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The Book of Virtues: A Treasury of Great Moral Stories
Responsibility. Courage. Compassion. Honesty. Friendship. Persistence. Faith. Everyone recognizes these traits as essentials of good character. In order for our children to develop such traits, we have to offer them examples of good and bad, right and wrong. And the best places to find them are in great works of literature and exemplary stories from history.
William J. Benn
...moreHardcover, 831 pages
Published
November 1st 1993
by Simon & Schuster
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Oh. That was my reaction once I finally got around to cracking this tome open. It turns out this book is not what I was thinking it was going to be. Based on the title, I was expecting real, true stories that illustrated great moral truths. Ya know, like the guy who was honest about the clerk giving him too much change, even though he didn't know how he was going to feed his family that night, and then because of his honesty, the store manager offers him a job, and he's able to feed his family f...more
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Well I'm rounding 700 pages in this 815-page monster, so I'm going to call it read. Hope you won't protest.
The Book of Virtues is a very large collection of interesting fiction, non-fiction, children's poems, Greek myth, biblical stories, inspiring speeches once given, historical figures' journal entries, tall tales and such. They are loosely compiled according to the "virtue" they posses. This is just the kind of thing I love: Things that are fanciful and thought provoking. ...more
The Book of Virtues is a very large collection of interesting fiction, non-fiction, children's poems, Greek myth, biblical stories, inspiring speeches once given, historical figures' journal entries, tall tales and such. They are loosely compiled according to the "virtue" they posses. This is just the kind of thing I love: Things that are fanciful and thought provoking. ...more
I borrowed this book from the library with the intention of having "family reading time". I read the stories myself and kept a list of the stories that I thought my 13 year old daughter would be most interested in. Dang teenagers... she didn't want anything to do with it! As for myself, there were some stories I really liked and others, not so much.
Maire
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review of another edition
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Youngsters who love legends, fables, and fairytales.
I remember being introduced to this book on my tenth birthday, when it was given to me as a birthday gift. I was completely fascinated by the thickness of the thing, and I was so proud at the thought of reading through it all. I did eventually read it all, and after that one read I went back and read my favorite stories over and over. Some were very serious, others more lighthearted, some funny, and still some that were unbelievable - but to a child's mind, deliciously fictional.
Perhaps so...more
Perhaps so...more
some kids had "Goodnight Moon" and stuff like that.
I had the Book of Virtues. Thanks, parents.
:P
I had the Book of Virtues. Thanks, parents.
:P
WELL WELL.....WELL. I WAS ON A RUNNERS HIGH WHEN I WALKED INTO THE NEW BARNES AND NOBLES IN KANEOHE. I'VE NEVER BEEN MORE RIGHT ABOUT KNOWING SUBDUALY THAT IN THE PSYCHOLOGY SECTION THE BOOK TEEMED, "THE HELPING FRIENDLY BOOK" DID TOO EXIST. I AJOINED MY CHILDHOOD YEARS FLUNKING GRAMMAR AND GRADESCHOOL FOR EXELENT REVIEWS RATHER THAN LAST NIGHTS HOMEWORK WHICH MIGHT BE AND REALLY MUST HAVE BEEN COMPLETE FOR HONORING THE STUDENTS OF THE PASTS AND OUR FOREFATHERS WE EDIT TODAY, THE P...more
This is a fantastic book! A collection of works that is easy to dip in and out of during the day. This book was originally intended for kids but I feel that adults can gain much from this book. I am currently reading the chapter titled "Compassion." I have to share this one particular entry with you:
The Sin of Omission by Margaret E. Sangster
It isn't the thing you do, dear,
Its the thing you leave undone
That gives you a bit of a heartache
At settin...more
The Sin of Omission by Margaret E. Sangster
It isn't the thing you do, dear,
Its the thing you leave undone
That gives you a bit of a heartache
At settin...more
This book was given to me when I was going into High School, and it sat on my shelf collecting dust until now. I wish I had read it when I got it 7 years ago, because it has such wonderful stories in it that probably would have been good for me to read at that time in my life.
