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How to Live on 24 Hours a Day
You have to live on twenty-four hours of daily time. Out of it you have to spin health, pleasure, money, content, respect, and the evolution of your immortal soul. This timeless classic is one of the first self-help books ever written and was a best-seller in both England and America. It remains as useful today as when it was written, and offers fresh and practical advice on how to make the most of the daily miracle of life.
92 pages, Paperback
First published November 24, 1908
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9398 people want to read
About the author
Arnold Bennett
903 books306 followersEnoch Arnold Bennett was an English author, best known as a novelist, who wrote prolifically. Between the 1890s and the 1930s he completed 34 novels, seven volumes of short stories, 13 plays (some in collaboration with other writers), and a daily journal totalling more than a million words. He wrote articles and stories for more than 100 newspapers and periodicals, worked in and briefly ran the Ministry of Information during the First World War, and wrote for the cinema in the 1920s. Sales of his books were substantial, and he was the most financially successful British author of his day.
Born into a modest but upwardly mobile family in Hanley, in the Staffordshire Potteries, Bennett was intended by his father, a solicitor, to follow him into the legal profession. Bennett worked for his father before moving to another law firm in London as a clerk at the age of 21. He became assistant editor and then editor of a women's magazine before becoming a full-time author in 1900. Always a devotee of French culture in general and French literature in particular, he moved to Paris in 1903; there the relaxed milieu helped him overcome his intense shyness, particularly with women. He spent ten years in France, marrying a Frenchwoman in 1907. In 1912 he moved back to England. He and his wife separated in 1921, and he spent the last years of his life with a new partner, an English actress. He died in 1931 of typhoid fever, having unwisely drunk tap-water in France.
Many of Bennett's novels and short stories are set in a fictionalised version of the Staffordshire Potteries, which he called The Five Towns. He strongly believed that literature should be accessible to ordinary people and he deplored literary cliques and élites. His books appealed to a wide public and sold in large numbers. For this reason, and for his adherence to realism, writers and supporters of the modernist school, notably Virginia Woolf, belittled him, and his fiction became neglected after his death. During his lifetime his journalistic "self-help" books sold in substantial numbers, and he was also a playwright; he did less well in the theatre than with novels but achieved two considerable successes with Milestones (1912) and The Great Adventure (1913).
Studies by Margaret Drabble (1974), John Carey (1992), and others have led to a re-evaluation of Bennett's work. The finest of his novels, including Anna of the Five Towns (1902), The Old Wives' Tale (1908), Clayhanger (1910) and Riceyman Steps (1923), are now widely recognised as major works.
Born into a modest but upwardly mobile family in Hanley, in the Staffordshire Potteries, Bennett was intended by his father, a solicitor, to follow him into the legal profession. Bennett worked for his father before moving to another law firm in London as a clerk at the age of 21. He became assistant editor and then editor of a women's magazine before becoming a full-time author in 1900. Always a devotee of French culture in general and French literature in particular, he moved to Paris in 1903; there the relaxed milieu helped him overcome his intense shyness, particularly with women. He spent ten years in France, marrying a Frenchwoman in 1907. In 1912 he moved back to England. He and his wife separated in 1921, and he spent the last years of his life with a new partner, an English actress. He died in 1931 of typhoid fever, having unwisely drunk tap-water in France.
Many of Bennett's novels and short stories are set in a fictionalised version of the Staffordshire Potteries, which he called The Five Towns. He strongly believed that literature should be accessible to ordinary people and he deplored literary cliques and élites. His books appealed to a wide public and sold in large numbers. For this reason, and for his adherence to realism, writers and supporters of the modernist school, notably Virginia Woolf, belittled him, and his fiction became neglected after his death. During his lifetime his journalistic "self-help" books sold in substantial numbers, and he was also a playwright; he did less well in the theatre than with novels but achieved two considerable successes with Milestones (1912) and The Great Adventure (1913).
Studies by Margaret Drabble (1974), John Carey (1992), and others have led to a re-evaluation of Bennett's work. The finest of his novels, including Anna of the Five Towns (1902), The Old Wives' Tale (1908), Clayhanger (1910) and Riceyman Steps (1923), are now widely recognised as major works.
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May 15, 2018
Get your mind in hand . And see how the process cures half the evils of life – especially worry, that miserable, avoidable, shameful disease – worry!
It occurred to me that How to Live on Twenty-Four Hours a Day could be the first self-help book ever I managed to finish without yawning or ending up with an insipid taste in my mouth –which assumingly tells as much about having made poor book choices as about the nature of this book which is cleverly short, witty and elegantly written and rather timeless in the lessons one could draw from it. No, this isn’t time management for dummies, it is not about bringing miraculously more time in your life titles like How to Have a 48-Hour Day: Get Twice as Much Done as You Do Now! seem to suggest, but about bringing more life into your time, to live more fully instead of passing one’s time merely existing. Bennett’s basic assumption is that for most of us office workers, work doesn’t make us feel really living to the fullest extent nor sends us home genuinely tired as a rule – which is confirmed by modern HR research and occupational psychology. Most people don’t deplete the bulk of their capacities and mental faculties for work but only use a limited percentage of it. If working in the HR department one better bears in mind that most people have a private life that is far more demanding and complex than their jobs and hopefully for them is also more interesting and rewarding. Moreover, it is no secret the average office worker spends only a few hours of the time he or she is present actually working productively (about three)– the rest of the eight hours going into chatting with colleagues, eating, surfing on the web to news (and job) sites, dreaming away during meetings and sipping (too much) coffee. Bennett doesn’t cast stones, his point is one cannot claim being tired at the end of such a working day and so isn’t excused for frittering away one’s time with trifles – as one simply isn’t tired.
Fully living Bennett comprehends as boosting one’s intellectual life, cultivating of the mind for as a start ninety nocturnal minutes – and no, before you smile complacently thinking you are doing pretty well because of reading a lot – this doesn’t necessarily concur with reading. Reading novels (and odd reading like newspapers) is disqualified, as bad novels shouldn’t be read and good novels ‘rush you forward like a skiff down a stream’ and do not imply the feeling of strain and difficulty necessary in the cultivation of the mind. Fortunately reading poetry seems to find favour with him, as
Imaginative poetry produces a far greater mental strain than novels. It produces probably the severest strain of any form of literature. It is the highest form of literature. It yields the highest form of pleasure, and teaches the highest form of wisdom. In a word, there is nothing to compare with it. I say this with sad consciousness of the fact that the majority of people do not read poetry.
Studying art, music, history; nature, the rise of railways, the study of cause and effect in daily life, everything that sparks one’s natural interests, arouses one’s curiosity and helps to keep an open mind will do in order to live fully – delight lies in aiming for specialism. Serious reading cannot be equalled to simply wolfing down as many books as possible, one has to move slowly, as it should take as much time to read as to reflect about it. Reviewing books here maybe would count too, we can see the picture.
Some of his insights on self-discipline strike as intuitive truths (rise early, go to bed in time, start change quietly, the perception that our brain doesn’t tire by using it but rather needs change than rest (except in sleep)) – and come along as remarkably close to the present day recommendations about owning your own life, self-improvement, personal growth we at times seem to get bombarded with, be it Bennett formulates them in a more imaginative, entertaining and philosophical way, rendering the message both still relevant as well as more agreeable to digest.
I thought the idea of the gift each day is to us, to all of us, indiscriminately, whether we are well off or not, beautiful. We all get twenty-four hours a day, every day again, and wasting a day or an hour will not be punished, as it will be followed by another one. One cannot waste the next hour, every next hour is a new chance, we can turn over a new leaf every hour if we wish to. And yet. Bennett wrote this for British white-collar workers a hundred years ago, so unsurprisingly he only addresses the lords of creation, which evidently don’t have to bother about domestic duties, plop in their armchair with the paper when getting home, waiting for dinner. Only men seem to have the idea that one should ‘do something in addition to the things we are loyally and morally obliged to do’ in life. Women stay out of the picture, apparently not needing to do something more fulfilling with their time than watch over the precious time of their men by serving them and when done disappearing into the wallpaper together with the man’s offspring so he can peacefully devote himself to his own mind (spending more time on the family/other people in those days apparently not regarded as an option on the path to make the most out of life). In this respect I couldn’t but sigh about change going slow, as I was reminded of some recent population surveys in the UK, the Netherlands and Belgium which showed that men in a sense still are the leisure class – enjoying on average about six hours a week more of leisure time than women – and on this point the gender gap is even growing in comparison to fifteen years ago. So if one would consider to take some of the stratagems of Bennett to heart, be forewarned that reading this might cause serious domestic troubles if one’s beloved would read it as well and might wish to benefit from the same degree of mental space and leisure to spend on the cultivation of the mind as one would like oneself – unless neither of you minds a little chaos (or having petty squabbles, which is also time-consuming).
Whenever I catch myself again promising I will do certain things when I finally will have a little more time, I will think of Arnold Bennett’s insights on time, as this might be one of the most inconvenient truths we have to face, ‘the glaring, dazzling truth that we never will have any more time. We have, and have always had, all the time there is.’ Besides, that omelette looks really nice, Mr. Bennett.
It occurred to me that How to Live on Twenty-Four Hours a Day could be the first self-help book ever I managed to finish without yawning or ending up with an insipid taste in my mouth –which assumingly tells as much about having made poor book choices as about the nature of this book which is cleverly short, witty and elegantly written and rather timeless in the lessons one could draw from it. No, this isn’t time management for dummies, it is not about bringing miraculously more time in your life titles like How to Have a 48-Hour Day: Get Twice as Much Done as You Do Now! seem to suggest, but about bringing more life into your time, to live more fully instead of passing one’s time merely existing. Bennett’s basic assumption is that for most of us office workers, work doesn’t make us feel really living to the fullest extent nor sends us home genuinely tired as a rule – which is confirmed by modern HR research and occupational psychology. Most people don’t deplete the bulk of their capacities and mental faculties for work but only use a limited percentage of it. If working in the HR department one better bears in mind that most people have a private life that is far more demanding and complex than their jobs and hopefully for them is also more interesting and rewarding. Moreover, it is no secret the average office worker spends only a few hours of the time he or she is present actually working productively (about three)– the rest of the eight hours going into chatting with colleagues, eating, surfing on the web to news (and job) sites, dreaming away during meetings and sipping (too much) coffee. Bennett doesn’t cast stones, his point is one cannot claim being tired at the end of such a working day and so isn’t excused for frittering away one’s time with trifles – as one simply isn’t tired.
Fully living Bennett comprehends as boosting one’s intellectual life, cultivating of the mind for as a start ninety nocturnal minutes – and no, before you smile complacently thinking you are doing pretty well because of reading a lot – this doesn’t necessarily concur with reading. Reading novels (and odd reading like newspapers) is disqualified, as bad novels shouldn’t be read and good novels ‘rush you forward like a skiff down a stream’ and do not imply the feeling of strain and difficulty necessary in the cultivation of the mind. Fortunately reading poetry seems to find favour with him, as
Imaginative poetry produces a far greater mental strain than novels. It produces probably the severest strain of any form of literature. It is the highest form of literature. It yields the highest form of pleasure, and teaches the highest form of wisdom. In a word, there is nothing to compare with it. I say this with sad consciousness of the fact that the majority of people do not read poetry.
