In the spirit of Rainer Maria Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet, Harmon's tongue-in-cheek collection of words to live by should become a new classic. Over the past 10 years, he queried hundreds of social thinkers, academics, poets, artists and more—and received some fantastic responses. As Harmon says, "I would be a complete ingrate not to share those thoughts." And so, Mary McCarthy advises, "Be truthful... and pay attention. I would also recommend the avoidance of credit cards." Anita O'Day suggests, "Just get up there and let it rip!" Dr. Laura Schlessinger counsels, "Never sell your soul." And Katharine Hepburn recommends, "Work as hard as you can, whatever you do, and try to spread generosity of spirit." (Apr. 2)
