A new year invariably brings thoughts of change, of self-improvement, of new beginnings. So it is with Cosimo: as we celebrate our new blog, I’ll take a look throughout January at our library’s worth of books, current and classic, on topics of self-help, personal development, and refreshening the mind, body, and spirit. If you’re ready for a fresh start yourself, stay tuned throughout the month for some ideas to get you motivated.

Upon his election as Lord Rector of St. Andrew’s University, Peter Pan author Sir J.M. Barrie delivered an inaugural address in which he sought to inspire the youth sitting before him. His stirring words on the subject of “courage” are just as invigorating today, more than eight decades after they appeared in book form in 1923. In Courage, Barrie advised young people never to ascribe to an opponent motives meaner than your own; to know what you mean; to insist on helping; to learn how world-shaking situations arise and how they can be countered; and to doubt those who deny you the right of partnership. Charming, candid, and stimulation, Barrie’s address is a rousing example of how he championed the spirit of young people. Of his daring comments, he said, “I sound to myself as if I were advocating a rebellion, though I am really asking for a larger friendship.”

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