Studying art, music, history; nature, the rise of railways, the study of cause and effect in daily life, everything that sparks one’s natural interests, arouses one’s curiosity and helps to keep an open mind will do in order to live fully – delight lies in aiming for specialism. Serious reading cannot be equalled to simply wolfing down as many books as possible, one has to move slowly, as it should take as much time to read as to reflect about it. Reviewing books here maybe would count too, we can see the picture.
Some of his insights on self-discipline strike as intuitive truths (rise early, go to bed in time, start change quietly, the perception that our brain doesn’t tire by using it but rather needs change than rest (except in sleep)) – and come along as remarkably close to the present day recommendations about owning your own life, self-improvement, personal growth we at times seem to get bombarded with, be it Bennett formulates them in a more imaginative, entertaining and philosophical way, rendering the message both still relevant as well as more agreeable to digest.
I thought the idea of the gift each day is to us, to all of us, indiscriminately, whether we are well off or not, beautiful. We all get twenty-four hours a day, every day again, and wasting a day or an hour will not be punished, as it will be followed by another one. One cannot waste the next hour, every next hour is a new chance, we can turn over a new leaf every hour if we wish to. And yet. Bennett wrote this for British white-collar workers a hundred years ago, so unsurprisingly he only addresses the lords of creation, which evidently don’t have to bother about domestic duties, plop in their armchair with the paper when getting home, waiting for dinner. Only men seem to have the idea that one should ‘do something in addition to the things we are loyally and morally obliged to do’ in life. Women stay out of the picture, apparently not needing to do something more fulfilling with their time than watch over the precious time of their men by serving them and when done disappearing into the wallpaper together with the man’s offspring so he can peacefully devote himself to his own mind (spending more time on the family/other people in those days apparently not regarded as an option on the path to make the most out of life). In this respect I couldn’t but sigh about change going slow, as I was reminded of some recent population surveys in the UK, the Netherlands and Belgium which showed that men in a sense still are the leisure class – enjoying on average about six hours a week more of leisure time than women – and on this point the gender gap is even growing in comparison to fifteen years ago. So if one would consider to take some of the stratagems of Bennett to heart, be forewarned that reading this might cause serious domestic troubles if one’s beloved would read it as well and might wish to benefit from the same degree of mental space and leisure to spend on the cultivation of the mind as one would like oneself – unless neither of you minds a little chaos (or having petty squabbles, which is also time-consuming).
Whenever I catch myself again promising I will do certain things when I finally will have a little more time, I will think of Arnold Bennett’s insights on time, as this might be one of the most inconvenient truths we have to face, ‘the glaring, dazzling truth that we never will have any more time. We have, and have always had, all the time there is.’ Besides, that omelette looks really nice, Mr. Bennett.
April 21, 2021
“You say your day is already full to overflowing. How? You actually spend in earning your livelihood - how much? Seven hours, on the average? And in actual sleep, seven? I will add two hours, and be generous. And I will defy you to account to me on the spur of the moment for the other eight hours.”
Guilty as charged.
What this is
This essay/booklet of ~35 pages was first published in the UK in 1908 (two years later in the US). It was aimed at Edwardian men who commuted by train to work in an office, weren’t burdened by many domestic chores when they got home, and wanted to improve themselves and thus be happier. It’s an early example of the self-help genre that mixes the highbrow (Marcus Aurelius, Pascal, and Tchaikovsky) with dry humour and lots of metaphors (a skeleton at a feast, a pilgrimage to Mecca, playing scales on a piano).
Time, not money, is what matters
The core idea is that, as individuals, we focus on budgeting money, but not time, although the latter is more precious.
“If you have time you can obtain money - usually. But… you cannot buy yourself a minute more time than I have.”
Yes… and no. It’s true that people can steal our money but not our daily quota of time. But they can certainly waste our time (though I often manage, unaided), and although we can’t acquire more than 24 hours per day, we can try to increase our lifetime total by healthy living.
Perhaps a better point is that we tend to think of our work hours as “the day”, and so don’t fully value or plan the remainder. Bennett advocates consciously making space in our days to cultivate the mind. Allocating regular time slots isn’t for me, but just being more deliberate and appreciative is a good aim.
Image: Cartoon “time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time” Hmmm… (Source)
Read, but not novels!
“You need not be devoted to the arts, not to literature, in order to live fully.”
I love literary fiction, and I like to think it improves my mind, understanding, and empathy (though enjoyment is my primary motive). However, Bennett is right to say that “literature is not the only well” to slake one's thirst for self-improvement. Learning about other subjects, especially the arts, increases our enjoyment of them.
But I part ways here:
“Good novels never demand any appreciable mental application on the part of the reader.”
I suppose the fiction of the time tended to be more straightforward, but even so…
More positively, he stresses the importance of thinking about what one reads, and after more than a dozen years writing reviews on GR, I know the benefits of doing so.
Sleep less?!
Bennett thinks most people sleep too much, out of a mixture of habit and lack of anything else to do.
“The man who begins to go to bed forty minutes before he opens his bedroom door is bored; that is to say, he is not living.”
He quotes a GP (family doctor) who said “Most people sleep themselves stupid” and suggests going to bed later or rising earlier, to gain an extra hour or two of useful time a day. He assumes seven hours a night (in another chapter), but everything I’ve read lately is about the dangers of too little sleep.
Congruence
Bennett asserts that one’s principles need to align with how one lives, which is why there can be joy in martyrdom. He then extrapolates from the odd premise of sorrowful burglars:
“What leads to the permanent sorrowfulness of burglars is that their principles are contrary to burglary. If they genuinely believed in the moral excellence of burglary, penal servitude would simply mean so many happy years for them.”
Is it still relevant?
I’m not an Edwardian or a man, and before the Covid pandemic forced me to work from home 13 months ago (and counting), I drove myself to and from the office. Nevertheless, I’m a fan of Bennett’s fiction, he writes this in an engaging way, and the general ideas are still valid.
“When you leave your house, concentrate your mind on a subject.” Just one.
“Mind control is the first element of a full existence.” (One’s own mind.)
It’s non-spiritual, and the urge to live in the moment in order to have a meaningful life, rather than merely exist, echoes contemporary mindfulness.
Image: Cartoon: Charlie Brown says, “We only live once, Snoopy”. Snoopy replies, “Wrong! We only die once. We live every day!” (Source)
It’s also pragmatic: setting small targets and allowing for slippage, especially at first. He explicitly warns against believing it can all be fixed by writing an ambitios and detailed timetable.
“I am all for the petty success. A glorious failure leads to nothing; a petty success may lead to a success that is not petty."
Quotes
• “Philosophers have explained space. They have not explained time. It is the inexplicable raw material of everything. With it, all is possible; without it, nothing. The supply of time is truly a daily miracle… You wake up in the morning, and lo! your purse is magically filled with twenty-four hours of the unmanufactured tissue of the universe of your life!”
• After the evening meal, “you see friends; you potter; you play cards; you flirt with a book; you note that old age is creeping on; you take a stroll; you caress the piano.... By Jove! a quarter past eleven. You then devote quite forty minutes to thinking about going to bed.”
• “The most important of all perceptions is the continual perception of cause and effect… while it lessens the painfulness of life, adds to life's picturesqueness.”
Further reading
• This essay is long out of copyright and is available free, on Gutenberg in various digital formats, HERE.
• I also recommend Bennett’s fiction, which is always a delight, and is also available free on Gutenberg, HERE. Some novels are humorous while others are more serious, but all those I’ve read have been very enjoyable. I’ve reviewed seven on GR, HERE.
• For an old-fashioned approach to using time efficiently, but aimed at women, see Kay Smallshaw's How To Run Your Home Without Help, which I reviewed HERE.
• For a rather different and contemporary take on knowing yourself and organising your life and mind, see Mark Hebwood’s Happiness Rules, which I reviewed HERE.
Bonus humour
If work isn’t the purpose of life, what is one’s life’s work? Mitchell and Webb tackled this in a short sketch, “Our Life’s Work”, which you can listen to, HERE. It’s funny, but uncomfortably relatable. Bennett’s essay steers us along a better bath, allocating time to what we care about.
Guilty as charged.
What this is
This essay/booklet of ~35 pages was first published in the UK in 1908 (two years later in the US). It was aimed at Edwardian men who commuted by train to work in an office, weren’t burdened by many domestic chores when they got home, and wanted to improve themselves and thus be happier. It’s an early example of the self-help genre that mixes the highbrow (Marcus Aurelius, Pascal, and Tchaikovsky) with dry humour and lots of metaphors (a skeleton at a feast, a pilgrimage to Mecca, playing scales on a piano).
Time, not money, is what matters
The core idea is that, as individuals, we focus on budgeting money, but not time, although the latter is more precious.
“If you have time you can obtain money - usually. But… you cannot buy yourself a minute more time than I have.”
Yes… and no. It’s true that people can steal our money but not our daily quota of time. But they can certainly waste our time (though I often manage, unaided), and although we can’t acquire more than 24 hours per day, we can try to increase our lifetime total by healthy living.
Perhaps a better point is that we tend to think of our work hours as “the day”, and so don’t fully value or plan the remainder. Bennett advocates consciously making space in our days to cultivate the mind. Allocating regular time slots isn’t for me, but just being more deliberate and appreciative is a good aim.
Image: Cartoon “time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time” Hmmm… (Source)
Read, but not novels!
“You need not be devoted to the arts, not to literature, in order to live fully.”
I love literary fiction, and I like to think it improves my mind, understanding, and empathy (though enjoyment is my primary motive). However, Bennett is right to say that “literature is not the only well” to slake one's thirst for self-improvement. Learning about other subjects, especially the arts, increases our enjoyment of them.
But I part ways here:
“Good novels never demand any appreciable mental application on the part of the reader.”
I suppose the fiction of the time tended to be more straightforward, but even so…
More positively, he stresses the importance of thinking about what one reads, and after more than a dozen years writing reviews on GR, I know the benefits of doing so.
Sleep less?!
Bennett thinks most people sleep too much, out of a mixture of habit and lack of anything else to do.
“The man who begins to go to bed forty minutes before he opens his bedroom door is bored; that is to say, he is not living.”
He quotes a GP (family doctor) who said “Most people sleep themselves stupid” and suggests going to bed later or rising earlier, to gain an extra hour or two of useful time a day. He assumes seven hours a night (in another chapter), but everything I’ve read lately is about the dangers of too little sleep.
Congruence
Bennett asserts that one’s principles need to align with how one lives, which is why there can be joy in martyrdom. He then extrapolates from the odd premise of sorrowful burglars:
“What leads to the permanent sorrowfulness of burglars is that their principles are contrary to burglary. If they genuinely believed in the moral excellence of burglary, penal servitude would simply mean so many happy years for them.”
Is it still relevant?
I’m not an Edwardian or a man, and before the Covid pandemic forced me to work from home 13 months ago (and counting), I drove myself to and from the office. Nevertheless, I’m a fan of Bennett’s fiction, he writes this in an engaging way, and the general ideas are still valid.
“When you leave your house, concentrate your mind on a subject.” Just one.
