The transformative power of classical music | Benjamin Zander | TED

Summary

El texto es una transcripción de una charla inspiradora donde el orador comparte una analogía de los dos vendedores en África para abordar la percepción contradictoria sobre el futuro de la música clásica. Luego, mediante una demostración musical, el orador desafía la noción de que la música clásica es para un público limitado, argumentando que todos pueden apreciarla si se les presenta de manera apropiada. Explica el proceso de aprendizaje de un niño pianista y cómo la reducción de impulsos musicales mejora su ejecución. Finalmente, el orador utiliza una pieza de Chopin para ilustrar cómo la música puede conmover a las personas y les invita a pensar en alguien que aman mientras escuchan, resaltando el poder de la música para conectar y emocionar a todos, sin importar su trasfondo o experiencia previa con la música clásica.

Takeaways

• 🎓 **Perspectiva optimista:** La historia de los dos vendedores en África muestra dos perspectivas diferentes ante la ausencia de calzado: una ve la situación como desesperada, y la otra como una oportunidad gloriosa.
• 🎼 **Futuro de la música clásica:** A pesar de que algunos ven la música clásica como un arte en declive, otros, como el orador, ven un futuro lleno de potencial.
• 🧒 **Desarrollo del músico:** Se describe el progreso de un niño aprendiendo el piano, destacando la importancia de la práctica y las lecciones para mejorar, y cómo la reducción de impulsos en la música puede mejorar la calidad de la interpretación.
• 🚀 **Liderazgo y visión:** El orador enfatiza la importancia de la visión a largo plazo y la capacidad de un líder para inspirar y creer en el potencial de las personas que guía.
• 🎵 **Experiencia musical compartida:** El orador lleva a los espectadores a través de una pieza de Chopin, explicando la música y su estructura para que el público pueda seguir y comprender la experiencia.
• 🤔 **Reflexión sobre la música clásica:** Se cuestiona por qué algunas personas se sienten aburridas con la música clásica y se sugiere que puede ser debido a la forma en que se interpreta o se presenta, en lugar de la música en sí misma.
• 👀 **Importancia de la conexión:** El orador habla sobre la conexión con la música y cómo pensar en la línea larga de las notas, en lugar de cada nota individual, puede enriquecer la experiencia.
• 💖 **Conexión emocional:** Se menciona la capacidad de la música clásica para conectar con los oyentes a un nivel emocional profundo, independientemente de su conocimiento previo o preferencias musicales.
• 🌐 **Música para todos:** El orador comparte experiencias que demuestran que la música clásica tiene el poder de alcanzar y ser apreciada por todos, no solo por un pequeño porcentaje de la población.
• 📚 **Aprender de los demás:** Se destaca la importancia de aprender y ser inspirados por las experiencias y perspectivas de otros, como el testimonio de una superviviente de Auschwitz sobre la importancia de las palabras.
• 💫 **Éxito y ojos brillantes:** El orador define el éxito no en términos de riqueza o fama, sino en la cantidad de personas que están rodeadas con ojos brillantes, lo que simboliza la inspiración y el potencial despertado en ellos.

Q & A

¿Qué analogía se hace al principio del discurso entre dos vendedores y la situación de la música clásica?

Se compara la situación de la música clásica con la historia de dos vendedores que van a África a vender zapatos. Uno ve la falta de zapatos como una situación sin esperanza, mientras que el otro ve una gran oportunidad porque la gente aún no tiene zapatos.

¿Cuál es el propósito del experimento propuesto por el orador?

El propósito del experimento es demostrar que la música clásica tiene el potencial de ser apreciada por todos y que no es una forma de arte exclusiva para unos pocos.

¿Cómo explica el orador la evolución del toque de piano de un niño de siete años al de un niño de once años?

El orador explica que a medida que el niño crece, reduce la cantidad de impulsos que utiliza al tocar el piano, lo que demuestra un mayor control y expresión musical.

¿Qué significado tiene la expresión 'one-buttock playing' utilizada por el orador?

La expresión 'one-buttock playing' se refiere a tocar el piano con tanta intensidad y emoción que el músico se inclina hacia un lado, completamente absorbido por la interpretación musical.

¿Cuáles son los cuatro grupos de personas identificados por el orador en relación con la música clásica?

Los cuatro grupos son: aquellos apasionados por la música clásica, los que no les importa, los que nunca escuchan música clásica y los que creen que son sordos al tono.

¿Qué argumento presenta el orador para refutar la idea de que algunas personas son sordas al tono?

