Being responsible for your own life

Re “Wish for a cake -- and eat it too,” Opinion, Feb. 13

It’s so easy to make fun. Give a book or article a cursory reading, pick out a few buzzwords and have a field day. There have always been people who use any idea, philosophy, religion or, yes, latest self-help book to fulfill their desires. But there are many who see the opportunity to be happier and fulfill their desires. I’ve seen the DVD of “The Secret,” and what I took away is that it asks you to take responsibility for your own life and stop blaming your failures on others. Karin Klein missed this message. True, it’s a bit glossy and New Age; true, it makes some enthusiastic claims. I got something from it anyway. Klein is right to be skeptical. She is wrong to prejudge, skim over and then publish opinions. Your readers deserve better.

EILEEN VALENTINO

Los Angeles

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We have progressed from faith healers and fortune tellers beyond the power of positive thinking to something in which you are told that you are the “most powerful transmission tower on in the world.” In the real world, you may practice positive thinking or pray if you have cancer. But you must seek treatment and not rely on forces beyond your control. Believe it or not, ultra-Orthodox Jews claim these days that the Holocaust happened because Jews did not pray enough. I am an Auschwitz survivor and was an agnostic before the extermination. I never prayed. Why did I survive? Positive or pessimistic thinking did not do the trick. I used a cold, realistic approach most of the time. Unsentimental decisions helped, as well as the fact that I was young and healthy.

FRED KLEIN

Los Angeles