Self-help books that are good for Catholics

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It’s time for me to do some character building. Can anyone suggest books that give good self-help advice especially from a Catholic perspective?

I can think of The Imitation of Christ.

Also been going through Dale Carnegie and he writes a lot about being courteous and being genuinely interested in others, giving honest praise, etc.

I’m thinking of reading through 7 Habits for Highly Effective People too, presumably there are things there I could use, especially since it was written by a practising Mormon who puts emphasis on God.

Mother Teresa’s List for Humility isn’t a book but it’s also got great advice.

Any other suggestions?
 
An excellent Catholic book that directs us in a Catholic way to be more open to the grace of God is “The Better Part” by Father John Bartunek.

Very inspiring, profound, and easy to understand.
 
St Louis de Montfort’s ‘True Devotion To Mary’ also anything by Fulton Sheen.
 
I wouldn’t recommend typical self-help books. They tend to miss the mark in my opinion. They make it all about self and how awesome the self is. They inflate egos, not make people better human beings.

If you’re a man, I really really liked Fr. Larry Richard’s Be a Man. Truth be told, there’s some good advice in there for women too, but it is geared towards men. Surrender is a book I just got done reading by the same author as well. I don’t like it quite as much, but it’s still pretty good.
 
PazzoGrande said:
It’s time for me to do some character building. Can anyone suggest books that give good self-help advice especially from a Catholic perspective?

I can think of The Imitation of Christ.

Also been going through Dale Carnegie and he writes a lot about being courteous and being genuinely interested in others, giving honest praise, etc.

I’m thinking of reading through 7 Habits for Highly Effective People too, presumably there are things there I could use, especially since it was written by a practising Mormon who puts emphasis on God.

Mother Teresa’s List for Humility isn’t a book but it’s also got great advice.

Any other suggestions?
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Why not start with the Catechism of the Catholic Church? vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM
 
Since you mentioned character and self-help I am assuming you mean success and making this life a good one. For this I can suggest the following:

“The Catholic Book of Character and Success” by Fr. Edward Garesche (Sophia Institute Press, 2003). This is an edited version of Fr. Garesche’s “The Will to Succeed” (P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1931).

“How to Get On” by Fr. Bernard Feeney (Benziger Brothers, 1891). Available free in pdf and other formats from the Internet Archive (a great source of old Catholic works in the public domain). archive.org/details/howtogeton00feenuoft

I agree with Bravo 6 about anything by Venerable Fulton Sheen is the best there is. He is very good on all topics, including psychological health and happiness and successful living. Regarding good living, success, happiness I would suggest: “Way to Happiness”, “Way to Inner Peace”, “Walk with God”, and “Life is Worth Living”. In “Walk with God” you will find the essays: “Singleness of Purpose”, “Making Up One’s Mind”, “Manners”, “Habit, Not Instinct”. In “Way to Happiness” you will find the essays: “Self-discipline”, “Kindness”, “Work”, “The Idle in the Workplace”, and many others. In “Way to Inner Peace” you will find the essays: “Right Attitude Toward Those Who Differ From Us”, “Patience”, “Silence”, and many others.

Some others I might recommend are biographies of Vince Lombardi. Lombardi was a life-long daily communicant. He had a rosary on his car’s steering wheel. His approach to life and success was formed by his Jesuit education at Fordham in the 1930’s, and especially the teaching of his Jesuit ethics professor, Fr. Ignatius Cox, S.J. Two good biographies are “Vince” by Michael O’Brien (William Morrow, 1987) and “When Pride Still Mattered” by David Maraniss (Simon & Schuster, 1999). Lombardi believed success in life and in everything comes from discipline and hard work. He had in his study a framed and illuminated quote from St. Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians: “Brethren: Don’t you know that while all the runners in the stadium take part in the race, only one wins the prize. Run to win.” From the Jesuits at Fordham Lombardi learned well that we as Christians are required to constantly strive for perfection inspite of the fact we will never attain it in this life. On his first day at Green Bay Lombardi told his players, “We are going to relentlessly chase perfection knowing full well we will not catch it, because nothing is perfect. But we are going to relentlessly chase it because in the process we will catch excellence. I am not remotely interested in beng just good.”

The last recommendation reminds me of a few more works. “The Groundwork of Christian Perfection” by Father Patrick Ryan (Benziger, 1910) and “The Narrow Way” by Father Peter Geiermann, C.SS.R. (Benziger, 1914). These two works are on the Internet Archive and can be downloaded as pdf’s at:

archive.org/details/groundworkofchri00ryan

archive.org/details/narrowwaybriefcl00geie
 
I heard New York’s Timothy Cardinal Dolan say that Abraham Lincoln is one of his most-admired persons (along with Ven. Fulton Sheen). On the Internet Archive you can find the biography “Lincoln, the Unknown” by Dale Carnegie that is in public domain and can be downloaded in pdf.

archive.org/details/lincolnunknown00ilcarn
 
In addition to the above I would like to add something based on what I learned from Ven. Fulton Sheen. That a book (or audio or movie) is good if it helps us to lead a better life.

That said, I have met way too many insufferable Catholic fundamentalists (most online) who are very quick to make pronouncements on something being heretical and harmful. They are quick to condemn and will give reasons with an air of metaphysical certainty. Steer clear of this. It is minimizing. The truly Christian life is maximizing.

A lot of people credit listening to Tony Robbins audio or reading Napoleon Hill as starting a fire under him or her and helping him or her create a successful life. Sheen would be all for this. Living a better life, a Christian life, has nothing to do with talking and making pronouncements.
 
“Seek first the kingdom of God and all the rest will be added unto you.”
 
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