QUOTATIONS

Rush is a classic rock band from Canada with dozens of hits and a multi-decade career on the stage.  They knew first-hand the challenges of fame and notoriety.  While, on the outside, it might appear to be an easy life, it's not.  Their song Limelight lays that out and it is the topic of today's episode.  

Vivian Clayton is an accomplished professor and author in the field of geriatric neuropsychology.  She's studied what makes and keeps people smart and wise through their lives and into their old age.  Her words bring something we think we know into full clarity today.  Join me as we explore both intellect and wisdom.  

A centuries-old proverb from France is the subject of today's episode.  Who originated it, we may never know.  What we can know is that it holds a valuable lesson in humility for all of us.  

In this, the second in a series on Charlie Chaplin's film The Great Dictator, I look at the second half of the closing speech, in which Chaplin's acting skills really shine.  His delivery is phenomenal, his words moving, and his message long-living.  His call for peace and justice and freedom is as valid and important today as it ever was.  

Charlie Chaplin wrote, produced and acted in dozens of films during a career that spanned more than seven decades.  In one of his most enduring and iconic films, The Great Dictator, Chaplin boldly denounces facism and dictatorial behavior in ways only he could.  His speech is so grand that we'll cover it in two episodes, the first of which focuses on the part of the speech related to the goodness in humanity.  

Steven Novella is a neurologist and professor at Yale.  He is also a skeptic, steeped in science and doggedly in search of what's right over what's comfortable.  In this episode's quote, he cautions us to beware our emotions, lest they lead us to incorrect, simple conclusions that we then retroactively reinforce with our logic.  

It is an important lesson for all of us.  

Daniel Burnham is one of the most accomplished American Architects of all time.  In addition to numerous buildings of note still standing today, he was also the driving force behind the 1892 Chicago World's Fair.  He made grand plans and set out to accomplish them, piece by painful piece.  His thoughts on how and why we make plans are the topic of today's episode.

John Adams was the 2nd President of the United States.  He also served multiple very long periods overseas doing the duties of his fledgling nation.  While he was away, he wrote to his wife often.  In a letter from 1780, while on assignment in France, Adams told his wife of all of the wonders of the city and then told her of the things he must do so that his children may live a better life than he.  It's solid advice for all of us today.  

Alex Honnold does what few others can or would even dare.  He climbs some of the world's most challenging rocks, hundreds and thousands of feet in the air, without safety equipment.  No ropes, no helmet, no crash pads.  To do this, Alex must perform at the highest levels of focus, skill, and determination.  We can learn a lot from him.  

Ralph Waldo Emerson's work Letters and Social Aims contains many words of wisdom.  They've survived the test of time, though not always in their original form.  Today we look at the true, original words of Emerson himself.  He reminds us that who we are is far more important than what we say.