Joy
“Overtaken by Joy,” by Ardis Whitman, Reader’s Digest, April 1965.
“Shall We Dance?” by Neil Simon. Reprinted with the permission of Simon & Schuster, Inc., from The Play Goes On by Neil Simon. Copyright © 1999 Neil Simon.
“The Bottom Line on Happiness,” by Clayton M. Christensen. Copyright © 2010 by Harvard Business School Publishing (July 10, 2010).
“Obey That Impulse,” by William Moulton Marston. Condensed from a CBS Radio Broadcast, March 18, 1941.
“In Search of Heaven,” by Gail Cameron Wescott, Reader’s Digest, December 2005.
“Gilligan’s Aisle,” by Jeanne Marie Laskas, © 1996 by Jeanne Marie Laskas. Washington Post Magazine (January 7, 1996).
Miracles
“The Gold-and-Ivory Tablecloth,” by Rev. Howard C. Schade, Reader’s Digest, December 1954.
“A Dog Like No Other,” by Peter Muilenburg, Reader’s Digest, June 1998.
“ ‘A Man Don’t Know What He Can Do,’ ” by Elise Miller Davis, Reader’s Digest, October 1952.
“The Forked Stick Phenomenon,” by Emily and Per Ola d’Aulaire, Reader’s Digest, May 1976.
“Letter in the Wallet,” by Arnold Fine, © 1984 by Arnold Fine. Jewish Press (January 20, 1984).
Gratitude
“Christopher Reeve’s Decision,” by Christopher Reeve. Copyright © 1998 Cambria Productions, Inc. From the book Still Me by Christopher Reeve, published by Random House, an imprint of Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc. Reprinted with permission.
“Information Please,” by Paul Villiard, Reader’s Digest, June 1966.
“The Dream Horse and the Dining-Room Table,” by Billy Porterfield. Reprinted with the permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. from Diddy Waw Diddy by Billy Porterfield. Copyright © 1994 by Billy Porterfield.
“His Gift of the Future,” by Marc Lerner, Reader’s Digest, June 1995.
“A Heart for the Run,” by Gary Paulsen. Excerpted from Puppies, Dogs, and Blue Northers by Gary Paulsen. Copyright © 1996 by Gary Paulsen. Used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
“The Gratitude Club,” by Steve Hartman, Reader’s Digest, July/August 2012. From the CBS News Archives.
Giving
“The Christmas Present,” by James A. Michener, Reader’s Digest, December 1967.
“The Man on the Train,” by Alex Haley, Reader’s Digest, February 1991.
“Ferragamo’s Gift,” by Susan Shreve, © 2003 by Susan Richards Shreve. Originally appeared in MORE magazine as “Dear Signor Ferragamo.” Used by permission of Brandt & Hochman Literary Agents, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
”Letting Go,” by Litty Mathew, Reader’s Digest, December 2009/January 2010.
“She Gave Her Father Life,” by Henry Hurt, Reader’s Digest, November 1996.
Holidays
“A Family for Freddie,” by Abbie Blair, Reader’s Digest,
December 1964.
“A String of Blue Beads,” by Fulton Oursler, Reader’s Digest, December 1951.
“Night of Hope and Possibility,” by Roxanne Willems Snopek, Reader’s Digest, December 1999.
“The Holiday I’ll Never Forget” (“All I’m Asking For,” by Rick Bragg; “The Gift of Possibility,” by Esmeralda Santiago; “Eight Candles, Nine Lives,” by Melissa Fay Greene; “Sharing the Sweetness,” by Tayari Jones; “Some Assembly Required,” by Floyd Skloot; “A Legacy of Love,” by Lee Smith; “Merry, Silly Christmas,” by Jenny Allen), Reader’s Digest, December 2011/January 2012.
“Christmas Out of Season,” by Robert Fulghum. “Christmas in August,” from All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten by Robert L. Fulgham, copyright © 1986, 1988 by Robert L. Fulgham. Used by permission of Villard Books, a division of Random House, Inc.
Healing
“A Love Like No Other,” by Skip Hollandsworth. Copyright © 1994 by Texas Monthly (February 1994).
“Two Words to Avoid, Two to Remember,” by Arthur Gordon, Reader’s Digest, January 1968. Reprinted with permission by the estate of Arthur Gordon.
“The Day My Silent Brother Spoke,” by Jim Watson, Reader’s Digest, January 1992.
“The Ugliest Cat in the World,” by Penny Porter, Reader’s Digest, March 1993.
“My Fourteenth Summer,” by W. W. Meade, Reader’s Digest,
July 1998.
“Mother Courage,” by Linda Kramer Jenning, Reader’s Digest,
July 2009.
Heroes
“An Open Letter to Students,” by Dwight D. Eisenhower, Reader’s Digest, October 1948.
“Three Days to See,” by Helen Keller, © 1932 By The Helen Keller Foundation Education Program. The Atlantic Monthly (January 1933), 77 N. Washington Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02116.
“How America Can Make Brotherhood Work,” by Bill Bradley, Reader’s Digest 75th Anniversary Issue, 1997.
“The Night I Met Einstein,” by Jerome Weidman, Reader’s Digest, November 1955.
“My Father and Me,” by Billy Crystal. From 700 Sundays, copyright © 2005 by Billy Crystal. Published by arrangement with Grand Central Publishing, a Division of Hachette Book Group. New York, NY. All rights reserved.