A postscript to this edition includes a touching letter that Berg's young daughter wrote about her father for the Books for a Better Life Awards ceremony. On December 26, 1983, Art Berg was traveling to see his fiancée when his car went off the road. A broken neck left him a quadriplegic. Doctors told Berg he would never walk, hold a job, or have children. But they could not have been more wrong. Berg was determined to prevail, and would one day wear his own Super Bowl ring. In The Impossible Just Takes a Little Longer, Berg recounts his harrowing and inspirational story while imparting larger lessons about life, fear, and passion. Never giving up, Art resolved to embrace life even more fully, and established a thriving career as a motivational speaker, giving more than 150 speeches each year. Tragically, Art Berg died in February 2002, but his inspiring story -- a singular vision of passion and conviction -- lives on in The Impossible Just Takes a Little Longer.
Witty, incisive observations on such universally meaningful topics as courage and compassion by many of the greatest minds of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Since 1901, the Nobel Prize has been the hallmark of genius, but Nobel laureates tend to be more than merely brilliant-their idealism, courage, and concern for humanity have also made them sources of inspiration and wisdom. Contrary to the notion that geniuses are absentminded eccentrics who lead solitary lives, many Nobel laureates have been social activists and political leaders, and some have been polymaths whose interests and talents were diverse, such as Philip Noel-Baker, winner of the 1959 Peace prize, who ran in three Olympic Games. Most of the quotations have never been anthologized previously. There is a section of short biographical sketches of each of the roughly 250 laureates quoted in the book, a brief history of the Nobel Prize, and a complete list of every Nobel laureate through 2006. The Impossible Takes Longer is a remarkable assemblage of insightful, thought-provoking, sometimes humorous statements by some of the world's wisest men and women.
Vera Chatzman was born on November 27, 1881, in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don. She was a medical student soon to become a pediatrician when, in 1906, she married Chaim Weizmann, a chemist already involved in the Zionist movement. For the next 46 years of their marriage, Vera was his companion, hostess, critic and adviser, with an intimate view of Weizmann’s career as scientist, diplomat and Jewish leader. In this memoir by the wife of a prominent man who held on to her own career, Vera Weizmann recounts momentous events in Zionist history and relates her impressions of personalities such as David Ben-Gurion, Vladimir (Ze’ev) Jabotinsky, Albert Einstein, Isaiah Berlin, Harry Truman, Léon Blum and Arthur James Balfour. “The late Vera Weizmann, the wife of Israel’s first President, spent most of her life at the centre of Jewish history, and this book evokes, vividly, if painfully, the various crises suffered by the Jewish people before they finally attained Statehood... [Vera Weizmann’s] intensity of feelings makes it a moving social document.” — The Observer “... warm-hearted, engaging and often wise companion-volume to [Dr. Chaim Weizmann’s] magnificent Trial and Error... Its personal anecdotes... will enliven the Doctor’s more discreet paragraphs, and his carefully measured sentences.” — Sunday Telegraph “Vera Weizmann was one of the most remarkable personalities of those who led the great phase of Zionist development... This book contains her memories as related to her editor David Tutaev. He has succeeded in presenting her vivid self-portrait. Vera’s charm, will, wit and broad humour are here unmistakable and authentic.” — Christopher Sykes, Sunday Times (London) “The memoirs of Mrs. Chaim Weizmann are invested with the qualities of character, exacting civilized standards, and independence of spirit which her collaborator, Mr. Tutaev remarks upon in his memorial foreword (Mrs. Weizmann died in 1966 after approving proofs of this book). They reveal also that Mrs. Weizmann participated in her husband's public life fully and intimately; her book is a personal record of the Zionist movement at the highest level.” — Kirkus Reviews “In an age dominated by the big battalions the individual with nothing but the moral force of an idea can still make an impact on the world given the will, perseverance and character. The memoirs of the State of Israel’s first First Lady exemplify this truth while presenting a vivid panorama covering eighty-five eventful years... Affairs of state, conversations with Churchill, Truman, Lloyd George, Smuts, Orde Wingate, rub shoulders with the worries of everyday life, proud boasts with frank admissions. It is a most personal and revealing document as well as saga of achievement.” —Birmingham Post “Like Chaim Weizmann’s memoirs Trial and Error, it is a book that adds to history, and is the story of a miraculous achievement... [Vera Weizmann] records faithfully the principal political events affecting Zionism, and Chaim’s encounters with the statesmen and people who mattered in several countries. She has a talent for remembering good stories and witty conversations. Her book supplements the more political memoirs of her husband, adding picturesque details of the heroic period of Zionism, of the negotiations over years about the Balfour Declaration, and of the Jewish-English partnership in building the National Home.” — Jewish Chronicle
More relevant than ever, this seminal collection of essays encourages us to believe in the power of ordinary citizens to change the world In today's turbulent world it's hard not to feel like we're going backwards; after decades of striving, justice and equality still seem like far off goals. What keeps us going when times get tough? How have the leaders and unsung heroes of world-changing political movements persevered in the face of cynicism, fear, and seemingly overwhelming odds? In The Impossible Will Take a Little While, they answer these questions in their own words, creating a conversation among some of the most visionary and eloquent voices of our times. Today, more than ever, we need their words and their wisdom. In this revised edition, Paul Rogat Loeb has comprehensively updated this classic work on what it's like to go up against Goliath -- whether South African apartheid, Mississippi segregation, Middle East dictatorships, or the corporations driving global climate change. Without sugarcoating the obstacles, these stories inspire hope to keep moving forward. Think of this book as a conversation among some of the most visionary and eloquent voices of our times -- or any time: Contributors include Maya Angelou, Diane Ackerman, Marian Wright Edelman, Wael Ghonim, Váav Havel, Paul Hawken, Seamus Heaney, Jonathan Kozol, Tony Kushner, Audre Lorde, Nelson Mandela, Bill McKibben, Bill Moyers, Pablo Neruda, Mary Pipher, Arundhati Roy, Dan Savage, Desmond Tutu, Alice Walker, Cornel West, Terry Tempest Williams, and Howard Zinn.
