Oh, the Places You'll Go!
by Dr. Seuss · first published 1990
56% recommend39% neutral6% critical
Why HN recommends it
An encouraging picture book about conformity, risk-taking, failure, and setbacks. It offers deep messages in simple language and works for adults as well as young children.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
In this joyous ode to life, Dr. Seuss addresses graduates of all ages, from nursery school to medical school, and gives them the get-up-and-go to move mountains with the unrivaled exuberance and charm that have made Dr. Seuss's books favorites for years.
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Green Eggs and Ham is a great starter book, but IMHO the greatest of Dr Seuss's many great books is Oh, the Places You'll Go!. His mastery of "simple" English is stunning, kids find it enthralling, and the messages are surprisingly deep. Here's the text, but the original illustrated version is so much better: https://www.poetrygrrrl.com/oh-the-places-youll-go-by-dr-seu...
on “Sixty years of Green Eggs and Ham” ↗…did, for example. But, guess what? I can't change the past... I can only drive forward and GAIN GROUND. So, you'll never win the "Regret Game." You can't win against yourself. Dr. Seuss said it best in, "Oh, The Places You'll Go!" (Please read it if you haven't; it's absolutely wonderful.) Here's the quote: "I'm afraid that sometimes you'll play lonely games too. Games you can't win 'cause you'll play against you." You are striving…
on “Ask HN: Any advice from developers who started their careers later in life?” ↗…Things, Maverick, Founders at work, A Brief History of Time, A Pattern Language, Peopleware, Made to stick, Web Standards Solutions, Designing Interactions, The Pragmatic Programmer, The Mythical Man-Month, Oh, the Places You'll Go! Other good reads: Blink, Tipping Point, Long Tail, Freakonomics
on “Ask YC (and PG): What books do you have on your bookshelf? ” ↗…less. The ability to relax and be bored is essential to support the desire to read. We did it an hour before bed every night under warm lighting. Loved Dr. Seuss' Cat in the Hat, The Lorax, Grinch, Oh, the Places You'll Go! Engelbreit's Mother Goose, Nursery Rhymes set. Loved The Police Cloud by Chris Neimann, and Little Owl Lost by Chris Haughton. We liked The Giving Tree, but be prepared as it shows a dysfunctional…
on “Ask HN: Books your kids like most” ↗Oh The Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss
on “What's your favorite children's book?” ↗…the comments before mine are made by overly intellectual fools. I'm not usually so insulting--but as a father of two, if my 3 year old and 1.5 year old could only read one book, it would have to be "Oh, the places you'll go" by Dr. Suess. Sorry to stomp on Das Kapital and its ilk, but if you get only one book, I can't imagine a better first message to convey than the endless possibilities inherent in each of us. The world…
on “Ask HN: What is one book you would recommend everyone to read?” ↗I think my favorite reading of "Oh, the Places You'll Go" is the Burning Man version. :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahv_1IS7SiE
on “The Waiting Place” ↗Oh the Places You'll Go is a superb children's book that takes apart difficult problems such as conformity, risk-taking, complacency and failure. It follows a young protagonist through a psychedelic landscape discussing the…
on “Oh, the Places You'll Go” ↗What's so interesting about this is that the key message in "Oh, the Places You'll Go" is one which resonates for adults. Too many of our childrens books condescend.
on “Oh, the Places You'll Go” ↗I am currently battling depression and this video brought me to tears. I had never heard of Oh, the Places You'll Go before this blog post but, to me, it is already a mini-masterpiece. Thank you for linking to this video.
on “Oh, the Places You'll Go” ↗…when you step. Step with care and great tact and remember that Life's a Great Balancing Act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up your right foot with your left.” ― Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You’ll Go!
on “The decline of the family has unleashed an epidemic of loneliness” ↗…first book called to tell me it had made the best-seller list. It felt like … nothing. Man is projecting. This article is crap >Life is an individual journey. This is the lie books like Dr. Seuss’ “Oh, the Places You’ll Go” tell. In adulthood, each person goes on a personal trip and racks up a bunch of experiences, and whoever has the most experiences wins. He made up some idiotic statemet, that no one brings up, and act…
on “Five Lies Our Culture Tells – The cultural roots of our political problems” ↗I think what you get out of a book is more about the person reading it, and what they are looking for, than it is about the story itself. Dr. Seuss's "Oh, the places you'll go" could be read by one person as just a whimsical children's tale. Someone else, though, might see it as an interesting allegory on the journeys that a person might face in their own life. Likewise,…
on “How I Consume Books” ↗…which I don't enjoy much anymore. While I want to work as a researcher, to learn more and make use of all I've learned until now, I want to try other things related to computers. Change it! If I quote Oh the Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss you’re right now in a waiting place and you already know the steps you want to take. Now let’s start taking baby steps towards that.
on “Ask HN: How to fix expectations and set up path for life?” ↗…wanted her kids to walk away from her swearing-in with an empowering message. So instead of placing her hand on a Bible to take her oath of office as councilwoman for St. Louis County, Kelli Dunaway chose “Oh, The Places You’ll Go!” by Dr. Seuss." https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/08/21/why-count...
on “New NASA Director Swears Oath on Carl Sagan’s ‘Pale Blue Dot’ Instead of Bible” ↗