I often use quotes as a way to stimulate thinking and communicate with people on a wide variety of topics. Every week we discuss a "Thought of the Week" during class in the hopes of sharing wisdom with our students. This book is a compilation of quotes from a wide variety of sources, ranging from religious figures, politicians, and philosophers, to people who have overcome obstacles to achieve greatness. Some of the quotes are dated and somewhat cryptic. After each quote, I offer my interpretation of its meaning.

Teaching kids how to deal with conflict is hard. As a martial arts teacher, I made a conscious choice about what I want my students to learn. It was important to me personally that our school was not a place where people came to practice violence. I wanted our school to be a place where students are inspired to think before they act. Words of the Master is a story about bullies and when and how you should deal with them.