Make Gentle the Life of This World: The Vision of Robert F. Kennedy by Robert F. Kennedy

Make Gentle the Life of This World: The Vision of Robert F. Kennedy Reviews

• 
  Linda

  Robert Kennedy's son tells us that Bobby and Jack (JFK) were both in the habit of collecting favourite quotes and writing down their thoughts/ideas - using them as inspiration for future writings and speeches. Max Kennedy is Bobby's ninth child and he has compiled some of his father's collection. He also went through all of RFK's speeches and writings and pulled some additional material. I am a huge fan of Robert Kennedy. I was too young when he died to appreciate the scope of what Americans lost with his death, although I have a clear memory watching TV seeing the coverage of his final journey by train, hundreds of people lining the track in silence. This book is a moving tribute and reminder of what slipped through their fingers. Wise and gentle words that even now can make us better.
• 
  Charles Gonzalez

  As a 14 year old in 1968 I saw Bobby Kennedy speak in front of the Loews American movie theatre in the Bronx. My family was not particularly political and my mother was not going. Somehow I found out about his appearance and decided to walk the mile to the movie house. Of course later that year I was watching TV and his speech after the California primary and his assassination by Sirhan Sirhan. I have never had that feeling again for any political figure in American history. Perhaps it was the combination of killings, MLK and Bobby, perhaps a hangover from his brother's death just 5 years earlier. I just felt a connection to this relatively young man, who as I later grew up and read his history, had as many faults as any other being. But to this day, I remember him and his memory with pride, sadness and optimism. What might have been. I saved and watch his impromptu speech in front of an audience of African Americans announcing the death of MLK, quoting Aeschylus while speaking plainly of the need for all Americans to join together in fighting the madness. I have witnessed no other politician or speaker equal Bobby's achievement that night.
  This volume, written and edited by his youngest son, encapsulated all of this history for me. It includes pieces of speeches Bobby made (including the MLK announcement speech), as well as quotations from writers and leaders he admired, including said Aeschylus but also Albert Camus, Tennyson and others. I discovered once again Bobby's genius , his passionate connection to ordinary Americans he met on his campaigns and his intellectual honesty. He was a visionary, a social progressive in the best context of that crazy word, but at the same time a realist, a pragmatic leader Amanda social commentator who understood, and was not afraid to express his belief in the limitations of government. There is no doubt he would be branded a DINO (Democrat in name on,y) by the progressive establishment today. But Sanders, et al cannot hold a candle to him, they are but dim, dimwitted shadows of his brilliance. May his memory live forever.
• 
  Cynda

  I learned how much this nation, and the world, lost when we lost Robert F. Kennedy. But more than that, I learned that we can still gain so much by studying his words and actions, and that his legacy will continue to give us hope.
• 
  Jennifer

  A beautiful, thought provoking look at the words and quotes that defined one of the greatest men of the 1900's. I saw many quotes from Robert Kennedy in this book that apply to the events of today. One wonders what would have happened had he lived. I wish he had.
• 
  Rob Daly

  I still pick this book up from time to time. It is a wonderful tool for self reflection. You can find a lot of personal credos in this book.
• 
  Lisa

  I beautiful and powerful collection of quotes full of wisdom and history. This book started as JFK's notes and quotes that he liked that he wrote in his day planner. When he was assassinated in 1963 he brother, Bobbby was the one to clean out the oval office. He took the book and began to add to it until his own assassination in 1968. It saw among thousands of papers until own of his youngest sons Maxwell, only five when his Dad was taken from him, began to read it. As he says, "In search of my father."
  
  A quick read, but full of emotion and history.
• 
  Casey

  An amazing collection of thoughts that I like to come back to as a reminder that every once in a while, history throws us a figure who felt truth love and empathy for his fellow man and fought to do what he could with the power in his life. Light and inspirational. I don't keep many books on my shelf for fear that they will sit there and never be picked up again, but this one is worth having around.
• 
  Su

  Those that don't agree with me on the political scene might want to skip this review...the book is a compilation drawn from Robert Kennedy's journal and his speeches. I reread it last week in the furor of the Obama campaign. I can't help but think it is possible for this country to be the place RFK envisioned. It is "too soon" to say much else.
• 
  Maya

  It took me a long time to read this very short book, because I insisted on reading it very slowly. Since it was all quotations - often very powerful ones - it was a lot to take in at once, and I wanted to make sure I absorbed it all. But it was perfect for inspiring myself before starting graduate school. I won't say more, at the risk of sounding cheesy.
• 
  Brakeyshia R. Samms

  This was a great read. It was very inspiring. I really appreciated the diversity of issues that this book tackled, using quotes from RFK himself and others. Obviously there was political backdrop to some quotes, but it did not drown out the message of the book. I plan to re-read this book often, as I will derive new meanings from each quote. What a great man RFK was and will forever be.
• 
  P.S. Winn

  Reading this book makes me wonder if a time and a man like Robert Kennedy will ever be seen a gain. Can America rally around a person who wants to do good for all or have we become to cynical because of the abusive people that have been put into office. Did America really lower the bar so low we will never come back?
• 
  Dr. Robin Markowitz

  I so love this collection of Bobby's most beloved quotations, poetry and texts that I do try to carry it around in a cargo pocket any time I'm traveling and not driving.
  
  I will be reading it until my last breath.
• 
  Angie

  not a biography, but a collection of words Kennedy used to "challenge and inspire us, and also words he read that inspired and challenged him."
• 
  Ryan

  Good selection of his quotes and writings - looking for wedding readings and found a few that might work, but maybe not.
• 
  Mona

  A collective story of RFK through his son's heart. Max used a nice selection of his famous father's memoirs, Kennedy family photos, and stories he remembered as told by his Uncle Teddy.
• 
  Bliss

  Inspiring. Would that more modern-day public servants were this literate.
• 
  Keri

  5 stars for the beautiful cover.
• 
  Nhat Tran

  "And let's dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world." - Robert F. Kennedy
• 
  Raymond Thomas

  Great collection of notes and quotes from RFK and a multitude of thinkers and writers who influenced RFK's thoughts and views.
• 
  Shawn

  Reminds us yet again of the true depth of RFK's absence.
• 
  Juli

  A beautifully put together little book.
• 
  Audrey

  If you ever just want to collect RFKisms to live by, here is a good digest.
• 
  Bryan McCullick

  good insight