“Mind control is the first element of a full existence.” (One’s own mind.)
It’s non-spiritual, and the urge to live in the moment in order to have a meaningful life, rather than merely exist, echoes contemporary mindfulness.
Image: Cartoon: Charlie Brown says, “We only live once, Snoopy”. Snoopy replies, “Wrong! We only die once. We live every day!” (Source)
It’s also pragmatic: setting small targets and allowing for slippage, especially at first. He explicitly warns against believing it can all be fixed by writing an ambitios and detailed timetable.
“I am all for the petty success. A glorious failure leads to nothing; a petty success may lead to a success that is not petty."
Quotes
• “Philosophers have explained space. They have not explained time. It is the inexplicable raw material of everything. With it, all is possible; without it, nothing. The supply of time is truly a daily miracle… You wake up in the morning, and lo! your purse is magically filled with twenty-four hours of the unmanufactured tissue of the universe of your life!”
• After the evening meal, “you see friends; you potter; you play cards; you flirt with a book; you note that old age is creeping on; you take a stroll; you caress the piano.... By Jove! a quarter past eleven. You then devote quite forty minutes to thinking about going to bed.”
• “The most important of all perceptions is the continual perception of cause and effect… while it lessens the painfulness of life, adds to life's picturesqueness.”
Further reading
• This essay is long out of copyright and is available free, on Gutenberg in various digital formats, HERE.
• I also recommend Bennett’s fiction, which is always a delight, and is also available free on Gutenberg, HERE. Some novels are humorous while others are more serious, but all those I’ve read have been very enjoyable. I’ve reviewed seven on GR, HERE.
• For an old-fashioned approach to using time efficiently, but aimed at women, see Kay Smallshaw's How To Run Your Home Without Help, which I reviewed HERE.
• For a rather different and contemporary take on knowing yourself and organising your life and mind, see Mark Hebwood’s Happiness Rules, which I reviewed HERE.
Bonus humour
If work isn’t the purpose of life, what is one’s life’s work? Mitchell and Webb tackled this in a short sketch, “Our Life’s Work”, which you can listen to, HERE. It’s funny, but uncomfortably relatable. Bennett’s essay steers us along a better bath, allocating time to what we care about.
September 26, 2022
Must reread it sometime later !
And best of all - make it my bedside table necessity !
Upd: I read it, enjoyed and promptly forgot.
But somehow I managed to implement the best takeouts from this one. All without clearly remembering about the intent to do so!
Q:
You can turn over a new leaf every hour if you choose. (c)
Q:
You can only waste the passing moment. You cannot waste to-morrow; it is kept for you. (c)
Q:
It is a fine thing to be a walking encyclopaedia of philosophy, but if you happen to have no liking for philosophy, and to have a like for the natural history of street-cries, much better leave philosophy alone, and take to street-cries. (c)
Q:
The second suggestion is to think as well as to read. I know people who read and read, and for all the good it does them they might just as well cut bread-and-butter. They take to reading as better men take to drink. They fly through the shires of literature on a motor-car, their sole object being motion. They will tell you how many books they have read in a year. Unless you give at least 45 minutes to careful, fatiguing reflection (it is an awful bore at first) upon what you are reading, your 90 minutes of a night are chiefly wasted.” ...
the chief beauty about the constant supply of time is that you cannot waste it in advance. The next year, the next day, the next hour are lying ready for you, as perfect, as unspoilt, as if you had never wasted or misapplied a single moment in all your career. (c)
Q:
If you imagine that you will be able to achieve your ideal by ingeniously planning out a timetable with a pen on a piece of paper, you had better give up hope at once. If you are not prepared for discouragements and disillusions; if you will not be content with a small result for a big effort, then do not begin. Lie down again and resume the uneasy doze which you call your existence.” (c)
Q:
Beware of undertaking too much at the start. Be content with quite a little. Allow for accidents. Allow for human nature, especially your own. (c)
Q:
If my typical man wishes to live fully and completely he must, in his mind, arrange a day within a day. And this inner day, a Chinese box in a larger Chinese box, must begin at 6 p.m. and end at 10 a.m. It is a day of sixteen hours; and during all these sixteen hours he has nothing whatever to do but cultivate his body and his soul and his fellow men. (c)
Q:
Most people who are ruined are ruined by attempting too much. (c)
Q:
...the danger of developing a policy of rush, of being gradually more and more obsessed by what one has to do next. In this way one may come to exist as in a prison, and one's life may cease to be one's own. One may take the dog out for a walk at eight o'clock, and meditate the whole time on the fact that one must begin to read at a quarter to nine, and that one must not be late. ...
The evil springs not from persisting without elasticity in what one has attempted, but from originally attempting too much, from filling one's programme till it runs over. The only cure is to reconstitute the programme, and to attempt less. (c)
Q:
Many people pursue a regular and uninterrupted course of idleness in the evenings because they think that there is no alternative to idleness but the study of literature; and they do not happen to have a taste for literature. This is a great mistake. (c)
Q:
If a man makes two-thirds of his existence subservient to one-third, for which admittedly he has no absolutely feverish zest, how can he hope to live fully and completely? (c)
And best of all - make it my bedside table necessity !
Upd: I read it, enjoyed and promptly forgot.
But somehow I managed to implement the best takeouts from this one. All without clearly remembering about the intent to do so!
Q:
You can turn over a new leaf every hour if you choose. (c)
Q:
You can only waste the passing moment. You cannot waste to-morrow; it is kept for you. (c)
Q:
It is a fine thing to be a walking encyclopaedia of philosophy, but if you happen to have no liking for philosophy, and to have a like for the natural history of street-cries, much better leave philosophy alone, and take to street-cries. (c)
Q:
The second suggestion is to think as well as to read. I know people who read and read, and for all the good it does them they might just as well cut bread-and-butter. They take to reading as better men take to drink. They fly through the shires of literature on a motor-car, their sole object being motion. They will tell you how many books they have read in a year. Unless you give at least 45 minutes to careful, fatiguing reflection (it is an awful bore at first) upon what you are reading, your 90 minutes of a night are chiefly wasted.” ...
the chief beauty about the constant supply of time is that you cannot waste it in advance. The next year, the next day, the next hour are lying ready for you, as perfect, as unspoilt, as if you had never wasted or misapplied a single moment in all your career. (c)
Q:
If you imagine that you will be able to achieve your ideal by ingeniously planning out a timetable with a pen on a piece of paper, you had better give up hope at once. If you are not prepared for discouragements and disillusions; if you will not be content with a small result for a big effort, then do not begin. Lie down again and resume the uneasy doze which you call your existence.” (c)
Q:
Beware of undertaking too much at the start. Be content with quite a little. Allow for accidents. Allow for human nature, especially your own. (c)
Q:
If my typical man wishes to live fully and completely he must, in his mind, arrange a day within a day. And this inner day, a Chinese box in a larger Chinese box, must begin at 6 p.m. and end at 10 a.m. It is a day of sixteen hours; and during all these sixteen hours he has nothing whatever to do but cultivate his body and his soul and his fellow men. (c)
Q:
Most people who are ruined are ruined by attempting too much. (c)
Q:
...the danger of developing a policy of rush, of being gradually more and more obsessed by what one has to do next. In this way one may come to exist as in a prison, and one's life may cease to be one's own. One may take the dog out for a walk at eight o'clock, and meditate the whole time on the fact that one must begin to read at a quarter to nine, and that one must not be late. ...
The evil springs not from persisting without elasticity in what one has attempted, but from originally attempting too much, from filling one's programme till it runs over. The only cure is to reconstitute the programme, and to attempt less. (c)
Q:
Many people pursue a regular and uninterrupted course of idleness in the evenings because they think that there is no alternative to idleness but the study of literature; and they do not happen to have a taste for literature. This is a great mistake. (c)
Q:
If a man makes two-thirds of his existence subservient to one-third, for which admittedly he has no absolutely feverish zest, how can he hope to live fully and completely? (c)
Read
April 23, 2021Arnold Bennett, novelist and father of omelettes here addresses the fundamental issue of life that one can live with intension rather than drifting and feeling that life is passing you by.
While first published in 1920 and aimed at an audience of clerks commuting from the London suburbs into the city everyday - bringing to mind T.S. Elliot's The Waste Land "Unreal City/ Under the brown fog of a winter dawn,/ A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many, / I had not thought death had undone so many. / Sighs, short and infrequent, were exhaled,/ And each man fixed his eyes before his feet." Well, you may ask, what possible relevance could the words of one who was so dismissed by Virginia Woolf have to me? For me his trick is that he is presenting the same answers as the Stoics, maybe even as the Buddhists - and ideas which are already several thousand years old are hardly going to get more out of date. He suggests to the idle, commuting worker who feels that his day is too short, that it won't get any longer, ever and the only thing to do is to live with intention. Namely if you don't love your job, don't make it the centre of your day, instead see the sixteen (or however few) hours that you don't work and the expanse of the weekend, next be deliberate in your use of time - doing nothing is fine, just be aware that you are doing nothing, ideally embark upon a programme of study. He recommends a few books to the curious reader- like Marcus Aurelius or Epictetus suggesting reading a chapter of an evening and the following morning on the way to work reflecting on what you have read. Touchingly this reminded me of a scene from Clayhanger. But it doesn't have to be stoic philosophy, it could be architecture - once you've read an introductory text then every building you see becomes something you can appreciate in a more complex way. The commuting clerk here then is bringing themselves to be more conscious and alert of living in the moment and in the world. Or the object of study could be music, or nature and his advice of going forth with the butterfly net to catch the beasties that gather around the street lights reminded me of my fascination for the superhighways that the cats and foxes use here, cutting across gardens and over roofs to get quickly from one street to the next. But he cautions, start small, don't be a slave to a program of study, but also take it seriously. Above all be aware of yourself and go at the pace that is right for you. It is in tone rather more kindly than his novels but perhaps once you've had an omelette named after you the sour edge of life is reduced. And that is more or less it, and my review is already at risk of being longer than Arnold Bennett's leaflet, so I'll.
While first published in 1920 and aimed at an audience of clerks commuting from the London suburbs into the city everyday - bringing to mind T.S. Elliot's The Waste Land "Unreal City/ Under the brown fog of a winter dawn,/ A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many, / I had not thought death had undone so many. / Sighs, short and infrequent, were exhaled,/ And each man fixed his eyes before his feet." Well, you may ask, what possible relevance could the words of one who was so dismissed by Virginia Woolf have to me? For me his trick is that he is presenting the same answers as the Stoics, maybe even as the Buddhists - and ideas which are already several thousand years old are hardly going to get more out of date. He suggests to the idle, commuting worker who feels that his day is too short, that it won't get any longer, ever and the only thing to do is to live with intention. Namely if you don't love your job, don't make it the centre of your day, instead see the sixteen (or however few) hours that you don't work and the expanse of the weekend, next be deliberate in your use of time - doing nothing is fine, just be aware that you are doing nothing, ideally embark upon a programme of study. He recommends a few books to the curious reader- like Marcus Aurelius or Epictetus suggesting reading a chapter of an evening and the following morning on the way to work reflecting on what you have read. Touchingly this reminded me of a scene from Clayhanger. But it doesn't have to be stoic philosophy, it could be architecture - once you've read an introductory text then every building you see becomes something you can appreciate in a more complex way. The commuting clerk here then is bringing themselves to be more conscious and alert of living in the moment and in the world. Or the object of study could be music, or nature and his advice of going forth with the butterfly net to catch the beasties that gather around the street lights reminded me of my fascination for the superhighways that the cats and foxes use here, cutting across gardens and over roofs to get quickly from one street to the next. But he cautions, start small, don't be a slave to a program of study, but also take it seriously. Above all be aware of yourself and go at the pace that is right for you. It is in tone rather more kindly than his novels but perhaps once you've had an omelette named after you the sour edge of life is reduced. And that is more or less it, and my review is already at risk of being longer than Arnold Bennett's leaflet, so I'll.
