Pay attention because this is one of those useful professional secrets I share with you 😀
As a teacher, when you are in a class and you are choosing topics for the speaking or writing modules, there comes a time when you run out of interesting things to talk about. At some point the program becomes too dense, or the students too advanced to benefit from writing or speaking about the weather, their favorite holidays, etc.
That’s where you need a book that suggests elaborate topics that are both open to discussion and interesting to deal with. My personal solution was to find different quotes and discuss them, but I was always doubting if I chose the right quote, if my taste was limiting my choices, or if they were relevant for all kinds of classes. That’s where I resolved to let some expert make the choices for me and I decided to get a book of famous quotes 🙂
The best books of quotes are those where the authors included are useful beyond any shadow of doubt because otherwise, we will end up with ideas that are empty of content and are only popular because the author is famous or something like that.
There are three or four titles that would work well nowadays, but the best book of quotes I have found so far is this one:
Famous Quotes for Life and Happiness, by Harold G. Stratford, published in 2015.
It’s the most modern of the four main titles, the selection of quotes is well done, and the size is cool for carrying around, because others are too heavy to work with. It has quotes by classical philosophers, scientists, famous writers, etc.
What I usually do is pick a quote and use it for debate or as a writing topic, and the results are very satisfactory because we all prefer to explain our thoughts about some wise phrase by Plato or Einstein, than to talk about more mundane topics such as the weather 
Of course, you can also enjoy this book if you like philosophy and are thinking about this and that. I am a fan of those books that teach you things while you are reading them and in this case, I was surprised to not know 90% of the quotes mentioned. Usually, we see everywhere 3 or 4 quotes by Aristotle, Julius Caesar, etc. and we forget that they have dozens of quotes that are equally important and interesting but not as mainstream as the one or two everybody has heard a dozen times.
So, that’s it 🙂 Now you know one more secret of my pedagogical success, and I throw it to you from my ivory tower of academic prowess, not even waiting to hear your thankful praises for my generous nature. Not even caring about the tears of appreciation falling down your soft chubby cheeks… for I am already aiming at my next battle, aware that ignorance and bigotry are never-sleeping beasts that must be slayed by the swift thrust of knowledge.
*Rides his horse and gallops towards the Valhalla of Hispanic Studies*
Share your comments and feedback