“Secrets of Superstar Speakers”
By Lilly Walters
McGraw-Hill, 2000
What do Anita Roddick, Vince Lombardi, Jack Canfield, Les Brown, Deepak Chopra, Zig Ziglar, Norman Vincent Peale, Stephen Covey, et al, have in common?
They share the distinction of being “superstar speakers” in the United States. These are the much sought after motivational speakers, according to Lilly Walters, author of “Secrets fo Superstar Speakers” – subtitled “Wisdom from the Greatest Motivators of Our Time.”
And they are the 19 speakers from among 79 speakers chosen by 4,000 other speakers, meeting planners and press people who were asked the question who the greatest motivational speaker is.
The names of John F. Kennedy, Billy Graham, Mario Cuomo, and Ronald Reagan were also chosen – but whose lives and styles are not discussed in the book. The author, however, promised to feature more of them in a second volume. (That’s a promise, not a threat!)
The 19 featured speakers have one thing in common: They have acquired celebrity status as speakers and authors – not necessarily in that order – because they are able “to connect” with their audience or readers. Thus, their books bring more invitations for speaking engagements (where they are paid handsome fees), and such speaking tours become veritable platforms for making a sales pitch each time for their books.
Yes, as the book engagingly narrates, these celebrities have begun their speaking career rather modestly, if not inauspiciously. They had their “turning points” – which are as diverse as their humble beginnings. And from such experiences and Damascus-like encounters with compelling truths, these superstars started their steady if not phenomenal climb to superstardom.
And motivators as they are, they are generous with gems of thought – the author call them collectively as “wisdom” – which abound in the book. And these pieces do not only tell the readers how they succeeded, but also how “they stay motivated”.
Vince Lombardi, the famous coach better known for the quote, “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing,” says of success: “You must pay the price to win, and you have to pay the price to get to the point where success is possible. Most important, you must pay the price to stay there.”
One more thing that characterizes these speakers, Ms. Walters says, is their humility. “True greatness lies in humility,” she points out. And she quotes Earl Nightingale, the popularizer of self-improvement audio programs, to illuminate her point: “The more I study, the more I read and the more I learn, the less certain I am of what I know. I stunned an audience once by telling them, ‘The only thing I know for certain is that I don’t know anything for certain.”
The way these speakers deal with criticisms and rejection is about the same: they don’t let negative thoughts come in the way. Mark Victor Hansen, famous co-author of “Chicken Soup for the Soul,” says: “When they say ‘no’, just say ‘next’.” Hansen advises that we must “reject the rejection.” This is believable coming from someone who had earlier received several rejection slips from 33 publishers!
As for how they succeed in their speeches, one other thing unites them with one quality: passion in their speeches. And his passion and intensity spring from how they relate to “real life” – which has the greatest appeal to listeners in a survey conducted by the author.
“Get to what you are passionate about,” Ms. Walters says. Ask “what gets your soul soaring,” she adds. And then she relates the respective passions of Anita Roddick, founder of Body Shop and famous environmentalist, and Zig Ziglar, a confessed evangelical Christian who she says violated one cardinal principle in public speaking – which is: “Do not bring your religion on the platform.”
Actually, it was not religion that catapulted Ziglar to celebrity heights; it was his sincerity, the book clarifies. “People are willing to grant you your belief if you are authentic.” You must believe in what you are speaking. “Touch your own heart first,” the author declares.
From such premise, the speaker must have a favorite theme – and thus audiences and readers can identify themes with speakers. Ms. Walters cited the famous speech of Winston Chruchill – which began: “We shall not flag or faill … We shall go on to the end .. We shall fight on the beaches … We shall fight on the landing grounds …”
Those who prepare lengthy speeches must listen to this advice from the book: “On the average, they remember 10 percent from a talk. So take control. Decide what you want them to remember. As for Churchill, his last sentence is unforgettable: “This was their finest hour.”
