"The Briar Patch Philosopher" is a collection of wise sayings that are simple to remember. One of my favorites that I learned from my dad was, "Even the good will of a bad dog is worth something." We all face bad dogs in our work places, in our families and with our friends. By getting the good will of bad dogs on your side, you make the dog's biting you very difficult. Another of my favorite sayings from "The Briar Patch Philosopher" is, "Suffering leads to patience, patience leads to perseverance, perseverance leads to character, character leads to strength, strength leads to courage, and courage produces a happy life." We generally fail to understand why we suffer mentally, physically and/or emotionally. But once we learn what suffering is teaching us, then we can go through it and come out of it better than we've been. Life is a relatively simple game to play. All we have to do is to strive each day to be better than we've been the day before. You can use this philosophy to achieve almost any goal. In the briar patch of life, you'll encounter thorns, hurts, disappointments, various trials, danger and missteps all along the way. Also, in the briar patch of life, you'll find the true virtues that are necessary - courage, endurance, patience, faith and wisdom. If you're willing to run through the briar patch and the fires of everyday living, and you rely heavily on courage, endurance, patience, faith and wisdom, you can have a happy, successful, prosperous and meaningful life. I've always told my children, "You can learn from the lumps on my head, or you can put those same lumps on your head." The easiest way to get through the briar patch is to learn from the wisdom of others. The most-difficult way to get though the briar patch is to run through the storms, fall in the holes and get hurt, sick, disoriented and discouraged like many do. If you pay attention, the route to wisdom has the right answers for all questions before they're even asked. Wisdom can tell you which road to take, what type of employment to seek, and whether or not to test an idea or try a new business. Wisdom also can teach you when to keep your mouth shut, when to charge into danger with reckless abandon and how to be courageous. To become courageous, you must face and overcome any fear you have about anything. Once you obtain courage and face life unafraid is when you'll find true happiness. Like anyone else, I don't always do the right thing. However, these sayings help me to recognize my mistakes and often prevent me from making the same mistake again. I'm not the briar patch philosopher. I'm just the rabbit who's gone into the briar patch and tried to learn from all who have ventured into the briar patch and come out on the other side. Hopefully like me, you'll learn some wisdom to live by, gain some strength to endure and find the courage to put a smile on your face from "The Briar Patch Philosopher."

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK • A radiant collection of letters from the renowned author of Invisible Man that traces the life and mind of a giant of American literature, with insights into the riddle of identity, the writer’s craft, and the story of a changing nation over six decades These extensive and revealing letters span the life of Ralph Ellison and provide a remarkable window into the great writer’s life and work, his friendships, rivalries, anxieties, and all the questions about identity, art, and the American soul that bedeviled and inspired him until his death. They include early notes to his mother, written as an impoverished college student; lively exchanges with the most distinguished American writers and thinkers of his time, from Romare Bearden to Saul Bellow; and letters to friends and family from his hometown of Oklahoma City, whose influence would always be paramount. These letters are beautifully rendered first-person accounts of Ellison’s life and work and his observations of a changing world, showing his metamorphosis from a wide-eyed student into a towering public intellectual who confronted and articulated America’s complexities.

The future of sales is radically transparent. Are you ready for it? Today, anyone buying anything relies on reviews and feedback shared by strangers and often trust those anonymously posted experiences more than the claims made by the providers of the products or services themselves. They expect to see the full picture and find out all of the pros and cons before making any purchase. And the larger the purchase, the greater the demand for transparency. What if the key to selling was to do exactly the opposite of what most sales courses tell you to do? It may be hard to imagine, but something as counterintuitive as leading with your flaws can result in faster sales cycles, increased win rates, and makes competing with you almost impossible. Leveraging transparency and vulnerability in your presentations and your negotiations leads to faster buyer consensus, larger deals, faster payments, longer commitments and more predictable sales forecasts. In this groundbreaking book, award winning sales leader Todd Caponi will reveal his hard-earned secrets for engaging potential buyers with unexpected honesty and understanding the buying brain to get the deal you want, while delighting your customer with the experience.