 
|
|
Paperback
Format: Bargain Price
What do I need to be good?
How can I truly be happy?
To whom or to what dare I give my
ultimate loyalty, my deepest love,
my full and total service? Out of all
this moral discourse and analysis,
what can I find and use to make a life,
and not just a living?
-from the IntroductionAfter more than thirty years as minister at Harvard University, Peter J. Gomes has given his share of advice to the best and the brightest as they set sail into the world. Yet he has found that even these highly privileged students often run aground on the harsh realities of a life based in values that lead to ruin. The Good Life is his distillation of years of observation and insight into what is wrong and how we can all set our minds and hearts on higher things.Gomes begins with the contemporary crisis of moral education in higher learning and subverts the prevalent assertion that the youth of today's colleges and universities are spoiled and lacking in the capacity and desire to become good people and good citizens. Impressed by the sharp moral curiosity of young people today, as well as their strong desire to know, to be, and to do good, Gomes sets out to reclaim the tradition of virtue he believes can make this the greatest generation.In this search for a new nobility, he distinguishes between the plausible lies that our culture tells us about the good life and the fantastic truths that alone can bring true and abiding happiness, working through each of the unquestioned values of modern life. Along the way he redefines the central elementsof the pursuit of the good life (failure, success, discipline, and freedom), then offers a new presentation of the four cardinal virtues (prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude), and finally concludes with a passionate argument for the three theological virtues of faith, hope, and love.A challenge to educators, civic leaders, parents, and the youth who hold our collective future, The Good Life is a timely and important book about the recovery of moral knowledge and the choices we must make in order to live truly well.
Peter J. Gomes believes that today's college students have it in them to be the greatest generation. The Good Life, a manifesto by the minister at Harvard University, debunks the idea that today's college students are spoiled, materialistic, and morally complacent. Reflecting on 30 years of ministry to undergraduates, Gomes writes, "What has impressed me ... about these young people ... is their moral curiosity, their desire to know, to be, and to do good." Drawing on stories of Gomes's relationships with students, as well as his knowledge of philosophy, theology, and the Bible, The Good Life offers guidance for finding the treasure promised by its title. Some readers will question how much Gomes's personal experience really says about American culture at large (the first chapter begins, "Harvard Yard is never more grand than it is on Commencement Day."). But much of The Good Life is of near universal value, such as Gomes's distinction between "plausible lies" that define the good life in secular culture and the "fantastic truths" that bring true joy. --Michael Joseph Gross
| Customer Reviews: |
|
| |
| hard to start book |
| Customer Rating: 2 out of 5 |
 |
|
i have read a couple of his other books and loved them "the Good Book" and "The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus Christ", however this one i'm having a hard time getting into and i'm not sure why.
|
| Rediculously Overwritten |
| Customer Rating: 3 out of 5 |
 |
|
I found Mr. Gomes book incredibly overwritten, if such a word exists, but inspiring nonetheless. His approach to the subject was straight forward and simple to follow. However, I found his explanations and justifications began clearly and then wandered. At times it seemed that he was name dropping, and often bragging about the grandeur of alternatively: Harvard, New England, Harvard Presidents, Harvard Students, Hahvad, Hahvad, Hahvad....I was caught betweeen wanting more of his homilies and interpretations of Biblical passages, and disgusted with his constant engrandizement of all things New England. His descriptions of hope and faith, however, were excellent and have inspired contemplation. I encourage anyone with an open heart and mind to enjoy the book for the some well needed enlightment in an overindulged world, but be willing to indulge the author his vices.
|
| Simple But Not Easy |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
 |
|
What Peter Gomes is trying to impart in his book, The Good Life, is a simple message, unfortunately we live in a complicated world. This book does require careful, thoughtful reading as Mr. Gomes weaves in and out of the complex falsehoods we live with today. If you are looking for a simple answer it is here, if you are looking for a quick fix, go elsewhere. It is not the fault of Peter Gomes that society, and all it has to offer, has woven a perilous web through which all must find their way. This book offers simple answers but they are not easy answers to own up to. This book offers one an opportunity to untangle the web of falsehoods which keep us from the simple truth. Simple does not equal easy, and the truth is rarely easy to take. I highly recommend it!
|
| How To Make the Good Life A Drudge |
| Customer Rating: 2 out of 5 |
|
|
|
Peter J. Gomes starts off with a great hook, 'The Good Life, Truths That Last In Times of Need.' However, other than reading about the moral curiosity of the best and brightest at Harvard, and these new yearnings for meaning and purpose in his student's life, this book presents great but simple ideas in a complicated mixture of long-winded chapters. The essence of great truths is that they are simple. Gomes forgets this. His book reads more like a text book than a help to renewal or reawakening of morality. Yes, he mentions all the great and good truths. But his writing lacks the simiplicity, elegance and structure of these truths. He asks the questions, 'What do I need to be good? How can I truly be happy? To whom or to what dare I give my ultimate loyalty, my deepest love, my full and total service? There are profound but easily assimilated answers to all of these questions. Gomes spends too much time giving erudite, long-winded answers, when the answers could be as elemental, explicit and beautiful as the Beatitudes. Blessed are they who write about great issues with delicacy, wisdom and discipline, rather than heavy, weighty prose. I was disappointed in his book. Great truths are profound. But when the virtues are fairness, justice, temperance and fortitude, and the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love, then the Bible, Sunday School quarterlies, and everlasting hymns still say it best -- and without the scholarly overkill.
|
|
