Kathryn Petras

A compilation of musings to motivate and inspire readers in need of a quick pick-me-up. We all want to be the person who marches into a meeting brimming with self-confidence, unbothered by what others think of them right before making a killer speech. But all too often, crippling self-doubt creeps in. This book is a self-esteem boosting collection of pocket-sized pep talks from successful people in a multitude of fields, including Serena Williams, Stephen King, Helen Keller, Julia Child, and so much more-that will give readers a strong dose of self-assurance. "I am lucky that whatever fear I have inside me, my desire to win is always stronger." -Serena Williams "The scariest moment is always just before you start." -Stephen King"Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence." -Helen Keller"Just speak very loudly and quickly, and state your position with utter conviction, as the French do, and you'll have a marvelous time!" -Julia Child

Baffling gaffes and fantastic fumbles Yup, they really said that! This daily dose of absurdly asinine articulations will have you truly SMH and ROTFL. Truth-challenged politicians ("I never claimed to be Jewish. I said I was 'Jew-ish.'" -Rep. George Santos). Pointless 911 calls ("How do I delete a voice mail from my phone?"). What not to say in court ("When we robbed that gas station, was I there?" -defendant, acting as his own defense attorney, questioning his codefendant). Plus, the dumbest questions asked of Disney employees ("Is Mickey Mouse a cat or a dog?") and hilarious headlines (KNIFE CRIME SOARS TO RECORD LEVEL AS POLICE CHIEFS BLAME CUTS-Daily Telegraph headline). Printed on responsibly sourced paper and 100% recyclable.

A gift that celebrates being yourself, in your own unique way. Do you ever feel different? A little weird, a little wacky? It’s time to own it, because, as Meryl Streep proclaimed, “what makes you different or weird, that’s your strength.” In this inspiring collection, singers, poets, actors, activists, comedians, designers, athletes, and philosophers share wise and pithy reflections on what it’s like to march to the beat of a different drummer. Every statement is a powerful, positive reminder that to live successfully is to be completely unapologetically you. “We are not what other people say we are. We are who we know ourselves to be, and we are what we love. That’s OK.” —Laverne Cox “All the colors I am inside have not been invented yet.” —Shel Silverstein “I am different, not less” —Temple Grandin “The more I feel imperfect, the more I feel alive.” —Jhumpa Lahiri “Self-censorship is insulting to the self. Timidity is a hopeless way forward.” —Ai Weiwei

A COMPENDIUM OF WISDOM “Just when I discovered the meaning of life, they changed it.” – GEORGE CARLIN When change comes we have two options: Resist it, and lose. Or go with the flow, and grow. Which means there’s really just one option—embracing change is the only path to living your true life. So laugh at it, with George Carlin. Celebrate it, like Patti Smith and David Bowie. Above all, grow with it, like Maya Angelou, Stephen Hawking, Rebecca Solnit, Rumi, and so many others. Arranged alphabetically by subject—including Adapting, Control, Faith, Letting Go, New Beginnings, Surprises—CHANGE HAPPENS is the book that says: You can do this…as often as you need to hear it. “Change is not merely necessary to life—it is life.” – ALVIN TOFFLER Exciting. But often painful. Exhilarating, but unsettling. Clarifying. Bewildering. Unpredictable, and yet inevitable. And usually all of those things at the same time. Like it or not, change happens, and when it does, here is a little book that offers true support—a collection of very wise words by very changed people who know just how you feel.

The thrill of victory, the agony of a tight jockstrap. It’s the reason we love sports—you never know what’s going to happen. Sometimes everything clicks, with the best athlete in the world competing at their peak, and the result is a thing of breathtaking beauty. But sometimes the opposite happens, resulting in moments of breathtaking hilarity, or astonishing inanity, or just plain head-scratching puzzlement. Welcome to The Stupidest Sports Book of All Time. Featuring: ·The most boring games in sports history ·Wise(ish) words on winning ·Stupid mascot antics ·The strangest things coaches have done to motivate teams ·And much, much more!

For word nerds and grammar geeks, a witty guide to the most commonly mispronounced words, along with their correct pronunciations and pithy forays into their fascinating etymologies and histories of use and misuse. With wit and good humor, this handy little book not only saves us from sticky linguistic situations but also provides fascinating cocktail-party-ready anecdotes. Entries reveal how to pronounce boatswain like an old salt on the deck of a ship, trompe l'oeil like a bona fide art expert, and haricot vert like a foodie, while arming us with the knowledge of why certain words are correctly pronounced the slangy way (they came about before dictionaries), what stalks of grain have to do with pronunciation, and more. With bonus sidebars like How to Sound like a Seasoned Traveler and How to Sound Cultured, readers will be able to speak about foreign foods and places, fashion, philosophy, and literature with authority.

A book of inspirational quotations, Nothing Is Worth More Than This Day presents hundreds of reminders from some of the smartest people who ever lived—from Dr. Seuss to Erma Bombeck, Thich Nhat Hanh to Lena Dunham—that happiness is everywhere and the glass is half-full. It’s the perfect gift of optimism, for good times and not-so-good times.

