A Message to Garcia

If you know me very well you know that I have a thing for books. I tend to buy things and take a really long time to read something. So I have a ton of books and have read only a handful. It’s something I need to get better at. But that’s not my story today. When I got home from my mission I was looking for some of the books I had sent home and came across my mom’s box of old books from her parents. There was a good mix of classics and church books.  Some were even books I had been looking for. One book in the box looked definitely older than the rest. It had a soft leather cover that was fading to green and had thick dark pages. My mom told me that she had bought it at when the possessions of a man she knew were being sold after his death. The book was called A Message to Garcia and Thirteen Other Things. This version (I’m pretty sure there are only 2 original printings) was from 1901. It sat on my bookshelf for almost two years and I didn’t crack its pages. I’m not sure what drew me to it at the end of this summer but I started reading it. It probably took me just over an hour to read. I would read a couple of sections a day. I was amazed at the simplicity of the topics of the book. Working hard, being yourself, collecting things, all really simple ideas but things that are super important. I would encourage anyone to read the entire book if they have the chance. Here is a link to just the title article. It is extremely easy and quick to read but teaches a lesson that the world needs to learn. This was written in 1899 and this type of man was rare. Now over a hundred years later in a world where we are even lazier and look for details and excuses and reasons not to do things I’m sure this kind of person is almost impossible to find. http://courses.csail.mit.edu/6.803/pdf/hubbard1899.pdf

Enjoy.

 (Just look at it! Its beautiful!)