Several of the essays were well written and nicely read, but my general impression is that this collection is bland and uninspiring. ( )

Here's what I wrote about this read in 2010: "Very nice. One JSA's college reading list; updated from 1950's (some old, some new) personal philophies of famous and more-like-us Americans." ( )

Over 70 essays where people tell what they believe. Written by famous people like Colin Powell, Newt Gingrich, Penn Jillette and others. The editors included some essays from the 1950's by notables such as Jackie Robinson, Helen Keller and Albert Einstein. I found the essays by ordinary people the best and most insightful. ( )

I'm going to give myself this one because I read 63 of the essays at work in order to write short summaries. Pretty fun and interesting, especially the contrast between the values of the 50s and those of the early/mid naughts, but I have to agree with Publishers Weekly that the best, most enjoyable essays were by the relative unknowns. (Though I got a chill when I realized that one of the most inspiring of those "unknowns" is now...the U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.) ( )