April 11, 2013
Flowery and funny self-help from the turn of the (last) century, this little book was an uncanny, spot-on description of my daily routine and how I often think of it. It was slightly shocking to hear my modern quotidian hang-ups called out by a guy addressing "clerks" in a time of 36-cent round-trip train tickets, since I tend to think of them as my personal hang-ups. As in, they're my cross to bear and no one else could possibly understand, yadda yadda yadda.
It was pleasantly deflating to be shown in no uncertain terms that my problems weren't new.
Some of my favorite quotes:
It was pleasantly deflating to be shown in no uncertain terms that my problems weren't new.
Some of my favorite quotes:
"I will continue to chat with my companions in distress—that innumerable band of souls who are haunted, more or less painfully, by the feeling that the years slip by, and slip by, and slip by, and that they have not yet been able to get their lives into proper working order."
"But he will not be tormented in the same way as the man who, desiring to reach Mecca, and harried by the desire to reach Mecca, never leaves Brixton."
"[Our aspiration] springs from a fixed idea that we ought to do something in addition to those things which we are loyally and morally obliged to do."
"Until an effort is made to satisfy that wish [to do something more], the sense of uneasy waiting for something to start which has not started will remain to disturb the peace of the soul."
"There is no magic method of beginning. If a man standing on the edge of a swimming-bath and wanting to jump into the cold water should ask you, 'How do I begin to jump?' you would merely reply, 'Just jump. Take hold of your nerves and jump.'"
"[Ardour] is eager to move mountains and divert the course of rivers. It isn't content till it perspires. And then, too often, when it feels the perspiration on its brow, it wearies all of a sudden and dies, without even putting itself to the trouble of saying, 'I've had enough of this.'"
"A failure or so, in itself, would not matter, if it did not incur a loss of self-esteem and of self-confidence."
"In the cultivation of the mind one of the most important factors is precisely the feeling of strain, of difficulty, of a task which one part of you is anxious to achieve and another part of you is anxious to shirk."
March 10, 2011
This guy is quite a baller. "What I suggest is that at six o'clock you look facts in the face and admit that you are not tired (because you are not, you know)..." "'I hate all the arts!' you say. My dear sir, I respect you more and more." and a lot more badass quotes that I forgot to write down.
But also, he's an example that proves that this "lifestyle design" or even "time management" stuff wasn't born yesterday. He's writing this for the common middle-class you or me, who wishes to "accomplish something outside [his] formal programme." He points out how, in 1910, a bunch of people went to work, came home, and twiddled away their time, while growing upset that they're wasting their lives.
His solution, part 1, is to set aside 90 minutes 3x/week and dedicate them to learning in depth about something. Literature if you like (poetry, not novels); other arts if you don't; or just a sense of in-depth knowledge and wonder in all things. The whole thing smacks of being very English: "Just Try Harder!" But at the same time, there are a lot of Buddhist undertones:
"You can turn over a new leaf every hour if you choose."
"When you leave your house, concentrate your mind on a subject (no matter what, to begin with). You will not have gone ten yards before your mind has skipped away under your very eyes and is larking round the corner with another subject. Bring it back by the scruff of the neck. Ere you have reached the station you will have brought it back about forty times. Do not despair. Continue."
"The most important of all perceptions is the continual perception of cause and effect- in other words, the perception of the continuous development of the universe"
"Let the pace of the first lap be even absurdly slow, but let it be as regular as possible."
It's a spot of enlightened jelly wrapped in a doughnut of stiff-upper-lip. Well, better than most Englishness, which doesn't even have the jelly.
But also, he's an example that proves that this "lifestyle design" or even "time management" stuff wasn't born yesterday. He's writing this for the common middle-class you or me, who wishes to "accomplish something outside [his] formal programme." He points out how, in 1910, a bunch of people went to work, came home, and twiddled away their time, while growing upset that they're wasting their lives.
His solution, part 1, is to set aside 90 minutes 3x/week and dedicate them to learning in depth about something. Literature if you like (poetry, not novels); other arts if you don't; or just a sense of in-depth knowledge and wonder in all things. The whole thing smacks of being very English: "Just Try Harder!" But at the same time, there are a lot of Buddhist undertones:
"You can turn over a new leaf every hour if you choose."
"When you leave your house, concentrate your mind on a subject (no matter what, to begin with). You will not have gone ten yards before your mind has skipped away under your very eyes and is larking round the corner with another subject. Bring it back by the scruff of the neck. Ere you have reached the station you will have brought it back about forty times. Do not despair. Continue."
"The most important of all perceptions is the continual perception of cause and effect- in other words, the perception of the continuous development of the universe"
"Let the pace of the first lap be even absurdly slow, but let it be as regular as possible."
It's a spot of enlightened jelly wrapped in a doughnut of stiff-upper-lip. Well, better than most Englishness, which doesn't even have the jelly.
May 16, 2012
How to live on 24 hours a day?! … Oh tell me about it! I had always thought 24 hours in a day are never enough to do everything I want to do. Oftentimes I wished that a day extended to at least 34 hours. Some other times though, I wished for the clock to stop so that I get to do what I want without compromising the things I NEED to do. The dilemma between the wants and the needs is always a strenuous battle.
But Arnold Bennett managed to pacify and console my soul. Written 102 years ago (!!!), this work has not lost its timeliness and significance. (Now that defines a classic!)
To live is what Bennett teaches us. To LIVE is what we are after – and not simply to exist. This self-help time management guru offers practical and wise steps to earn the real treasure in life – and he is referring to time – not money. “Money is far more commoner than time. When one reflects, one perceives that money is just about the commonest thing there is.”
I felt so good when the author treats the seconds and the minutes of an hour as the “little pearls” of our life. The thought of it is simply beautiful!
But Arnold Bennett managed to pacify and console my soul. Written 102 years ago (!!!), this work has not lost its timeliness and significance. (Now that defines a classic!)
To live is what Bennett teaches us. To LIVE is what we are after – and not simply to exist. This self-help time management guru offers practical and wise steps to earn the real treasure in life – and he is referring to time – not money. “Money is far more commoner than time. When one reflects, one perceives that money is just about the commonest thing there is.”
I felt so good when the author treats the seconds and the minutes of an hour as the “little pearls” of our life. The thought of it is simply beautiful!
December 31, 2015
In this book, Bennett urges hourly workers to use "spare" time to improve their lives, making the best of their time outside of work. He understands that most people are spending as much time as possible working to make more money, thus disliking their lives. "Time is money" seriously understates this matter, more time can generate more money, but money cannot buy you more time
June 9, 2013
I thought of the question one day, and lo and behold, such a book exists. I wouldn't call it a masterpice, but the writing is something I could enjoy and rely on over and over again. It gives some very practical advice, reproaches and warnings when tackling this endeavor that many people come short of achieving all the time--optimally spending one's time. It's also very fun for me to glean the norms of the time when this was written.
For those who have not read it, I will start you off with this: think not of how few hours you have in a day and squander it anyway, but think of how much free time you have total in a week and allot maybe blocks every other day to focused self-improvement. He suggests a way to start slow. He warns you of your human nature. And an interesting one he told me, if I am the sort that sincerely enjoys literature and doesn't just think it a worthy pursuit according to someone else, then I must make time to reflect on the book otherwise I am just consuming words and not digesting the value. I always think there is not enough time to read all the books I want to read so I burn through them, but taking time to fully ponder and discuss them is also part of finishing a book.
For those who have not read it, I will start you off with this: think not of how few hours you have in a day and squander it anyway, but think of how much free time you have total in a week and allot maybe blocks every other day to focused self-improvement. He suggests a way to start slow. He warns you of your human nature. And an interesting one he told me, if I am the sort that sincerely enjoys literature and doesn't just think it a worthy pursuit according to someone else, then I must make time to reflect on the book otherwise I am just consuming words and not digesting the value. I always think there is not enough time to read all the books I want to read so I burn through them, but taking time to fully ponder and discuss them is also part of finishing a book.
November 14, 2008
You might expect from the title that this book will be some kind of time management tome, but it is anything but that. The author is intent on making sure that people 'live' rather than merely 'exist'. He proposes just one method for this 'living': to use your time wisely and learn to expand your mind and concentration. Some of his advice may seem archaic, and yet it is still quite relevant today. In this age of mindless entertainment, it may be even more important to make an active decision in how to use your daily allotment of hours.
March 7, 2022
Very clever man, Mr Bennett
And a very quick read.
And a very quick read.
April 3, 2017
Rating: 4.5/5
When I started reading this book, I had no idea about it being hundred years old!
At the start, I felt that the tone of the writer is far different than what I am used to reading, after few pages I started loving the book, only after which I googled about it!
As the name says, the book teaches you how to live with satisfaction. It talks about your daily life & points towards the wrongs being done by you.
I have read several self-help books, most of them share more or less the same ideas, but this book is original, It made me ponder over my lifestyle, It told me things I never thought about.
I loved the way author communicated with the readers.
This book is quite short too, I recommend everyone to read it!
Below are my favourite quotes from the book
You have to live on this twenty-four hours of daily time. Out of it, you have to spin health, pleasure, money, content, respect, and the evolution of your immortal soul.
We never shall have any more time. We have, and we have always had, all the time there is.
Beware of undertaking too much at the start. Be content with quite a little. Allow for accidents. Allow for human nature, especially your own.
When I started reading this book, I had no idea about it being hundred years old!
At the start, I felt that the tone of the writer is far different than what I am used to reading, after few pages I started loving the book, only after which I googled about it!
As the name says, the book teaches you how to live with satisfaction. It talks about your daily life & points towards the wrongs being done by you.
I have read several self-help books, most of them share more or less the same ideas, but this book is original, It made me ponder over my lifestyle, It told me things I never thought about.
I loved the way author communicated with the readers.
This book is quite short too, I recommend everyone to read it!
Below are my favourite quotes from the book
You have to live on this twenty-four hours of daily time. Out of it, you have to spin health, pleasure, money, content, respect, and the evolution of your immortal soul.
We never shall have any more time. We have, and we have always had, all the time there is.
Beware of undertaking too much at the start. Be content with quite a little. Allow for accidents. Allow for human nature, especially your own.