El orador argumenta que nadie es sordo al tono, ya que todos tienen la capacidad de percibir y distinguir sonidos, como lo demuestra su capacidad para operar un automóvil con cambio manual o reconocer a alguien por su voz por teléfono.

¿Qué experiencia comparte el orador sobre su encuentro con niños en Irlanda?

El orador cuenta cómo, al trabajar con niños en Irlanda en un proyecto de resolución de conflictos, uno de los niños expresó emociones profundas después de escuchar música clásica, a pesar de no tener experiencia previa con ella.

¿Cuál es la reflexión final del orador sobre el éxito?

El orador define el éxito como la cantidad de 'ojos brillantes' que tiene a su alrededor, destacando la importancia de despertar la posibilidad en los demás y crear conexiones emocionales a través de la música.

¿Qué lección aprendió el orador de una sobreviviente del Holocausto?

El orador aprendió la importancia de las palabras que utilizamos, ya que pueden tener un impacto duradero en los demás. La sobreviviente del Holocausto hizo un voto de nunca decir algo que no pudiera ser la última cosa que dijera a alguien.

¿Cuál es el mensaje final del discurso del orador?

El mensaje final del orador es que la música clásica es para todos y que todos tienen la capacidad de apreciarla y ser conmovidos por ella si se les da la oportunidad y el contexto adecuados.

Outlines

00:00

😀 La historia de los dos vendedores de zapatos en África

Se relata la anécdota de dos vendedores de zapatos que viajaron a África para investigar oportunidades de negocio. Uno ve la situación como desesperada porque las personas no usan zapatos, mientras que el otro lo considera una oportunidad inmensa porque aún no tienen zapatos. Este ejemplo se compara con la percepción de la música clásica, donde algunos ven su declive, y otros, como el orador, ven un futuro prometedor. Se sugiere que en lugar de discutir estadísticas, se realizará una 'experimento' para ilustrar su punto.

05:01

🎼 El desarrollo del músico y la importancia de la práctica

El orador describe las etapas del desarrollo de un niño aprendiendo a tocar el piano, desde los 7 hasta los 11 años, y cómo su técnica y expresión mejoran con el tiempo. Se hace notar que muchos niños abandonan el piano alrededor de los 10 años, pero que con un año más de práctica, alcanzan un nivel mucho más satisfactorio. Se destaca la importancia de la reducción de los impulsos en la música, y cómo el movimiento corporal del músico es impulsado por la música en sí misma, en lugar de ser una acción consciente.

10:03

🎶 La conexión emocional con la música clásica

Se discute la relación del público con la música clásica, identificando tres grupos: aquellos apasionados por la música clásica, aquellos que no le tienen desagrado y los que nunca la escuchan. Se menciona un cuarto grupo de personas que creen que son daléntunos (sin embargo, el orador refuta esta creencia). El orador expresa su deseo de que todos en la sala aprendan a amar y entender la música clásica, y utiliza la pieza de Chopin para ilustrar cómo la música puede ser hermosa e influyente, y cómo el pensamiento en una persona amada puede enriquecer la experiencia de escuchar.

15:09

👀 El poder de la música y la importancia de la visión

El orador comparte una experiencia con estudiantes en Boston, quienes responden emocionalmente a la música de Chopin después de que el orador les guía a través de su estructura y emociones. Se destaca el poder de la música para conectar con la audiencia y cómo la música clásica es universal y puede ser disfrutada por todos. Además, el orador reflexiona sobre su papel como director de orquesta, al darse cuenta de que su verdadero poder radica en hacer que otros sean poderosos, lo que le cambió la perspectiva sobre su carrera y la importancia de despertar el potencial en los demás.

20:12

📚 La transformación personal y el legado de las palabras

Se concluye con una reflexión sobre la diferencia que puede hacer nuestra actitud y lenguaje. El orador comparte una historia de una superviviente de Auschwitz que prometió no decir nada que no pudiera ser su última expresión, lo que dejó una impresión duradera en él. Se desafía a la audiencia a considerar cuidadosamente las palabras que usan y a vivir de manera que sus palabras reflejen su mejor versión. El mensaje final es que el éxito no se mide solo en términos de riqueza y poder, sino en la cantidad de personas cuyo potencial has ayudado a iluminar, simbolizado por los ojos brillantes de aquellos que nos rodean.