The book offers the reader the finest moments with these superstar speakers. More important, it challenges us to find out for ourselves what our passion is and fires our soul. This is not just a how-to book. It is one that drives you inside your soul and makes your heart miss a beat. What you find inside must so astonish you that you are close to your own “turning point.”
Sunday, August 26, 2001
Sunday, August 19, 2001
A speech worth delivering, is worth writing well
“The Lost Art of the Great Speech”
By Richard Dowis
AMACOM, 2000
The debate continues. Should a speech be written? Or should it be delivered extemporaneously?
I have friends and associates who work earnestly with their speechwriters for a well-crafted speech. But I also have friends who insist on “speaking from the heart” with the aid of neither cue cards nor manuscript. And both categories of friends are successful executives – because both communicate – and lead – well. So, how is the issue resolved?
I have my own thoughts, but I would rather ask Richard Dowis, president of the 2,000-member Society for the Preservation of English Language and Literature (SPELL), to settle the issue. He is also the author of “The Lost Art of the Great Speech,” sub-titled: “How to Write One. How to Deliver It.”
Dowis speaks: “A well-written speech is a disciplined speech. It doesn’t ramble. It gets to the point. It fits the allotted time. It contains no superfluous detail, but it doesn’t leave out anything important.”
And he continues to extol the process of writing: “Writing – writing anything – is just about the best discipline I know of. Simply stated, writing makes you think… Writing forces you to think in specifics. Just putting your thoughts on paper in a sort of stream of consciousness might be a useful way to get started, but it’s not writing. Writing is the application of discipline to creativity.”
This two-paragraph declaration of a speechwritier, former journalist and senior vice president of Manning Selvage & Lee Public Relations, is the best reminder to public speakers to insist on a well-written speech. After all, writing and delivering it is an art. Thus the title of the book acquires more significance.
And comparing it with another art form – filmmaking – is appropriate. Dowis points out: “Writing a speech is a lot like making a movie. Much of the footage that’s shot ends up on the cutting-room floor. The result is fast-paced, entertaining picture that holds the attention of the audience from beginning to end.”
Dowis aptly closes the debate with this line delivered with authority: “That’s what you want the speech to do.” And the author proceeds to instruct us – present and aspiring speakers as well as speechwriters – on the fundamentals, then the secrets, and the refinements of coming up with a “great speech.”
Executive Read earlier reviewed two books on public speaking – Peggy Noonan’s “Speaking Well,” and Reid Buckley’s “Strictly Speaking.” Ms. Noonan gave valuable insights as speechwriter of Ronald Reagan – but went no further to include other speakers. Mr. Buckley gave tips – some sensible, others outrageous – and most definitely as useful as a menu of choices fit for several occasions.
Dowis, revealing himself in his many anecdotes in the book as speechwriter and counselor to several CEOs, has put together a comprehensive, well-argued and richly organized bible for speechwriters (who must continually hone their rare skills, and public speakers (who must, from now on, require their wordsmiths to read – and take to heart -- Dowis’s book).
All seven chapters are a treasure trove of principles on speech writing. Somehow, you feel that you are being given an interesting and riveting refresher course on the art of writing – using a good beginning, employing figures of speech like metaphors and hyperbole, and bringing a piece to a stirring conclusion.
The difference, however, is that the author has primed us up to have a great speech in mind. And he makes sure we don’t forget that, because, aside from the main body of the book, he treats us to the world’s great speeches and boxed items called “Podium Presence” -- some timely tips to master the stage.
That makes the book a joy to read. Just when you have a surfeit of his lectures, he refreshes you with wisely chosen speeches from well-known pieces from Lincoln, Churchill and Kennedy, to less known but equally great speeches of Adlai Stevenson and Nelson Mandela.
The author also lets us into the inner chambers of speechwriters like Ted Sorensen of Kennedy, citing the productive partnership between writer and speaker.
In a chapter titled “Wisdom of the Ages,” the author reveals that the passage … “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country …” is antedated by lesser known and less eloquently expressed versions from Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes and Warren Harding.