February 2, 2013
How to Live on 24 Hours a Day, a very short work, (or perhaps more appropriately called a pamphlet), by Arnold Bennett, insists on the very high importance of living to the fullest, constantly and with all expedience. It is not a time-management guide, (as the length and title would suggest), but more of a brief examination of the importance of truly living, as opposed to mere monotonous and melancholy existence. General aims, and the means to employ them are suggested, and the author, (whom I have grown to admire), has a curt and tact way of asserting himself and what he has to say. It is surprising to note that a problem which I had thought only seriously prevalent in today's world of endless, (and usually mindless), electronic stimulation, that of a habitual and perpetual laziness from which follows an endless dissatisfaction with lack of accomplishment, existed in the pre-electronic world. Granted telephones, and possibly radios, would have been fairly common in 1910, it is practically nothing in comparison to today. I digress, however. I suppose this is one element of humanity that hasn't changed in a century.
The work starts with noting the preciousness of time; how it is a gift, (a gloriously beautiful one), and it is entirely taken for granted. How we have a constant and steady supply of it, entirely unmolested in the future. He then proceeds to say, (and he personifies a skeleton, pointing his finger at us in a tone of mockery), that all people are dissatisfied with their use of this so precious gift. That one who wishes to go to Mecca and never leaves Brixton lives with the perpetual torment of lack of accomplishment, and is worse off than the man who died along the rough trail. Any finite amount of accomplishment would only recognize a lack of a greater amount of it, and thus, the author proposes, we must learn to live with it. To always live, and enjoy living, accomplishing what we may, inspecting life with a childish curiosity and joy, and yet, be content with the fact that we will never satisfy ourselves with our accomplishments. "Let me principally warn you against your own ardour. Ardour in well-doing is a misleading and treacherous thing. It cries out loudly for employment; you can't satisfy it at first; it wants more and more; it is eager to move mountains and divert the course of rivers. It isn't content till it perspires. And then, too often, when it feels the perspiration on its brow, it wearies all of a sudden and dies, without even putting itself to the trouble of saying, "I've had enough of this.""
There is serious emphasis on the removal of all instances of merely "wasting time". Constantly, you should be 'alive', not merely existing; not vegetating. Consider the last paragraph. To be alive does not at all mean incessant advancement towards accomplishment, as that is not a source of life, (though it should be a product of it), but rather, to do something of value and to enjoy doing it. All too often do we sit idly by as the great gift of time constantly presents itself, while we, with discomfort, refuse it, and prefer to maintain a state of hypnotic stupor over engaging vivacity.
Bennett warns us not to be too ambitious in our attempt to live, fail, and revert to our prior state of sleepy existence. He cautions us to remember human nature, to allow room for failure and mistake. What a magnanimous change of direction it is to transform your entire life from a state of passivity to active, strenuous living! Always try hard, allow room for failure, and when it does show its face, (for it can never be entirely killed, but it can be reduced), do not drop your whole endeavor, do not shame yourself, (for failure is quite natural), make note of how that particular instance could be avoided, pick yourself up again, and keep at it.
So far the narrative covers the importance of true living, the unfortunate state of its rarity, and the emphasis we must make to do so. The following chapters concern how it is to be done. This section, I believe, is very important, and due to it being so short, is worth careful review, note and meditation, to fully digested. It is asserted that life begins with the control of your mind. He says that this is entirely possible, despite popular belief, (perhaps more so in his day than in ours), and even simple. All that is needed is constant persistence. "And without the power to concentrate-that is to say, without the power to dictate to the brain its tast and to ensure obedience-true life is impossible. Mind control is the first element of a full existence.". He instructs us to merely, (even in the course of our daily business, such as "on the train to work" or its modern equivalent), to merely focus on something (be it a book, idea, something you are looking at, or whatever else), ponder it and do not be distracted. When you are, merely redirect your focus, and resume. Beyond this, regular persistence is the only key to success.
Another emphasis is quiet reflection. More specifically, (and I think this to be a brilliant practical definition of 'reflection', which is so vague and arbitrarily used in most cases)- to study one's self in the form of reviewing how our conduct aligns to our principles, and to the share of our actions that were well guided by reason. I paraphrase, but with the review of this passage of text, I can confidently say this is what was communicated, just more concise. It is also encouraged to consider what one read the previous day during this time of reflection. For reading alone is almost pointless if we do not thoroughly consider its value and implications on our life. Oh, how we might learn and benefit from this, and yet it is so often ignored! How our lives might be so wisely guided!
Following this, (and thus the transition from the previous 'phase' to the present), it is encouraged to take interest in the arts, literature, and for those who dislike both, life itself, or whatever you fancy. This section seems less essential than the previous, and I think not so quite as applicable. Although this does not at all necessarily mean an appreciation of the cliche way in which one might say that. This could very well apply to any thing or practice, thoroughly examined and appreciated. Golfing, sailing, music, painting, or what have you. Learn about them, examine them, appreciate them, enjoy them. To do this is to cultivate a growing interest in, and satisfaction from, art. I apologize for my summation of this being reduced to simple imperatives, but this is clearly what the author is saying. Is there not so much beauty overlooked in so many things? Is not the hand of God so visible? As it concerns reading, it is emphasized that poetry is the 'highest form of writing', which I would disagree with, (herein lies some of the subjectivity), and beyond that history and philosophy, (which I would accredit to the highest value of the written world). No guide as to how to go about doing this is given, merely the emphasis to do so.
He then goes on to say that nothing in life is "humdrum", that all things follow the universal Law of Causation. All things can be enjoyed and examined through this lens, that all effects have a cause, and that they themselves are a cause. Virtually anything can be learned from through this lens, except logic and free will, and thus this nullifies the statement that something is pointless, "humdrum" or boring.
It is concluded by a series of warnings. The fist of which is important to know, heed, and take to heart, to not become a snobby, know-it-all brat. You will have no positive relations with anyone except your own admiring reflection. Secondly is to note that you should maintain your routine, (or 'programme'), and not worship as an object of religion, or give it so much priority that you cease to do other things of importance, (such as visiting a friend who comes to town and lives miles away, or such). Effort and regularity are what your routine should be constituted of, not obsessive adherence to. It is even noted that you will defeat your own ends by thinking about your routine, and not what it is constitutes. If in the process of doing your 'step 1', all you are thinking about is your timing in relation to 'step 2', then step one would have been entirely wasted. Avoid this. He also says not to try to go from one to the next with hurried impatience and too much attention to your effort, and not on that which you are doing.
The author lays out a rather vague timetable as to when these suggestions ought to be done, basing them off of the typical workday of a middle-class office worker in London at the height of the Victorian Era. Due to this, it will suffer more in my review. Life, being common to all who exist, ought not to be so confined. Granted, I don't expect him to not write and give examples from the perspective of his era, but honestly, he tells us to "do such and such as you are on your train to work ... or do this while you are walking home ... etc." I think everyone's individual situations should render this portion of the book virtually worthless. The positive review comes only from the message imbued, and its general aims in achieving it, not his particular, "this ought to be done on the train etc. It indeed causes the message to suffer, and thus, I have to chip a star off of the otherwise five star message and implication of this work. Along with this necessitating that the fifth star be withheld, is that there was much to be said that wasn't, and what was may have been quite incomplete. I do appreciate the "short and sweet" essence to it, but something so serious as living life to its fullest ought to be given more attention. More could have been said of what 'living on 24 hours a day' would look like in detail, more examples of the right ways of doing something, (nothing was said of work or even the weekends), except for that the suggested 'three hours in the evening' would add zest and enrichment to the entire day. In fact, all that is covered is this three hour session! Even for these three hours were not seriously instructed as to what specifically we ought to do other than, "read" "reflect" etc. How exactly ought we to read and reflect beyond the basic implications of what is said? Notwithstanding, even though these two things are of immense value, there is much, much more to life than merely reading and reflecting, and the book certainly could have covered what it did cover more thoroughly, and much more could have been said. Howbeit, the message that it does convey is of such great importance that this easily deserves four stars.
A positive point would be the matter-of-fact, curt manner of speaking in which the author employs his message. It does make it easier to follow, and I absolutely appreciate that it isn't written with the frilly, weenie sort of means, which tolerates anything and everything. It's more of a "get off your ass and start living!" than a "come on, you can do it! I know it's SO hard, but you've got to try. It's okay, just keep at it". What little is said, (and not enough), is communicated well.
Considering that it would take you perhaps an hour to read this, I would absolutely encourage you to do so, and heed what it says! This certainly a worthy use of your time, and not a pathetic joke like so many widely-read books of today are.
The work starts with noting the preciousness of time; how it is a gift, (a gloriously beautiful one), and it is entirely taken for granted. How we have a constant and steady supply of it, entirely unmolested in the future. He then proceeds to say, (and he personifies a skeleton, pointing his finger at us in a tone of mockery), that all people are dissatisfied with their use of this so precious gift. That one who wishes to go to Mecca and never leaves Brixton lives with the perpetual torment of lack of accomplishment, and is worse off than the man who died along the rough trail. Any finite amount of accomplishment would only recognize a lack of a greater amount of it, and thus, the author proposes, we must learn to live with it. To always live, and enjoy living, accomplishing what we may, inspecting life with a childish curiosity and joy, and yet, be content with the fact that we will never satisfy ourselves with our accomplishments. "Let me principally warn you against your own ardour. Ardour in well-doing is a misleading and treacherous thing. It cries out loudly for employment; you can't satisfy it at first; it wants more and more; it is eager to move mountains and divert the course of rivers. It isn't content till it perspires. And then, too often, when it feels the perspiration on its brow, it wearies all of a sudden and dies, without even putting itself to the trouble of saying, "I've had enough of this.""
There is serious emphasis on the removal of all instances of merely "wasting time". Constantly, you should be 'alive', not merely existing; not vegetating. Consider the last paragraph. To be alive does not at all mean incessant advancement towards accomplishment, as that is not a source of life, (though it should be a product of it), but rather, to do something of value and to enjoy doing it. All too often do we sit idly by as the great gift of time constantly presents itself, while we, with discomfort, refuse it, and prefer to maintain a state of hypnotic stupor over engaging vivacity.
Bennett warns us not to be too ambitious in our attempt to live, fail, and revert to our prior state of sleepy existence. He cautions us to remember human nature, to allow room for failure and mistake. What a magnanimous change of direction it is to transform your entire life from a state of passivity to active, strenuous living! Always try hard, allow room for failure, and when it does show its face, (for it can never be entirely killed, but it can be reduced), do not drop your whole endeavor, do not shame yourself, (for failure is quite natural), make note of how that particular instance could be avoided, pick yourself up again, and keep at it.
So far the narrative covers the importance of true living, the unfortunate state of its rarity, and the emphasis we must make to do so. The following chapters concern how it is to be done. This section, I believe, is very important, and due to it being so short, is worth careful review, note and meditation, to fully digested. It is asserted that life begins with the control of your mind. He says that this is entirely possible, despite popular belief, (perhaps more so in his day than in ours), and even simple. All that is needed is constant persistence. "And without the power to concentrate-that is to say, without the power to dictate to the brain its tast and to ensure obedience-true life is impossible. Mind control is the first element of a full existence.". He instructs us to merely, (even in the course of our daily business, such as "on the train to work" or its modern equivalent), to merely focus on something (be it a book, idea, something you are looking at, or whatever else), ponder it and do not be distracted. When you are, merely redirect your focus, and resume. Beyond this, regular persistence is the only key to success.