Pursuing a dream is hard work, but the right words delivered at the right time—by people who’ve been there and done that—can give us just the motivation we need. The right words can rekindle our enthusiasm, re-energize our efforts, dispel doubt, let us know we’re not alone, and show us that the fight is worth it—and winnable. Kathryn and Ross Petras are masters at choosing and delivering just the right words. Their books—such as “Age Doesn’t Matter Unless You’re a Cheese” and “Dance First. Think Later.”—and bestselling calendar, The 365 Stupidest Things Ever Said, have over 5.2 million copies in print. Now comes a book for dreamers and doers, plus writers, entrepreneurs, graduates, artists, future movers and shakers. Collecting the hard-won, brilliantly expressed advice from pioneers who have paved the way, including everyone from Rumi to Steve Jobs, Michelangelo to Oprah to Tina Fey, “It Always Seems Impossible Until It’s Done” is like a rousing locker-room speech, inspiring courage, commitment, and perseverance.“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” —Michael Jordan“Go for it, baby! Life ain’t no dress rehearsal.” —Tallulah Bankhead “Perfection is like chasing the horizon. Keep moving.” —Neil Gaiman“If you aren’t in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?” —T. S. Eliot“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” —Nelson Mandela

Timeless in their wisdom, thought-provoking in their message, surprising in their truth and memorable in their originality, the right words can give direction, inspiration, and sometimes a tangible boost onto the right path. For example, Steve Jobs once read "Stay hungry Stay foolish" on the back cover of The Whole Earth Catalog, and those four words came to guide his life. Created by Kathryn and Ross Petras, connoisseurs of quotes, whose books and calendars have over 56 million copies in print, "Dance First. Think Later." is a collection of the greatest life wisdom from an unexpected group of speakers, doers, and thinkers. There are 618 rules to live by-funny, sly, declarative, thoughtful, offhanded, clever, and always profound:"Watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you, because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places." -Roald Dahl"If everything is under control, you are going too slow." -Mario Andretti"Never make a credit decision on a beach."-Victor J. Boschini"Dance first. Think later. It's the natural order."-Samuel Beckett"The only time to eat diet food is while waiting for the steak to cook." -Julia Child"What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight; build it anyway." -Mother TeresaAnd: "Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken."-Oscar Wilde

Uncommon times call for uncommon wisdom. It's inspiring to hear from people who've graduated from the school of hard knocks, yet kept a sense of humor. People like Twain, Voltaire, Oscar Wide. People who've said the thing so well that we all wish we'd said it. People who've been there, done that, and refuse to sugarcoat what they've learned. From Kathryn and Ross Petras, curators of craziness (and surprising smarts) comes a timely collection of reassuring reality.

"It's ill-becoming for an old broad to sing about how bad she wants it. But occasionally we do." -Lena Horne"I take a simple view of living. It is: Keep your eyes open and get on with it." -Laurence Olivier"The only sin is mediocrity." -Martha Graham"When I was young, I found out that the big toe always ends up making a hole in a sock. So I stopped wearing socks." -Albert Einstein"Go out on a limb. That's where the fruit is."-Jimmy CarterFull of surprise, insight, humor, perspective, celebration, inspiration, and a kind of offhand, poignant poetry, Age Doesn't Matter Unless You're a Cheese-title courtesy of Billie Burke-shares hundreds of the best things men and women over sixty have said about how to love, work, laugh, and live. Collected by authors with a perfect ear for quotes, Kathryn and Ross Petras, Age Doesn't Matter brings together Albert Einstein's equation for happiness, Colette on the virtues of astonishment, and Julia Child's secret of longevity: "Red meat and gin."

A study of the problem of premature menopause furnishes the latest information on related health and emotional issues, shares the experiences of women sufferers, lists hundreds of resources and support groups, and provides up-to-date guidelines on potential treatments. Original. 30,000 first printing.

"Jobs '98" is your ticket to today's changing job market, with up-to-date and comprehensive information on: The most exciting new opportunities, from on-line journalism to financial consulting to jobs abroad in Eastern Europe and Asia The hottest cities and regions in the country with the best job opportunities The top companies in every industry The best job-hunting tools and leads available on-line--and how to use them The real lowdown on salaries, working conditions, and outlook "Best bet" companies with strong employment prospects, unique opportunities, or great chances for advancement What the future holds--business by business, region by region, career by career Whether you're hunting for your first job out of college, turning over a new leaf and switching careers, looking to move up in your current field, or assessing the ever-evolving job market, this is the ultimate resource. In these pages you'll find all the best positions, the best salaries, and the best opportunities in every area, plus the trends to be on the lookout for. Designed to make your job search as quick, effective, and enlightening as possible, "Jobs '98" puts a wealth of timely and specific job leads at your fingertips. Everything you need is here.

The ultimate reference for info-junkies, multiculture vultures, and trivia pursuers. Here's everything you need to know about the history, philosophy, art, literature, politics, and worldview of all the cultures of the world. United States citizens are becoming citizens of the world. Just look at the front page of any newspaper, the travel schedule of any corporate executive, college curricula, high school reading lists, the advertising and fashion spreads that fill our magazines, and our computer screens. The global village has arrived. We're all connected. World Access Is the first reference book guaranteed to fill in the gaps in anyone's incomplete education and provide a great time along the way. Packed with lists, brief biographies, statistics, and much more, this lively volume explores: the history of the world, from ancient Africa to modern China the philosophies of the world, plus what philosophy is, in case you wondered who's worshipping whom, from Jesus to Vishnu art and architecture from hieroglyphics to op art, from Angkor Wat to Chartres cathedral literature from its sparest (the Japanese haiku) to Its most expansive (the Greek epic poem, or would it be Ulysses?) how we act out, from Sophocles to Satyajit Ray to downtown performance art the music of our sphere, from Haydn's symphonies to reggae's beat the top ten languages of the world (not counting English) politics: You say you want a revolution? Or did you want peace in the Middle East? Cutting-edge and fun to read, rich with facts and art and charts and bite-size nuggets of all kinds, World Access takes us beyond our own borders to the world at large.

A connoisseur's compendium of Freudian slips, spoonerisms, double-talk, and utter bosh from famous and infamous figures past and present -- a complete course in anti-eloquence by the foot-in-mouth champions of all time.