Patrick Henry’s “Give me liberty or give me death,” a master in antithesis, is compared with Greek poet Aeschylus’s “Better to die on your feet than live on your knees.” Compare that to Apostle Paul’s declaration: “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” The secrets of the pros are revealed by the author in one chapter – bringing you into the workshop of the best wordsmiths -- using anaphora, analogy, surprise, etc.
This book gives us a rare encounter with the world’s great speeches and how they are crafted by the finest wordsmiths. Are great speeches a thing of the past? Katherine Hepburn once sighed upon seeing the late John Wayne, magnificent on horseback: “They ain’t made like him anymore.” Before we say of great speeches, “They ain’t made like them anymore,” learn from this book.
By Richard Dowis
AMACOM, 2000
The debate continues. Should a speech be written? Or should it be delivered extemporaneously?
I have friends and associates who work earnestly with their speechwriters for a well-crafted speech. But I also have friends who insist on “speaking from the heart” with the aid of neither cue cards nor manuscript. And both categories of friends are successful executives – because both communicate – and lead – well. So, how is the issue resolved?
I have my own thoughts, but I would rather ask Richard Dowis, president of the 2,000-member Society for the Preservation of English Language and Literature (SPELL), to settle the issue. He is also the author of “The Lost Art of the Great Speech,” sub-titled: “How to Write One. How to Deliver It.”
Dowis speaks: “A well-written speech is a disciplined speech. It doesn’t ramble. It gets to the point. It fits the allotted time. It contains no superfluous detail, but it doesn’t leave out anything important.”
And he continues to extol the process of writing: “Writing – writing anything – is just about the best discipline I know of. Simply stated, writing makes you think… Writing forces you to think in specifics. Just putting your thoughts on paper in a sort of stream of consciousness might be a useful way to get started, but it’s not writing. Writing is the application of discipline to creativity.”
This two-paragraph declaration of a speechwritier, former journalist and senior vice president of Manning Selvage & Lee Public Relations, is the best reminder to public speakers to insist on a well-written speech. After all, writing and delivering it is an art. Thus the title of the book acquires more significance.
And comparing it with another art form – filmmaking – is appropriate. Dowis points out: “Writing a speech is a lot like making a movie. Much of the footage that’s shot ends up on the cutting-room floor. The result is fast-paced, entertaining picture that holds the attention of the audience from beginning to end.”
Dowis aptly closes the debate with this line delivered with authority: “That’s what you want the speech to do.” And the author proceeds to instruct us – present and aspiring speakers as well as speechwriters – on the fundamentals, then the secrets, and the refinements of coming up with a “great speech.”
Executive Read earlier reviewed two books on public speaking – Peggy Noonan’s “Speaking Well,” and Reid Buckley’s “Strictly Speaking.” Ms. Noonan gave valuable insights as speechwriter of Ronald Reagan – but went no further to include other speakers. Mr. Buckley gave tips – some sensible, others outrageous – and most definitely as useful as a menu of choices fit for several occasions.
Dowis, revealing himself in his many anecdotes in the book as speechwriter and counselor to several CEOs, has put together a comprehensive, well-argued and richly organized bible for speechwriters (who must continually hone their rare skills, and public speakers (who must, from now on, require their wordsmiths to read – and take to heart -- Dowis’s book).
All seven chapters are a treasure trove of principles on speech writing. Somehow, you feel that you are being given an interesting and riveting refresher course on the art of writing – using a good beginning, employing figures of speech like metaphors and hyperbole, and bringing a piece to a stirring conclusion.
The difference, however, is that the author has primed us up to have a great speech in mind. And he makes sure we don’t forget that, because, aside from the main body of the book, he treats us to the world’s great speeches and boxed items called “Podium Presence” -- some timely tips to master the stage.
That makes the book a joy to read. Just when you have a surfeit of his lectures, he refreshes you with wisely chosen speeches from well-known pieces from Lincoln, Churchill and Kennedy, to less known but equally great speeches of Adlai Stevenson and Nelson Mandela.
The author also lets us into the inner chambers of speechwriters like Ted Sorensen of Kennedy, citing the productive partnership between writer and speaker.
