More from and about
Og Mandino
(biographical info at bottom of page)
Book review of Og Mandino's Great Trilogy
  

A smile remains the most inexpensive gift I can bestow
on anyone and yet its powers can vanquish kingdoms.

   

Count your blessings.  Once you realize how valuable you are and how much you have going for you, the smiles will return, the sun will break out, the music will play, and you will finally be able to move forward the life that God intended for you with grace, strength, courage, and confidence.
  
  
I will live this day as if it is my last. . . I will waste not a moment mourning yesterday’s misfortunes, yesterday’s defeats, yesterday’s aches of the heart, for why should I throw good after bad?  This day is all I have and these hours are now my eternity. I greet this sunrise with cries of joy as a prisoner who is reprieved from death. I lift mine arms with thanks for this priceless gift of a new day. So too, I will beat upon my heart with gratitude as I consider all who greeted yesterday’s sunrise who are no longer with the living today. I am indeed a fortunate man and today’s hours are but a bonus, undeserved.

      
Remind thyself, in the darkest moments, that every failure is only a step toward success, every detection of what is false directs you toward what is true, every trial exhausts some tempting form of error, and every adversity will only hide, for a time, your path to peace and fulfillment.
  
Realize that true happiness lies within you. Waste no time and effort searching for peace and contentment and joy in the world outside. Remember that there is no happiness in having or in getting, but only in giving. Reach out. Share. Smile. Hug. Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself.
   

Never neglect the little things. Never skimp on that extra effort, that additional few minutes, that soft word of praise or thanks, that delivery of the very best that you can do. It does not matter what others think, it is of prime importance, however, what you think about you. You can never do your best, which should always be your trademark, if you are cutting corners and shirking responsibilities. You are special. Act it. Never neglect the little things.

     

Treasure the friendship you receive above all. It will survive
long after your gold and good health have vanished.

   

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Take the attitude of a student; never be too big to
ask questions, never know too much to learn something new.

   

Sooner or later all mankind will realize that the greatest cure
for all the ills and wrongs, the cares, the sorrow and crimes
of humanity rests solely in acts of love. Love is the greatest
gift from God. It is the divine spark that everywhere produces
and restores life. To each and every one of us, love gives us
the power to work miracles with your own life and those we touch.

   

The victory of success is half won when one gains the habit
of setting goals and achieving them. Even the most tedious
chore will become endurable as you parade through each day
convinced that every task, no matter how menial or boring,
brings you closer to achieving your dreams.

   

    
Og Mandino (December 12, 1923 - September 3, 1996), (Per the 1930 U.S. Census, he was named after his Paternal Grandfather and his full name was Augustine Mandino, which explains the nickname - Og) once homeless, was a "sales guru" and author of the best-selling book The Greatest Salesman in the World. His works, based on fundamental Christian beliefs, were also heavily influenced by the likes of Napoleon Hill, W. Clement Stone, and Emmett Fox. Mandino remains one of the most inspirational best-selling authors today. His books have sold over 50 million copies and have been translated into over twenty-five different languages. He was the president of the magazine Success Unlimited until 1976 and has been inducted into the National Speakers Association Hall Of Fame.

Og's mother encouraged him to become a writer. He was the editor of his high school paper and was planning to attend the University of Missouri because of its journalism school. In the summer of 1940, just before Og was to go off to college, his mother died suddenly from a massive heart attack while in the kitchen fixing his lunch. Instead of going to college, Og opted to go work in a paper factory until 1942 when he joined the United States Army Air Corps. He became an officer and a bombardier. He flew 30 bombing missions over Germany in a B-24 Liberator during World War II. It was during this time he flew with fellow pilot and movie star Jimmy Stewart. Og kept a personalized 8 X 10 photo of his friend on the wall of his home office where he wrote his many books.

After the military, Og discovered that companies weren’t hiring too many bomber pilots. He later got into selling insurance. Finding himself traveling on the road and sitting in bars at night, he soon became addicted to drinking. He was soon unable to hold a job. Finally, his wife had enough and took their only child and left him. He was homeless and jobless.

Then, one cold wintry morning in Cleveland during the month of November, Mandino was at the point of committing suicide. He entered a public library to stay warm. As he wandered among the thousands of books, he found himself standing in front of the shelves containing scores of volumes on self-help, success, and motivation books. Og selected several of them, went to a nearby table and commenced reading and searching for some answers.

