Making Life Worth While

Fairbanks, Douglas, 1883-1939Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.5

Word count: 81K words
Chapters: 9

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Making Life Worth While by Douglas FairbanksAuthor: Fairbanks, Douglas, 1883-1939,Language: English, Class: BJ: Philosophy, Psychology, Religion: Ethics, Social usages, Etiquette, Religion, Release Date: Mar 23, 2015

Editor's review

This is a small book of life maxims by Douglas Fairbanks, classified under ethics and self-cultivation, whose central concern is how ordinary people can make their days count: meeting daily life with a positive attitude, and expressing self-discipline in action and in dealings with others. Its charm lies not in systematic argument but in the rhythm of short chapters and aphorisms, suited to casual dipping and reflective pauses. As an early twentieth-century inspirational text, many of its ideas carry a distinctly period tone; read today, one can take from it its encouragement to act and its emphasis on character, while also noting the social context behind its optimistic voice. For readers who enjoy the aphoristic form and want light spiritual reminders, it is a friendly introduction; for those seeking rigorous ethical analysis, it is better treated as a period specimen than as a theoretical work.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy short aphoristic pieces and want a book to dip into for reminders
Readers interested in early twentieth-century inspirational and self-cultivation texts
Learners who need light English reading material to practice reading rhythm
Readers who collect public-domain inspirational material for sharing or quotation

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting systematic ethical argument or academic analysis
Readers averse to inspirational tone who prefer a coolly critical perspective
Learners with weak English fundamentals who find old-style exhortative prose hard to follow

Reading tips

Read one or two pieces a day, and after reading write down one small thing you can do that day.
Copy out favorite sentences separately, and revisit them a week later to see whether you still agree.
While reading, note the period tone and mark which advice still applies today and which has become outdated.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a complete long-form treatise?

No. It is closer to a collection of short chapters and maxims, each relatively independent and suited to reading in spare moments. Readers need not proceed in order and can pick pieces by theme or mood; to form an overall impression, read through it once and summarize the core claims that recur.

Will the book's advice feel outdated today?

Some specific formulations carry the social tone of the early twentieth century, but the main themes of valuing action, self-discipline, and goodwill toward others still have reference value. Read with a discriminating eye: turn the practical parts into your own daily habits, and understand the clearly period-bound statements as historical context.

Is this book suitable as English learning material?

It can serve as supplementary material. The text is short with independent paragraphs, easy to study in segments; but exhortative prose uses many old-style expressions and abstract vocabulary, which beginners may find dull. It is best read after reaching an intermediate level, focusing on understanding the gist and accumulating expressions rather than analyzing every sentence.

Comments

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About the author

Fairbanks, Douglas, 1883-1939 Author · American · 1883–1939

Douglas Fairbanks (1883–1939) was a leading American actor of the silent-film era, best known for starring in adventure films such as Robin Hood and The Iron Mask, and celebrated on screen for his athletic agility and vitality. Two of his works are included here: Laugh and Live and Making Life Worth While. As the titles suggest, both books center on an optimistic, positive attitude toward life and lean toward inspirational essays, echoing the enterprising image he built on screen. Public information on the circumstances of their writing, their composition, and their reception is limited, making a detailed account difficult. On the whole, Fairbanks is first and foremost a well-known figure in film history; his written works are few and focus on meeting life with optimism, and may be seen as an extension of his public persona, offering some insight into the tone and interests of early twentieth-century American inspirational reading.