In a chapter titled “Wisdom of the Ages,” the author reveals that the passage … “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country …” is antedated by lesser known and less eloquently expressed versions from Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes and Warren Harding.
Patrick Henry’s “Give me liberty or give me death,” a master in antithesis, is compared with Greek poet Aeschylus’s “Better to die on your feet than live on your knees.” Compare that to Apostle Paul’s declaration: “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” The secrets of the pros are revealed by the author in one chapter – bringing you into the workshop of the best wordsmiths -- using anaphora, analogy, surprise, etc.
This book gives us a rare encounter with the world’s great speeches and how they are crafted by the finest wordsmiths. Are great speeches a thing of the past? Katherine Hepburn once sighed upon seeing the late John Wayne, magnificent on horseback: “They ain’t made like him anymore.” Before we say of great speeches, “They ain’t made like them anymore,” learn from this book.
Sunday, August 12, 2001
‘Living the brand’ is easier said than done
“Brand Manners”
By Hamish Pringle and William Gordon
John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
I checked the balance in my credit card the other day with one of the biggest banks in the world. An answering machine gave me a series of instructions: press one … press two … or wait for the operator. I sighed with the cashier who was nervously waiting for the confirmation: “Is there a way to be free from answering machines? Where have all the telephone receptionists gone?”
Previously, it was my secretary who had been making the request for updating. My first encounter with an impersonal bank was actually serendipitous: I was reading a book, which warns against creating a “corporate distance” between company and customer. And this global bank was actually being distant from one customer it once courted without even trying. The bank is not alone.
Many companies here have joined the bandwagon in installing these answering machines who have effectively alienated them from their customers. And who, may I add, have belied their pronouncements about their customer-friendliness.
The book, interestingly titled “Brand Manners,” is a wake-up call to big – and even small – companies to make sure their organizations truly live up to the promise of the brand, their ads and their public relations positioning.
Sub-titled “how to create the self-confident organization to live the brand,” the book provides valuable advice to CEOs and marketing directors who continue to face the unwanted prospect “over-promising and under-delivering,” to use a phrase that’s been going around pointing to the all-too-familiar failure to deliver on their promises.
The authors – Hamish Pringle (director of Brand Beliefs Ltd) and William Gordon (strategy partner with Accenture, formerly Andersen Consulting) – put together a wealth of concepts and “to-do” guides that will enable corporations behind the brands to make it easy on management and employees to live up to the customer expectations they themselves have created.
The usual way was to install a “command and control” strategy to make sure the entire organization is primed for being “customer-driven.” However, such a strategy, externally applied to pressed from above, depends solely on “cascading” the CEO’s commitment to the customer. And, more often than not, the enthusiasm or passion peters out through layers and layers of the organization.
“No matter how good the work behind brand positioning, marketing and communication, a reputation can be ruined by a poor interaction between a customer and a brand representative,” the authors say.
“What is needed is a self-confident organization,” the book declares, one that has in its corporate culture a desire to please the customer and exceed his/her expectations.
Terry Leahy, CEO of Tesco in the United Kingdom (whose firm is presented as a success story in the book) underscored some fundamentals that, as Robert Fulghum would say, “we learned in kindergarten”: “There can be a huge improvement in business performance by applying the incredibly simple principle that good manners – good conduct, good behaviour – motivate everyone.”
The book offers a treasure trove of tables, illustrations and cartoons that either make the principles easy to understand or make a point unforgettable. Don’t miss this cartoon, titled “Phone Therapy” that provides a reductio ad absurdum some companies’ fetish for answering machines. A distraught caller, phone handset on his left hand hears a voice from the machine which says:
“Hello … This is the Police. If you are being attacked from behind by a mad axe-murderer, press ‘One’…”
The book has promised to deliver key concepts on enabling your organization to live up to its brand promise. It has done its part providing a single-minded approach to equipping your people from to CEO to the front-line employees for such a worthy goal. Your part is to read the book, page by page, illustration by illustration.
