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Explain it in my piece.
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You really should read it.
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Why private speech doesn't tell us about a person's character.
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That is the title of the piece.
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You can't get more direct than that, can you?
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That's the title of the piece.
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There are, on Town Hall...
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Friendly Atheist.
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Yeah, Friendly Atheist.
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Yeah, good.
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So, thus far, there are 288 comments on the piece.
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And I will read you a few of them.
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So here is the way to understand it.
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There are four categories.
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Private speech, private action, public speech, public action.
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Right?
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There's a division between public and private, but not with regard to actions.
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Private actions are as important as public actions.
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If you beat your wife in private, that's evil.
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Okay?
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So, with regard to action, there is no difference.
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Between public and private.
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Evil is evil.
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You murder somebody, most people don't murder people in public.
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They murder people in private.
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Murder is the worst thing you can do, so obviously there's no difference.
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But in speech, and I give example after example, in speech, that's a difference.
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So I give an example.
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I give an example of a woman Who tells her, her husband or her best friend, you know, I've been taking care of my mother now for five years.
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She has Alzheimer's.
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And I tell you the truth, there are times when I wish she would die.
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It's a perfect example of my point.
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Does this tell you about the character of this woman?
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Actually, believe it or not, I think it does, in her favor.
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I will explain that in a moment.
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Do you know where I got this from?
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This is the oldest phone call to my show that I recall, and I have been talking about it.
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It entered our film.
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There's a whole scene about it, and for goodness sake, it's a free video.
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It's how I met Alan Estrin, my producer, The Living Martyr, and you will love it.
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Some of the biggest stars in Hollywood are in the film.
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It's called For Goodness Sake, and it's on the internet.
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It's free.
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And you'll see me...
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How long ago?
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25 years ago?
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You will see me from 25 years ago.
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It's not 25?
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Well, wait.
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20 years ago...
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Well, no.
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Yes, I am right.
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Mid-90s.
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That's astonishing to think.
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25 years ago.
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See, you'll see me 25 years ago.
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You get a kick out of it.
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Anyway, it's called, for goodness sake.
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So in it, we have this scene.
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What scene am I referring to again?
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The scene in which the guy confesses that he...
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Oh, yeah.
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So that's right.
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So the guy...
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I'm in each scene.
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It's a funny thing.
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So I'm in each scene.
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In this scene...
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We're in a nursing home.
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Guy takes care of his mother constantly, and then he whispers to me, he says, you know, I gotta tell you.
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There are some times I wish she would die already.
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It's very, very difficult.
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This happened because of a phone call to my show.
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Dennis, I'm a terrible son.
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I so remember it.
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A guy about between 30 and 40 years old.
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Dennis, I'm a terrible son.
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I'm the sole financial and physical support of my mother, who's living with us.
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And I tell you, sometimes I wish she would finally die of her illnesses.
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And I don't know what to do.
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I'm just wracked with guilt.
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And I said, I just want you to know I think you're a wonderful son.
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And I'll never forget his reaction.
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He thought I was mocking him.
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He so didn't believe what I said.
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And I said, no, no, no.
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You're a wonderful son.
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He said, didn't you hear what I said, Dennis?
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I said, that's why you're a wonderful son.
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Despite how you feel, you're taking care of your mother.
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She doesn't know how you feel.
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Now, if you said it to her, that would be evil.
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Hey ma, I hope you die.
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If he said it publicly, you know, I hope my mother dies.
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That would be evil.
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But if he say it privately, no.
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I give more examples of Nixon and Truman in my piece.
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Read it during the break.
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Send it to people.
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It's really, really important.
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Why private speech?
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Doesn't tell us about a person's character.
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It's up at townhall.com or my website.
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1-8 Prager 776. The Dennis Prager Show.
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