Nick Vujicic: STAND STRONG (Most Powerful Speech)

Summary

In this inspiring and candid talk, the speaker, born without arms and legs, shares his journey of overcoming adversity and societal expectations. With humor and resilience, he recounts his experiences of being teased and the profound impact of encouragement and love. He emphasizes the importance of self-worth, purpose, and destiny, urging listeners to reject bullying and embrace a culture of kindness and acceptance. His powerful message challenges the audience to consider the potential consequences of their actions and to choose love and support over cruelty.

Takeaways

• 🎉 The speaker was born without arms and legs but has overcome challenges to walk and live independently.
• 🌏 He is originally from Australia but now resides in Southern California, emphasizing the importance of trying new things.
• 😲 He enjoys surprising people with his abilities, such as driving a car using a joystick, and the reactions it garners.
• 👨‍⚕️ Despite medical predictions, he has proven his doctors wrong by achieving milestones like walking and attending school.
• 👨‍👧 His parents played a crucial role in his life by encouraging him to try different activities, fostering a resilient spirit.
• 📚 The speaker faced bullying at school and struggled with feelings of inadequacy compared to his peers.
• 🙏 He emphasizes the importance of self-worth, purpose, and destiny, and how these beliefs can shape one's life.
• 💔 Teasing and bullying can have severe emotional consequences, and the speaker shares his own experiences with these issues.
• 🌱 He encourages listeners to consider the impact of their words and actions, as they can plant seeds of either hope or despair.
• 🤝 The act of apologizing and seeking forgiveness is presented as a sign of strength and a way to change bullying culture.
• 📖 The speaker's favorite book is the Bible, which he sees as a source of truth and guidance for living to one's full potential.

Q & A

What was the speaker's initial medical condition at birth?

The speaker was born without arms and legs, which was not due to any medical reason, unlike his siblings who were born with all limbs.

What did the doctors initially predict about the speaker's ability to walk?

The doctors never thought that the speaker would be able to walk, but he defied their expectations and is now walking.

Where is the speaker originally from and where does he live now?

The speaker is originally from Australia but now lives in Los Angeles, California.

What is the speaker's unique way of 'freaking people out' in a car?

The speaker uses the joystick that controls his wheelchair to move around in the car seat, which can surprise people who are not aware that he has no arms or legs.

What is the speaker's perspective on bullying and its impact?

The speaker sees bullying as a sign of weakness, not strength, and emphasizes the severe emotional impact it can have on individuals, including thoughts of suicide.

What does the speaker consider his favorite book and why?

The speaker's favorite book is the Bible, as it represents his belief in the truth of his value, purpose, and destiny.

What was the speaker's experience with a bully in high school?

The speaker was bullied by a 17-year-old for three weeks, who would make fun of his lack of limbs. After confronting the bully, the bully apologized and they shared a hug.

What is the speaker's view on the definition of 'tough'?

The speaker believes that being tough is about showing strength by doing something difficult, not by bullying or teasing others.

How did the speaker's high school janitor influence his life?

The janitor inspired the speaker to become a speaker by recognizing his potential and encouraging him to pursue public speaking.

What was the outcome of the speaker's efforts to stop bullying in schools?

Out of 600 schools the speaker spoke to, only one school reported a complete stop to bullying for eight months, indicating a significant cultural change.

What is the speaker's message to the audience regarding self-love and love for others?

The speaker encourages the audience to love themselves more and to love each other a lot more, emphasizing that everyone is beautiful just the way they are.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Embracing Life's Challenges

The speaker, born without arms and legs, shares their journey of overcoming life's challenges. Despite initial medical predictions, they have learned to walk and have a zest for life. They humorously describes an incident where they 'freaked out' a driver by pretending to eat their seatbelt, highlighting their ability to find joy in unexpected moments. The speaker emphasizes the importance of trying and the love and encouragement from their parents, which helped them to achieve things others said were impossible.