Keywords

💡Oportunidad

La palabra 'oportunidad' se refiere a una situación favorable o una ventaja para lograr algo. En el video, se utiliza para ilustrar dos perspectivas diferentes sobre el mercado de las zapatos en África: una vendedor ve una situación desesperada, mientras que el otro ve una oportunidad gloriosa. Este concepto es central en la narración, ya que establece el tono para la discusión sobre la música clásica y su futuro.

💡Música clásica

La 'música clásica' es un género de música que abarca una amplia gama de estilos y períodos históricos, desde la música renacentista hasta la música romántica. En el video, la música clásica es presentada como un tema central, con la discusión sobre su percepción en la sociedad actual y su relevancia para el público en general.

💡Pasión

El término 'pasión' hace referencia a un sentimiento intenso y a menudo apasionado por algo o alguien. En el contexto del video, la pasión está asociada con la música clásica y cómo esta puede ser experimentada y apreciada por todas las personas, más allá de las barreras de género, edad o cultura.

💡Percepción

La 'percepción' es la forma en que una persona interpreta o entiende algo. En el video, se explora cómo la percepción del público sobre la música clásica puede ser moldeada por las experiencias y las actitudes, y cómo cambiar estas percepciones puede aumentar la apreciación y el disfrute de la música clásica.

💡Experimento

Un 'experimento' es un procedimiento planeado para pruebas o investigación. Aunque en el video se menciona que no es un experimento en el sentido estricto, se utiliza para describir una demostración que el orador realiza con el objetivo de cambiar la percepción del público sobre la música clásica y su potencial para conmover a las personas.

💡Impulso

El 'impulso' en el contexto del piano y la música clásica se refiere a la técnica de tocar una nota y luego soltar el tecla, lo que afecta el ritmo y la expresión musical. El orador utiliza el concepto de impulso para explicar cómo los músicos pueden mejorar su técnica y cómo esto puede influir en la experiencia auditiva del oyente.

💡Tonalidad

La 'tonalidad' es la base musical en torno a la cual se organiza una pieza de música, generalmente determinada por una nota fundamental o 'tonic'. En el video, se discute cómo la tonalidad y la resolución de tonalidad (como alcanzar la nota 'E' en la pieza de Chopin) afectan la emoción y la satisfacción del oyente.

💡Líder

Un 'líder' es alguien que guía o dirige a un grupo de personas. En el video, el orador habla sobre la importancia de la confianza y la visión de un líder, y cómo estas cualidades pueden inspirar y motivar a las personas a alcanzar sus metas, en el contexto de la música y más allá.

💡Visión

La 'visión' es la capacidad de ver o imaginar cosas con claridad, o una idea o plan para el futuro. El video utiliza la metáfora de la visión para hablar sobre la importancia de tener una perspectiva a largo plazo y cómo esto puede influir en la forma en que se abordan los desafíos y se toman decisiones.

💡Empatía

La 'empatía' es la capacidad de entender y compartir las emociones de otra persona. En el video, el orador utiliza la música para conectar con el público y fomentar un sentido de empatía, pidiendo a los oyentes que piensen en alguien que aman mientras escuchan una pieza de Chopin.

💡Palabras

Las 'palabras' son los signos o símbolos que representan objetos, acciones o conceptos. El video subraya la importancia de las palabras y su impacto en las relaciones humanas, citando la historia de una superviviente de Auschwitz que decidió hablar solo palabras que pudieran ser su última expresión.

Highlights

The story of two salesmen in Africa illustrates different perspectives on opportunity.

Some people believe classical music is dying, while others see untapped potential.

An experiment is proposed to demonstrate the power of classical music.

The importance of reducing impulses and focusing on the long line in music.

Different groups of people have varying levels of engagement with classical music.

The misconception of being 'tone-deaf' is debunked.

The presenter aims to make everyone in the room love and understand classical music.

Leadership involves having unwavering faith in the capacity of the people you lead.

Chopin's prelude is used to demonstrate the emotional journey of music.

The audience is guided to listen actively and connect with the music on a personal level.

The transformative power of music is illustrated through a personal story.

Classical music is for everyone, not just a small percentage of the population.

The role of a conductor is to empower others, not to make sound themselves.

Success is defined by the number of shining eyes around you.

The importance of choosing our words carefully, inspired by a Holocaust survivor's story.

The presenter's mission to make classical music accessible and engaging for all.

The power of music to evoke emotion and bring people together.

Transcripts

Probably a lot of you know the story of the two salesmen

who went down to Africa in the 1900s.

They were sent down to find if there was any opportunity

for selling shoes,

and they wrote telegrams back to Manchester.

