I think this is a great book for everyone to read. It is a simple and quick read, but it shifted my perspective on how to approach each challenge in my life. David Schwartz gives many examples in his book of how big picture thinking can improve your life tremendously. It is a very motivating book and I encourage people to try it out and enjoy!
diz_tn's review
3.0
2.5 stars
Conceptually, maybe, the ideas in this book might still hold true. In modern times, though, the details and examples are cringe-worthy.
You're not just supposed to think big, you also have to act on those thoughts. To the author, this meant things like putting in extra time at work, picking up the slack when shorthanded even without extra pay or recognition. Etc.
Additionally, most of the book is about work life for a professional "business man". A large number of people (service workers, small business owners, women, minorities) this isn't a good fit example.
Yes this book is a product of its time and I'm reviewing it thru current social lenses. But in the end, that's how we read every book and I'm not going to add stars just because it used to be a highly rated book.
Conceptually, maybe, the ideas in this book might still hold true. In modern times, though, the details and examples are cringe-worthy.
You're not just supposed to think big, you also have to act on those thoughts. To the author, this meant things like putting in extra time at work, picking up the slack when shorthanded even without extra pay or recognition. Etc.
Additionally, most of the book is about work life for a professional "business man". A large number of people (service workers, small business owners, women, minorities) this isn't a good fit example.
Yes this book is a product of its time and I'm reviewing it thru current social lenses. But in the end, that's how we read every book and I'm not going to add stars just because it used to be a highly rated book.
anothersolipsist's review
5.0
This is an amazing book, and everyone should read it. At its core, The Magic Of Thinking Big is about thought. It's about your thought. It's about how your thoughts control your actions and how your actions control how the world reacts to you. It's never too late or too early to succeed, and you are exactly as successful as you think you are. Through numerous examples and from many different directions, this book gives you the same message : Think optimistic. Think happy. Think success. Think big. Just reading this book gives me a better outlook on life, and it points the way to making my life even better.
categal's review
2.0
This is a good book only if you read it to yourself in the voice of a 1950s tv announcer. First published in 1959, this book is chock full of sound advice for the young gentleman looking to get ahead, acquire the secrets of success, make more money for his family, think like a leader, etc. etc. Where are the women? Why, they're at home, of course, cooking and cleaning and raising those children.
Each chapter is an examination of a different successories-style motivational lecture: Believe You Can Succeed and You Will, Cure Yourself of Excusitis - the Failure Disease, You Are What You Think You Are, and many more. This is a fantastic sort of anthropology study of America in the mid-20th century, with a little Dale Carnegie and Charles Atlas tossed in for good measure.
Each chapter is an examination of a different successories-style motivational lecture: Believe You Can Succeed and You Will, Cure Yourself of Excusitis - the Failure Disease, You Are What You Think You Are, and many more. This is a fantastic sort of anthropology study of America in the mid-20th century, with a little Dale Carnegie and Charles Atlas tossed in for good measure.