05:05

🌱 Seeds of Encouragement and Self-Worth

The speaker discusses the power of encouragement and discouragement, using the metaphor of a seed that can grow into a mighty tree. They share their experiences of bullying and the internal struggle with self-worth, emphasizing the importance of knowing one's value, purpose, and destiny. The speaker challenges the audience to consider the impact of their words and actions, pointing out that teasing can have severe consequences, even leading to thoughts of suicide.

10:08

🤝 Overcoming Bullying with Compassion

The speaker recounts a personal story of being bullied and how they confronted the bully, leading to an unexpected apology and a hug. They use humor to illustrate the absurdity of bullying, comparing it to teasing a three-year-old. The speaker defines 'tough' as doing something difficult, not putting others down, and encourages the audience to stand up against bullying and to apologize to those they have hurt.

15:11

💔 The Impact of Bullying and the Power of Love

In this paragraph, the speaker deeply explores the impact of bullying, sharing that it led them to consider suicide. They passionately call for an end to teasing and bullying, urging the audience to consider the potential pain they may cause. The speaker shares a moving story of a girl who was deeply affected by their words of love and affirmation, highlighting the power of love and acceptance to change lives. They conclude by emphasizing the importance of self-love and love for others as a means to create a more compassionate environment.

Keywords

💡Resilience

Resilience is the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties or to withstand adverse conditions. In the video's theme, it is the speaker's ability to overcome the challenges of being born without arms and legs. The speaker demonstrates resilience by learning to walk, despite doctors' doubts, and by facing and overcoming the adversities of bullying and societal expectations.

💡Bullying

Bullying is the use of force or coercion to abuse or intimidate others. The video discusses the impact of bullying on the speaker's life and how it led him to contemplate suicide. The speaker uses his experiences to raise awareness about the harm caused by bullying and encourages viewers to stop this behavior.

💡Self-Acceptance

Self-acceptance is the act of positively acknowledging one's own worth and accepting oneself as unique. The speaker talks about his journey to accept his physical condition and encourages others to accept themselves and others as they are, regardless of physical appearances or societal norms.

💡Encouragement

Encouragement is the act of giving support, confidence, or hope to someone. The video emphasizes the importance of encouragement from the speaker's parents, who motivated him to try and achieve despite his physical limitations. Encouragement is contrasted with discouragement, which can lead to negative outcomes.

💡Teasing

Teasing is a form of playful mockery, but it can also be hurtful and demeaning. The speaker recounts instances of being teased at school and how it affected him emotionally. Teasing is highlighted as a precursor to bullying and is discouraged in the video.

💡Value

Value refers to the importance, worth, or usefulness of something or someone. The speaker discusses discovering his own value and the value of others, emphasizing that everyone has inherent worth regardless of their physical abilities or appearance.

💡Purpose

Purpose is the reason for which something exists or is done. The speaker reflects on finding his purpose in life, which includes being a motivational speaker and spreading a message of hope and acceptance. His purpose is tied to his experiences and his desire to help others.

💡Destiny

Destiny is the events that will necessarily happen to a person or thing in the future. The speaker talks about the truth of his destiny, which involves reaching his full potential and making a difference in the world, despite the challenges he faces.

💡Love

Love, in the context of the video, is the affection and care one has for others. The speaker's parents' love for him played a crucial role in his development and success. The video promotes the idea of loving oneself and others as a means to overcome adversity and to create a more compassionate society.

💡Hope

Hope is a feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing to happen. The speaker discusses the importance of hope in his life and how it helped him to persevere through difficult times. He encourages viewers to be a source of hope for others, especially for those who may be struggling.

💡Tough

Tough, in the video, is used to describe strength and resilience, but also to challenge the misconception that bullying is a sign of toughness. The speaker redefines 'tough' as standing up against bullying, apologizing, and changing one's behavior, rather than causing harm to others.

Highlights

The speaker was born without arms and legs, defying medical expectations to walk.

Residing in LA, he enjoys surprising people with his abilities and wheelchair controls.

A humorous anecdote of using his seatbelt to scare a fellow driver.

The importance of trying despite the odds, as encouraged by his parents.

The speaker's struggle with acceptance and the desire to fit in during school years.

