When is a book not a book? This is not a brain teaser but rather what I was thinking as I went through what looked like a book but certainly did not read like one. The book has a cover, a binding, pages, a table of contents, all the characteristics of a regular book. But this is nothing like reading a regular book. This one provides a unique reading experience.

I am speaking of the most recent publication by Seth M. Siegel, Other People's Words: Wisdom for an Inspired and Productive Life. If Seth's name sounds familiar, it's because he's The New York Times’ best-selling author of Let There Be Water and Troubled Water, both of which are excellent reading for water professionals as well as for nonwater professionals.

For me, a regular book generally has a plot with a beginning, middle, and end. There are characters you get to know and whom you either root for or against as you turn the pages with anticipation. The book may build a case for something, providing knowledge by framing and building an argument.

Other People's Words is carefully organized. Still, you won't want to turn the pages quickly—whatever page you're on, you will want to ponder the words, let them sink in. While it is a learning experience, there's no argument being made—just thoughts to absorb that leave you mentally refreshed and perhaps even renewed.

What is unique about this book? On the one hand, you might think of it simply as a collection of 1,200 quotes—other people's words—organized into 11 well-thought-out themes and further divided into more than 200 categories. But for all the book's structure, its contents are not that simple.

I couldn't have anticipated how I would respond to reading Other People's Words. I thought I would plow through these quotes. While not all of them resonated with me, many made me pause and reflect on their meaning. Several sent me searching to learn more about the person to whom the quote was attributed and about the larger context of the quote. My reality was that I turned the pages slowly, reflected on the words, and often found myself feeling inspired after reading a section. But I never went through more than one section at a time.

The context of the book was enhanced because I read the introduction and “Note to the Reader.” I don't tend to read sections like these because they just aren't interesting to me. But for some reason, in this case I did, and it made a huge difference. These introductory sections provided important personal insights about Seth. And without giving away the ending, so to speak, the introduction is helpful in understanding how Seth came to collect these quotes and why he wanted to share them. For now, let's just say a sock drawer is involved.

Recently I interviewed Seth. I would read him a quote and, without exception, he could tell me who said it. He is intimate with each of these quotes and has an encyclopedic memory. Then I asked what I thought would be impossible to answer: “Of all the quotes in the book”—remember, there are 1,200 of them—“which is your favorite?” Seth acknowledged that each quote has special meaning to him, that he remembers when he heard the quote or came across it, and that each had an impact on him. But without much hesitation he said his favorite quote—one that is “a mantra [he thinks] about every single day”—is “Life is not a having and a getting, but a being and a becoming,” by Matthew Arnold. Knowing Seth as I do, it made perfect sense to me that he'd find that quote to be the most meaningful.

I said that, although my copy of his book is dog-eared, underlined, and chock full of sticky notes, each note marking a quote that I found powerful, the one I found most meaningful was by Martha Washington: “The greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our disposition and not on our circumstances.”

Seth said that a big reason he wanted to make these quotes available was because he felt that at times, when people are wrestling with a challenge or other life issues, quotes like these can provide perspective, vision, and clarity. Ultimately, Seth believes that everyone can live a life of value and meaning—of being and becoming—and he hopes that in some way his collection of quotes can inspire a happier, more fulfilling life, as they have for him.

In the end, some may find Other People's Words to simply be a collection of quotes, but I believe that many of you will find it a wonderful reading experience unlike any other “regular” book. I sure did.

什么时候书不是书？这不是脑筋急转弯，而是我在浏览看起来像一本书但肯定没有读过的书时的想法。这本书有封面、装订、页面、目录，所有普通书的特征。但这与阅读普通书完全不同。这提供了一种独特的阅读体验。

我说的是 Seth M. Siegel 的最新出版物，《他人的话：启发灵感和富有成效的生活的智慧》。如果赛斯的名字听起来很熟悉，那是因为他是《纽约时报》的畅销书作者让有水和麻烦的水，这两本书对于水专业人士和非水专业人士来说都是很好的读物。

对我来说，一本普通的书通常有一个开头、中间和结尾的情节。当你满怀期待地翻页时，你会认识一些角色，以及你支持或反对的人。这本书可能会为某事建立一个案例，通过构建和建立论点来提供知识。

其他人的话是精心组织的。尽管如此，你还是不想快速翻页——无论你在哪一页，你都会想要思考这些词，让它们沉浸其中。虽然这是一种学习体验，但没有争论——只有思想可以吸收这让您精神焕发，甚至可能焕然一新。

这本书有什么独特之处？一方面，您可能会将其简单地视为 1,200 条引语（其他人的话）的集合，它们被组织成 11 个经过深思熟虑的主题，并进一步分为 200 多个类别。但是对于这本书的所有结构，它的内容并不那么简单。

我无法预料我会如何回应阅读其他人的话。我想我会仔细阅读这些引述。虽然并非所有人都与我产生共鸣，但许多让我停下来思考它们的含义。有几个让我搜索以了解更多关于引用引用的人以及引用的更大背景的信息。我的现实是，我慢慢地翻页，思考单词，并且经常在阅读一节后发现自己受到启发。但我从来没有一次通过超过一个部分。

由于我阅读了介绍和“读者须知”，这本书的上下文得到了增强。我不倾向于阅读这样的部分，因为它们对我来说并不有趣。但出于某种原因，在这种情况下，我做到了，这产生了巨大的不同。这些介绍部分提供了关于赛斯的重要个人见解。在不泄露结局的情况下，可以这么说，介绍有助于理解赛斯如何收集这些引语以及他为什么想要分享它们。现在，我们只说涉及一个袜子抽屉。

最近我采访了赛斯。我会给他读一段引言，无一例外，他都能告诉我这是谁说的。他对这些引语都很熟悉，并且拥有百科全书式的记忆。然后我问了我认为不可能回答的问题：“在书中的所有引文中”——记住，有 1200 条——“你最喜欢哪一个？” 赛斯承认每句引语对他来说都有特殊的意义，他记得他何时听到或遇到过这句话，而且每一句都对他产生了影响。但他毫不犹豫地说了他最喜欢的名言——“每天都在思考的口头禅”——是马修·阿诺德的“生活不是拥有和得到，而是存在和成为”。像我一样了解赛斯，对我来说，他认为这句话是最有意义的，这完全合乎情理。

我说过，虽然我的他的书是折耳的、有下划线的，并且塞满了便签，每个注释都标出了我认为很有力的一句话，但我认为最有意义的是玛莎华盛顿：“我们的幸福或痛苦取决于我们的性格，而不是我们的环境。”

赛斯说，他想要提供这些引语的一个重要原因是，他觉得有时，当人们正在努力应对挑战或其他生活问题时，像这样的引语可以提供视角、远见和清晰度。最终，赛斯相信每个人都可以过上有价值和有意义的生活——存在和成为——他希望他的名言集能以某种方式激发更快乐、更充实的生活，就像他们对他一样。

最后，有些人可能会发现《Other People's Words》只是引文的集合，但我相信你们中的许多人会发现这是一种不同于任何其他“常规”书籍的美妙阅读体验。我确实做到了。