Kent M. Keith Kent M. Keith

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For years, I have encouraged Kent to devote more time to writing and speaking. Now, in this book, he shares his thoughts and experiences about something he has always been good at – finding personal meaning. His book is simple, eloquent, and profound. It will touch you in surprising ways. Most important, it will help you live a life that is rich in personal meaning. And that, as Kent explains, is the kind of life most worth living.

- Spencer Johnson, M.D., author of Who Moved My Cheese? from his Foreword to Kent M. Keith's book, Anyway: The Paradoxical Commandments



Biographical Sketch

Kent M Keith Dr. Keith is the author of the bestselling book, Anyway: The Paradoxical Commandments (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2002). The book is an introduction to the Paradoxical Commandments, including some of the events in Dr. Keith's early life that shaped the creation of the commandments in the sixties. The book has been translated and published in Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Slovakian, Spanish, Swedish, and Thai.

His narration of Anyway: The Paradoxical Commandments won a national "Audie" award from the Audio Publishers Association as the best audiobook of 2003 in the personal development/motivational category.

His second book is Do It Anyway: The Handbook for Finding Personal Meaning and Deep Happiness in a Crazy World (Inner Ocean Publishing, 2003). The handbook is about how to live the Paradoxical Commandments. It includes stories from people from all walks of life who are living the commandments, as well as questions for personal reflection or group discussion. It concludes with a Paradoxical Commandments Action Checklist.

Reviews of Jesus
Did It Anyway

"[T]his explicitly Christian counterpart to Anyway sheds light on the crux of Christian theology: the unbearable paradoxes inherent in Christ's teaching, which was explicitly directed at those who were in the world but not of it. Keith's restatement of his ideas in a Christian context should find a wide audience."   LIBRARY JOURNAL

"This is a pleasing introduction to the Paradoxical Commandments, as well as an easy-to-swallow introduction to the Christian Scriptures. Study guides for each chapter move into deeper discussion and reflection."   PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

"...[A] vivid and accessible approach to linking Bible stories to ethics and everyday choices."   DALLAS MORNING NEWS

"Keith's writing is smooth and inspirational. This new book is not apt to be his last."   THE OKLAHOMAN

His third book is Jesus Did It Anyway: The Paradoxical Commandments for Christians (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2005). The book illustrates the Paradoxical Commandments with stories and verses from the Old and New Testaments, the teachings of Jesus, and personal anecdotes. The book focuses on the practical, daily challenges of living the Christian faith. It includes a study guide with questions for each chapter, designed for discussion groups and Sunday School classes.

Dr. Keith's first book was a student leadership manual, The Silent Revolution: Dynamic Leadership in the Student Council, published by Harvard Student Agencies in 1968, when he was 19, a sophomore at Harvard. Keith encouraged students to work together, through the system, to achieve positive, lasting change. This is the booklet for which he wrote the Paradoxical Commandments. A revised edition was published by the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) in 1972. Approximately 30,000 copies of the two editions of the booklet were sold or distributed throughout the United States between 1968 and the mid-seventies.

In 1969, Dr. Keith wrote another student leadership booklet, The Silent Majority: The Problem of Apathy and the Student Council, which was used in workshops and then published by NASSP in 1972. This was a companion to The Silent Revolution. It urged students to reach out to their fellow students and link up with their interests and needs, so that the student council can fulfill its noblest purpose: people helping people.

New editions of The Silent Revolution and The Silent Majority were recently published by Terrace Press.

In 2003, Dr. Keith created "The Universal Moral Code" while writing about morality and ethics. The code incorporates basic, universal ideas about how we should live and how we should treat each other. Following these basic principles gives people the meaning that comes from living their values and doing what's right.

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© Copyright 1968, 2008 Kent M. Keith. All Rights Reserved