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What I Believe
From the Detroit ghetto of his youth to the vaunted halls of Baltimore's Johns Hopkins Hospital, the extraordinary life of Dr. Ben Solomon Carson is rooted in hard work, faith, family and a thirst for learning that, once realized, could not be quenched. With these fundamentals of his life entrenched, Carson, described as "the poster child for the American Dream," set about shattering stereotypes, breaking down boundaries and crushing the political correctness he believes is "destroying our nation" -- just one of the beliefs that catapulted the reluctant politician, retired neurosurgeon and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom to the front of the pack of 2016 Republican presidential candidates.
In "What I A Collection of My Syndicated Columns," Carson details as only he can his most personal and unshakeable beliefs. All written and published before he announced his bid for the U.S. presidency, Carson unapologetically identifies the nation's problems – government expansion, poor education priorities, lack of personal responsibility and, yes, Obamacare – and offers solutions born of his unique experience. At the heart of every column is the What will it take to bring our divided nation together? For many Americans, it seems the answer is the man who so unabashedly asks and answers.
In "What I A Collection of My Syndicated Columns," Carson details as only he can his most personal and unshakeable beliefs. All written and published before he announced his bid for the U.S. presidency, Carson unapologetically identifies the nation's problems – government expansion, poor education priorities, lack of personal responsibility and, yes, Obamacare – and offers solutions born of his unique experience. At the heart of every column is the What will it take to bring our divided nation together? For many Americans, it seems the answer is the man who so unabashedly asks and answers.
- GenresNonfictionPolitics
191 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 12, 2015
16 people are currently reading
91 people want to read
About the author
Ben Carson
66 books959 followersBenjamin Solomon "Ben" Carson, Sr., M.D. is an American neurosurgeon and the Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States by President George W. Bush in 2008.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 3, 2019
This is the second book that I have read by Ben Carson and I do so like and respect him. This book is a collection of his syndicated columns. I enjoyed reading most of them, although some were a bit dated, which is to be expected, given that they are newspaper columns.
Here are some of my favorite quotes:
“Civility and political correctness, contrary to the thinking of many, are not the same. Civility constrains behavior and words based on genuine caring about others, while political correctness is only a facade of caring while hoping to cultivate public approval.”
“Today many people in America slavishly devote themselves to a political party without engaging in critical analysis of whether the philosophies of that party are really in sync with their true values and with the betterment of their position in society. If decades of such devotion leads to more broken families, more out-of-wedlock births, more involvement with the criminal justice system, more poverty and more dependency on government, maybe it is time to ask whether such devotion is warranted.”
“Although I strongly believe in individual rights and the rights of parents to raise their children as they see fit, I also recognize that public health and public safety are extremely important in our society. Certain communicable diseases have been largely eradicated by immunization policies in this country. We should not allow those diseases to return by forgoing safety immunization programs for philosophical, religious or other reasons when we have the means to eradicate them.”
“Astute business people generally do not make their political views widely known, because they realize that about half of their customers agree with them and half do not.”
“There is no substantial risk from vaccines and that the benefits are very significant.”
“I am very much in favor of parental rights for certain types of things. I am in favor of you and I having the freedom to drive a car. But do we have a right to drive without wearing our seatbelts? Do we have a right to text while we are driving? Studies have demonstrated that those are dangerous things to do, so it becomes a public safety issue. You have to be able to distinguish our rights versus the rights of the society in which we live, because we are all in this thing together. We have to be cognizant of the other people around us, and we must always bear in mind the safety of the population. That is key, and that is one of the responsibilities of government.”
“I am a small-government person, and I greatly oppose government intrusion into everything. Still, it is essential that we distinguish between those things that are important and those things that are just intruding upon our basic privacy. Whether to participate in childhood immunizations would be an individual choice if individuals were the only ones affected, but as previously mentioned, our children are part of our larger community. None of us lives in isolation. Your decision does not affect only you — it also affects your fellow Americans.”
“We must not fall into the trap of being so concerned about innocent words and deeds that we destroy people while worshiping ill-conceived rules of speech and behavior.”
Here are some of my favorite quotes:
“Civility and political correctness, contrary to the thinking of many, are not the same. Civility constrains behavior and words based on genuine caring about others, while political correctness is only a facade of caring while hoping to cultivate public approval.”
“Today many people in America slavishly devote themselves to a political party without engaging in critical analysis of whether the philosophies of that party are really in sync with their true values and with the betterment of their position in society. If decades of such devotion leads to more broken families, more out-of-wedlock births, more involvement with the criminal justice system, more poverty and more dependency on government, maybe it is time to ask whether such devotion is warranted.”
