The Greatest Success in the World
Mandino, Og. 1984. The Greatest Success in the World. Bantam.
Rating:
4
Review:
I’m not an expert on inspirational books. I read this because I love reading and I picked it up from my wife’s grandmother’s book collection when she passed away. Anyway, on to the review…
The story in the book is about a man named Zaccheus but is told from the perspective of his friend and confidant Joseph. Zaccheus is disfigured/crippled in the sense that he is extremely short because of his misshapen legs. He is also an orphan. But despite his trials in life he becomes the richest man in all of Jericho and possibly all of Israel. Joseph is kind of like his chief counselor.
The story is really a facade for the rules of success that Og Mandino wants to teach you. Near the end of the story – it took me about 30 minutes to read the entire book – the 10 rules to success (only 9 are listed initially but the 10th appears soon thereafter) are presented as entire chapters. The rules aren’t really all that much to shout about, but I guess it could help some people so, here they are (simplified for you by me):
1. Work hard.
2. Be patient.
3. Set goals.
4. Plan on hard times.
5. Don’t let the hard times get you down.
6. Dreams are worthless unless realized.
7. Don’t ruminate about the past.
8. Simplify your life (not really sure what he means by this one).
9. Live like today is your last day on earth.
10. Be yourself.
Seems like common sense to me, but that’s just me. Suggestions… If you like stories, look for a good novel and not something by Og Mandino. If you want self help or inspirational, I guess the format makes it more enjoyable than something by Stephen Covey but I would still recommend Dale Carnegie’s books for usefulness and entertainment value.