And one of them wrote,

"Situation hopeless. Stop. They don't wear shoes."

And the other one wrote,

"Glorious opportunity. They don't have any shoes yet."

(Laughter)

Now, there's a similar situation in the classical music world,

because there are some people who think that classical music is dying.

And there are some of us who think you ain't seen nothing yet.

And rather than go into statistics and trends,

and tell you about all the orchestras that are closing,

and the record companies that are folding,

I thought we should do an experiment tonight.

Actually, it's not really an experiment, because I know the outcome.

(Laughter)

But it's like an experiment.

Now, before we start --

(Laughter)

Before we start, I need to do two things.

One is I want to remind you of what a seven-year-old child

sounds like when he plays the piano.

Maybe you have this child at home.

He sounds something like this.

(Music)

(Music ends)

I see some of you recognize this child.

Now, if he practices for a year and takes lessons, he's now eight

and he sounds like this.

(Music)

(Music ends)

He practices for another year and takes lessons -- he's nine.

(Music)

(Music ends)

Then he practices for another year and takes lessons -- now he's 10.

(Music)

(Music ends)

At that point, they usually give up.

(Laughter)

(Applause)

Now, if you'd waited for one more year, you would have heard this.

(Music)

(Music ends)

Now, what happened was not maybe what you thought,

which is, he suddenly became passionate, engaged,

involved, got a new teacher, he hit puberty, or whatever it is.

What actually happened was the impulses were reduced.

You see, the first time, he was playing with an impulse on every note.

(Music)

And the second, with an impulse every other note.

(Music)

You can see it by looking at my head.

(Laughter)

The nine-year-old put an impulse on every four notes.

(Music)

The 10-year-old, on every eight notes.

(Music)

And the 11-year-old, one impulse on the whole phrase.

(Music)

I don't know how we got into this position.

(Laughter)

I didn't say, "I'm going to move my shoulder over, move my body."

No, the music pushed me over,

which is why I call it one-buttock playing.

(Music)

It can be the other buttock.

(Music)

You know, a gentleman was once watching a presentation I was doing,

when I was working with a young pianist.

He was the president of a corporation in Ohio.

I was working with this young pianist, and said,

"The trouble with you is you're a two-buttock player.

You should be a one-buttock player."

I moved his body while he was playing.

And suddenly, the music took off. It took flight.

The audience gasped when they heard the difference.

Then I got a letter from this gentleman.

He said, "I was so moved.

I went back and I transformed my entire company

into a one-buttock company."

(Laughter)

Now, the other thing I wanted to do is to tell you about you.

There are 1,600 people, I believe.

My estimation is that probably 45 of you

are absolutely passionate about classical music.

You adore classical music. Your FM is always on that classical dial.

You have CDs in your car, and you go to the symphony,

your children are playing instruments.

You can't imagine your life without classical music.

That's the first group, quite small.

Then there's another bigger group.

The people who don't mind classical music.

(Laughter)

You know, you've come home from a long day,

and you take a glass of wine, and you put your feet up.

A little Vivaldi in the background doesn't do any harm.

That's the second group.

Now comes the third group:

people who never listen to classical music.

It's just simply not part of your life.

You might hear it like second-hand smoke at the airport ...

(Laughter)

-- and maybe a little bit of a march from "Aida"

when you come into the hall.

But otherwise, you never hear it.

That's probably the largest group.

And then there's a very small group.

These are the people who think they're tone-deaf.

Amazing number of people think they're tone-deaf.

Actually, I hear a lot, "My husband is tone-deaf."

(Laughter)

Actually, you cannot be tone-deaf.

Nobody is tone-deaf.

If you were tone-deaf, you couldn't change the gears

on your car, in a stick shift car.

You couldn't tell the difference between

somebody from Texas and somebody from Rome.

And the telephone. The telephone.

If your mother calls

on the miserable telephone, she calls and says, "Hello,"

you not only know who it is, you know what mood she's in.

You have a fantastic ear. Everybody has a fantastic ear.

So nobody is tone-deaf.

But I tell you what.

It doesn't work for me to go on with this thing,

with such a wide gulf between those who understand,

love and are passionate about classical music,

and those who have no relationship to it at all.

The tone-deaf people, they're no longer here.

But even between those three categories,

it's too wide a gulf.

So I'm not going to go on until every single person in this room,

downstairs and in Aspen, and everybody else looking,

will come to love and understand classical music.

So that's what we're going to do.

