Book excerpt: Presented in an easy-to-digest format with an uplifting message, “How to Get a Life” offers individual chapters on the life views of some of the most important and powerful people in history. Written in an engaging style by college professors Lawrence Baines and Daniel McBrayer, each chapter contains a brief biographical sketch with that luminary’s advice for daily living. Take a trip on “How to Get a Life” and learn easy-to-understand advice from some of the world’s greatest thinkers on: # The importance of relationships # How to get over misunderstandings # How to rise above mediocrity # What to do when things go wrong Along with topics ranging from God and the universe, to conceptions of love, sex and death, historical figures featured include: Martin Luther King, Jr., Joseph Campbell, Bill Wilson, Gerda Weissmann Klein, Albert Schweitzer, Oprah Winfrey, Buddha, Leo Buscaglia, Jane Goodall, the Dalai Lama, Muhammad, Confucius, and Richard of St. Victor