{"product_id":"modern-fables-character-lessons-and-life-skills-for-success-9781977290717","title":"Modern Fables: Character Lessons and Life Skills for Success","description":"\u003cp\u003e • Author(s): Douglas Winslow Cooper\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher: Outskirts Press\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher Imprint: Outskirts Press\u003cbr\u003e • BISAC: Social Themes - Values \u0026amp; Virtues\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMODERN FABLES: Character Lessons and Life Skills for Success\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhy do we emphasize character?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBenjamin Franklin understood that character is essential to civic life: \"Nothing is more important for the public wealth than to form and train youth in wisdom and virtue. Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBut what is character?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAbraham Lincoln offered a memorable distinction: \"Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe test of that reality comes in our treatment of the powerless. Abigail van Buren wrote, \"The best index to a person's character is how he treats people who can't do him any good, and how he treats people who can't fight back.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSustaining such integrity requires what Maya Angelou identified as the foundational virtue: \"Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat is the role of fables?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA fable is a brief narrative designed to teach a moral lesson. Unlike other forms of storytelling, fables are explicitly instructional-each story illuminates a clear principle about how to live well. The best fables make wisdom memorable by embedding it in concrete situations we can picture and understand.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhy do stories work so well as teaching tools?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFirst, stories engage our emotions and imagination in ways that abstract principles cannot. Second, stories provide context. Third, stories are memorable. Fourth, and perhaps most important, stories build moral imagination.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe stories you'll read here continue this ancient tradition in a modern American setting. Most are drawn from real experiences, with names and details modified to preserve privacy, and they show the same timeless virtues Aesop taught.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Outskirts Press","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":47882851385495,"sku":"9781977290717","price":1843.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0666\/3471\/1191\/files\/9781977290717.webp?v=1781097515","url":"https:\/\/atlanticbooks.com\/products\/modern-fables-character-lessons-and-life-skills-for-success-9781977290717","provider":"Atlantic Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}