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Simple Wisdom for Rich Living

4.6 of 5 stars 4.60 · rating details · 5 ratings · 2 reviews

Oseola McCarty retired in 1986 after washing and ironing other people's clothes for 75 years. In 1995, the 87-year-old woman gave $150,000 to the University of Southern Mississippi to establish a scholarship for African American students. Simple Wisdom for Rich Living forms a window on her large, sweet soul and reminds us that no matter how humble our own circumstances, we...more

Hardcover, 112 pages

Published November 25th 1996 by Taylor Trade Publishing

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Feb 23, 2012 Michael Strode rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: afrowomenwrite, motherwit, read-in-2012

Oseola McCarty's tiny tome of consolidated life wisdom found its way into my library while I was searching out a present at a local bookstore for my co-parent. The text stirred the very well of my discomfort throughout the reading and found me still unsettled as I flipped the final page.

On one hand, her words struck an immediate emotional chord as sage elderly insight emerging from the spring of Great Depression economic realities and Post Reconstruction Jim Crow era social conditions. Her perso...more Oseola McCarty's tiny tome of consolidated life wisdom found its way into my library while I was searching out a present at a local bookstore for my co-parent. The text stirred the very well of my discomfort throughout the reading and found me still unsettled as I flipped the final page.

On one hand, her words struck an immediate emotional chord as sage elderly insight emerging from the spring of Great Depression economic realities and Post Reconstruction Jim Crow era social conditions. Her personal aphorisms are as quaint and heartwarming as words that could have been just as easily spoken from my grandparents Robert, Lily, Shay or Katherine in some conversation about the perils of the modern day. On the other hand, I felt a sense of historical revisionism pervading the celebration afforded her personal act of unselfishness. The notion that during her life, the same people who would honor her had neither cause nor desire to afford a simple washerwoman the dignity of being looked in the eye struck me as the height of insult. McCarty does not have to consider it this way, but I identify her amongst my own elders and feel vindicated in taking umbrage on her behalf.

In one reflection, Paul Laughlin recounts the reaction of correspondents who felt that McCarty reminded them of someone they once knew. He goes on to cite "an immigrant mother", "a church janitor" and "maids and housekeepers" amongst their memories. In each instance, the hindsight is reflected upon some warm individual employing devotion and humility in the accomplishment of a menial task whom had aided or been kind to them throughout their life, but that they had managed to forget anyway. One is brought wonder if they were really honoring McCarty or merely attempting to assuage the guilt of having not honored all of the others.

Questionable motives aside, there is much practical insight to be found in the words of Oseola McCarty. Amongst my favorites is the following "There's a lot of talk about self esteem these days. It seems pretty basic to me. If you want to feel proud of yourself, you've got to do things you can be proud of. Feelings follow actions." These words and her intense devotion to the work of washing clothes whether originating out of personal desire or a life proscribed from all other possibility offer us an opportunity to learn of family, frugality and simplicity. If we can embody these three concepts, while accessing all of the exploratory space available to us in the present day, I think we can know the full meaning of the richness McCarty invested in her own life.(less)

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Nov 10, 2007 Tamara Evans rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: reference

Oseola McCarty is a everyday woman and she'll tell you so. She has carved out a life for herself in Hattiesburg, Mississippi working as a washerwoman for the past seventy-five years. After she had to stop working due to arthritis, it was discovered that she had saved $280,000. What is even more amazing is that she then gave $150,000 of that money to a college that she had never even been to, the University of Southern Mississippi.

The book is part biography and part advice book.Simple Wisdom for...more Oseola McCarty is a everyday woman and she'll tell you so. She has carved out a life for herself in Hattiesburg, Mississippi working as a washerwoman for the past seventy-five years. After she had to stop working due to arthritis, it was discovered that she had saved $280,000. What is even more amazing is that she then gave $150,000 of that money to a college that she had never even been to, the University of Southern Mississippi.

The book is part biography and part advice book.Simple Wisdom for Rich Living begins an introduction with tells the story of Oseola McCarty and how she was forced to quit school at age twelve to care for her sick aunt and never returned to school.While many people who have let this situation effect their life in a negative way, Oseola chose to make the best of her circumstances. She took great satisfaction from her job as a washerwoman and pride in doing the best job she could.

Throughout the course of this book, Oseola gives advice on several topics such as work, saving money, faith, relationships, and good living. Although the advice she gives is very relevant to today's society, I feel that some people might not heed what she's saying, especially in reference to saving money. The reason I say this is because we live in a world that is all about instant gratification.

While Oseola McCarty made her fortune by putting away a little bit of money over a long period of time, a lot of people (myself included) aren't like this. Most people who put their money in the bank want do it so that it 'll multiply as quickly as possible. What usually ends up happening is that the person withdrawals the money before it even has a chance to get an interest and you end up wishing you'd left the money in the bank it the first place.

The advice within the book is timeless and easy to understand. Oseola McCarty also reminds me of my grandma and the advice she would give me when I was younger and didn't listen to; those words of wisdom would have really made a difference in my life.

While this is a very great book, I feel that many people will pass on it because they'd feel that the words she has to share with the world have less merit because of her life and experience.This book is a wonderful in that it shows that wisdom can come from a celebrity, a religious leader, or even a washerwoman from Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
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Jun 02, 2013 Theresa Wooten rated it 5 of 5 stars

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Shelves: nonfiction

May 31, 2009 Tamre rated it 5 of 5 stars

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