Showing results by narrator "Don Gentry" in All Categories

 The Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola, written between 1522 and 1524, are a set of meditations, contemplations and prayers by Saint Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits. They are divided into four thematic parts and composed with the intention of helping participants in religious retreats to discern the will of God in their lives. 

The author urges Christians to absolutely surrender to God and provides examples of the blessings that flow from a life of surrender. An inspirational work and a Christian classic.

On Liberty is an 1859 philosophical treatise by the English philosopher John Stuart Mill (1806 - 1873) which applies an ethical system of utilitarianism to society and the state. Mill starts with a brief overview of the meaning of liberty and proffers his basic argument in favor of liberty for the individual, to the degree that it harms no one else. The value of liberty of opinion and liberty of action are set forth in two chapters.

“The root of all virtue and grace, of all faith and acceptable worship, is that we know that we have nothing but what we receive, and bow in deepest humility to wait upon God for it.” Humility is a classic by Reverend Andrew Murray, and remains a popular source of inspiration over 100 years after its first publication. 

 On War was written by Prussian general Carl von Clausewitz after the Napoleonic Wars in the early 19th century. It is considered to be one of the most influential pieces of strategy writing ever published. In the book, he uses many historical examples, including copious references to Napoleon and Frederick the Great. 

The book begins in 1521 at the great turning point in the life of St Ignatius, when he was wounded at the battle of Pamplona. It then covers the next 17 years up to the arrival of Ignatius and his early companions in Rome. Those were the years of pilgrimage, travel and searching, and of preparation for the establishment of the great religious order he would found.

Carmilla is a Gothic novella by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu first published in 1872. It tells the story of a young woman's susceptibility to the attentions of a female vampire named Carmilla. Carmilla predates Bram Stoker's Dracula by 25 years. Although Carmilla is a lesser known and far shorter Gothic vampire story than the generally-considered master work of that genre, Dracula, the latter is heavily influenced by Le Fanu's short story.

Written during the most eventful years of Benjamin Franklin's life (1771-90), the autobiography is one of the most influential memoirs in history. This newly edited Norton Critical Edition includes an introduction that explains the history of the autobiography within the larger history of the life-writing genre as well as within the history of celebrity.  

The labour leader Eugene V. Debs (1855-1926) was sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment for sedition after giving this speech on June 16, 1918 in Canton, Ohio. The speech denounced the First World War and the military draft.

Andrew Murray's True Vine is a 31-day devotional examining the Parable of the Vine and the Branches in John 15 verses one to 16. Each day’s devotional elaborates and expounds upon the chapter, offering deep and detailed spiritual insight on the meaning of phrases like “abiding in Christ” and “vine on the branch”. The work is an inspirational guide on how to dwell in God’s love, maintain communion with Christ and replace fear with peace of mind. 

Notes from the Underground is a revolutionary novel by Dostoevsky. The unnamed narrator is a former government official who has retreated into an underground existence. In complete withdrawal from society, he writes a passionate screed which attacks social utopianism.

John Muir (1838-1914) was an influential naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, and advocate for the preservation of wilderness areas in the United States. In 1869, Muir traveled to California and spent a long time in the area that is now the Yosemite National Park. This narrative takes the form of a hiking guide filled with adventure. Muir was a master of description, providing stirring portraits of the area’s wildlife, waterfalls, valleys, meadows, giant sequoias groves, lakes, mountains, and glaciers. 

William Wymark Jacobs (1863 - 1943) was an English short-story writer. "The Monkey's Paw" is a classic horror story whose title refers to a shrunken monkey’s paw that is said to have the power to grant its possessor three wishes.