True Joy of Positive Living: An Autobiography

by Norman Vincent Peale

The popular minister and author of "The Power of Positive Thinking" recalls his eventful life and the individuals, including his own family, who influenced his ministry and his thinking

Genres: Biography, Self Help

298 pages, Hardcover

First published October 12, 1985

About the author

Dr. Norman Vincent Peale (1898–1993) was a minister and author (most notably of The Power of Positive Thinking) and a progenitor of the theory of "positive thinking".

Peale was born in Bowersville, Ohio. He graduated from Bellefontaine High School, Bellefontaine, Ohio. He has earned degrees at Ohio Wesleyan University (where he became a brother of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta) and Boston University School of Theology.

Raised as a Methodist and ordained as a Methodist minister in 1922, Peale changed his religious affiliation to the Reformed Church in America in 1932 and began a 52-year tenure as pastor of Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan. During that time the church's membership grew from 600 to over 5000, and he became one of New York City's most famous preachers.

Reviews

[Fergus, Weaver of Autistic Webs · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a truly BEAUTIFUL book! HOW can we Succeed in Life? We simply have to WILL ourselves to stay POSITIVE. It’s tough. And it Works.

Peale’s world-renowned goodness and decency shine through everything he writes.

So great is my respectful admiration for his sunny philosophy of Positive Thinking, in fact, I’m only sorry I didn’t review his autobiography sooner.

But my meds make me prone to inertia.

That, combined with the fact that the radar screen of my memory is filled with a vast plethora of past pains and disappointments, makes me hesitate to act peremptorily and positively.

But that’s only the present experience of this weak old man, and not the story of my life.

No, my life was - at least in my early myopic view - a struggle to let the Platonic Form of the Good shine through things I did.

And my life now, thankfully is - albeit weakened by the struggle - one of grateful peace.

So it pays to be good in the long run!

For however scarred I may be, I’m happy.

And that’s the way Norman Vincent Peale says it SHOULD work out if you’re good.

You can’t shrug off the Pain of the Particular Truths in your life...

But you can rejoice in the Peace which is The GENERAL Fact of a Good Life.

Life may at times be be the pain of our former life crucified, but it can be - in spite of that - always filled with the peace of an incipient resurrection.

We’re never off the hook with life even though our souls tell us we’re already home free, so we undertake the things we must do daily with wholehearted anticipation:

So says to us the unbeaten life of this man! And the stories he tells...

The book contains myriad private jewels of Americana, and rousing stories of faith and perseverance in adversity’s grim face. I think of his early benefactor who with assuring words told him if he KNEW he would raise money for his young ministry he WOULD.

And he did.

The simple power of positive prayer and love.

Last summer we received an emailed video from my wife’s nephew, of his 9-year-old daughter getting a letter from local merchants telling her she had been selected as an honorary Elf for her local retailers’ Santa this year.

Is she gonna suffer disappointment when she realizes the behind the scenes reality of Christmas?

Probably.

But all our dreams can be resurrected by ordinary love.

Remember William Blake’s poem Smiles?

There is a smile of love
And there is a smile of deceit -
And there is a smile of smiles
In which these two smiles meet.

That ‘smile of smiles’ is the Smile of an Awake Lovingkindness...

By which we are undeceived at the end - but immersed nevertheless in a plain and wonderful simple peace.

[Patricia Shamansky · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a small book, it took quite a bit of time to get it read. It was informative of NVP’s young life, the people of influence throughout his life, his travels, and where his work took him to be a blessing to others. Towards the end, I felt it was getting daunting reading of others and how it seems it was added just to get a book with a recommended amount of pages completed to keep the editor satisfied. If you can speed read past the last couple of chapters, you may enjoy the book.

[Gideon Nfor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book from a great man of God.

The book is informative, inspirational and educational. You will learn from the many years of service to God , public platforms and country

[Elaine LaFollette · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a book of my Mom's. I found his autobiography to have an amazing amount of connections to me...lived in Cincinnati (Norwood) and also in Syracuse, NY. He was quite a man.

[Vincent Rockett · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is the most astonishing ,fascinating and interesting book i ever read

[Dave Symmonds · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dr Peale has written some incredible books. In my opinion, this isn't one of them. Having already read a lot of his work, this book has little new to offer outside of what I have already read previously in greater detail in his other books. Strictly as an autobiography, it's a bit dry. Maybe due in part to the aforementioned reason. If you haven't read any of Dr Peales work, you may enjoy this. If you have already read much of his work, you may be better suited leaving this on the shelf.

[Quoleen Xandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a gift from my brother long time ago and it helped a me a lot,
it's simply amazing!

[Roxanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book whenever I need to reinforce my positive attitude. I think you cannot proceed in life without his mental outlook.