This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women

“A welcome change from the sloganeering, political mudslinging and products of spin doctors.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer

 

Based on the NPR series of the same name,This I Believefeatures eighty Americans—from the famous to the unknown—completing the thought that the book’s title begins. Each piece compels readers to rethink not only how they have arrived at more >>

“A welcome change from the sloganeering, political mudslinging and products of spin doctors.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer

 

Based on the NPR series of the same name,This I Believefeatures eighty Americans—from the famous to the unknown—completing the thought that the book’s title begins. Each piece compels readers to rethink not only how they have arrived at their own personal beliefs but also the extent to which they share them with others.
Featuring many renowned contributors—including Isabel Allende, Colin Powell, Gloria Steinem, William F. Buckley Jr., Penn Jillette, Bill Gates, and John Updike—the collection also contains essays by a Brooklyn lawyer; a part-time hospital clerk in Rehoboth, Massachusetts; a woman who sells yellow pages advertising in Fort Worth, Texas; and a man who serves on Rhode Island’s parole board.
The result is a stirring and provocative trip inside the minds and hearts of a diverse group of people whose beliefs—and the incredibly varied ways in which they choose to express them—reveal the American spirit at its best.“To hold this range of beliefs in the palm of your hand is as fine, as grounding, as it was hearing them first on the radio. Heartfelt, deeply cherished beliefs, doctrines for living (yet none of them doctrinaire). Ideas and ideals that nourish. You can see it in their faces, in the photos in this book. And read it in their words. I’m so proud that NPR helped carry this Edward R. Murrow tradition into a new century. And so glad to have it in print, to encounter again and again.”—Susan Stamberg, special correspondent, National Public Radio
“My father, Edward R. Murrow, said that “fresh ideas” from others helped him confront his own challenges. This superb collection of thought-provokingThis I Believeessays, both from the new program heard on NPR and from the original 1950s series, provides fresh ideas for all of us!”—Casey Murrow, Elementary education publisher
“Reading this gives me a feeling about this country I rarely get: a very visceral sense of all the different kinds of people who are living together here, with crazily different backgrounds and experiences and dreams. Like a Norman Rockwell painting where all the people happen to be real people, and all the stories are true. It makes me feel hopeful about America, reading this. Hopeful in a way that’s in short supply lately.”—Ira Glass, Producer and Host ofThis American Life
“Now, as then, when Edward R. Murrow introduced the idea ofThis I Believe, this forward-thinking compilation serves as a wonderful antidote to the cynicism of the age.”—Daniel Schorr, Senior News Analyst, NPR, and former colleague of Edward R. MurrowJay Allison, the host and curator ofThis I Believe, is an independent broadcast journalist. His work appears often on NPR and has earned him five Peabody Awards. He is the founder of the public radio stations that serve Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, and Cape Cod, where he lives.
Dan Gedimanis the executive producer ofThis I Believe. His work has been heard onAll Things Considered,Morning Edition,Fresh Air,Marketplace,Jazz Profiles, andThis American Life. He has won many of public broadcasting’s most prestigious awards, including the duPont-Columbia Award.Foreword
Studs Terkel
 
“At a time when the tide runs toward a sure conformity, when dissent is often confused with subversion, when a man’s belief may be subject to inv << less