Ericksens and their Half Dozen: The Giver

Thursday, January 28, 2010

The Giver

This is a great book that I just finished with my children. It has so many deep thought provoking questions and makes sense of the fall of man and Eve's wisdom in her decision to partake of the fruit. I would highly recommend it to anyone with children 10 and older-maybe as young as 8. We had a great time discussing during and after this book. "It is better that we experience sorrow, that we may know the good from the evil." At first I didn't know what was going on in this book, and I heard from the kids, "not that book! It's just an old man and it looks boring!!" But then I soon realized the pure genius and creativity in the message. A classic!

1 comment:

Sarah said...: I agree. Great book. Loved that book when reading it as a teenager AND when I picked it up within the past year. I still remember as he recognizes color. Can't look at an apple without appreciating seeing what I see!; January 29, 2010 at 5:29 PM

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"A true wife makes a man's life nobler, stronger, grander, by the omnipotence of her love; turning all the forces of manhood upward and heavenward. While she clings to him in holy confidence and loving dependence she brings out in him whatever is noble and richest in his being. She inspires him with her courage and earnestness. She beautifies his life. She softens whatever is rude and harsh in his habits or spirits. She clothes him with the gentler graces of refined and cultured manhood. While she yields to him and never disregards his lightest wish, she is really his queen, ruling his whole life and leading him onward and upward in every proper path." -JR Miller

I had rather be shut up in a very modest cottage, with my books, my family, and a few old friends, dining on simple bacon, and letting the world roll on as it liked, than to occupy the most splendid post which any human power can give.

"The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers."

"I predict future happiness for Americans, if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them."

"Governement big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have. The course of history shows us that as a government grows, liberty decreases."

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."

"The end of democracy and the defeat of the American Revolution will occur when government falls into the hands of lending institutions and moneyed incorporations."

Thomas Jefferson (It's quite evident that I relish in his brilliance.)

"Gratitude is the beginning of civilty, of decency and goodness, of a recognition that we cannot afford to be arrogant. We should walk with the knowledge that we will need help every step of the way."

"Hatred always fails and bitterness always destroys. Are there virtues more in need of application in our day, a time marked by litigious proceedings and heated exchanges, than those of forgiving, forgetting, and extending mercy to those who may have wronged us or let us down?"

"Civilty carries with it the essence of courtesy, politeness, and consideration of others. All of the education and accomplishments in the world will not count for much unless they are accompanied by marks of gentility, of respect for others, of going the extra mile."

"In leadership, in standing for principle, there is loneliness. But men and women of integrity must live with their convictions. Unless they do so, they are miserable."
Gordon B. Hinckley-Standing for Something