<P> His influences include Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau and Abraham Lincoln, among many others . His contemporaries include Norman Vincent Peale and Dale Carnegie, and current writers and philosophers such as Jack Canfield and Brian Tracy have referred to Peterson's works . </P> <P> His inspirational essays were made into greeting cards, calendars and gift books, which appeared in Hallmark stores from 1970 through 1980 . His essays have appeared in Dear Abby's column (http://www.uexpress.com/dearabby/?uc_full_date=20000430), used within Blue Mountain Arts (http://www.sps.com) gift books and Chicken Soup for the Traveler's Soul (https://www.amazon.com/Chicken-Soup-Travelers-Soul-Inspiration/dp/1558749705), and specific quotes from his works appear in Quotable Cards . </P> <P> He is best known for his poem The Art of Marriage (often used as a reading at wedding ceremonies) about marriage, commitment and love which was published in book form by Souvenir Press in April 2006 . </P> <P> His most well known writing, The Art of Marriage, has been called by Souvenir Press the "most frequently recited English - language wedding poems and one of the greatest odes to matrimony . It embodies the sentiments, the ideals, and the love to which any marriage aspires . The memorable simplicity of its language makes the poem a touchstone for all couples, both at the start of a relationship and after the blessings of a lifetime in love ." </P>

The art of a good marriage by wilferd arlan peterson