Chicken Soup for the Soul
by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen
The 1993 original: 101 short inspirational stories about love, parenting, learning, overcoming obstacles and following dreams, rejected by 144 publishers before selling tens of millions. Sentimental by design and effective in small doses.
Read it if…
you want short, uplifting true stories to read one at a time.
See the book →
Skip it if…
you dislike sentiment; this is unapologetically warm.
Try instead: The Greatest →
Three things you will actually use
- Stories move people more than arguments.
- Persistence: 144 rejections.
- Small kindnesses change lives.
Do this first
Read one story aloud to someone tonight.
Our verdict
The original, sentimental and effective.
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Compare with other Motivation books
How Full Is Your Bucket?
Tom Rath and Donald O. Clifton · Motivation
Simple and memorable.
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