Another emphasis is quiet reflection. More specifically, (and I think this to be a brilliant practical definition of 'reflection', which is so vague and arbitrarily used in most cases)- to study one's self in the form of reviewing how our conduct aligns to our principles, and to the share of our actions that were well guided by reason. I paraphrase, but with the review of this passage of text, I can confidently say this is what was communicated, just more concise. It is also encouraged to consider what one read the previous day during this time of reflection. For reading alone is almost pointless if we do not thoroughly consider its value and implications on our life. Oh, how we might learn and benefit from this, and yet it is so often ignored! How our lives might be so wisely guided!
Following this, (and thus the transition from the previous 'phase' to the present), it is encouraged to take interest in the arts, literature, and for those who dislike both, life itself, or whatever you fancy. This section seems less essential than the previous, and I think not so quite as applicable. Although this does not at all necessarily mean an appreciation of the cliche way in which one might say that. This could very well apply to any thing or practice, thoroughly examined and appreciated. Golfing, sailing, music, painting, or what have you. Learn about them, examine them, appreciate them, enjoy them. To do this is to cultivate a growing interest in, and satisfaction from, art. I apologize for my summation of this being reduced to simple imperatives, but this is clearly what the author is saying. Is there not so much beauty overlooked in so many things? Is not the hand of God so visible? As it concerns reading, it is emphasized that poetry is the 'highest form of writing', which I would disagree with, (herein lies some of the subjectivity), and beyond that history and philosophy, (which I would accredit to the highest value of the written world). No guide as to how to go about doing this is given, merely the emphasis to do so.
He then goes on to say that nothing in life is "humdrum", that all things follow the universal Law of Causation. All things can be enjoyed and examined through this lens, that all effects have a cause, and that they themselves are a cause. Virtually anything can be learned from through this lens, except logic and free will, and thus this nullifies the statement that something is pointless, "humdrum" or boring.
It is concluded by a series of warnings. The fist of which is important to know, heed, and take to heart, to not become a snobby, know-it-all brat. You will have no positive relations with anyone except your own admiring reflection. Secondly is to note that you should maintain your routine, (or 'programme'), and not worship as an object of religion, or give it so much priority that you cease to do other things of importance, (such as visiting a friend who comes to town and lives miles away, or such). Effort and regularity are what your routine should be constituted of, not obsessive adherence to. It is even noted that you will defeat your own ends by thinking about your routine, and not what it is constitutes. If in the process of doing your 'step 1', all you are thinking about is your timing in relation to 'step 2', then step one would have been entirely wasted. Avoid this. He also says not to try to go from one to the next with hurried impatience and too much attention to your effort, and not on that which you are doing.
The author lays out a rather vague timetable as to when these suggestions ought to be done, basing them off of the typical workday of a middle-class office worker in London at the height of the Victorian Era. Due to this, it will suffer more in my review. Life, being common to all who exist, ought not to be so confined. Granted, I don't expect him to not write and give examples from the perspective of his era, but honestly, he tells us to "do such and such as you are on your train to work ... or do this while you are walking home ... etc." I think everyone's individual situations should render this portion of the book virtually worthless. The positive review comes only from the message imbued, and its general aims in achieving it, not his particular, "this ought to be done on the train etc. It indeed causes the message to suffer, and thus, I have to chip a star off of the otherwise five star message and implication of this work. Along with this necessitating that the fifth star be withheld, is that there was much to be said that wasn't, and what was may have been quite incomplete. I do appreciate the "short and sweet" essence to it, but something so serious as living life to its fullest ought to be given more attention. More could have been said of what 'living on 24 hours a day' would look like in detail, more examples of the right ways of doing something, (nothing was said of work or even the weekends), except for that the suggested 'three hours in the evening' would add zest and enrichment to the entire day. In fact, all that is covered is this three hour session! Even for these three hours were not seriously instructed as to what specifically we ought to do other than, "read" "reflect" etc. How exactly ought we to read and reflect beyond the basic implications of what is said? Notwithstanding, even though these two things are of immense value, there is much, much more to life than merely reading and reflecting, and the book certainly could have covered what it did cover more thoroughly, and much more could have been said. Howbeit, the message that it does convey is of such great importance that this easily deserves four stars.
A positive point would be the matter-of-fact, curt manner of speaking in which the author employs his message. It does make it easier to follow, and I absolutely appreciate that it isn't written with the frilly, weenie sort of means, which tolerates anything and everything. It's more of a "get off your ass and start living!" than a "come on, you can do it! I know it's SO hard, but you've got to try. It's okay, just keep at it". What little is said, (and not enough), is communicated well.
Considering that it would take you perhaps an hour to read this, I would absolutely encourage you to do so, and heed what it says! This certainly a worthy use of your time, and not a pathetic joke like so many widely-read books of today are.
July 16, 2014
I am not normally drawn to philosophy, which seems to me, like religion, to get caught up in eddies of meaningless dispute. Nor am I drawn to self-help, which seems to be one or two good sentences surrounded by a tremendous amount of padding. Sometimes, not even one good sentence. Anyway, I had gotten the idea that this was funny (I don't know where I came by that idea), so that's why I started it. "It'll make a nice little palate cleanser," I thought.
Ha! This is brilliant stuff. Okay, Bennett was clearly a product of his time, and he's writing rather pointedly to a white, middle-class adult male, working in the City. The premise is straightforward: sure, you probably hate your job, but that's only 40 hours out of your week. If you really wanted to, you could devote some serious time to thinking. About anything really. Books are good (Bennett likes poetry and essays, but considers novels to be to easy if they're written well). But there's also music, and history, and the natural sciences. They're all good, too.
In 1912 college education was still pretty restricted. Public schools, lecture series, libraries, the mass publishing of books were among some of the many ways intended to improve the common people. Bennett isn't particular, he doesn't care what people devote themselves to as long as it is an intellectual hobby. He doesn't care much for your body, although you're welcome to give it some exercise now and then. Crafts won't do, you understand. He doesn't want you to take up playing an instrument, we wants you to take up music appreciation.
Really, Bennett wants you to blog. He wants you to develop a narrow fascination with something specific, learn everything about it that you can, and devote time to really thinking about it; there's no better thinking that, as he mentions, preparing to write on a topic. From this effort, Bennett assures you, will derive numerous benefits in life enjoyment and a decrease in boredom. So, get to work blogging or reviewing: it'll make you a better man.*
Seriously, I do think it would be a good idea to make this required reading in high school, followed by in depth discussion. For most people, whatever satisfaction they derive from work, it isn't the main focus of happiness. For most of us it is the time spent gardening, or reading, or solving sudoku, or building trains, or directing community theater, or blogging about hideous cakes; that is what *really* satisfies us. Growing up, we are constantly asked what kind of job do we want to have, but "bureaucrat", though necessary, isn't defining. Maybe we should be clearer on that.
* Woman doesn't enter into it. Women are presumably too busy taking care of all the other stuff that needs to happen in order for the men to be free to pursue intellectualism.
Ha! This is brilliant stuff. Okay, Bennett was clearly a product of his time, and he's writing rather pointedly to a white, middle-class adult male, working in the City. The premise is straightforward: sure, you probably hate your job, but that's only 40 hours out of your week. If you really wanted to, you could devote some serious time to thinking. About anything really. Books are good (Bennett likes poetry and essays, but considers novels to be to easy if they're written well). But there's also music, and history, and the natural sciences. They're all good, too.
In 1912 college education was still pretty restricted. Public schools, lecture series, libraries, the mass publishing of books were among some of the many ways intended to improve the common people. Bennett isn't particular, he doesn't care what people devote themselves to as long as it is an intellectual hobby. He doesn't care much for your body, although you're welcome to give it some exercise now and then. Crafts won't do, you understand. He doesn't want you to take up playing an instrument, we wants you to take up music appreciation.
Really, Bennett wants you to blog. He wants you to develop a narrow fascination with something specific, learn everything about it that you can, and devote time to really thinking about it; there's no better thinking that, as he mentions, preparing to write on a topic. From this effort, Bennett assures you, will derive numerous benefits in life enjoyment and a decrease in boredom. So, get to work blogging or reviewing: it'll make you a better man.*
Seriously, I do think it would be a good idea to make this required reading in high school, followed by in depth discussion. For most people, whatever satisfaction they derive from work, it isn't the main focus of happiness. For most of us it is the time spent gardening, or reading, or solving sudoku, or building trains, or directing community theater, or blogging about hideous cakes; that is what *really* satisfies us. Growing up, we are constantly asked what kind of job do we want to have, but "bureaucrat", though necessary, isn't defining. Maybe we should be clearer on that.
* Woman doesn't enter into it. Women are presumably too busy taking care of all the other stuff that needs to happen in order for the men to be free to pursue intellectualism.
October 6, 2019
My first reaction to this book was that it was evidently written for an Edwardian man - a man who has a wife telling him that he looks tired, or a love interest, but no domestic obligations (save for walking a dog) and no noticeable children. My intention in pointing this out is not to complain about gender inequality, but to say that modern people who take active part in raising their children and have no cleaning or cooking help might feel somewhat handicapped when it comes to blocking out 90 minutes per day (more, actually) for self-development.
Having said that, this is not a bad book. Bennett explains, lucidly and persuasively, how to train the monkey mind, and how to change one's habits, and with what aim in mind:
While he tells his readers to keep reading novels, he advises them not to consider reading them, even the classics, improving, since this requires no mental strain - "You do not set your teeth in order to read "Anna Karenina" - and suggests poetry instead; "Paradise Lost", or, for the less daring, Hazlitt's essay on poetry https://www.uni-due.de/lyriktheorie/t... first, followed by a novel in verse ("Aurora Leigh" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning http://digital.library.upenn.edu/wome...).
Above all, he warns his readers against boring others with our newly-gained knowledge, judging people who don't use their time to improve themselves, becoming slaves to the self-improvements programme and losing sense of humour.
Having said that, this is not a bad book. Bennett explains, lucidly and persuasively, how to train the monkey mind, and how to change one's habits, and with what aim in mind:
Man, know thyself. (...) I am entirely convinced that what is more than anything else lacking in the life of the average well-intentioned man of to-day is the reflective mood.Bennett explains that increased knowledge of the world - music, art, architecture - will enhance one's experience of the world:
We do not reflect. I mean that we do not reflect upon genuinely important things; upon the problem of our happiness, upon the main direction in which we are going, upon what life is giving to us, upon the share which reason has (or has not) in determining our actions, and upon the relation between our principles and our conduct.(...)
All I urge is that a life in which conduct does not fairly well accord with principles is a silly life; and that conduct can only be made to accord with principles by means of daily examination, reflection, and resolution.
You would live at a promenade concert, whereas previously you had merely existed there in a state of beatific coma, like a baby gazing at a bright object.He suggests studying philosophy (Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, Pascal, La Bruyere, Emerson), and any science that enables one to start noticing the cause-and-effect patterns in the world.
