The book is structured around 7 conditions that Morris sees as helpful to the achievement of any goal one might set for himself. These 7 conditions are a Clear Conception, Confidence, Concentrated Effort, Consistency, Commitment, Character and the Capacity to Enjoy the process. Each part of the book fleshes out exactly what each of these conditions entails. Here are some of my favorite quotes. From the section on a Clear Conception, "Our choices are always broader than our past. The best adventures in life need to be chosen, not from a predetermined menu based on what we've done already, but rather out of our deepest sense of who we are and how we can contribute to the world" (pg 31). On Confidence, a quote from La Rochefoucauld, "There is a form of eminence that does not depend on fate; it is an air that sets us apart and seems to portend great things; it is the value that we unconsciously attach to ourselves; it is the quality that wins us the deference of others; more than birth, position, or ability, it gives us ascendance" (pg 41). On Character, "Aristotle stressed that human beings are always in a state of becoming. What we are becoming is determined largely by what we are doing day after day" (pg 152). And a few pages later, from Iris Murdoch, "But if we consider what the work of attention is like, how continously it goes on, and how imperceptibly it builds up structures of value round about us, we shall not be surprised that at crucial moments of choice most of the business of choosing is already past...... The moral life, on this view, is something that goes on continually...." (pg 154). On the Capacity to Enjoy the process, "Love is always connected to learning. All of us can look back on the times in our lives where we have had the most intense enjoyment and see that they were times of great learning - learning a new sport, a new job, learning about a new person, or learning new things about a person already clsoe to us. Love and learning go together" (pg 166).

This is a truly profound meditation on how the world works and what it takes to achieve true sucess in any endeavor. It's the kind of book I will come back to when I have questions about what I need to do to achieve a goal I have set for myself. ... Read this book!...