How’s your hearing?
What people hear when listening to their favorite politician giving a speech is not what has been said. What people hear is what they want to hear.
The absolute masters of manipulation are those who can determine in advance what it is that people really want to hear, and then deliver exactly that in their speeches. The truth may bear little, if any, resemblance to what is said. A lack of truth will in no way diminish the effectiveness of the message delivered.
Added to this is the art of formulating sentences in such a manner that the words delivered, while not saying much, are designed to literally move mountains. Humdrum words just won’t get it.
Consider the following two ways of saying essentially the same thing:
1. “We have to be sure that we all work hard on this together.”
2. “May the brilliant flame of our inspiration never come to be extinguished.”
Balance
There are only three things that any investment can contain: profit, security, and liquidity (how soon something can be changed into cash).
What everybody would like, of course, is the maximum of all three. It’s no surprise that this is impossible. While it is possible to increase any one of the three, this can only be done at the expense of one or both of the other two. How the three are selected and balanced against each other just depends on the preferences of the individual investor. What does the investor feel is most important for him or her personally?
When I explained this to a high school student, it was as if I had just come from the top of some mountain, having spoken with a holy man about how the world works.
Her question was, “Why don’t they tell us this in school?”
That I don’t know.
On speaking
A person who can speak two languages is called bilingual. A person who can speak three languages is called trilingual. A person who can speak four languages is called quadrilingual.
What is a person who can only speak one language called?
An American.
REGUT
(Robert E. Regut is a graduate of West Point and a teacher with 20-plus years of experience in the teaching of foreign languages, specializing in the teaching of spoken German. He can be reached at P.O. Box 101, Nobleboro, ME, or at robertregut@gmail.com.)