There are stories from Aesop, Dickinson, Tolstoy, O'Henry, and more that all explore different qualities that we should value and emulate. These qualities are self-discipline, compassion, responsibility, frien...more
There are stories from Aesop, Dickinson, Tolstoy, O'Henry, and more that all explore different qualities that we should value and emulate. These qualities are self-discipline, compassion, responsibility, frien...more
Even though we read through this 3 years ago...we are re-visiting it again. Payton's teacher read this to them while they ate their lunch, and we skipped those verses, poems, or short stories...so we are excited to start from the beginning and read it all.
Wonderful compilation of moral stories under the themes of self-discipline, compassion, responsibility, friendship, work, courage, perseverance, honesty, loyalty and faith.
Wonderful compilation of moral stories under the themes of self-discipline, compassion, responsibility, friendship, work, courage, perseverance, honesty, loyalty and faith.
Reading excerpts from this book at a time is like sitting down in front of the fire with your Grandpa or Grandma telling you stories you can fall asleep too. All the stories, essays, poems, songs, rhymes uphold a virtue. They range from humorous to serious in nature. Any book that carries Henry V's battle cry, "Once more unto the breach, dear friends," belongs in the home library.
many interesting stories compiled into this great book. but they all have one thing in common: an important lesson to learn behind each story. parents who read this book to their children should always ask them after reading the story what the lesson behind the story is and discuss it. personally, this book has built up a lot of my character. please enjoy.:)
The first time I saw this book was a few years ago at the Ghost City Inn in Jerome, Arizona. I fell in love with it. Well, I have finally purchased it for myself. This will give me many house of great reading... not to mention many great hours painting as well. I look forward to sitting and reading it to my Boys too. :)
This book is full of wonderful stories that encourage young and old to be at their moral best, and they are entertaining as well! It includes stories like the velveteen rabbit, to trues stories about Lincoln, founding fathers, and more. I would recommend this book to anyone, especially if you have kids!
This book changed my life. Really. My father gave this to me very early in my teens and so many of the stories touched me in a deep place. I admired and adopted the virtues and lessons I learned in this book. Give it to anyone you would like to guide and help grow.
All Bennett proved is that he can compile good stories than he didn't write but liked. And then he makes a lot of money from it. No original thinking here and shouldn't original thinking be one of the highest virtues?
My favorite poem is "There was a Little Girl." This is a great coffee table book. I read this in middle school when I was babysitting (while the kids were asleep of course).
This book was a gift to Norma and me from my parents right after Mariah was born and I've read the stories many times to the kids. I love it's simplicity and straightforwardness.
A mix of familiar moral stories and hilariously morbid Victorian poems. The moral of the book seems to be that if you are immoral, you will be killed.
I was given the hard cover edition as a gift. I worked ny way throughit, but it is not a book I would buy for myself, give as a gift or recommend.
My mom read these to me for years when I was a child . . . they probably had a lot to do with the way I turned out in a lot of very small ways.
I remember being read stories from this as a child. To this day I remember them and their virtues. Dust under the rug! Dust under the rug!
This is a book I will continue to read weekly. My children (and I) adore these stories. This is a MUST have in everyone's home library (young and old). Who doesn't need a refresher course in self-dicipline, responsibility, courage, faith, friendship, etc.? This well-organized book is presented in such an enjoyable fashion, it begs to be read often.
Every family should own this book! Amazing collection of moral stories, fables, stories from American history, poems, etc. Love it!
Bennet should be given some kind of pretty lapel pin for compiling this book of some of the best stories humanity has recorded.
Great collection of Virtue stories. We've read them as a family at times for family night. Great lessons from the stories.
I also still need this book I read it as a tween and teenager. It was my moms and my sister destroyed it I hear anyhow.
I went through this religious phase when I was younger and reading this book was something that went with that time.
We read short stories from this book that make us think about the character trait we are focusing on in school.
I picked this up from a book club. Flipped through it a little but have not set out to read it yet. I will!
I loved this book, a great opportunit to collect some of the best-loved stories and parabels of all times.
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William J. "Bill" Bennett is a politician and author who served in the Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush administrations, as chief of National Endowment for the Humanities and later Secretary of Education under Reagan, and Drug Czar under Bush. He is a nationally well-known figure of political and social conservatism and authored many books on politics, ethics, and international relati...more
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