A firsthand, personal view of a family on the front lines of war in Israel “An outstanding work . . . powerfully and movingly written.”—Jerusalem Post WINNER OF THE “BOOKS FOR A BETTER LIFE” AWARD In the summer of 1998, Daniel Gordis and his family moved to Israel from Los Angeles. They planned to be there for a year, but a few months into their stay, Daniel and his wife decided to remain in Jerusalem permanently, confident that their children would be among the first generation of Israelis to grow up in peace. Immediately after arriving in Israel, Daniel had started sending out e-mails about his life to friends and family abroad. These missives—passionate, thoughtful, beautifully written, and informative—began reaching a much broader readership than he’d ever envisioned, eventually being excerpted in The New York Times Magazine to much acclaim. An edited and finely crafted collection of Daniel’s original e-mails, If a Place Can Make You Cry is a first-person, immediate account of Israel’s post-Oslo meltdown that cuts through the rhetoric and stridency of most dispatches from that country or from the international media. Above all, If a Place Can Make You Cry tells the story of a family that must cope with the sudden realization that they took their children from a serene and secure neighborhood in Los Angeles to an Israel not at peace but mired in war. This is the chronicle of a loss of innocence—the innocence of Daniel and his wife, and of their children. Ultimately, through Daniel’s eyes, Israel, with all its beauty, madness, violence, and history, comes to life in a way we’ve never quite seen before.
A brilliant historical YA that asks: how do you choose between survival and doing the right thing? The arrival of the Soviet Army in Germany at the end of World War II sends sixteen-year-old Katja and her family into turmoil. The fighting has stopped, but German society is in collapse, resulting in tremendous hardship. With their father gone and few resources available to them, Katja and her sister are forced to flee their home, reassured by their mother that if they can just reach a distant friend in a town far away, things will get better. But their harrowing journey brings danger and violence, and Katja needs to summon all her strength to build a new life, just as she’s questioning everything she thought she knew about her country. Katja’s bravery and defiance help her deal with the emotional and societal upheaval. But how can she stay true to herself and protect the people she loves when each decision has such far-reaching consequences? Acclaimed writerMichelle Barker’s new novel explores the chaos and destruction of the Second World War from a perspective rarely examined in YA fiction—the implications of the Soviet occupation on a German population grappling with the horrors of Nazism and its aftermath.
Wachsmann punctuates the absorbing details of preserving this artifact with the rich history that surrounds the Sea of Galilee, making this a uniquely enduring and personal work. Wachsmann transports us enabling us to savor this voyage with him on one of the greatest archaeological expeditions of the twentieth century.
With so many books about self-realization and success on the racks, why arent more people self-realized and successful? Huge numbers of people pursuing this type of information prove that many want more from life. They are even willing to invest time and money to learn how to achieve more. So why dont more people actually succeed? Scott Jeffrey realizes what many well-meaning motivators and educators miss: This information must be consistently usable in everyday life. It must be accessible to men and women with impossible work schedules, families, and other time consuming responsibilities. Through a series of thought-provoking strategies and exercises designed to "tune" what is already within the individual rather than complicating the task with new, often confusing information, Jeffrey helps you organize your thoughts, tap existing power, and claim the success you already own.
“Inspired and inspiring . . . By telling his remarkable story, Bill Strickland shows us that an impossible notion is just an idea nobody had the guts to try.”—Daniel H. Pink, New York Times bestselling author of A Whole New Mind “Make the Impossible Possible will show you how you can achieve even your wildest dreams.”—Jeff Skoll, first president of eBay and founder and chairman of the Skoll Foundation Bill Strickland has spent over thirty years transforming the lives of thousands of people through Manchester Bidwell, the jobs training center and community arts program he founded in Pittsburgh. Working with corporations, community leaders, and schools, he and his staff strive to give disadvantaged kids and adults the opportunities and tools they need to envision and build a better, brighter future. In Make the Impossible Possible, he shows how each of us, by adopting the attitudes and beliefs he has lived by every day, can reach our fullest potential and achieve the impossible in our lives and careers—and perhaps change the world a little in the process. Through lessons from Strickland’s own life experiences and those of countless others who have overcome challenging circumstances and turned their lives around, Make the Impossible Possible teaches us how to build on our passions and strengths, dream bigger and set the bar higher, achieve meaningful success, and inspire the lives of others.
An original study of exile, told through the biography of Austrian writer Stefan Zweig By the 1930s, Stefan Zweig had become the most widely translated living author in the world. His novels, short stories, and biographies were so compelling that they became instant best sellers. Zweig was also an intellectual and a lover of all the arts, high and low. Yet after Hitler’s rise to power, this celebrated writer who had dedicated so much energy to promoting international humanism plummeted, in a matter of a few years, into an increasingly isolated exile—from London to Bath to New York City, then Ossining, Rio, and finally Petrópolis—where, in 1942, in a cramped bungalow, he killed himself. The Impossible Exile tells the tragic story of Zweig’s extraordinary rise and fall while it also depicts, with great acumen, the gulf between the world of ideas in Europe and in America, and the consuming struggle of those forced to forsake one for the other. It also reveals how Zweig embodied, through his work, thoughts, and behavior, the end of an era—the implosion of Europe as an ideal of Western civilization.