Now, you notice that there is not the slightest doubt in my mind

that this is going to work, if you look at my face, right?

It's one of the characteristics of a leader that he not doubt

for one moment the capacity of the people he's leading

to realize whatever he's dreaming.

Imagine if Martin Luther King had said, "I have a dream.

Of course, I'm not sure they'll be up to it."

(Laughter)

All right. So I'm going to take a piece of Chopin.

This is a beautiful prelude by Chopin.

Some of you will know it.

(Music)

Do you know what I think probably happened here?

When I started, you thought, "How beautiful that sounds."

(Music)

"I don't think we should go to the same place

for our summer holidays next year."

(Laughter)

It's funny, isn't it?

It's funny how those thoughts kind of waft into your head.

And of course --

(Applause)

Of course, if the piece is long and you've had a long day,

you might actually drift off.

Then your companion will dig you in the ribs

and say, "Wake up! It's culture!" And then you feel even worse.

(Laughter)

But has it ever occurred to you that the reason you feel sleepy

in classical music is not because of you, but because of us?

Did anybody think while I was playing,

"Why is he using so many impulses?"

If I'd done this with my head you certainly would have thought it.

(Music)

(Music ends)

And for the rest of your life, every time you hear classical music,

you'll always be able to know if you hear those impulses.

So let's see what's really going on here.

We have a B. This is a B.

The next note is a C.

And the job of the C is to make the B sad.

And it does, doesn't it?

(Laughter)

Composers know that.

If they want sad music, they just play those two notes.

(Music)

But basically, it's just a B, with four sads.

(Laughter)

Now, it goes down to A.

Now to G.

And then to F.

So we have B, A, G, F.

And if we have B, A, G, F,

what do we expect next?

(Music)

That might have been a fluke.

Let's try it again.

(Music)

Oh, the TED choir.

(Laughter)

And you notice nobody is tone-deaf, right?

Nobody is.

You know, every village in Bangladesh

and every hamlet in China -- everybody knows:

da, da, da, da -- da.

Everybody knows, who's expecting that E.

Chopin didn't want to reach the E there,

because what will have happened?

It will be over, like Hamlet. Do you remember?

Act One, scene three,

he finds out his uncle killed his father.

He keeps on going up to his uncle and almost killing him.

And then he backs away, he goes up to him again, almost kills him.

The critics sitting in the back row there,

they have to have an opinion, so they say, "Hamlet is a procrastinator."

Or they say, "Hamlet has an Oedipus complex."

No, otherwise the play would be over, stupid.

(Laughter)

That's why Shakespeare puts all that stuff in Hamlet --

Ophelia going mad, the play within the play,

and Yorick's skull, and the gravediggers.

That's in order to delay --

until Act Five, he can kill him.

It's the same with the Chopin.

He's just about to reach the E,

and he says, "Oops, better go back up and do it again."

So he does it again.

Now, he gets excited.

(Music)

That's excitement, don't worry about it.

Now, he gets to F-sharp, and finally he goes down to E,

but it's the wrong chord --

because the chord he's looking for is this one,

and instead he does ...

Now, we call that a deceptive cadence,

because it deceives us.

I tell my students, "If you have a deceptive cadence,

raise your eyebrows, and everybody will know."

(Laughter)

(Applause)

Right.

He gets to E, but it's the wrong chord.

Now, he tries E again.

That chord doesn't work.

Now, he tries the E again. That chord doesn't work.

Now, he tries E again, and that doesn't work.

And then finally ...

There was a gentleman in the front row who went, "Mmm."

(Laughter)

It's the same gesture he makes when he comes home

after a long day, turns off the key in his car and says,

"Aah, I'm home."

Because we all know where home is.

So this is a piece which goes from away to home.

I'm going to play it all the way through and you're going to follow.

B, C, B, C, B, C, B --

down to A, down to G, down to F.

Almost goes to E, but otherwise the play would be over.

He goes back up to B, he gets very excited.

Goes to F-sharp. Goes to E.

It's the wrong chord. It's the wrong chord.

And finally goes to E, and it's home.

And what you're going to see is one-buttock playing.

(Laughter)

Because for me, to join the B to the E,

I have to stop thinking about every single note along the way,

and start thinking about the long, long line from B to E.

You know, we were just in South Africa, and you can't go to South Africa

without thinking of Mandela in jail for 27 years.

What was he thinking about? Lunch?

No, he was thinking about the vision for South Africa

and for human beings.

This is about vision. This is about the long line.