“Although I strongly believe in individual rights and the rights of parents to raise their children as they see fit, I also recognize that public health and public safety are extremely important in our society. Certain communicable diseases have been largely eradicated by immunization policies in this country. We should not allow those diseases to return by forgoing safety immunization programs for philosophical, religious or other reasons when we have the means to eradicate them.”
“Astute business people generally do not make their political views widely known, because they realize that about half of their customers agree with them and half do not.”
“There is no substantial risk from vaccines and that the benefits are very significant.”
“I am very much in favor of parental rights for certain types of things. I am in favor of you and I having the freedom to drive a car. But do we have a right to drive without wearing our seatbelts? Do we have a right to text while we are driving? Studies have demonstrated that those are dangerous things to do, so it becomes a public safety issue. You have to be able to distinguish our rights versus the rights of the society in which we live, because we are all in this thing together. We have to be cognizant of the other people around us, and we must always bear in mind the safety of the population. That is key, and that is one of the responsibilities of government.”
“I am a small-government person, and I greatly oppose government intrusion into everything. Still, it is essential that we distinguish between those things that are important and those things that are just intruding upon our basic privacy. Whether to participate in childhood immunizations would be an individual choice if individuals were the only ones affected, but as previously mentioned, our children are part of our larger community. None of us lives in isolation. Your decision does not affect only you — it also affects your fellow Americans.”
“We must not fall into the trap of being so concerned about innocent words and deeds that we destroy people while worshiping ill-conceived rules of speech and behavior.”
December 22, 2015
Ben Carson impresses me more with every book I read about or by him. He has such a clear mind, and a clear way of expressing his ideas and ideals. He thinks everything through thoroughly and then explains his point of view so clearly. When he in not of favor of his subject, or disagrees with a policy, he suggests a solution to the problem. I agree with his principles, his thinking, his policies, his love of this country and our constitution. I especially enjoyed this book because of its nature, being separate columns for the news, he covered a wide variety of problems faced by our country. I really learned a lot about the parts of our government that I didn't understand as well as I should. I think a man of his integrity and knowledge would lead our country with dignity. I believe he is smart enough to surround himself with other leaders who would counsel him in areas where he might need that counsel. I admire him in so many areas, his knowledge, his work ethic, his openness, his disdain of political correctness, his love of country and the constitution, and not least, his faith in God, and his willingness to share his faith and most importantly to live by what he professes to believe.
March 15, 2016
Dr. Ben Carson took his life from a potential juvenile delinquent in the Detroit ghetto to the lauded Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He states that he was an angry and troubled youth and credits the Bible and his mother with giving him the ability to turn his thoughts and actions around and make something of his life.
What I Believe is a collection of his syndicated columns written for The Washington Times. Dr. Ben strongly believes that people are not born to a certain path in life. Each of us must work hard to achieve what we want and make our own destiny. He writes about breaking stereotypes and doing away with political correctness. He covers a vast range of topics such as poverty, racism, education, faith, terrorism, foreign policy, healthcare and the economy.
These columns were written prior to his decision to run for the President of the United States. If you've followed Ben's campaign at all, you probably already know a great deal of what's in this book. If you don't know much about Ben Carson, I would definitely recommend reading this book. It's obvious that Ben Carson has spent a great deal of time thinking about what actions lead us on a path to destruction, for both individuals and the nation as a whole. He is well-educated, well-meaning and has some great ideas. Will he make a good president? That's for you to decide.
What I Believe is a collection of his syndicated columns written for The Washington Times. Dr. Ben strongly believes that people are not born to a certain path in life. Each of us must work hard to achieve what we want and make our own destiny. He writes about breaking stereotypes and doing away with political correctness. He covers a vast range of topics such as poverty, racism, education, faith, terrorism, foreign policy, healthcare and the economy.
These columns were written prior to his decision to run for the President of the United States. If you've followed Ben's campaign at all, you probably already know a great deal of what's in this book. If you don't know much about Ben Carson, I would definitely recommend reading this book. It's obvious that Ben Carson has spent a great deal of time thinking about what actions lead us on a path to destruction, for both individuals and the nation as a whole. He is well-educated, well-meaning and has some great ideas. Will he make a good president? That's for you to decide.
February 24, 2016
I find myself being more impressed by Dr. Carson after every book I read.
This book is a collection of his syndicated columns so it is particularly useful and enjoyable as a book to read in short intervals.
This book is a collection of his syndicated columns so it is particularly useful and enjoyable as a book to read in short intervals.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews