The power of quotes
[Applause]
i have a lot of growing up to do
i realized that the other day inside my
fort
as i grew older
i have this feeling that perhaps the
[Music]
the few joys of childhood are the best
that life
have to give but the best way
not to feel hopeless is to get out there
and do something
don’t wait for good things to happen to
you
if you go out there you make good things
happen
then you fill the world with hope you
fill yourself
with hope both optimists and pessimists
both contribute to society the optimists
advance the airplane
the pessimist the parachute
but whatever path that you choose
whatever course you decide upon
there will always be someone there to
tell you that you are wrong
there will always be difficulties
arising
tempting you to believe that your
critics are right
to map a course of action and follow it
to an end requires courage
fear and self-doubt have always been the
greatest enemy of human potential but
don’t tell me
that the sky’s the limit when there are
footprints on the moon
can accept reality where you can persist
until reality
accepts you there is no substitute
for hard work for human progress
is not automatic nor inevitable
even a superficial look at history
reveals
that no social advance rides on the
wheels
of inevitability talk does not
help someone out of poverty that takes
doing
apathy and evil apathy and evil
the two work hand in hand they are the
same really
evil wills it apathy allows it evil
hates
the innocent and defenseless most of all
apathy doesn’t care
unless it’s personally inconvenient but
our lives
begin to end the day that we are silent
about the things that matter
as human beings as human beings
our job in life is to help people
realize
how just realize
how unique how rare how valuable
each and every one of us really are that
each and every one of us has something
that no one else has
nor ever will have something inside
that is unique to all time so
won’t you be my neighbor and be the
change that you wish
to see in this world
it doesn’t matter how slowly you go so
long as you do not stop
a river cuts through iraq not because of
its power but because of its persistence
i’m only one
and i am one
i cannot do everything but i can do
something
and just because i can’t do everything
i won’t refuse to do something i can’t
do
i’m very important
i have many level bound books and my
apartment smells
rich mahogany
the little speech i just gave as you
probably can realize at this point
was made entirely of quotes the only
thing i added were conjunctions
like butt or and i added about seven
words to
20 different individual quotes my name
is alex sheen
and i’m the founder of because i said it
a non-profit organization that does
character development programming
in schools in in prisons and juvenile
detention centers
we teach concepts like honesty
self-control accountability
help teach practical habits and tactics
that build these foundational
characteristics
in so many people and and quotes have
this interesting tool this interesting
feature this interesting value
to education in fact mensa you know the
organization for geniuses
uh they say that metacognition or
thinking about thinking
often fascinates gifted learners right
and quotations are accessible in
time-effective way
to introduce this into the classroom
quotations quotes they just have this
particularly valuable uh proposition
to character education or often called
social and emotional learning
but too often we just look at quotes and
take them at face value like this right
we read the quote we react to it and
then we just kind of leave it there
there’s no additional step in what we do
with that quote
i guess it just kind of ends but there
are many things that you can do
with quotes to add value not only into
your life but hopefully
add perspective to those around you and
one of the things you can do
is combine quotes right clearly that’s
what i did at the beginning
of this speech but i actually went kind
of fast right and you maybe couldn’t
tell where certain
parts were quotes began or ended
and the text wasn’t on screen so i’d
like to take a moment to
combine two quotes and go through it
together okay so here we go
two points everyone appreciates honesty
until you’re honest with them
i can’t tell you the key to success but
i can tell you
the key to failure is trying to please
everyone
okay now these are two quotes one’s from
george carlin the other is
shearing and sharon actually was
manipulating something else as well but
that’s not important
the point is that if we were to just
read this first quote right everyone
appreciates honesty
until you’re honest with them you may
leave that quote saying you know what
people are soft people are sensitive
sometimes honesty isn’t a good thing
maybe we should avoid it that could be a
conclusion in a certain moment or for a
certain person but then you add the
second quote
this thought that success sometimes
ruffles feathers that sometimes
you can’t please everyone when you mix
these two thoughts together
you see that honesty it just comes with
hard moments if you’re going to get to
success
and sometimes jump push alone isn’t
enough
combining posts can give us new and
fresh
perspective my work in charity
has honestly showed me some things that
i
i’d rather not think about
i have walked the grounds of auschwitz
with the holocaust fire
i have seen a field of graves after a
super typhoon
i’ve spoken at an infant lost ceremony
for 100 families who have lost children
under the age of three years old
after these speeches you meet
individuals and they may come up to you
and they may tell you that they are
grieving
they may tell you that they have been
abused
they may even tell you that they
themselves
are dying in these moments i have often
struggled
to find the right words the truth is i
do not have to requisite
wisdom to carry anyone through a moment
like this
and so i’ve always leaned on quotes
quotes give perspective
quotes help reinforce thoughts we
already have and quotes can be used
in creative ways but quote
quotes are like a commodity like steel
they have usefulness beyond their rawest
form
they can be crafted to serve greater
purpose
i like that quote because it is mine
but i’d be remiss not to end this speech
about quotes i guess
with a quote so that’s what i will do
goes like this one of my favorites
if a tree falls in the forest that
nobody hears
my illegal logging business is a success
thank you
you