This book truly touched me! I am a veteran teacher who is currently struggling with budget cuts, layoffs, and low morale as we face yet another year without a contract in my school. I happened upon this book, and am truly happy to say that my disheartened spirit found a ray of hope. Intrator's collection of stories from teachers across the country, like myself, have reminded me of many of the reasons that drew me to this profession. I feel inspired, and proud to be a teacher.

PS: For those of you who have wondered what a teacher's life is like, read this collection of stories and get a glimpse of our special world.

I need this book every day to help me understand and meet the complex demands of my work as a high school English teacher. Sam possesses a keen insight into and commitment to the challenges we face in the contemporary classroom. What distinguishes Sam's book from others is its concern for the teacher's entire life. Our teaching comes from our heart at its best and our teaching is the story of who we are. This book tells that story, through OUR stories, in a way that makes it new and makes me proud to be a teacher. The book never whines but always entertains even as it confronts the hard truths that make up our days in the classroom. When you finish this book---which you never will, for you will reread certain stories again and again---you will understand why your work matters and will sense, even at those difficult moments, the dignity inherent in the work you do. Thank you for the book, Mr. Intrator.

FINALLY! Here is a book about what it really means to be a teacher with joy, hope, determination and courage in tough times. This book explains why people become teachers, and how the simple things they do make a world of difference in children's lives -- not just academically, but emotionally and soulfully. We need more books like this, telling not only what "needs to be done" to educate children and young adults, but how many people are already doing those things. Intrator's book is a refreshing addition to literature on teaching, a wonderful gift to anyone who loves kids, loves to learn, and loves simply to live as fully as possible.

Ostensibly, this book is about finding an authentic spirituality without withdrawing from the community. The active life of the title is offered as a contrast to a solitary contemplative life as exemplified by the late, and now famous Christian monk, Thomas Merton. I don't know if, in the writing of it, the book developed beyond Palmer's initial intentions, but it is as much about our relationship with our own demons and the creative mastery that is ours when we have the courage to face them as it is an exploration of the title theme. This book gets my absolute highest recommendation.

In his book The Active Life, Parker Palmer asserted that contemplation and action are not at odds with each other but rather different aspects of a common approach to truth. An approach which seeks to unmask illusions and live out true reality in everyday life. By exploring new ways of relating to action and contemplation Palmer illustrated how these areas are united and how we can incorporate both into our own unique journey. The author asked us to see how our picture of what our lives are embedded in shapes what we do. He argued that all of our actions ultimately have some underlining context of belief. That if we permit the view of competing individuals in a sparse world to fix in our thinking, we will ultimately create a lonely environment which is impoverished and hostile to true community. Actions based on false beliefs have the energy to bring falsehoods into real life.

In The Company of Strangers, a strikingly relevant book even after nearly twenty years, noted educator Parker J. Palmer describes public experience as our "life among strangers with whom our lot is cast, with whom we are interdependent whether we like it or not." And the educational process is one "which brings us out of ourselves into an awareness of our connectedness." At its core, public education recognizes the fundamental dignity of a "relationship rooted in our common humanity." Public education then, unlike private forms, will consciously underscore the shared primary elements of social experience without giving preferential treatment to limited secondary characteristics based on wealth, economic status, race, religion or ideology.

"In this process," Palmer continues, "opinions become audible and accountable and individuals learn that private viewpoints have implications for the common good. Under the pressure of accountability religious discourse may be forced to reach for the essentials which unite us." In contrast to withdrawal from public participation into private enclaves of conspicuous consumption or of opting to participate only as a convinced crusader invincibly armored to fend of responsible dialogue, Palmer notes that "public life becomes the spiritual guide of our private life." Truth, he continues, "is a very large matter, and requires various angles of vision to be seen in the round." Such an assessment of public experience is, in my view, what makes American education a "very large matter," requiring each of us to renew the commitment to public education. In this way we may be drawn out of ourselves to the point where our angle of vision allows us to see and to respect the common ground we share with others.

Palmer depicts public life as pre-political -- a life of festivity
including block parties and theatre. He makes the point that without
public spaces in which strangers can learn to become comfortable
with each other, able to trust each other, a political life is an
impossibility. He makes a case for the significance of the stranger
in Christian and Jewish scriptures. He suggests that the mystery
of God is experienced in the mystery of the stranger, and that
living our religious beliefs in response to the stranger is a way
of encountering the mystery of God. He also sees churches and
synagogues as training grounds for developing the skills necessary
for public life. This is an inspiring book.

This book will help any who are struggling with finding authentic work, or the transformation of current work. The kind of wisdom on action Palmer describes here can help us all to find and to engage in work and creativity which serves simplicity, mindfulness and healing rather than materialism and distraction.

I was forced to read this years ago in an undergrad psych class on learning and behavior, yet it still stands out in my mind. I should have demanded a refund of my tuition, as it had no relevance to the course or to anything else.

The title alone should warn you as to how esoteric this guy is. He soon tells you about "coming into Troth with Truth." This could almost be forgivable if it were used merely as a metaphor (albeit a weird one) and quickly brought down to earth by concrete definitions of his terms. But such definitions -- the burden of even the most amateurish philosopher, if he wishes to be taken seriously -- are nowhere to be found. The whole thing reads like a Zen koan. (Wait till he starts talking about quantum physics!)

