Speaking of Success: Collected Wisdom, Insights and Reflections

Pauline Carey is an actor, playwright, and fiction writer. She is the
author of Magic and What’s in a Name?

This book of quotes on how to lead a successful life is held together by
Pamela Wallin’s own introspection, as well as by brief sketches of the
many successful people she has talked with over her many years as a
journalist and interviewer.

The book is divided into chapters with headings like “Staying
Stupid” and “Playing the Cards You’re Dealt.” The need to speak
out against injustice—a course of action that can lose people their
jobs—is the theme of the book’s most thought-provoking chapter,
“Living Out Loud.” Some of the chapters introduce familiar
personalities, such as the humanitarian Jean Vanier, the boxer George
Chuvalo, the entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson, singers Jann Arden and
Joni Mitchell, and authors Dr. Edward De Bono, Umberto Eco, and Frank
McCourt. But it is from less-known figures that some of the most
memorable quotes emerge. Asked how he remembers music, Wen Chu, a
five-year-old musical prodigy, says he does not memorize. “I put it in
my heart, and when I need it, I just open up my heart.” That is what
this book invites us to do.