Distilled Genius: A Collection of Life-Changing Quotations

Distilled Genius is charmingly handwritten and watercolored in Susan Branch’s inimitable style, and, as with her other books, it tells a story. This is not just any quote book, but a forty-year carefully curated collection of quotes from Susan’s lifelong search for deeper meaning, joy, and fulfillment in life ~ and her desire to share ~ from Mark Twain, to the Bhagavad Gita, from Anne Frank, and George Patton, to Marcus Aurelius, and Louisa May Alcott; from Rosa Parks, Abraham Lincoln, Maya Angelou, the Bible, and beyond.

Reading about the struggles of others who, often against all odds, made something of their lives, gives us strength, and encourages us to make our own dreams a reality. Life-affirming, clever, poetic, heroic, hilarious, and human ~ hopeful words of wisdom, distilled into one book of Genius for all time. Distilled Genius is arranged in themes, such as “Secrets of Life,” “Writing and Writers,” “Creativity,” and “Finding your Dreams,” to name a few; it’s 272 pages of joy, just when we need to be reminded of who we are, where we came from, and what our future can be if we choose it.

The power in words is endless, they make you think, and once in a while, they tell you that you were right all along (that’s when you truly understand the Genius part). Everything that’s needed to be said, has been said, by someone whose words carry weight, such as this quote by Joseph Campbell: “We have not even to risk the adventure alone for all the heroes of all time have gone before us.”