Live to Be Useful

AnonymousProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.0

Word count: 70K words
Chapters: 8

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.Live to be Useful by AnonymousAuthor: Anonymous,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Mar 30, 2008

Editor's review

Live to be Useful is an anonymously published English juvenile reader, classified as juvenile literature. The title literally means "live to be useful" and carries the exhortative moral-education tone common in the nineteenth century. Such works usually convey diligence, responsibility and helpfulness through everyday scenes and characters' words and deeds; the language is plain and the length short, making it a sample for understanding the tone of old-style children's literature. Its value lies not in plot complexity but in showing how character formation for the young was articulated in that era, and it is useful to readers studying the history of children's literature, the evolution of educational ideas, or English extensive reading. Readers may treat it as a mirror of its time: see the story, and also see how the values behind it are organized and conveyed.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers studying early juvenile literature and moral-education readers
Students who want to practice extensive reading in easy English
People interested in the language style of nineteenth-century English children's books
Collectors of public-domain juvenile literature ebooks

Not a good fit for

Young readers seeking strong plots and fast pacing
Parents hoping for guidance from modern educational ideas
Readers clearly averse to didactic narration

Reading tips

Read the first few chapters to judge the narrative pace, then decide whether to read through or select representative chapters.
Note recurring exhortative phrases while reading and observe how the author conveys lessons through story.
Read alongside other juvenile works of the same period to appreciate shared writing conventions.
In extensive reading, do not look up every word; grasp the paragraph's main idea first, then revisit key sentences.

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 suitable as English reading for children?

The language is generally plain, but the book is early and some wording and sentence patterns feel old today, with a strong didactic flavor. If the child has some English foundation and does not mind old-style stories, it can be tried; otherwise, an adult should first select chapters and read together.

Why is the author marked Anonymous?

The source shows the author as Anonymous, meaning it was published without a name. This is not rare in early exhortative juvenile readers; the given material does not explain the specific identity, and readers need not infer the work's value from this.

What is this book mainly about?

The material gives only the title, category and public-domain source, with no plot summary. Judging from the title and juvenile literature classification, it should revolve around diligence, responsibility and helpfulness; specific characters and story require reading the original, and one should not over-speculate from the title.

Where can I get the electronic edition?

The book is released by Project Gutenberg as a free public-domain ebook. Search the title on that platform and download common formats; check the release information and edition, and rely on the actual file content when reading.

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About the author

Anonymous Author

Anonymous is a collective designation used in English-language publishing for works whose authorship is unknown or unsigned, rather than the real name of a single author. The 716 titles attributed to this name include the Gospel of John, Psalms, Romans, Luke, Philippians, and 1 Corinthians from the World English Bible, as well as the Gospel of John and Psalms from the King James Version. Such texts are mainly religious classics and ancient folk traditions that were copied, translated, and compiled over long periods, making their original authors difficult to trace; they therefore circulated anonymously. Public information is limited, and neither nationality nor dates of birth and death can be confirmed. The significance of anonymity lies in focusing attention on the works themselves rather than on authorial identity, and in reminding readers of the collective and variable nature of texts in transmission.