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Neverisms: A Quotation Lover's Guide to Things You Should Never Do, Never Say, or Never Forget – A Collection of Wisdom, Wit, and Advice
From Mardy Grothe, the author of Ifferisms , Oxymoronica ,and I Never Met a Metaphor IDidn’t Like , comes a new collection of witty and wise quotations about what never to do in life. Remember, “never let the fear of striking out get in your way” (BabeRuth), "never hit anyone if you can help it, but never hit soft"(Theodore Roosevelt); "never be afraid tosit awhile and think" (Lorraine Hansberry); and, of course, neverleave home without the perfect quote for any occasion from Dr. Mardy’s Neverisms .
384 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2011
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146 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
May 19, 2011
Neverisms is an intriguing book that is filled with interesting facts and sayings. This is a book where it is ok to flip though the different chapters and not sit and read it all the way through. In fact, at times it can read like a text book or dictionary. While I did enjoy learning different facts and tid bits about neverisms, I found myself at times flipping through the pages to read about more neverism wisdom in the form of advice.
So what is neverism? Neverism is not a real word but one that Dr. Grothe coined as his own. What it means in a simple term is…When you want to give a warning to someone but the warning starts off with the word “Never”. Examples are:
“Never try to reason the prejudge out of a man. It was not reasoned into him, and cannot be reasoned out.” By Sydney Smith.
“Never turn down a job because you think it’s too small; you don’t know where it can lead.” By Julia Morgan.
“Never board a commercial aircraft if the pilot is wearing a tank top.”
“Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.”
One thing that I did really notice and like about this book was that it was written at a level that I could understand and not feel stupid that I could not figure out what Dr. Grothe was saying. This book would make a perfect gift for that nerd in your life.
So what is neverism? Neverism is not a real word but one that Dr. Grothe coined as his own. What it means in a simple term is…When you want to give a warning to someone but the warning starts off with the word “Never”. Examples are:
“Never try to reason the prejudge out of a man. It was not reasoned into him, and cannot be reasoned out.” By Sydney Smith.
“Never turn down a job because you think it’s too small; you don’t know where it can lead.” By Julia Morgan.
“Never board a commercial aircraft if the pilot is wearing a tank top.”
“Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.”
One thing that I did really notice and like about this book was that it was written at a level that I could understand and not feel stupid that I could not figure out what Dr. Grothe was saying. This book would make a perfect gift for that nerd in your life.
May 10, 2011
The Good Stuff
* Some of the dryer information was made enjoyable by the author's self deprecating wit
* Extensive collection of some fabulous quotes and the background behind many of them
* Actually uses some recent and hip quotes, which I was surprised by
* Love the smaller size of the book, great for keeping as a reference item
* Found a whole bunch of new quotes to put out on Twitter
* Perfect for keeping out as a Coffee table book or Bathroom book -- come on I know you people read in the loo too
* This author has done some serious research into neverism quotes - truly impressive
* I read this over a couple of weeks and I recommend you do the same, it is more enjoyable this way
* Great for conversation starters
The Not so Good Stuff
* Didn't include my favorite quotes. Never Give Up, Never Surrender (Galaxy Quest)
* Would have loved to have an index of some kind, so if you wanted you could go back and find a particular quote more easily
* Didn't like how the book was organized -- but hello what do you expect I AM an anal librarian after all - I need me an index
Favorite Quotes/Passages (Quotes from a Quote book - how unusual)
"But unless you have the vocabulary of a five-time Jeopardy! champ or you're a professor of rhetoric, the word is almost certainly not in your current vocabulary."
"I was a young idealist with a reputation for spending countless hours attempting to reason with people who held what I regarded as unfounded or irrational beliefs. Smith's admonition was like a reminder from Dr. Phil, gently tapping me on the shoulder and asking, "So how's that working for you?"
AND THE WISEST QUOTE OF ALL - REMEMBER THIS PEOPLE!
"Never ask a single person if they're "seeing anyone special," and unemployed person if they found a job, or a married couple when they're planning to have children."
(I would also like to add - never, ever ask a women if she is pregnant or if there is a big gap between someones children, was it an accident -- tacky people - very tacky)
What I Learned
* Some interesting background information of famous quotes
* Definition of a Neverism and some other useless information like this that I will probably always remember - yet forget to pick up milk on the way home
Who should/shouldn't read
* anyone who likes quotes
* Speech writers, Teachers, Librarians, etc
* A good resources for public libraries
4 Dewey's
I Received this from HarperCollins in exchange for an honest review
* Some of the dryer information was made enjoyable by the author's self deprecating wit
* Extensive collection of some fabulous quotes and the background behind many of them
* Actually uses some recent and hip quotes, which I was surprised by
* Love the smaller size of the book, great for keeping as a reference item
* Found a whole bunch of new quotes to put out on Twitter
* Perfect for keeping out as a Coffee table book or Bathroom book -- come on I know you people read in the loo too
* This author has done some serious research into neverism quotes - truly impressive
* I read this over a couple of weeks and I recommend you do the same, it is more enjoyable this way
* Great for conversation starters
The Not so Good Stuff
* Didn't include my favorite quotes. Never Give Up, Never Surrender (Galaxy Quest)
* Would have loved to have an index of some kind, so if you wanted you could go back and find a particular quote more easily
* Didn't like how the book was organized -- but hello what do you expect I AM an anal librarian after all - I need me an index
Favorite Quotes/Passages (Quotes from a Quote book - how unusual)
"But unless you have the vocabulary of a five-time Jeopardy! champ or you're a professor of rhetoric, the word is almost certainly not in your current vocabulary."