Like the bird who flies over the field

and doesn't care about the fences underneath, all right?

So now, you're going to follow the line all the way from B to E.

And I've one last request before I play this piece all the way through.

Would you think of somebody who you adore,

who's no longer there?

A beloved grandmother, a lover --

somebody in your life who you love with all your heart,

but that person is no longer with you.

Bring that person into your mind,

and at the same time,

follow the line all the way from B to E,

and you'll hear everything that Chopin had to say.

(Music)

(Music ends)

(Applause)

Now, you may be wondering --

(Applause)

(Applause ends)

You may be wondering why I'm clapping.

Well, I did this at a school in Boston

with about 70 seventh graders, 12-year-olds.

I did exactly what I did with you,

and I explained the whole thing.

At the end, they went crazy, clapping.

I was clapping. They were clapping.

Finally, I said, "Why am I clapping?"

And one of them said, "Because we were listening."

(Laughter)

Think of it. 1,600 people, busy people,

involved in all sorts of different things,

listening, understanding and being moved

by a piece by Chopin.

Now, that is something.

Am I sure that every single person followed that,

understood it, was moved by it?

Of course, I can't be sure.

But I'll tell you what happened to me in Ireland

during the Troubles, 10 years ago,

and I was working with some Catholic and Protestant kids

on conflict resolution.

And I did this with them --

a risky thing to do, because they were street kids.

And one of them came to me the next morning

and he said,

"You know, I've never listened to classical music in my life,

but when you played that shopping piece ..."

(Laughter)

He said, "My brother was shot last year and I didn't cry for him.

But last night, when you played that piece,

he was the one I was thinking about.

And I felt the tears streaming down my face.

And it felt really good to cry for my brother."

So I made up my mind at that moment

that classical music is for everybody.

Everybody.

Now, how would you walk --

my profession, the music profession doesn't see it that way.

They say three percent of the population likes classical music.

If only we could move it to four percent, our problems would be over.

(Laughter)

How would you walk? How would you talk? How would you be?

If you thought, "Three percent of the population likes classical music,

if only we could move it to four percent."

How would you walk or talk? How would you be?

If you thought, "Everybody loves classical music --

they just haven't found out about it yet."

See, these are totally different worlds.

Now, I had an amazing experience.

I was 45 years old,

I'd been conducting for 20 years,

and I suddenly had a realization.

The conductor of an orchestra doesn't make a sound.

My picture appears on the front of the CD --

(Laughter)

But the conductor doesn't make a sound.

He depends, for his power,

on his ability to make other people powerful.

And that changed everything for me.

It was totally life-changing.

People in my orchestra said,

"Ben, what happened?" That's what happened.

I realized my job was to awaken possibility in other people.

And of course, I wanted to know whether I was doing that.

How do you find out?

You look at their eyes.

If their eyes are shining, you know you're doing it.

You could light up a village with this guy's eyes.

(Laughter)

Right. So if the eyes are shining, you know you're doing it.

If the eyes are not shining, you get to ask a question.

And this is the question:

who am I being

that my players' eyes are not shining?

We can do that with our children, too.

Who am I being,

that my children's eyes are not shining?

That's a totally different world.

Now, we're all about to end this magical, on-the-mountain week,

we're going back into the world.

And I say, it's appropriate for us to ask the question,

who are we being as we go back out into the world?

And you know, I have a definition of success.

For me, it's very simple.

It's not about wealth and fame and power.

It's about how many shining eyes I have around me.

So now, I have one last thought,

which is that it really makes a difference what we say --

the words that come out of our mouth.

I learned this from a woman who survived Auschwitz,

one of the rare survivors.

She went to Auschwitz when she was 15 years old.

And ...

And her brother was eight,

and the parents were lost.

And she told me this, she said,

"We were in the train going to Auschwitz,

and I looked down and saw my brother's shoes were missing.

I said, 'Why are you so stupid, can't you keep your things together

for goodness' sake?'"

The way an elder sister might speak to a younger brother.

Unfortunately, it was the last thing she ever said to him,

because she never saw him again.

He did not survive.

And so when she came out of Auschwitz, she made a vow.

She told me this.

She said, "I walked out of Auschwitz into life

and I made a vow.

And the vow was,

"I will never say anything that couldn't stand as the last thing I ever say."

Now, can we do that? No.

And we'll make ourselves wrong and others wrong.

But it is a possibility to live into.

Thank you.

(Applause)

Shining eyes.

(Applause)

Shining eyes.

(Applause)

Thank you, thank you.