That library visit was the first of many library visits he began making as he wandered across the country. Mandino read hundreds of books dealing with success and gradually his drinking subsided. Then, in a library in Concord, New Hampshire, he discovered W. Clement Stone's great classic, Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude. And his life was never the same.

~~from Wikipedia

  

    

We have some inspiring and motivational books that may interest you.  Our main way of supporting this site is through the sale of books, either physical copies or digital copies for your Amazon Kindle (including the online reader).  All of the money that we earn through them comes back to the site in one way or another.  Just click on the picture to the left to visit our page of books, both fiction and non-fiction!
  

Other people:  Alan Watts - Albert Einstein - Albert Schweitzer - Andy Rooney - Anne Frank - Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Anne Wilson Schaef - Annie Dillard - Anthony Robbins - Ari Kiev - Artur Rubenstein - Barbara Johnson - Benjamin Disraeli
Benjamin Franklin - Benjamin Hoff - Bernie Siegel - Bertrand Russell - Betty Eadie - Booker T. Washington
Charlotte Davis Kasl - Cheryl Richardson - Cristina Feldman - C.S. Lewis - the Dalai Lama - Dale Carnegie - Deepak Chopra
Don Miguel Ruiz - Earl Nightingale - Elaine St. James - Eleanor Roosevelt - Elisabeth Kuebler-Ross - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Emmet Fox - Frederick Buechner - George Bernard Shaw - George Santayana - George Washington Carver - Gerald Jampolsky
Harold Kushner - Harry Emerson Fosdick - Helen Keller - Henry David Thoreau - Henry James - Henry Van Dyke
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - Henry Ward Beecher - Hugh Prather - Immanuel Kant - Iyanla Vanzant - Jack Canfield
James Allen - Jennifer James - Jim Rohn - Joan Borysenko - Joan Chittister - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - John Izzo - 
John Ruskin - Joni Eareckson Tada - Joseph M. Marshall III - Julia Cameron - Kent Nerburn - Khalil Gibran - 
Leo Buscaglia - Leonard Jacobson - Leslie Levine - Lucinda Bassett - Lydia Maria Child - Lynn Grabhorn - Marcus Aurelius
Marianne Williamson - Martin Luther King, Jr. - Maya Angelou - Melody Beattie - Michael Goddart - Mitch Albom
Mohandas Gandhi - Morrie Schwartz - Mother Teresa - M. Scott Peck - Nathaniel Branden - Nikos Kazantzakis - Norman Cousins
Norman Vincent Peale - Og Mandino - Oprah Winfrey - Oriah - Orison Swett Marden - Pau Casals - Peace Pilgrim - Phillips Brooks
Rabindranath Tagore - Rachel Carson - Rachel Naomi Remen - Rainer Maria Rilke - Ralph Waldo Trine - Richard Bach
Richard Carlson - Robert Frost - Robert Fulghum - Robert Louis Stevenson - Russell Baker - Sarah Ban Breathnach
Shakti Gawain - Soren Kierkegaard - Stephen Covey - Stephen C. Paul - Sue Patton Thoele - Susan L. Taylor
Sylvia Boorstein - Thich Nhat Hanh - Thomas Carlyle - Thomas Kinkade - Thomas Merton - Tom Walsh - Victor Cherbuliez
Wayne Dyer - Wilferd A. Peterson - Willa Cather - William James - William Wordsworth - Zig Ziglar

   

       
    

Yes, life can be mysterious and confusing--but there's much of life that's actually rather dependable and reliable.  Some principles apply to life in so many different contexts that they can truly be called universal--and learning what they are and how to approach them and use them can teach us some of the most important lessons that we've ever learned.
My doctorate is in Teaching and Learning.  I use it a lot when I teach at school, but I also do my best to apply what I've learned to the life I'm living, and to observe how others live their lives.  What makes them happy or unhappy, stressed or peaceful, selfish or generous, compassionate or arrogant?  In this book, I've done my best to pass on to you what I've learned from people in my life, writers whose works I've read, and stories that I've heard.  Perhaps these principles can be a positive part of your life, too!
Universal Principles of Living Life Fully.  Awareness of these principles can explain a lot and take much of the frustration out of the lives we lead.