The Power of Suggestion

“The best of a book is not the thought which it contains, but the thought which it suggests; just as the charm of music dwells not in the tones but in the echoes of our hearts.” – John Greenleaf Whittier

Born in December 1807, Whittier was renowned for both his writing and his support of a bevy of civil and equal rights activities, including Abolition, Women’s Rights and Social Justice.  A deeply religious man raised in the Quaker faith, he was first introduced to poetry by an elementary teacher and began writing his own verse while still in high school. 

 

   By the time of his death in 1892 he had published more than 30 books – 23 of them poetry collections. Since then, dozens more of his writings and books about him and his life also have been published.

So influential were Whittier’s writings and leadership skills that he had three cities, two colleges, numerous schools, parks, roads and bridges, and two mountain peaks named in his honor. 

“You don’t always win your battles,” he said, “but it’s good to know that you fought.”

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