In the opening line, author Nguyen Thien shared that, since he was a 16-17 year old teenager, he was haunted by the famous saying of Benjamin Franklin: "There are people who die at the age of 25 and are only buried until the age of 75." For him, that "death" is spiritual death, when people stop aspiring, give up passion, let life pass.
With that awareness, author Nguyen Thien told himself that if he did not have the strength to do great things to reform society like famous people, then at least do small things but useful things for the community, according to his abilities, strengths and circumstances. The most important thing is to be new, not to copy others and not to repeat yourself.
That spirit has become a red thread throughout the journey and is also the main message in "Don't die at the age of 20!" - the book is not a political memoir, not a summary of the career of a civil servant or businessman, but the voice of an ordinary citizen who chose to live a "fiery" life.
The author also wrote that, if you are in your 30s, don't die in your 30s! If you are in your 40s, don't die in your 40s! If you are in your 50s, 60s, even 70s, just live your best and don't let the fire in your heart go away.
Read "Don't die in your 20s! , readers not only see the personal journey of a citizen passionate about social activities, but also find there encouragement: dare to be different, dare to challenge, dare to live up to the fullest.
The book does not stop at storytelling, but is a wake-up call. It arouses young people with profound questions: How do you really want to live a life? Do you dare to step out of your comfort zone to burn yourself out with the desire? Will you let your youth pass like a boring tower, or turn it into a meaningful journey?
"Don't die in your 20s!" not a book to read and then put down, but a book that makes us want to review ourselves. Because youth is only once and the way we live in our 20s, 30s or 40s will decide the rest of our lives.
Author Nguyen Thien has worked for 8 years at the People's Committee of Phu Khanh province (now Khanh Hoa), holding the position of Deputy General Director of Havico, Director of Tieu Diem Media Company. But what makes him remember more is a series of social initiatives with their own mark.
From giving advice to Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet in 1995, being directly assigned to ministries and branches to research and implement, to initiating the first Vietnam Goods Fair in 1996; from the programs "People know our history" - bringing history to the streets for everyone to learn from, to mobilizing the naming of Trinh Cong Son street in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City... All of this is recorded by him in this book, like a passionate citizen diary.
Notably, many of the things he initiated were "first" in Vietnam: The first Vietnamese Commodity Fair, the first street historical knowledge dissemination program and the first book on the system of spontaneous flow - the pinnacle of humor ( Tre Publishing House, 2015, reprint for the second time in January 2025).
