Showing results by narrator "Jim Killavey" in All Categories

James Allen wrote this little book eight years after the phenomenal success of As a Man Thinketh. His forward gives an apt description of the book "We cannot alter external things, nor shape other people to our liking, nor mould the world to our wishes but we can alter internal things - our desires, passions, thoughts,- we can shape our liking to other people, and we can mould the inner world of our own mind in accordance with wisdom, and so reconcile it to the outer world of men and things.

This essay by Thoreau first published in 1849, argues that individuals should not permit governments to overrule their consciences. It goes on to say that individuals have a duty to avoid allowing the government to make them the agents of injustice. The quote: "That government is best which governs least," sometimes attributed to Thomas Jefferson or Thomas Paine, actually was first found in this essay. Thoreaus' thoughts were motivated by his disgust with slavery and the Mexican-American War but they are still relevant and resonate today.

Robert Louis Stevenson, know mostly for his tales of adventure and horror, also had a humorous side. This black comedy of errors deals with a coffin that keeps disappearing, and then showing up again in very strange places.

The book is one of the most influential ethical treatises of all time. Written in 350 BC, it identifies happiness as life's goal. How do we achieve this goal? Not through the satisfactions that come from pleasure, wealth, or fame. According to Aristotle, the true path to happiness lies in contemplation of philosophic truth. This is the only action through which humans can exercise their distinctively unique trait: the ability to reason.

A main-stay of British children's literature through the 1920's, The Water Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby was written by Rev. Charles Kinglsey as a serial for Macmillan's Magazine in 1862-63.

Although some of the author's opinions seem dated now, the journey of a little chimney-sweep water-baby through rivers and storms, under sea and over icebergs, is still a wonderful adventure tale for children. The book was adapted into an animated film in 1978 and produced as a play at the Chichester Festival Theatre in 2003.

The Federalist Papers are a series of 85 articles, written between 1897 and 1888, advocating for the ratification of the United States Constitution. They serve as a primary source for interpretation of the Constitution, as they outline the philosophy and motivation of the proposed system of government.

This volume contains a variety of imaginative stories from both famous and not-so-famous science fiction writers.

When a volcano suddenly seems to erupt and threaten a mountain town of North Carolina, Inspector Strock is sent to determine the danger. When an automobile race in Wisconsin is interrupted by the unexpected appearance of a vehicle traveling at many times the top speed of the entrants, Strock is again consulted. And when an odd-shaped boat is sighted moving at impossible speeds off the New England coast, Stock and his boss begin to wonder if the incidents are related.

This book is considered by many to be the finest literary biography ever published. Samuel Johnson was the leading literary scholar and critic of his age, helping to define the Augustan Age of English Literature. He is as celebrated for his brilliant conversation as he is for his writing.

Philip K. Dick was an award-winning giant of American science fiction, right up there with Ray Bradbury and Isaac Asimov. He became the first science fiction writer ever to be included in The Library of America series. Although he died fairly young at 53, he created many incredible sci-fi stories - 44 published novels and over 120 short stories! These 14 selections represent some of his most imaginative work. Included in this collection are: "Adjustment Team", "The Golden Man", "A World of Talent", "The Last of the Masters", "The Crystal Crypt", and more.

Charles Fillmore was an American mystic known for his contributions to metaphysical interpretations of Biblical scripture. With the help of his wife, he founded Unity, a church within the New Thought movement. Prosperity is considered one of the top New Thought books of all time. In it, Fillmore shows how the lessons of Scripture hold the keys to prosperity.

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is a classic in which Verne prophesized many modern uses of the submarine. The story concerns the now famous fictional character Captain Nemo and his submarine, Nautilus, as seen by one of his passengers, Professor Pierre Aronnax. Over the years there have been many film, TV, and theatrical adaptations and variations of the book.

The Varieties of Religious Experience is considered to be the classic work in the field. To quote Wikipedia, "James was most interested in understanding personal religious experience. The importance of James to the psychology of religion - and to psychology more generally - is difficult to overstate. He discussed many essential issues that remain of vital concern today. What makes James writing so special is that he could take a very complex subject and, without watering it down, make it understandable to 'the rest of us.'"

A Christmas Carol is undoubtedly the most famous supernatural story in English. However, it was not the only supernatural story of the season that Charles Dickens wrote. In Victorian England, Christmas was the time to explore the supernatural in stories, and Charles Dickens was one of the best at it. Included in this volume are a full-cast dramatization of A Christmas Carol, plus three more of Dickens' best stories of the season.

Robert Louis Stevenson was best known for novels like Treasure Island and Kidnapped, but he also wrote a number of fascinating short stories, many dealing with the supernatural.

The novel is a profound exploration of imitative rivalry and the duality of human consciousness. Told from the point of view of a rich and idle man who is confronted by a rival, the husband of his former, and now deceased, mistress, the story concerns the interchanging hatred and love of the two men.

"The Haunters and the Haunted" is both a wonderful ghost story and a well-crafted example of Bulwer-Lytton's theory of the supernatural. It represents nearly 20 years' study of paranormal phenomena. On the one hand, it is a chilling tale of ghosts and terror, but on the other, it illustrate the author's theory "that the Supernatural is Impossible, and that what is called supernatural is only a something in the laws of nature of which we have been hitherto ignorant."

Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan was a United States Navy flag officer, who has been called "the most important American strategist of the nineteenth century." His concept of "sea power" was based on the idea that countries with greater naval power will have greater worldwide impact; it was most famously presented in The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660–1783.

In 1899 Freud wrote a revolutionary work in the new field of Psychoanalysis called, The Interpretation of Dreams. The book was so full of technical details and involved case studies, however, that ordinary people had great difficulty understanding it. Twenty-one years later, he published this shorter version.

Richard Henry Dana called this book a "a voice from the sea". It had an influence on both Joseph Conrad and Herman Melville, both of whom sang its praises. Dana was a law student at Harvard College who decided, in 1834, to take a break from his studies in order to experience the "real world" by signing on as a common sailor for a two year voyage from Boston around Cape Horn to California. He kept a journal which he turned into a book after the voyage.