Climb High, Climb Far: Inspiration for Life's Challenges from the World's Great Moral Traditions

by Gregory Wolfe, Suzanne M. Wolfe

A collection of quotations, parables, and stories from ancient times to the present offers pieces of insight, wisdom, and guidance that have helped people from many different societies, including writings by Shakespeare, Confucius, and Martin Luther King, Jr., among others. Original. 25,000 first printing.

167 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1996

About the author

Gregory Wolfe is a writer, teacher, editor, and publisher. In 1989 he founded Image—one of America’s leading literary journals, which he edited for thirty years. He was also the founding director of the Seattle Pacific University MFA in Creative Writing program, which he led for over a dozen years. He is currently editor of an indie, non-profit literary press, Slant Books. Wolfe’s writing has appeared in numerous publications, including the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, First Things, Commonweal, and America. He has served as a judge for the National Book Awards. His books include Beauty Will Save the World, Intruding Upon the Timeless, and The Operation of Grace. He is married to the novelist Suzanne M. Wolfe. They are the parents of four grown children and live in Richmond Beach, Washington.

Reviews

[Jungsook Chung · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like proverbs of all the world because they are pithy ana carry wisdom. It is interesting to find commonality in them throughout the world.

"Climb High, Climb Far." by Gregory and Suzanne M. Wolfe is a thin book carrying proverbs. This book is divided into sections according to the major phases of 'human life, from childhood, family life, marriage, work, education and on to death and posterity.' Each section begins with a brief introduction, quotes, and lastly with one or two stories that are very interesting and appropriate.
I believe that is a very creative arrangement.

These are quotes I like.

The great man is he who does not lose his child's heart. Mencius

Wisdom leads us to childhood. Blaise Pascal

The more important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.
Theodore Hesburgh
Successful marriage demands a divorce; a divorce from your self-love. Paul Frost

The supreme end of education is expert discernment in all things. Samuel Johnson

A teacher can only help a student to find it within himself. Galileo Galilei

A man's drive for profit should be prompted by the desire to give charity. Nahman of Bratslav


God sells us all things at the price of labor. Leonardo da Vinci

No nation can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem. Booker T. Washington

It is only through the mystery of self-sacrifice that a man may find himself anew. Carl Jung

Much violence is based on the illusion that life is a property to be defended and not a gift to be shared. Henri Nouwen

Nature is not governed except by obeying her.

People have got to understand that the commandment, "Do unto others as you would that they should do unto you" applies to animals, plants and things, as well as to people, and that if its regarded as applying only to people... then the animals, plants, and things will, in one way or another, do as badly by man as man has done by them. Aldus Huxley

It is possible to give without loving, but it is impossible to love without giving
Richard Brunstein
Bear one another's burdens. Galatians 6:2

I complained that I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet. Benjamin Franklin

... no evil can happen to a good man, either in life or after death Socrates

Life is a state of embryo, a preparation for life. A man is not completely born until he has passed
through death. Benjamin Franklin

As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so life well used brings happy death. Leonardo da Vinci

To renounce all is to gain all; to descend is to rise and to die is to live Karl Rahner

Man's fate is his character Heraclitus

[Jackie Law]

"[Peace] requires constant effort and commitment. Those who try to bring peace to a divided world have to be strong, courageous people. They also have to have peace within themselves before they can share it with others."


"Peace can never be achieved by force. It can only be achieved by understanding." Albert Einstein