Living the brand is easier said than done. This book shows that it can be done – and how!
By Hamish Pringle and William Gordon
John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
I checked the balance in my credit card the other day with one of the biggest banks in the world. An answering machine gave me a series of instructions: press one … press two … or wait for the operator. I sighed with the cashier who was nervously waiting for the confirmation: “Is there a way to be free from answering machines? Where have all the telephone receptionists gone?”
Previously, it was my secretary who had been making the request for updating. My first encounter with an impersonal bank was actually serendipitous: I was reading a book, which warns against creating a “corporate distance” between company and customer. And this global bank was actually being distant from one customer it once courted without even trying. The bank is not alone.
Many companies here have joined the bandwagon in installing these answering machines who have effectively alienated them from their customers. And who, may I add, have belied their pronouncements about their customer-friendliness.
The book, interestingly titled “Brand Manners,” is a wake-up call to big – and even small – companies to make sure their organizations truly live up to the promise of the brand, their ads and their public relations positioning.
Sub-titled “how to create the self-confident organization to live the brand,” the book provides valuable advice to CEOs and marketing directors who continue to face the unwanted prospect “over-promising and under-delivering,” to use a phrase that’s been going around pointing to the all-too-familiar failure to deliver on their promises.
The authors – Hamish Pringle (director of Brand Beliefs Ltd) and William Gordon (strategy partner with Accenture, formerly Andersen Consulting) – put together a wealth of concepts and “to-do” guides that will enable corporations behind the brands to make it easy on management and employees to live up to the customer expectations they themselves have created.
The usual way was to install a “command and control” strategy to make sure the entire organization is primed for being “customer-driven.” However, such a strategy, externally applied to pressed from above, depends solely on “cascading” the CEO’s commitment to the customer. And, more often than not, the enthusiasm or passion peters out through layers and layers of the organization.
“No matter how good the work behind brand positioning, marketing and communication, a reputation can be ruined by a poor interaction between a customer and a brand representative,” the authors say.
“What is needed is a self-confident organization,” the book declares, one that has in its corporate culture a desire to please the customer and exceed his/her expectations.
Terry Leahy, CEO of Tesco in the United Kingdom (whose firm is presented as a success story in the book) underscored some fundamentals that, as Robert Fulghum would say, “we learned in kindergarten”: “There can be a huge improvement in business performance by applying the incredibly simple principle that good manners – good conduct, good behaviour – motivate everyone.”
The book offers a treasure trove of tables, illustrations and cartoons that either make the principles easy to understand or make a point unforgettable. Don’t miss this cartoon, titled “Phone Therapy” that provides a reductio ad absurdum some companies’ fetish for answering machines. A distraught caller, phone handset on his left hand hears a voice from the machine which says:
“Hello … This is the Police. If you are being attacked from behind by a mad axe-murderer, press ‘One’…”
The book has promised to deliver key concepts on enabling your organization to live up to its brand promise. It has done its part providing a single-minded approach to equipping your people from to CEO to the front-line employees for such a worthy goal. Your part is to read the book, page by page, illustration by illustration.
Living the brand is easier said than done. This book shows that it can be done – and how!
Sunday, August 05, 2001
Yield not your mind to ‘group think’ and be free to make rational choices
“Getting What You Want”
Robert J. Ringer
G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2000
In the late 70s, corporation watchers and socio-political scientists were saying that a person would soon lose his individuality – because he would become an “organization man”. He would be faceless, his character subsumed under the corporate jungle, his choices limited by the goals assigned to him by the organization – and his life controlled by the “Firm” from cradle to grave.
Instead of accepting the inevitability of the individual melting into anonymity in the ocean of collective structure or corporate thought, more perceptive thinkers reasserted man’s primordial right to be distinct individually, as they cited the dangers of developing “herd mentality.”
Philosopher Eric Hoffer, in his book “True Believer,” gave a ringing rebuke to the fashion at the time to elevate to the pedestal the man who was willing to submit himself to the collective, when Marxism was fashionable and capitalism a bad word.