A reflection on the prevalence of bullying and its potential consequences.

The impact of a simple act of kindness from a janitor that inspired the speaker's career.

The transformative power of love and acceptance in changing school culture.

A challenge to redefine 'tough' and the importance of standing up against bullying.

The story of a girl who was moved to tears by the speaker's message of self-worth.

The speaker's experience with a school that successfully eradicated bullying.

A call to action for individuals to create a more loving and supportive environment.

The significance of self-love and the impact it has on personal and communal well-being.

The speaker's personal battle with bullying and the role of resilience in overcoming it.

An account of the speaker's attempt to move a car with his wheelchair, illustrating his strength.

A metaphorical comparison between the act of bullying and the true meaning of strength.

The speaker's message of hope and the potential for change within each individual.

Transcripts

[Music]

hey guys do it

[Music]

[Applause]

well guys I was born this way and

there's no medical reason why why that

happen my brother and my sister were

born with arms and legs and sometimes in

life things happen that don't make sense

my doctors never thought that I'd be

able to walk and today I'm walking I'm

from Australia anybody one day want to

go to Australia it's such a cool place

and I now live in LA I'm a Southern

California boy so I only live about four

hours from here and today I'm gonna tell

you man I love freaking people out one

day I'm in a car I'm in the front seat

I'm not driving of course can you

imagine if I'm driving a car

they reckon they can put a joystick that

thing that controls my wheelchair we can

put that in a car like how fully sick is

that like you imagine if I get pulled

over by the cops

can I have your driver's license please

uh yeah but it's over there you're gonna

have to get it matter if I'm in big

trouble put your hands up get out of

your car ah so I'm in the front

passenger seat where the traffic lights

and this car comes up next to us in this

ghost looking at me and I'm looking at

her she's looking at me I'm looking at

her she's looking at me I'm looking at

her

oh she seizes my head right she has no

idea that I have no arms no legs so I'm

thinking cool I'm gonna freak you out so

I get the seat belt in my mouth and I

loosen it like this so that I can freely

move and she's looking at me like why

are you eating your seat belt so I pull

it this belt is loose I can move now

she's looking at me full 100% attention

and focus just to mention all you sees

my head all right you might want to put

up your hand up to your face to cut off

the rest of my body all right so you can

really see the effect so just that's it

exactly here we go ready I just did this

and her face made she was like she

nearly ran the red light man it was so

good my parents always said Nick you

don't know what you can achieve

until you try it and the doctors looked

at me and said he's not gonna walk he's

not gonna go to school he's not gonna do

anything in his life and then my parents

they just loved me like crazy and said

you gotta try try this try that try this

try that and I'm thinking sometimes like

mom and dad you're crazy man I have no

arms no legs how would I ever be able to

do this or do that

but they encouraged me and they loved me

and as human beings we're waiting for

stuff like that we all want love

everybody say love

very good we all want love and you know

I went to school and and I and I want it

to be cool you know you go to school and

and you you you want to be accepted you

know and so you see these guys and

you're like oh man you know everyone

swears like every third sentence F this

and F that and F and this and FF like

what like that they think they're cool

you know and so I'm thinking man but

maybe I need to be like them to be cool

and then you compare each other with how

we look and and I wish I was smart I

wish I was taller I wish I was shorter I

wish I was more popular I wish I did

this I wish I didn't have that I wish my

life was different that was me when I

was about eight years old I looked at

myself and I looked at everybody else

and everyone else had more than me and

I'm asking why why me

have you ever asked the why me questions

but get nowhere if I had no answers from

the doctors and if I had no answers from

my parents I still have a choice every

day in my life

to keep going or give up you see this

book up here this is my favorite book in

the whole wide world this is my favorite

book the Bible and Here I am

and Here I am and for me that's my full

potential in all that I can be here on

earth and so encouragement takes me

closer to all that I can be and

discouragement takes me away you see it

only takes three seconds for someone to

tease me when I was at school and just

saying yeah ugly yeah you can't do this

and you can't do that and some of you