The reason for this becomes increasingly apparent as he capitalizes and personifies abstractions such as "Truth," exposing his thinly-veiled born-again-Christian paradigm. He might as well have just said "God."

To the degree that this sermon is even remotely intelligible, its take-home message is anti-rational and reveals a fundamental spite for the human faculty of reason. It preaches that one can find truth not by reading, writing, building, testing, digging up artifacts, working in the lab -- but by introspection. I'm sorry, but introspection only deepens one's prejudices. To the author, this is somehow synonymous with education.

If this condemnation sounds too harsh, by all means, PLEASE read the 5-star reviews, as they only reinforce my point.

I really appreciate Palmer's insight on how to rescue education from the lifeless imprint of objectivism. It may seem that Palmer is writing off objectivism totally, but that is not the case. Palmer helped me to put objectivism in its proper place. The problem addressed in this work is not objectivism so much as it is the sanctification of it as the only way to know and educate. Objectivism has its place in our knowing, but it should not be the whole of our epistemology.

He quotes Michael Polanyi who I believe to be one of the most honest thinkers of our time. I would recomend reading any of his writings prior to this. Polanyi was putting forth ideas like this long before it became popular to criticize objectivism.

This book helped me to deepen my understanding of education as learning rather than mere schooling. Palmer's voice needs to be heard by many now crusading for education reform if schools are to live up to their potential for spiritual transformation and cultural renewal. In my experience, authentic learning, and therefore education, is a kind of spiritual formation from a postmodern perspective. This essential aspect of schooling is in danger of being lost amidst the clamor from religious and professional educators and evangelists who are proponents of the merely conventional or sectarian.

The light within can shine out of someone so that others may see the path they are on. Palmer writes of his own journey in the finest tradition of Penn, Woolman and Fox. Parker writes of his own struggles, his wrong turns, his mistakes and his revelations. The path he took is not for everyone -- but that is the point. In the Biblical tradition, we can learn from his struggles, just as we learn from the struggles of the Jews in the Old Testament and the trials and tribulations of the early Christians in the New Testament. As we search for that of God within us, we can look to the experience of others who have gone before us.

After reading LET YOUR LIFE SPEAK, I got out of a competitive, contentious field and got into a position that makes me feel like a fish in water.

A great book for non-Quakers as well as Friends.

To discover the purpose and meaning in life is an aspiration that all people desire and seek. Many live a lifetime never finding their true purpose for why they were born and what their contribution towards community should be. Parker Palmer addresses this need head on. In his book Let Your Life Speak, Palmer explains that it is through listening and responding to the signs of life that we can find hope, comfort and peace. Parker uses his personal life, to tactfully illustrate the seasons of life that all experience. Parker causes the reader to explore their souls and lives to discover why we too are given our gift of life and what are we to do with it. Parker encourages this inner examination and encourages a response of reality and integrity. This little book is both practical and inspirational.

This book is a true gem, one of the best I have read in my lifetime. Many authors try to be startling and insightful, to change their readers' lives; few truly have that power. Parker Palmer's small book rocked me to my core. He speaks simply and honestly. He tells his own story with startling truthfulness and quietly challenges you to look as honestly at your own life. He offers insights and haunting questions that turn you inside-out, strip away your self-deceptions, and leave you with a truer sense of who you are.

A great read in my opinion. The book was fluid and easy to read and understand. I was able to feel what the main characters were going through in both the good and not-so-good situations. There are many comical sections in the book, which I enjoyed reading. The imaginations of the two authors are incredible; they're not so far out there that you're left confused, yet they're no where near dull or boring. I've already devoured this book more than once!

"The Courage to Teach" should be read again and again. It invokes new insights into your teaching career every time at various points in your life. The concepts are inspiring, and the conclusions honest.

If I have any complaints, it's that at times in the book, the language became a bit thick and abstract, losing the reader in extensive passages that might need to be reread several times to fully understand. For example, a sentence from page 105 reads:

"In rejecting the objectivist model, I have not embraced a relativism that reduces truth to whatever the community decides, for the community of truth includes a transcendent dimension of truth-knowing and truth-telling that takes us beyond relativism and absolutism alike."

To be fair, this quote is taken out of context, and I know that the book is not meant to be read like a pleasure novel... it's much deeper and more though-provoking than that. It's a real gem when Palmer describes examples of his points from classroom experiences, but I found myself choking on the pages of abstract language separating these examples. It took me longer than expected to finish.

Despite my minor misgivings, I highly recommend the book... especially to teachers. It'll be a permanent fixture on my bookshelf for years.

The Courage to Teach is likely to become a classic because it offers inspiration, constructive ways to think about teaching and ourselves as teachers, guidelines for engaging in professional conversations about teaching, brilliant and novel insights -- all in beautiful prose laced with humor and good stories. If the ideas in this book were embraced by the profession, they would revolutionize the classroom and improve the lives of both students and teachers. Palmer has thought deeply and well about the teaching life and created a book with soul. I plan to reread it.

My professional reading group is currently reading and journaling about The Courage To Teach. We have read many books about teaching and learning together, but Palmer's book brings us to our knees. As we focus on "Who" we are as educators, we are forced to soulfully search our spirits for that which makes us willing to greet each day in the classroom. We unanimously agree that Palmer's book should be required reading for every teacher in America. We are finding ourselves again.