Another philosopher, Erich Fromm, lamented the all-too-easy abandonment of rational and individual thinking in his book, “Escape from Freedom.” He said people were willing to surrender their minds to their leaders, because “freedom carries with it the terrifying responsibility” to think for one’s self and to face the consequences of one’s own decision.
History has shown that when the majority of people allowed their rulers to direct their own destiny in mindless submission, disastrous results followed – bringing about the Holocaust of Hitler, the Monstrosity of Idi Amin, the Killing Fields of Pol Pot, to name a few.
It is really far easier to ask someone else to think for you. If something goes wrong or a business deal sours, you have someone to blame. This is exactly what “Getting What You Want” is advising against. Author Robert J. Ringer has crafted “The 7 Principles of Rational Living” for you, people, so that you would be “getting what you want in life, whether it be friendship, love, money, respect, or just about anything else that you believe will make you happy.”
Ringer -- the author of “Winning Through Intimidation” and “Looking Out for # 1” decades ago – has written what could be the lasting legacy of his well-argued points on his one formula: rational living.
Obviously acquiring a philosopher’s depth and broad-mindedness with advancing years, Ringer says that “you have a moral right to do what is in your best interest, provided you do not commit aggression against others.”
The seven principles he proposes somehow summarize everything needed for individual and community life. For example, Principle # 1 recommends: “Base your actions on truth.” Before dealing with “scientific truth” and “secular truth,” Ringer (whose religion is not revealed in the book) endears himself to “creationists” when he takes the bull by the horns and throws himself in the middle of the debate between the hotly contending theorists on “creation” versus “evolution.”
In an illuminating paragraph, he argues: “As I rhetorically asked my atheist friend, given that you are infinitely more complex than one line of a book, what are the odds that you accidentally, with all your billions of precise, specialized cells, evolved from rocks and dirt over a period of a few billion years?”
If you think that short paragraph gives you an idea about the compelling logic and lucid thinking of the author, you have just begun with the book because, as you read on, you pick up more gems of thought and well-argued points along the way. Liberating is Principle # 4: “Avoid those who drain your personal resources.” If you just cannot say no to a friend who clings to you in utter dependence for every need, this section tells you how to avoid “people taxes,” and “friends” who keep “taxing” you.
Refreshing and edifying is Principle # 3: “Make choices with civility, dignity, honesty, and humility.” Move over Confucius; ring the bell for Ringer! “Dignity is a rare commodity in our bizarre, modern-day world,” he points out. He cites the example of “talk shows that feature tragic people who emotionally and psychologically disrobe themselves in public while sharing their most intimate thoughts with millions of strangers.”
One is reminded of truly pathetic scenes on television of sex sirens making public their private desires and otherwise decent actors disclosing their all-too-intimate thoughts of loneliness and questings after pleasure following a failed marriage.
Ridding yourself of major encumbrances and acting rationally, not on impulse, are two other principles that are elaborated on by Ringer. “People feel imprisoned by many responsibilities,” the author says, who adds: “There is no such thing as a happy slave. If you’re not free to pursue your dreams and achieve your goals, you are, metaphorically speaking, a slave.” “Act now, regret later” is an advice heartily embraced by a people known for the “bahala na” attitude. The book advises otherwise with a witty blurb: “Curiosity may have killed the cat, but so did impulsive actions.”
One theme runs through the entire book: Don’t be easily swayed by what’s fashionable or socially acceptable. Check the truth that underlies it, your values about what’s good and what’s best for you. Then freely make a choice. “An unexamined life is not worth living,” a philosopher declared centuries ago.” This book gives seven principles by which you conduct such a life- or career-changing examination.
Robert J. Ringer
G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2000
In the late 70s, corporation watchers and socio-political scientists were saying that a person would soon lose his individuality – because he would become an “organization man”. He would be faceless, his character subsumed under the corporate jungle, his choices limited by the goals assigned to him by the organization – and his life controlled by the “Firm” from cradle to grave.