thinking like man seriously you had kids

picking on you like how heartless are

those kids picking on me with no limbs

like you would probably say well I'm not

that bad I wouldn't pick on the kid with

no limbs but why would you pick on

anyone

well because it's fun it's just culture

okay we'll get to that but for me me

facing all that stuff I'm getting these

seeds

everybody say seeds se EDS seeds have

you seen the pictures of the Sequoia

Reds up here in California these huge

trees like some of the trunks could be

as nearly big as this room I've seen

those photos where they've actually dug

out a tunnel in a trunk of a tree you

can drive a full-size SUV right through

it that all started with a little seed

if you leave a seed of wise in your

heart and in your mind and you don't

know the truth if you don't know the

truth you will die with the lie I

started dying because I started

believing what I was told I want you to

know the three things that I needed to

come to in my life

is the truth of my value the truth of my

purpose and the truth of my destiny I

want you to know something in our mind

we put ourselves down all the time I

want to ask you today do you think I'm

cool enough to be a friend

but I don't swear I don't use the f-bomb

am I still cool enough to be your friend

but I don't tease people am i still cool

enough to be a friend but I have no arms

no legs seriously you would be my friend

even though I have no arms no legs so

you're telling me it actually doesn't

matter right if it actually doesn't

matter for how we look then why do we

tease each other for how we look if it

actually doesn't matter why is it that

we look ourselves in the mirror and we

see us while we're having fun oh yeah

man we just buy the culture man there

were 12 people one day teased me taking

me away from my hope 12 11 10 nine eight

seven six five four three two one

don't worry I went full off because if I

did I'll break my arm but twelve people

teased me one day and I can put a pretty

brave face on butts

cry on the inside for real oh it doesn't

hurt yeah it hurts

there was this one bully I became his

target for three weeks and every time I

go by him I was 13 he was 17 I was in my

chair I'm only four foot nine in my

other chair my old chair he's like six

something so he's huge right so I'm

looking up at him

and every time I go by him he's like hey

Nik he has no and you can imagine what

he said and I'm like what's his problem

man so I tried to avoid him and I was so

embarrassed he would say really loud and

everybody would be looking and some

would be laugh and I'm like what is this

guy's problem me so one day after three

weeks I went up to him and I said hey

he's like hey I said can you please stop

it he said stop what I said stop teasing

me he said what are you talking about I

said every time I walk by and you say

that stuff he's like what stuff he

didn't know how to take me on so I'm

looking at was a Nami

every time I walk by you say exactly

this I want you to stop I forgive you

but stop it

he's like oh is that hurting you now

coulda said nah or I could have said

yeah he takes a level of humility to

actually say um actually I don't like

that it's it's killing me and I said

yeah it's hurting me he said all right

I'm sorry man I was just you know

playing around said give me a hug he

said what I said give me a hug he was

like all right so I gave my hug I'm a

hugging machine we hugged the we made

the Guinness Book of World Records 1749

hugs in one year we did it last year my

arms fell off all right

the scary thing about hugging so many

people is that anyone can just pick me

up and take me home all right like what

am I gonna do like enemas on a pretty

mean head but right I want you to know

that you might be playing around I could

pretty much say that 98% of you have

teased someone in your life I tried to

commit suicide because of people who

thought they were having fun not knowing

the hell that I was going through the

people you're teasing what if the person

you're teasing is the person who's

thinking of committing suicide what if

the person you're teasing is the one

who's tried to commit suicide who hates

their life because of you you don't know

if the person you are teasing is the son

or daughter of the drunk at home getting

abused and all they need is someone like

you to keep on pushing him this way we

need hope so find something else to do

find positive things in your own life I

don't care about how you look I'll never

ever ever tease you I will never tease

you I could tease you I could be tough

people thinking that bullying is tough

it ain't tough my wheelchair this is

tough this day man I'll tell you

something you ready this wheelchair this

thing's so tough when my friend built

this for me he said you're gonna love it

I said what does it go fast he said no

but it's tough and I said well what do

you mean he said you'll find out the

torque in these motors at the bottom at

the back this thing if someone's holding