"I was a young idealist with a reputation for spending countless hours attempting to reason with people who held what I regarded as unfounded or irrational beliefs. Smith's admonition was like a reminder from Dr. Phil, gently tapping me on the shoulder and asking, "So how's that working for you?"
AND THE WISEST QUOTE OF ALL - REMEMBER THIS PEOPLE!
"Never ask a single person if they're "seeing anyone special," and unemployed person if they found a job, or a married couple when they're planning to have children."
(I would also like to add - never, ever ask a women if she is pregnant or if there is a big gap between someones children, was it an accident -- tacky people - very tacky)
What I Learned
* Some interesting background information of famous quotes
* Definition of a Neverism and some other useless information like this that I will probably always remember - yet forget to pick up milk on the way home
Who should/shouldn't read
* anyone who likes quotes
* Speech writers, Teachers, Librarians, etc
* A good resources for public libraries
4 Dewey's
I Received this from HarperCollins in exchange for an honest review
May 15, 2021
Relatively weaker offering frkm Dr Grothe. Easily carries 3+ stars for the back stories of many oft-repeated ‘neverisms’ like ‘Never complain, never explain’; ‘Never let them see you sweat’; ‘Never attempt to teach a pig to sing..’ etc. Enjoyable quick read but often seems narrowly constrained to semantically focus only on quotations starting with ‘Never’. Question to myself - logically speaking, ‘Never say Never again’ is not strictly a neverism, right?
October 26, 2024
Bonus star for using NCIS rules
May 2, 2011
NEVERISMS by Dr. Mardy Grothe is an entertaining book full of never quotations.It will have you laughing out loud at some of the never quotations. Some you will remember from childhood.This is a book of quotation anthology.With not only the quotations but also the history of hundreds of quotation you may not have heard before. This book is for anyone who enjoys quotations wordplay and language buffs everywhere.It has quotations from John Wayne,Mae West,The Godfather,The War of Roses,Johnny Carson,William Prescott,The First Commandment,Thomas Jefferson just to name a few.The quotations range from wit and wordplay,words to live by politics and govenment,business and management,sex,love,and romance,marriage,home and family life,the literary life,stage and screen,metaphorical,sports,book,song and movie titles,oxymoronic and paradoxical,to advice,classics,trust,underestimate,multiple,words to live by and human relationships. This is a cute,witty book that will surely have you returning to it time and time again. This book was received for the purpose of review from the publisher and details can be found at Collins Reference,an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers and My Book Addiction Reviews,
October 24, 2016
Never met a quote I didn't like
This my second reading of a book by Mardy Grothe. The first was Ifferisms. I enjoyed this one as much as that one. Quotes are a strange subject for a book, but these were in many cases fun to read and some were ones to think about. My only complaint was some of the back stories on the quotes were over long, but that is simply a matter of individual taste. Did it hurt me to read the longer back stories, no. Did I come away a little wiser for reading them, maybe. I just know that I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more by Grothe. If you like books of quotes then give this one a try.
This my second reading of a book by Mardy Grothe. The first was Ifferisms. I enjoyed this one as much as that one. Quotes are a strange subject for a book, but these were in many cases fun to read and some were ones to think about. My only complaint was some of the back stories on the quotes were over long, but that is simply a matter of individual taste. Did it hurt me to read the longer back stories, no. Did I come away a little wiser for reading them, maybe. I just know that I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more by Grothe. If you like books of quotes then give this one a try.
May 20, 2011
I'm a sucker for quotes, and I've probably highlighted 20% of the quotes in this book. Some favorites:
"Never moon a werewolf.". -Mike Binder
"Never accept an evil that you can change." -Andre Gide
"Never give up on anybody." -Hubert H. Humphrey
"Never select a tattoo just because it's on sale."
A quick read, with interesting background supplied by the author. My only nitpick is the author's habit of explaining some pretty basic (if slightly anachronistic) vocabulary. Use a footnote!
"Never moon a werewolf.". -Mike Binder
"Never accept an evil that you can change." -Andre Gide
"Never give up on anybody." -Hubert H. Humphrey
"Never select a tattoo just because it's on sale."
A quick read, with interesting background supplied by the author. My only nitpick is the author's habit of explaining some pretty basic (if slightly anachronistic) vocabulary. Use a footnote!
October 29, 2011
mardy grothe has written a few of these quotation books. they're a good gift or coffee table book (let's pretend it won't end up in another reading space), because they're ideal to pick up when you want a quick smile or insight. i saw the guy at quail ridge. his talk was very entertaining so he's worth seeing.
April 22, 2012
Very clever as are all Mardy's books!
March 22, 2013
To be taken with a grain of salt, some of these quotes are rather offensive.
May 13, 2013
Very nice and witty book!
June 21, 2014
Abandoned. Preachy, wurdy and dull.
May 10, 2015
A clever collection. And now I have to re-read it so I can list all of the great books and authors mentioned. Looking forward to the other collections by this author.
December 18, 2011
I think I am "nevered" out.
July 15, 2012
An OK read-- nothing special. Something you want to read when you can't decide what to read next.
July 25, 2012
Never, ever, read this book.
December 20, 2013
Nothing but entertainment. Resist the urge to copy and paste these around the office....lol.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews