National Association of Educational Broadcasters Luncheon - Reel 2

What you do somehow in our time we're not supposed to be passionate. We're somehow supposed to be rather calm about it. The committee is supposed to function. No no no no no no no committees. Forget them committees and nothing committees will do you nothing. You must bring the passion to what you were doing. A belief a hard firm. Vibrant exciting enthusiastic kind of wonderful belief to what you do. If you don't don't tell me about the subject the subject is nothing. You haven't made up any subjects you educational broadcasters. You got no throttle hold on the market of subjects what do subjects mean subjects and nothing. There now that's all they are. But what about the adjectives. The way in which you do something that's what's important style. The whole overpowering wonderful marvelous privilege of being able to attract people not on your own terms which can be pretty fatuous and

fatheaded sometimes but on their terms to attract people. And this is what I particularly enjoy in broadcasting the opportunity to attract people. If I don't attract them I don't get mad at them. Why should I get mad at them. I get mad at myself because the failure is mine. If nobody's listening to you the fault must be yours and it can only be in the way in which you do not the subject and the subject can be done. If it can be done with style with imagination with inventiveness with ingenuity that's the way to do broadcasting. The fact alone that you've got a subject you never invent as if it ain't yours even to crow about. So it's a subject big deal. Soul. Thing that interests me is this marvelous wonderful exciting opportunity to interest people. If you don't interest people you have failed. You may interest yourself or your wife or your mother but unless you interest

people you will fail. We. Are somehow afraid. To really let our emotions show and what we do. We're ashamed. Of my own company that I work for. Everybody says What are you getting so emotional about. And they say it in the crowd kind of a critical fashion and I say I get emotional because by God it's worth getting emotional about. And if it isn't what I want to waste my time for whatever I have done of my own it's emotional springs out of my interests because I don't know how to do anything any other way and I find interest and emotionality. The things that. I believe make for exciting program do you know. We get. Like got you getting serious. Oh and I you know you can't listen to me. I tell you something else I'm on the verge of a great discovery medical discovery. Right. And the doctors here we have a problem.

But someday I'm going to publish this discovery I don't believe you folks can listen unless you smile. Ah there's something beautiful about the sound of laughter. There's something somehow you're so attractive when you smile. And when I hear people laugh. God Almighty I I just enjoy you see I happen to enjoy what I'm doing up here and I'm doing this for yourself it's a kind of a form of oh I know I'm not catharsis exactly but it's a form of self-help. It's cheaper than an analyst but I'll let you laugh. I feel you can't listen because I'm in the process as I said of making this discovery. I you know of course you do since you're an educational broadcasting you know that the joint that connects the two jaws is called the mandibular joint. This is the joint which allows you to open and close your mouth. Sometimes people might feel that's too bad that joint is working so well with that fella. But it is working and all I wish to point out and when I'm on the

verge of discovering is that. This joint you see when you hold your mouth in a close clench position. I think it brings pressure to bear on the ear drum and it prevents you from hearing me. I like you to hear me. I like to hear you laugh. I think the sound of laughter is missing in our time. I think too that we are afraid to laugh. Somehow we feel that if everybody is pompous and dull and boring someone always a pretty deep thinker. Well hell I I don't think that I think you can think if you laugh. I think people who say things to make you laugh are privileged. If you can make somebody laugh I think that's a marvelous thing. I think too and I'll give you an epigram you can put it in petty point. What I have figured out for myself here is that what is laughter but another form of tears. That didn't move you as much as it moved me when I thought about it.

But yeah I like that. I was on a broom coming from Dallas a fellow said you couldn't get from Dallas to here last night I did under my own power. And on this broom I have to think about that. Yeah I thought I'd say that's a nice sentence it's got syntax it's just nice you know. What is laughter about another form of tears said he repeating it for the second time hoping somebody would like it. Well all right you know don't put in petty point. I wonder too if. We don't get. A little blasé. For instance. I was in the plane coming from New York. And we were flying like what do I know 30000 feet. You don't mean mean anything anymore you're twenty thousand thirty thousand forty. And we were high in the sky. We were. It was a good experience. And I

sat there. I was looking at the stars and I was looking at the moon. Because I found for myself that. I have been looking at the stars much. But I'm looking at the moon. And I thought what a marvelous thing. Here I am. And I. Could almost touch those stars. And I thought for how many thousands of years man had wanted to do that. And. Now we get up there and we fly around with the Stars. And all anybody in the plane concerned about we were half an hour late. And I thought to myself What a shame. To participate in miracles. To be part of miracles. And suddenly what does the miracle mean. Does it mean anything. I think that's sad when miracles don't mean anything. And to me. The whole business of broadcasting. Is an ever continuing miracle. And I wonder how many of you people feel about broadcasting

as a being a miracle. If you do. Are you a manager. For instance do you have somebody working for you. And you say Oh well yes he's very creative. What do you know about creative creative qualities. How do you bring them out. What kind of a climate do you create for this creative individual. I suspect we give so much lip service. Everybody's for creativity today. It's like being from motherhood you know who's going to get mad at him. I don't think anybody understands that. And I think it is the duty further broadcasters especially in the management area to create a climate if you've got somebody who's creative you're very lucky you want to hang on to him you ought to hug and kiss him. You know I talk sweet talk to him because he's a wonderful person. If you got somebody like this bear in mind that he's lonely because creativity is a lonely kind of