it I'm telling you it can go 90 degrees

I went 82

freeze up alright someone's holding me

to make sure I don't tip back my wife

she loves shopping with me cuz she just

jumps on the back and we go shopping

like she's just shops and shops because

she doesn't drop right we just go and do

it it's fun

now what I tried one day to do you'll

never believe me maybe you will just

know that every word that comes out of

my mouth is not an exaggeration

one day I needed to move a car so I got

my wife to put my car my 66 Chevelle in

neutral it's a two and a half ton car

and I backed it back with this thing to

just this just like this like like

nothing this thing is tough guess what

the definition of tough means it's

strong to show your strength you need to

do something that's difficult

I would sound so stupid if I said hey

guys I got a matchbox car one day and I

got some fishing line and I told that

matchbox car all around all day how

tough is my BMW that's stupid

that's the same thing with bullying you

think you're tough

you're trying to show you strength

that's not your strength let me get let

me come back in ten years and let me get

your three anyone have a three-year-old

nephew anybody have a three-year-old

nephew cool put your hands down I will

get any one of your three-year-old

nephews bring them tomorrow night at

where I'm speaking and we're gonna put

them up on stage and let me show you how

tough I am

we'll get your three-year-old nephew and

we'll put him up here on the table and

let me tease him let me show you how

tough I am that's what you are I could

pick on you you biggest bullies I could

pick on anything you like any singer any

music that you like I could tease you I

could tease your family I could tease

your friends I could tease about the

movies that you that you think are

really cool I could tease anything about

you

I could tease you about your nose your

eyes your teeth your chin your hair your

you elbows your knees your whatever me I

can tease you about anything it ain't

hard just like you can tease me you want

to know what tough is go to the people

you tease and say sorry you want to know

what tough is go up to the people who

still tease you and say hey stop it they

forgive you but please stop it that's

tough I want you to know something the

truth of who you are I don't care what

job you get I don't care I don't care

how smart you are everyone I don't care

I don't care I love you and I believe in

you I don't care if you end up being a

janitor in this school I'll tell you why

because the janitor in my high school

inspired me to be a speaker he changed

my life he said you should be a speaker

you know what I said you're crazy he

said no really you need to be a speak I

said stop it me four months later he

twisted my arm and I said yes I spoke in

front of ten people then another ten

then another ten then I found myself in

front of 300 sophomore students and

three minutes into my speech half the

girls were crying and one girl in the

middle of the room started weeping and

she put up my hand she said I'm so sorry

can I come up there and give you a hug

and in front of everybody she came up

and she hugged me and she cried on my

shoulder and she whispered in this ear

thank you thank you thank you no one's

ever told me that they loved me no one's

ever told me that I'm beautiful the way

that I am

it was because my parents told me that I

was beautiful that I'm still here some

of you don't have those parents and

that's why I'm here

I love you and you're beautiful just the

way you are never ever give

[Applause]

[Music]

how many schools do you think that I

spoke to actually stopped bullying

altogether okay

who ever said one you were correct one

school out of 600 I got a letter from

the headmaster and he said Nick you

forever changed our school blah blah

blah we haven't seen any bullies pick on

anybody for eight months straight we

don't know what happened but in the best

words that I can describe there's just a

new thought in the air that it just

ain't cool anymore it just ain't cool

[Music]

I want to ask you

what are you gonna do are you gonna

continue on at the risk of knowing that

in each section this section right here

five people already trying to commit

suicide that section there five people

when you extrapolated out

what if the person you're teasing is one

of those

and you have no idea would you find

something else to do

[Music]

so

the change is up to you if you want to

see more love in your school be loved if

50% of the school come together and say

you know what it just ain't cool anymore

the people who think it's still cool

every time they look down upon you I

want you to look up I don't want you to

imagine my face looking at you because

I'm telling you everyone you're teasing

is my brother and my sister and you're

my brother and you're my sister and am

asking you to stop

[Music]

love yourself a bit more love each other

a lot more

[Music]

you