“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.” — Sir Richard Steele
“Music is a discipline, and a mistress of order and good manners, she makes the people milder and gentler, more moral and more reasonable.” — Martin Luther
“I began my education at a very early age—in fact, right after I left college.” — Winston Churchill
“Every post is honorable in which a man can serve his country.” — George Washington
“My dear friend, when grief presses you to the dust, worship there.” — C. H. Spurgeon
“[T]he ministry of Satan is employed to instigate the reprobate, whenever the Lord, in the course of his providence, has any purpose to accomplish in them...” — John Calvin (Institutes 2.4.5)
“Heaven is eternity in the presence of God through a Mediator. Hell is eternity in the presence of God with no Mediator.” — Tony Reinke
“Paul’s life was a prophetic book for Jews to read and see how to be saved, so our lives should be an easy to read book for the lost on how they can easily be saved.” — Ken Ham
“Even if you are on the right track, but just sit there, you will still get run over.” — Will Rogers
“The cold water of persecution is often thrown on the church’s face to fetch her to herself when she is in a swoon of indolence or pride.” — C. H. Spurgeon
“Man does not need to know exhaustively in order to know truly and certainly.” — Cornelius Van Til
“Question everything but Scripture.” — Geoff Botkin
“The world is a book, and those who do not travel, read only a page.” — St. Augustine
“Television is an invention that permits you to be entertained in your own living room by people you wouldn’t have in your house.” — David Frost
“A lot of men have a wishbone where they ought to have a backbone.” — Unknown
“The very familiarity of blessings sometimes makes us insensible to their value."— J. C. Ryle
“I have enough money to last me the rest of my life, unless I buy something.” — Jackie Mason
“Thanks, modest girls. Appreciated by a male whose time studying the ground is proportional to each degree of rising temperature.” — Unknown
“I’m not lost.” — Frank Churchill
“When she married you, she gave you her life to spend. Are you spending your life wisely?” — Dan Horn
“Non-Christian investigators of nature are as successful as they are because they work with stolen capital.” — Cornelius Van Til
“Be as careful of the books you read as of the company you keep, for your habits and character will be as much influenced by the former as by the latter.” — Paxton Hood
"When a Christian shuns fellowship with other Christians, the devil smiles. When he stops studying the Bible, the devil laughs. When he stops praying, the devil shouts for joy." — Corrie ten Boom
“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." — Edmund Burke
“Luther once said, ‘The devil hates goose quills,’ and, doubtless, he has good reason, for ready writers, by the Holy Spirit’s blessing, have done his kingdom much damage.” — C. H. Spurgeon
“The glory of great men should always be measured by the means they have used to acquire it.” — La Rochefoucauld
“I will keep the ground that God has given me and perhaps in his grace, he will ignite me again. But ignite me or not, in his grace, in his power, I will hold the ground.” — John Knox
“The measure of a great teacher isn’t what he or she knows; it’s what the students know.” — John C. Maxwell
“One proud, surly, lordly word, one needless contention, one covetous action, may cut the throat of many a sermon. Take heed to yourselves, lest your example contradict your doctrine.” — Richard Baxter
“People will not look forward to posterity who will not look backward to their ancestors.” — Edmund Burke
“I find television very educational. Every time someone turns it on, I go in the other room and read a book.” — Groucho Marx
“I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.” — Martin Luther
“We should never do what we cannot pray God to bless.” — James Smith
“Good government generally begins in the family, and if the moral character of a people once degenerate, their political character must soon follow.” — Elias Boudinot
“If you don’t fear God, you’ll fear everything.” — Dan Horn
“True education is not giving in the answer, it’s in showing them how to find it.” — Kelly Crawford
“You don’t have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body.” — C. S. Lewis
“A ship in the harbor is safe—but that is not what ships are built for.” — John Shedd
“What is the best safeguard against false doctrine? The Bible regularly read, regularly prayed over, regularly studied.” — J. C. Ryle
“Self-righteousness is being more aware of and irritated by the sins of others than you are conscious of and grieved by your own.” — Paul Tripp
“Dreams don’t work unless you do.” — John C. Maxwell