business. God knows where it comes from God knows why you get an idea. The miracle of the idea and the further miracle of how to do it how to put it together how to make it move somebody. What a marvelous marvelous quality. And so I say you should be careful. You should nurture him you should give him a climate in which to grow. You should help him. You should not come down because it says in the labor management book whatever it says in there you shouldn't embarrass him you should make him feel like a freak because he ain't a freak. Because he's the only one that really amounts to anything in the whole business of right. Now. I have carried on here something fierce. And you're getting serious again. I'll get off soon don't get nervous I happen to be also a very nervous man besides being sick. I just get nervous when it's too quiet. Somehow I feel maybe you're sleeping or something. Some people

sleep with their eyes open and all that. Yes they can. I don't like people to go to sleep so I usually make noise you know because you can't go to sleep when I'm talking not for any other reason except that while I just like company I suspect what I can do in addition to my general interest in semantics. That's what I wanted to mention to you remember 10 minutes ago I said sir you have a problem. Even though I am interested in semantics I've demonstrated this afternoon. And Iris to TV and system of logic and as all of you know General Semantics isn't an heiress to Judean system of logic. I don't tell you things you know but it's good to repeat them. So my little talk is demonstrated. As I said in Iris the Chilean system of logic because they had an opening right. I started denying it had to be getting it out a middle part. Which you're not too much aware of because I haven't closed

yet. Take my word for it on faith. Just believe yes believe in you'll see everything is easier if you believe I did have a middle. And right about now. I'm going to have a close. For all only the only reason is to prove to you the three statements as I started out to prove a beginning a middle and then which was Aristotle's great contribution to the Western world in the method of thinking. As you know as a matter of fact we are trying to recover from that today and it's causing us all kinds of complications because we are finding out that many things don't have a beginning and many things don't have a middle. And many things don't have an end. There's little talk however is our city and it has all of those three. I want to close and I close with a thing. I don't know how better to refer to it. It's a thing close and I close with the thing close because I like to close with a thing close. I

don't do it for you. I do it for myself. I don't feel enough people are doing enough things for me and I have to do things for myself. All right. So I do it. It illustrates something. You figure out what it illustrates. It's called putting the burden and education putting the burden on the student. You have to do something yourself you just can't have it all fed to you. I think it's a week. Well listen I was going to close. I have here some rolled up newspaper and some time ago a magician a guy I knew. I didn't know him but I had seen him. He did a little trick. And I was sitting up in a hotel room one night with a headache. Did I get a laugh every time I don't understand it. Anyway I had a headache and now you really fall off the chair and I had insomnia

so. I was sitting there thinking of numerous things all alone in a silly hotel room and I remember the man said magician. If you're all a paper up and you Tara just the way I'm doing now a marvelous thing happens. You create a thing called a tree. And I remember thinking to myself My my my fella told me how to do it and I never believed him because I guess I didn't have the faith and that there fella. Now I'm a great believer. I have face I have big guy. I believe in it all. You tell me I believe and this is a quality I wish to impart to you today. You must believe. So I thought to myself Well if you're such a believer. Once I got this all wrapped around my neck they couldn't find me. But I said if you're such a believer how come how come I said to myself with my headache and my

insomnia How come I said you didn't do it that fella told you. See see I had a seed of doubt. Yes and that's what you must all fight against. He must be here. You know you saw him with your mouth with your head. I believe I believe that the little seed of doubt. You've got to be careful of that seed you got to take care of it. Watch out for it will spoil everything. Because the only way you can do anything is to believe. So I took care of my little seed of doubt. I can't tell you that because that's very private. How to take care of the body each one of you will figure out your own method of dealing with your season. And I said my God I believe I roll the paper up like you saw me do and I tore it like he told me to tear it. You know I made a little thing. I call that a tree. That's what I do. If I call out a tree

which as a matter of fact I call it a pan down a tree. And the reason I call it a pound out of trees are no such word as Panda. But it kind of sounds like it should be a tan down a tree. Now I think it's a real tree. I think it's branches agreeing. I think there are birds in the branches. Thank you. I think when the sun goes up it casts beautiful shadows through the branches of that tree and I think when the wind blows through the branches it makes a beautiful wonderful kind of murmuring lovely marvelous. That's what I think that is and I think all the things that some of you folks may say an old tree. That's a bunch of old torn up newspaper. Well I hope.

There's somebody here who believes it's a tree. And to those of you who think that's a whole bunch of torn up newspaper. I'm very sorry but I don't figure. There was much I could have done about you anyway. Which. I want to give you your feel. I think we've all got the spirit there for all that's left for me to do is to pronounce the benediction in accord with the Kalandia and theology.

It must be done in three ways. Beginning with the. First. The easy way. Thank you. I sure as hell hope that was in my copy of The New York Times and third the three E's of Texas are upon you. Thank you. We stand adjourned until the business section which resumes at 2:30 in the car not room two in the Commodore Perry please be with us there.