While he tells his readers to keep reading novels, he advises them not to consider reading them, even the classics, improving, since this requires no mental strain - "You do not set your teeth in order to read "Anna Karenina" - and suggests poetry instead; "Paradise Lost", or, for the less daring, Hazlitt's essay on poetry https://www.uni-due.de/lyriktheorie/t... first, followed by a novel in verse ("Aurora Leigh" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning http://digital.library.upenn.edu/wome...).
Above all, he warns his readers against boring others with our newly-gained knowledge, judging people who don't use their time to improve themselves, becoming slaves to the self-improvements programme and losing sense of humour.
April 23, 2018
I do not tend to read much philosophy, and largely steer away from self-help books or those on "mindfulness", but Arnold Bennett's How to Live on Twenty-Four Hours a Day looked as though it was worth a read. This piece, comprised of twelve different short essays, comes complete with rather a long preface, which Bennett stresses should be read at the end of the book.
I enjoyed Bennett's prose style; it felt chatty, wise, and intelligent. How to Live on Twenty-Four Hours a Day is primarily about how to make the most of one's time, and tips for how to stop putting things off and to start getting on with them. Mildly amusing and quite enjoyable, How to Live on Twenty-Four Hours a Day is rather a short, but memorable book, which offers some respite from our chaotic world.
I enjoyed Bennett's prose style; it felt chatty, wise, and intelligent. How to Live on Twenty-Four Hours a Day is primarily about how to make the most of one's time, and tips for how to stop putting things off and to start getting on with them. Mildly amusing and quite enjoyable, How to Live on Twenty-Four Hours a Day is rather a short, but memorable book, which offers some respite from our chaotic world.
October 21, 2015
This book is not amazing, in fact the advice it offers is often outdated and not even applicable in a world where work, study, fun and even love evolve online. What was amazing, however, was the deep sense of comfort and understanding it gave me. I simply love Bennett in a strange, religious kind of way. He sounds so soothing and wise to me, I could follow him to the end of the world and never doubt a word of his. Or maybe it is just that he somehow manages to articulate many things I feel inside. Like this one for example:
'Imaginative poetry produces a far greater mental strain than novels. It produces probably the severest strain of any form of literature. It is the highest form of literature. It yields the highest form of pleasure, and teaches the highest form of wisdom. In a word, there is nothing to compare with it. I say this with sad consciousness of the fact that the majority of people do not read poetry.'
'Imaginative poetry produces a far greater mental strain than novels. It produces probably the severest strain of any form of literature. It is the highest form of literature. It yields the highest form of pleasure, and teaches the highest form of wisdom. In a word, there is nothing to compare with it. I say this with sad consciousness of the fact that the majority of people do not read poetry.'
January 24, 2018
It is absolutely astounding how old the study of concentration, discipline, and personal excellence is... and how the principles never change from era to era. The start of the 20th century (1910) saw Bennett's book. The diction is difficult to follow, and it's surprisingly humorous at times. I rate it 3 stars only because of the general tone: more conversational, less instructive.
January 20, 2020
It is like trying to invest every inch in your apartment's floor and trying to make use of it all instead of the more difficult idea of building a new floor or procrastinating until you own a new bigger apartment. Many nice ideas towards that goal...
There is a free audio version on YouTube...and you can enjoy it.
There is a free audio version on YouTube...and you can enjoy it.
August 14, 2023
Muy buena lectura !!! Cortito y concreto!!! Para reflexionarlo hasta el final!!!
April 24, 2021
This is a very short book which I read in one evening. Although, it was written in 1908, it is worth being read. Time is so precious to all of us. But do we make the most of it?
The writer warns us about possible mistakes we make and gives us advice how to spend our time. I agree with a lot of what he says in his book. He mentions Marcus Aurelius several times. I have read Marcus Aurelius and Seneca. They also spoke about spending time wisely.
Notes from reading
'And yet you are in search of happiness, are you not? Have you discovered it?
The chances are that you have not'.
The writer warns us about possible mistakes we make and gives us advice how to spend our time. I agree with a lot of what he says in his book. He mentions Marcus Aurelius several times. I have read Marcus Aurelius and Seneca. They also spoke about spending time wisely.
Notes from reading
'And yet you are in search of happiness, are you not? Have you discovered it?
The chances are that you have not'.
November 4, 2016
I thought this was excellent. Little over hundred pages long and you can finish it in one sitting. It was written in the early 1900s and the message is still very very relevant today. Arnold Bennett tries to show you how to make the most of the day that you have and focus. I agree with a lot of what he says here because I would like to think that I live by the mentality also. Time is not money. Time is God to many. We are on this earth “for 4 days” as they say in my part of the world so how anyone would not want to make the most of the time that they have with their children and their families is beyond me. To waste away your hours watching Game of Goats or playing fishing games like C.O.D is baffling to me. God designed a play station for us all and we live in amongst it – it’s better than the virtual reality we seem to be slowly crawling into as a race. How can we not embrace it?
• He talks about having a great start to the day in and true English style says that a lot can be pivotal on a cup of tea taken early in the morning to get you off to an early and positive star to the day. Starting early is critical.
• Arnold also talks about not being able to waste the tomorrow or many tomorrows which are currently before you. The only thing that you are able to waste is the here in now and the present moment you are in at this point in time which is important to understand. Every day is the beginning of potentially hundreds of days of opportunities in which you can make fundamental differences.
• Arnold talks about the train journey that any in England have into work. He says that that is potentially an uninterrupted 30 / 40 / 50 mins in which you can dedicate your mind to a particular subject and study it in depth. He urges us NOT to read newspapers in this time. He reads papers daily but in snippets and moments that he has free – not that important train journey in in which more challenging materials can be read about and thought over.
• he urges us especially if we are in our youth to take our energy and use it 7 days a week to relentlessly pursue our passions for good. As we get older he believes we should dedicate one day to rest in the week where we can put into perspective what needs to be done and how we should do it. On that resting day we should rely on intuition and be able to flex to the spur of the moment activities as they arise.
• He talks about having a great start to the day in and true English style says that a lot can be pivotal on a cup of tea taken early in the morning to get you off to an early and positive star to the day. Starting early is critical.
• Arnold also talks about not being able to waste the tomorrow or many tomorrows which are currently before you. The only thing that you are able to waste is the here in now and the present moment you are in at this point in time which is important to understand. Every day is the beginning of potentially hundreds of days of opportunities in which you can make fundamental differences.
• Arnold talks about the train journey that any in England have into work. He says that that is potentially an uninterrupted 30 / 40 / 50 mins in which you can dedicate your mind to a particular subject and study it in depth. He urges us NOT to read newspapers in this time. He reads papers daily but in snippets and moments that he has free – not that important train journey in in which more challenging materials can be read about and thought over.
• he urges us especially if we are in our youth to take our energy and use it 7 days a week to relentlessly pursue our passions for good. As we get older he believes we should dedicate one day to rest in the week where we can put into perspective what needs to be done and how we should do it. On that resting day we should rely on intuition and be able to flex to the spur of the moment activities as they arise.
June 3, 2020
Một cuốn sách nhỏ, ngắn nhưng chất chứa những tinh túy về cách tận dụng và trân quý thời gian từ đầu thế kỷ 20
https://thuvienthaodien.wordpress.com...
Đây là một trong những cuốn self help hiếm hoi hông làm mình có cảm giác khó chịu, kiểu chuyên đi khuyên người khác phải thế này thế nọ theo một nguyên mẫu mà ông tác giả thấy phù hợp (thường là với mấy ổng thôi). Hay là nhờ bác Nguyễn Hiến Lê chuyển ngữ mượt mà quá, làm mình cảm thấy cuốn sách cũng dễ thương và nhẹ nhàng như sách của bác vậy.
Có lẻ những châm ngôn sống kiểu "Hãy trân trọng thời gian", "Sống như thể hôm này là ngày cuối" ... thì chúng ta đã nghe đến nhàm tai rồi. Ở cái thời đại sách self help xếp đầy cả một thư viện nhỏ, thì ai ai cũng nói được và được nghe những câu truyền cảm hứng vậy. May sao cuốn sách bé bé xinh xinh này thực sự giúp chúng ta có thể tận dụng thời gian như thế nào cho có ích, cho có ý nghĩa với rất nhiều hướng đi khác nhau cho mỗi ngày.
Đối trọng với những câu châm ngôn sống, là những lời than thở bất hủ của chúng ta "Tui bận lắm", "Tui hông có thời gian đâu", ... Kiểu mình thấy giới trẻ bây giờ lúc nào cũng bảo bận, mà toàn "bận" những chuyện gì đâu đâu hông hà, kiểu bận chở bà đi tập tạ với chở ông đi bán bông ... Và với những tips nho nhỏ này, thì chúng ta sẽ biết cách xử lý 24 giờ thế nào cho hiệu quả.
Người ta thường xem nhẹ mấy cuốn nhỏ nhỏ vầy, kiểu chỉ xem chơi cho qua ngày đoạn tháng. Đó là tại tác giả đã phải chắt lọc tinh túy để cuốn sách được ngắn thôi. Chứ nếu muốn viết kiểu tràn giang đại hải từ 30 trang thành 300 trang cũng chẳng gì khó khăn. Đó là lý do với mấy cuốn self help trăm trang hiện nay, mà mình toàn phải đọc lướt, chắt lọc, gạch xóa để chắt lọc lại còn chục trang để học tập thôi đ��.
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Sống 24 Giờ Một Ngày - Arnold Bennett (1908)
Sài Gòn, 28/12/2018 ; ®Mỹ
Đánh giá: 7/10 điểm
https://thuvienthaodien.wordpress.com...
Đây là một trong những cuốn self help hiếm hoi hông làm mình có cảm giác khó chịu, kiểu chuyên đi khuyên người khác phải thế này thế nọ theo một nguyên mẫu mà ông tác giả thấy phù hợp (thường là với mấy ổng thôi). Hay là nhờ bác Nguyễn Hiến Lê chuyển ngữ mượt mà quá, làm mình cảm thấy cuốn sách cũng dễ thương và nhẹ nhàng như sách của bác vậy.
Có lẻ những châm ngôn sống kiểu "Hãy trân trọng thời gian", "Sống như thể hôm này là ngày cuối" ... thì chúng ta đã nghe đến nhàm tai rồi. Ở cái thời đại sách self help xếp đầy cả một thư viện nhỏ, thì ai ai cũng nói được và được nghe những câu truyền cảm hứng vậy. May sao cuốn sách bé bé xinh xinh này thực sự giúp chúng ta có thể tận dụng thời gian như thế nào cho có ích, cho có ý nghĩa với rất nhiều hướng đi khác nhau cho mỗi ngày.
Đối trọng với những câu châm ngôn sống, là những lời than thở bất hủ của chúng ta "Tui bận lắm", "Tui hông có thời gian đâu", ... Kiểu mình thấy giới trẻ bây giờ lúc nào cũng bảo bận, mà toàn "bận" những chuyện gì đâu đâu hông hà, kiểu bận chở bà đi tập tạ với chở ông đi bán bông ... Và với những tips nho nhỏ này, thì chúng ta sẽ biết cách xử lý 24 giờ thế nào cho hiệu quả.