“Drag and Drop for Windows users: DRAG your peecee off your desk, and DROP it in the trash.” — some forum member’s tagline
“People fall in private, long before they fall in public. The tree falls with a great crash, but the secret decay which accounts for it, is often not discovered until it is down on the ground.” — J. C. Ryle
“Some people get an education without going to college; the rest get it after they get out.” — Mark Twain
“The happiest people don’t have the best of everything, they simply make the best of everything they have.” — Unknown
“TV. If kids are entertained by two letters, imagine the fun they’ll have with twenty-six. Open your child’s imagination. Open a book.” — Unknown
“[N]ot one particle remains to man as a ground of boasting. The whole is of God.” — John Calvin (Institutes 2.3.6)
“People who have time on their hands will inevitably waste the time of people who have work to do.” — Thomas Sowell
— February 1st, 2012 —
Book Review: “The Reagan Diaries,” ed. Douglas Brinkley
“During his two terms as the fortieth president of the United States, Ronald Reagan kept a daily diary in which he recorded, by hand, his innermost thoughts and observations on the extraordinary, the historic, and the routine day-to-day occurrences of his presidency. Now, nearly two decades after he left office, this remarkable record—the only daily presidential diary in American history—is available for the first time.
Brought together in one volume and edited by historian Douglas Brinkley, The Reagan Diaries provides a striking insight into this nation’s most important presidencies and sheds new light on the character of a true American leader. Whether he was in his White House residence study or aboard Air Force One, each night Reagan wrote about the events of his day, which often included his relationships with other world leaders Mikhail Gorbachev, Pope John Paul II, Mohammar al-Qaddafi, and Margaret Thatcher, among others, and the unforgettable moments that defined the era—from his first inauguration to the end of the Cold War, the Iran hostage crisis to John Hinckley Jr.’s assassination attempt.” — from the front flap
This book was difficult for me to read because it is a diary, a daily record of things: the book has no plot, no point, no direction, no goal—it is a constant, without much development or progression.
In addition, this is a personal diary; and because of this, Reagan does not stop to describe anything. Thus, acronyms will pop up out of the blue, with no definition; great international crises will creep into the picture and creep back out before you realize their import; the progress of issues such as START and SALT II are discussed, but no definition is given as to what they actually are. A glossary at the back of the book can be helpful for individuals, but unfortunately only covers people. For anyone who reads this book, it is critical to have a fundamental grasp of the events that took place during the Reagan administration in the ’80s, or it simply will not make much sense.
Douglas Brinkley, the editor, summarized out of necessity great portions of the journal to save space; the National Security Council redacted only about six pages; and Mrs. Reagan wished for only a few entries to be edited out for personal reasons.
However dull and difficult to read I personally found this book, this is a must-have for any student of Ronald Reagan. It truly does describe his inmost thoughts on nearly everything—surgeries, his children (it is sad to see that he seemed to have little affection for his children compared to that for his wife), foreign diplomats, Congress, the newspapers, John Hinckley Jr, terrorists, and daily life.
RANDOM THOUGHTS
Reagan really didn’t like the press at all because of their constant spinning of facts.
I was surprised at how many leaks Reagan reported.
I was surprised when I learned that the government operates full-force seven days a week—I thought it was usually only five or at most six, except for special occasions or emergencies.
Thought it interesting when Joe Biden and John McCain showed up; also one “Howie Phillips” (Mr. Howard Phillips?)
INDECENCY: Almost none: Reagan mentions a breast surgery Mrs. Reagan had at one point.
LANGUAGE: Mild language is used somewhat frequently, but is almost always written with dashes between the first and last letters. Nothing greater than d*mn and h*ll, though I think I noticed one instance of blasphemy.
AGE RANGE: Honestly, anyone could read this book, but not everyone would understand it. I suggest it for young adults because of the sophisticated subject matter.
© 2012 Kyle Shepherd | All Rights Reserved | All images property of their respective owners
Body text set in Fanwood Text Regular & Italic; header set in Nevis.