Values in the Key of Life: Making Harmony in the Human Community Kent L. Koppelman

Based upon his premise that as the musical scale gives us seven notes with which to create harmony in the keys of A through G, Kent Koppelman, has ingeniously brought us seven values from which harmony is created—in the Key of Life. Altruism, Benevolence, Collaboration, Diversity, Empathy, Forgiveness and Grace.

Values in the Key of Life is about values, about conflicting values and about choices that the author has not merely written, but composed into a "pleasing arrangement of parts" suggesting that harmony can be promoted with seven values which will build bonds between individuals and create a sense of community. By exploring these values in anecdotes, quotations and essays, Dr. Koppelman reveals why these are the key values for creating human harmony. The quotations and anecdotes are thought provoking and memorable, and they have been selected from sources as diverse as the Bible, Voltaire, Chief Dan George, and Alice Walker. The essays tell real stories about real people to help explore issues related to each of the seven key values. Readers are asked to consider such fundamental questions as:

"What motivates people to help others?"
"Why should we value money and possessions?"
"Does a benevolent person help some but not others?"
"Why is it so hard to forgive?"
"Do differences define us or divide us?"

In exploring such questions the author addresses a wide range of issues including sexual violence, the use of Indian mascots, the persistence of homophobia, the separation of church and state, misrepresentations in the media, prejudiced perceptions of people with disabilities and the need for multi-cultural education.

This is a book filled with simple human stories which raise complex human questions. It is a book for people who have begun to ask themselves such questions, and for people who have never stopped asking them. It is a book for all people, certainly presented by a virtuoso of human relations.