Dear Patrick: Life Is Tough--Here's Some Good Advice

Front Cover
Harper Collins, 2003 M11 25 - 336 pages

Dear Patrick,

For five years I have been witness to your struggles to grow up without a father. As a family friend, I can't make that up to you. What I can do is stand by you, and teach you how to be the kind of man you wish your father had been ...

So begins the correspondence of two unlikely friends, Patrick Buckley, a sixteen-year-old New York City high schooler, and Jeffrey M. Schwartz, internationally renowned neuroscientist and the critically acclaimed author of Brain Lock and The Mind and the Brain. Inspired by Patrick's straight forward questions, Schwartz examines the moral teachings of our greatest spiritual leaders -- Jesus, Buddha, and Moses -- and filters them through the lens of his cutting-edge psychiatric research, as well as his own experiences of childhood loneliness and loss. With fierce certainty and love, Schwartz provides Patrick with a blueprint for breaking free from the culture of corrosive cynicism that threatens to destroy him, and for constructing a decent, meaningful, and fulfilling life. The result is a fascinating and revolutionary new code for living born of a man and a boy who sought honor and self-command in a culture of self-indulgence.

 

Contents

THE OWNERS MANUAL FOR YOUR BRAIN
159
THE ROAD WARRIORS GUIDEBOOK
219
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Page xii - Society cannot exist unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere, and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters.
Page 5 - And Jacob was left alone ; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh ; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
Page 78 - Datta : what have we given ? My friend, blood shaking my heart The awful daring of a moment's surrender Which an age of prudence can never retract...
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Page 77 - Well now that's done: and I'm glad it's over." When lovely woman stoops to folly and Paces about her room again, alone, She smoothes her hair with automatic hand, And puts a record on the gramophone. "This music crept by me upon the waters...
Page 78 - TURNING and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.
Page 59 - Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging : and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.

About the author (2003)

Jeffrey M. Schwartz M. D. is a psychiatrist and researcher in neuroplasticity and its connection to obeseeive-compulsive disorder. He is a believer in mind/body dualism and feels that science and religion should not be separated. Dr. Schwartz coined the term Brain Lock to describe obsessive-compulsive behavior and the treatment plan he formulated and wrote about in his book Brain Lock: Free Yourself from Obsessive-Compulsive Behavior. In his book Schwartz claims that obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD) are a result of a bio-chemical imbalance where brain functions will get "locked" in an obsessive-compulsive pattern and that OCD can be self-treated by following four steps. His book outlines these steps as Relabel, Reattribute, Refocus and Revalue. His other books include The mind and the brain: Neuroplasticity and the power of mental force and You Are Not Your Brain: The 4-Step Solution for Changing Bad Habits, Ending Unhealthy Thinking, and Taking Control of Your Life. Annie Gottlieb is a freelance writer specializing in psychology. She has contributed to many publications, including Mirabella, McCall's, and the New York Times Book Review and Op-Ed page. She is the author of Do You Believe In Magic?: Bringing the Sixties Back Home and coauthor of Wishcraft: How to Get What You Really Want.

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