Người ta thường xem nhẹ mấy cuốn nhỏ nhỏ vầy, kiểu chỉ xem chơi cho qua ngày đoạn tháng. Đó là tại tác giả đã phải chắt lọc tinh túy để cuốn sách được ngắn thôi. Chứ nếu muốn viết kiểu tràn giang đại hải từ 30 trang thành 300 trang cũng chẳng gì khó khăn. Đó là lý do với mấy cuốn self help trăm trang hiện nay, mà mình toàn phải đọc lướt, chắt lọc, gạch xóa để chắt lọc lại còn chục trang để học tập thôi đ��.
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Sống 24 Giờ Một Ngày - Arnold Bennett (1908)
Sài Gòn, 28/12/2018 ; ®Mỹ
Đánh giá: 7/10 điểm
July 14, 2013
The amount of quotes needed to be highlighted is astonishing! One would think that it is a practical book, telling you how to cram everything into our 24 hours slot; however, it has more of a philosophical touch to it.
The author starts the book with an argument about how precious life is, how we all have this precious pearl of unstructured 24 hours per day (and no more). How we can all turn a new leaf if we want to. He encourages people to start changing from now on because the future hasn't happened yet. He then goes off introducing the block of time technique that is quite popular among this century's time management books. He suggests some activities to do in those block like reflective thinking, knowledge seeking, and to just notice things.
It's funny how he had predicted the life of almost everyone nowadays since 1910s. His average man works for 8 hours per day, not any less than any modern average man in 2013.
However precious those advices are, my favorite was the end part of the books; when he starts to warn us against some of the practical mistakes we will make once we go on this adventure: you will very likely to be a prig; don't bite off more than you can chew; and keep your self-respect in check in times of failure.
A 4 star for this marvelous classic. Timeless. And numerous.
The author starts the book with an argument about how precious life is, how we all have this precious pearl of unstructured 24 hours per day (and no more). How we can all turn a new leaf if we want to. He encourages people to start changing from now on because the future hasn't happened yet. He then goes off introducing the block of time technique that is quite popular among this century's time management books. He suggests some activities to do in those block like reflective thinking, knowledge seeking, and to just notice things.
It's funny how he had predicted the life of almost everyone nowadays since 1910s. His average man works for 8 hours per day, not any less than any modern average man in 2013.
However precious those advices are, my favorite was the end part of the books; when he starts to warn us against some of the practical mistakes we will make once we go on this adventure: you will very likely to be a prig; don't bite off more than you can chew; and keep your self-respect in check in times of failure.
A 4 star for this marvelous classic. Timeless. And numerous.
August 25, 2013
I enjoyed reading this slim little volume and reading some time management advice from quite a different era. Funny though, what he says I've read in many other modern books, only he says it far more succinctly and with greater style and humor. I think many time management type gurus of today fall into the trap he mentions in the last chapter - namely, they become prigs who take themselves far too seriously. Thankfully, this author does not. This makes this book far more entertaining and a lot shorter, too!
I hesitate to give it five stars even if it is pithy and enjoyable, largely because the author's suggestions on how to improve the quality of your life are so narrowly focused on the commuting employee. As a homeschooling mom of four, I can barely imagine experiencing a mandatory 45 minute twice daily period of silence (otherwise known as a commute) or dinner prepared and presented before me shortly after I return home! But still, the book encouraged me to make sure I make the most of the little bits of my time where I can think and reflect, as well as providing a fun look into a completely different way of life.
I hesitate to give it five stars even if it is pithy and enjoyable, largely because the author's suggestions on how to improve the quality of your life are so narrowly focused on the commuting employee. As a homeschooling mom of four, I can barely imagine experiencing a mandatory 45 minute twice daily period of silence (otherwise known as a commute) or dinner prepared and presented before me shortly after I return home! But still, the book encouraged me to make sure I make the most of the little bits of my time where I can think and reflect, as well as providing a fun look into a completely different way of life.
January 30, 2013
تم نشر هذا الكتاب عام 1910، أى أنه نشر منذ 103 عام!
قد يبدو من عنوان الكتاب أنه يدور حول إدارة الوقت، فى الواقع موضوع إدارة الوقت يكاد يكون مناقشا على هامش موضوع الكتاب الأصلى و هو أن "نحيا" وليس مجرد أن "نتواجد" فقط. هذا الكتاب يهتم بمناقشة موضوع الوقت من وجهة نظر فلسفية مما يحث القارىء على التفكر.
خصص الكاتب الفصل الأول للتركيز على هذه النقطة ليضع أهمية أن "نحيا" نصب عينى القارىء الذى ظن أن الكتاب يدور حول إدارة الوقت و الذى يرى أنه ينام يأكل ليعمل ثم ينام ويأكل ليعمل وهكذا. أهم فصل فى الكتاب -حتى اللحظة و بالنسبة لى- هو الفصل السابع المخصص لمناقشة التحكم فى العقل.
بعض من الأمثلة التى يضربها الكاتب قديمة وغير متصلة بحياتنا اليوم، لكن الكتاب يتسم بروح الدعابة ولا يكتفى الكاتب بقراءة عقل القارىء بل يخبره بما يظن و يرد عليه.
يفتح الكاتب ارنلد بنيت فى كتابه هذا أفاقا جديدة أمام القارىء ليفكر و ليتأمل وليتعلم شيئا جديدا عن القراءة بوجه عام وعن قراءة الشعر بوجه خاص وعن الموسيقى وعن الفن المعمارى وعن الفلسفة.
الكتاب ممتع وانهيته فى يوم واحد
http://ia700204.us.archive.org/8/item...
December 8, 2022
It's written for a very niche individual, a man who works in an office or has a business and has a wife or servants he can delegate to.
He lost me when he told me to get my wife to put the pot on the stove with water and tea leaves so all I have to do is light the fire and save time.
Even thought it's addressed to this particular man the author has banter with about the ladies the reader likes I still found it condescending, he still mocks this reader.
Possibly some helpful advice for the time it was written. Mainly on planning and taking time to reflect but also some strange advice such as sleep less. He consulted a doctor who told him people sleep too much in the 1910s.
He thinks fiction does not bring any benefit to personal development and its just for pleasure but he shames the reader if he does not like poetry. And if you don't like poetry you must be contempt with reading philosophy and history. Kinda odd guy and I don't get all the positive reviews, can't see how this would help anyone nowadays.
He lost me when he told me to get my wife to put the pot on the stove with water and tea leaves so all I have to do is light the fire and save time.
Even thought it's addressed to this particular man the author has banter with about the ladies the reader likes I still found it condescending, he still mocks this reader.
Possibly some helpful advice for the time it was written. Mainly on planning and taking time to reflect but also some strange advice such as sleep less. He consulted a doctor who told him people sleep too much in the 1910s.
He thinks fiction does not bring any benefit to personal development and its just for pleasure but he shames the reader if he does not like poetry. And if you don't like poetry you must be contempt with reading philosophy and history. Kinda odd guy and I don't get all the positive reviews, can't see how this would help anyone nowadays.
March 22, 2019
It was more of a Philosophical book than a Self-help. It started well with
how-to be productive on a day and self-analysis
but then Arnold Bennet dived into philosophy. Classical books should be republished with modern norms. I did not find any classical book worthy to be read.
In short, I'm disappointed after reading How to Live on 24 Hours a Day.
In short, I'm disappointed after reading How to Live on 24 Hours a Day.
December 2, 2015
A delightful little book/essay (can one call it a pamphlet if it’s an ebook…?) of 60-ish pages from 1908. I heard about it I believe from some random NaNoWriMo pep-talk or news email or something… Chris Baty or some person with a high position at NaNo randomly mentioned it (wish I could remember where!) and linked to it being free on kindle or gutenberg.org, so I randomly downloaded it at the time and promptly didn’t read it for a year or so.
I finally did.
I found to be fascinating, hilarious, well-written, with some good tips, and basically awesome.
No, I don’t in fact know how to live on 24 hours a day now, but still, it has great ides and I’ll hopefully put some of it to use eventually. Regardless, it’s a splendid read (and short!) and I’m just amazed how brilliant and articulate and funny people from back then were — think the authors of Holmes and Bertie Wooster and Around the World in 80 Days.
I’ve rarely if ever read non-fiction that was as hilarious but also useful as this little pamphlet. Lots of fun and also enlightening!
I kept reading bits of it aloud for the wit and wisdom. :D
Everyone: Read it!
I finally did.
I found to be fascinating, hilarious, well-written, with some good tips, and basically awesome.
No, I don’t in fact know how to live on 24 hours a day now, but still, it has great ides and I’ll hopefully put some of it to use eventually. Regardless, it’s a splendid read (and short!) and I’m just amazed how brilliant and articulate and funny people from back then were — think the authors of Holmes and Bertie Wooster and Around the World in 80 Days.
I’ve rarely if ever read non-fiction that was as hilarious but also useful as this little pamphlet. Lots of fun and also enlightening!
I kept reading bits of it aloud for the wit and wisdom. :D
Everyone: Read it!
July 31, 2015
Bạn nào mình yêu quý lắm, mình sẽ giới thiệu quyển này cho mà đọc. Sách hay đến bất ngờ. Nội dung dễ hiểu, lời lẽ giản dị, xen lẫn đâu đó là giọng điệu hài hước không lẫn vào đâu được của Nguyễn Hiển Lê - gì chứ cứ là sách của bác này dịch thì mình luôn tin tưởng hết mực.
Mở ngoặc là mình ghét sách kiểu self-help + how to lắm, nhưng cứ sách của bác Nguyễn Hiển Lê dịch là mình đắm đuối đọc và học theo, chẳng hiểu vì sao đóng ngoặc.
Điều mình thích vô cùng ở quyển này là sự thấu hiểu đến tận tâm can người trẻ, đọc đến đâu chỉ biết ồ à ố á kiểu trời ơi sao đúng quá vậy :D. Có đoạn đọc xong phải dừng lại ngẫm nghĩ, có đoạn phải lập tức lấy bút chép lại, có đoạn lại tự dưng mỉm cười vì đã nhận ra một điều hay ho mà bấy lâu nay không hề để ý.
Mình đọc đi đọc lại rồi quyết định luyện tập theo quyển này. Vì mình đang trẻ, và mình muốn sống cho trọn thứ mà cuộc sống ban tặng cho mình mỗi ngày: 24 giờ - không hơn không kém.
Mở ngoặc là mình ghét sách kiểu self-help + how to lắm, nhưng cứ sách của bác Nguyễn Hiển Lê dịch là mình đắm đuối đọc và học theo, chẳng hiểu vì sao đóng ngoặc.
Điều mình thích vô cùng ở quyển này là sự thấu hiểu đến tận tâm can người trẻ, đọc đến đâu chỉ biết ồ à ố á kiểu trời ơi sao đúng quá vậy :D. Có đoạn đọc xong phải dừng lại ngẫm nghĩ, có đoạn phải lập tức lấy bút chép lại, có đoạn lại tự dưng mỉm cười vì đã nhận ra một điều hay ho mà bấy lâu nay không hề để ý.
Mình đọc đi đọc lại rồi quyết định luyện tập theo quyển này. Vì mình đang trẻ, và mình muốn sống cho trọn thứ mà cuộc sống ban tặng cho mình mỗi ngày: 24 giờ - không hơn không kém.
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