Instead of accepting the inevitability of the individual melting into anonymity in the ocean of collective structure or corporate thought, more perceptive thinkers reasserted man’s primordial right to be distinct individually, as they cited the dangers of developing “herd mentality.”
Philosopher Eric Hoffer, in his book “True Believer,” gave a ringing rebuke to the fashion at the time to elevate to the pedestal the man who was willing to submit himself to the collective, when Marxism was fashionable and capitalism a bad word.
Another philosopher, Erich Fromm, lamented the all-too-easy abandonment of rational and individual thinking in his book, “Escape from Freedom.” He said people were willing to surrender their minds to their leaders, because “freedom carries with it the terrifying responsibility” to think for one’s self and to face the consequences of one’s own decision.
History has shown that when the majority of people allowed their rulers to direct their own destiny in mindless submission, disastrous results followed – bringing about the Holocaust of Hitler, the Monstrosity of Idi Amin, the Killing Fields of Pol Pot, to name a few.
It is really far easier to ask someone else to think for you. If something goes wrong or a business deal sours, you have someone to blame. This is exactly what “Getting What You Want” is advising against. Author Robert J. Ringer has crafted “The 7 Principles of Rational Living” for you, people, so that you would be “getting what you want in life, whether it be friendship, love, money, respect, or just about anything else that you believe will make you happy.”
Ringer -- the author of “Winning Through Intimidation” and “Looking Out for # 1” decades ago – has written what could be the lasting legacy of his well-argued points on his one formula: rational living.
Obviously acquiring a philosopher’s depth and broad-mindedness with advancing years, Ringer says that “you have a moral right to do what is in your best interest, provided you do not commit aggression against others.”
The seven principles he proposes somehow summarize everything needed for individual and community life. For example, Principle # 1 recommends: “Base your actions on truth.” Before dealing with “scientific truth” and “secular truth,” Ringer (whose religion is not revealed in the book) endears himself to “creationists” when he takes the bull by the horns and throws himself in the middle of the debate between the hotly contending theorists on “creation” versus “evolution.”
In an illuminating paragraph, he argues: “As I rhetorically asked my atheist friend, given that you are infinitely more complex than one line of a book, what are the odds that you accidentally, with all your billions of precise, specialized cells, evolved from rocks and dirt over a period of a few billion years?”
If you think that short paragraph gives you an idea about the compelling logic and lucid thinking of the author, you have just begun with the book because, as you read on, you pick up more gems of thought and well-argued points along the way. Liberating is Principle # 4: “Avoid those who drain your personal resources.” If you just cannot say no to a friend who clings to you in utter dependence for every need, this section tells you how to avoid “people taxes,” and “friends” who keep “taxing” you.
Refreshing and edifying is Principle # 3: “Make choices with civility, dignity, honesty, and humility.” Move over Confucius; ring the bell for Ringer! “Dignity is a rare commodity in our bizarre, modern-day world,” he points out. He cites the example of “talk shows that feature tragic people who emotionally and psychologically disrobe themselves in public while sharing their most intimate thoughts with millions of strangers.”
One is reminded of truly pathetic scenes on television of sex sirens making public their private desires and otherwise decent actors disclosing their all-too-intimate thoughts of loneliness and questings after pleasure following a failed marriage.
Ridding yourself of major encumbrances and acting rationally, not on impulse, are two other principles that are elaborated on by Ringer. “People feel imprisoned by many responsibilities,” the author says, who adds: “There is no such thing as a happy slave. If you’re not free to pursue your dreams and achieve your goals, you are, metaphorically speaking, a slave.” “Act now, regret later” is an advice heartily embraced by a people known for the “bahala na” attitude. The book advises otherwise with a witty blurb: “Curiosity may have killed the cat, but so did impulsive actions.”
One theme runs through the entire book: Don’t be easily swayed by what’s fashionable or socially acceptable. Check the truth that underlies it, your values about what’s good and what’s best for you. Then freely make a choice. “An unexamined life is not worth living,” a philosopher declared centuries ago.” This book gives seven principles by which you conduct such a life- or career-changing examination.
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