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Sorry, but it is religion that taught us that and it is just flat out
wrong. Jesus loves all the little children and the grown ups too
whether they are gay, wear a turban and carry a gun, or whether they
hate America. You may not be able to love them. But you should give
Jesus a little more credit.
Jesus was not white. Jesus was not American. I know that bothers
some people, but it is reality. No one group can lay claim to Him any
more than anyone else.
And God does not have any preference for one group over an-
other. However, we do not like that. We want God to be all ours.
We sing  God Bless America. Nice song. Nice sentiment. But very
exclusive, don t you think? What about  God Bless Iraq? or  God
Bless France? Dickens s Tiny Tim was right when he said,  God
Bless Us Everyone.
My suggestion for you about God is this: Discover for yourself.
Read lots of books from many cultures and many religions. Try lots of
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106 Shut Up, Stop Whining, and Get a Life
things and ideas and find what works best for you and that brings you
the most peace and love and contentment and happiness. And when
you have found those things, then you have found God.
 What do a fundamentalist and a lobotomy have in com-
mon? They are both no-brainers.
 Unknown
 I have an everyday religion that works for me. Love your-
self first, and everything else falls into line.
 Lucille Ball
 My religion is very simple my religion is kindness.
 Dalai Lama
 People who want to share their religious views with you al-
most never want you to share yours with them.
 Dave Barry
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CHAPTER 11
Get Smarter
On the average, people spend about 100 hours a year reading. Yet
they spend nearly 2,000 hours a year watching television. Forty hours
a week in front of the tube and only two hours a week looking at
something with words on it how can this be?
According to the American Booksellers Association:
Z' Eighty percent of Americans did not buy or read a book this year.
(Congratulations, by buying and reading this book you are al-
ready in the top 20 percent of all Americans.)
Z' Seventy percent of American adults have not been in a book-
store in the last five years.
Z' Fifty-eight percent of American adults never read a book after
high school.
Z' Forty-two percent of university graduates never read another
book.
Another study reports only 14 percent of our society would go in a
bookstore or a library and actually walk out with a book. And only 10
percent of those people would read past the first chapter.
107
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108 Shut Up, Stop Whining, and Get a Life
On nearly every corner there seems to be one of those mega-
bookstores with a coffee shop and music store inside. So how can it
be that no one is reading? Well, it is true that book sales are at an all
time high. More people than ever are buying books. They just are
not reading them. Actually I think people go to bookstores just for
the coffee.
People Do Not Read
A few years ago I did a press run of 10,000 copies of my self-pub-
lished book, The Simple Way to Success. After selling over 9,000
copies, we received a phone call from a man saying he had discov-
ered my trick. I did not actually know that I knew any tricks. He
said that pages 158, 159, and 160 were blank. I did not believe him.
I checked, and sure enough those pages in every copy were blank. I
had already sold 9,000 copies of that press run and apparently
not one person ever made it to page 158. That realization did a lot
for my ego.
You have to actually read the books. It is great to own them. I love
owning my books. But they never really seem to do me much good
until I read them.
According to USA Today, 43.6 percent of all American adults
read below the seventh grade level. And did you know that over half
of all high school graduates could not read their own graduation
diplomas or even fill out a simple application for employment?
How pitiful.
Want to have some fun? Ask people you know to name the last
five books they have read. If they can name one it will be amazing.
While this may be cruel, it will be great fun for you. Then ask them
what book they are currently reading. I bet you nine out of ten are not
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Get Smarter 109
reading anything. By the way, this is a clue for you: Do not hang
around people who do not read.
HOW TO READ A BOOK
1. If at all possible, buy the book. Libraries are great resources for
reference material and for fiction you do not care about keeping after
you have read the book. But when you are investing in a book that
has life-changing information in it (things you will want to refer to
over and over again) you need to buy the book. If you simply cannot
afford to buy the book, then go to the library and check it out. How-
ever, on the way to the library, kick yourself in the butt for being so
broke you cannot afford a book! (There are lots of great used book-
stores that sell wonderful books at bargain prices. I saw one of mine
for a quarter. What a deal!)
2. If the book is yours, mark it up. Write your name in it. Get a
highlighter and mark the parts that say something to you. Make mar-
gin notes. When you have finished the book, go to the back of the
book and on one of the blank pages write the date and then summa-
rize what you learned from that book. In fact, begin this new habit by
doing it in this book!
3. Tell everyone what a great book you are reading. This will re-
inforce what you are learning. It is also a great way to boost your own
ego because it is doubtful they have read any books recently so you [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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