TRY TO UNDERSTAND THE WORDS I USE | 2005-08-20
I do not say things so that they can be translated into other words. I work very, very hard to write and rewrite and use words to express my exact meaning. You have every right to reject my advice, but you do NOT have the right to distort it.
Ole Bob am a very, very out-of-date sort of person. He means EXACTLY what he says.
If what I say is wrong, as it often is, you have every right to CORRECT me. Being corrected upsets other people. They called it being embarrassed.
Ole Bob has been wrong too often to be embarrassed by being wrong one more time. Others call it embarrassing, I call it learning something. Good solid corrections are genuinely appreciated and you don't have to be nice about it.
But I do NOT appreciate interpretations. If YOU believe something, put it in YOUR name. Do NOT say it is what I said unless you are quoting me in full.
As for quoting me in full, the easiest thing in the world is to get permission from me for reprints. You can't reprint my whole book because a lot of other people have put a lot of effort into it. But even when it comes to that, I am certain that, if you could get more copies out than we can, my team would not only be glad to have you do it, they would help you do it, all free of charge as usual.
My team would make just about any personal sacrifice to get a million copies of my book out there and READ. That fact makes me feel wonderful. It makes me feel great that my words, my own words, are that important to such admirable people. It keeps me going.
I spent two years and rewrote that little book sixteen times. "Rewrote" not "edited" it. I spent thousands of dollars on it.
All that work and a lifetime of experience produced a piece of work a handful of great people are willing to make enormous and unpaid effort to promote.
But remember that all that dedication is to MY words. It is NOT to IN OTHER WORDS.
The geniuses who wrote a far shorter and more important document, the United States Constitution, fought over every single word in it. They did NOT write it so that a bunch of Federal judges could say IN OTHER WORDS and substitute their own opinions for the Constitution.
What the founding fathers said was good enough.
I feel that what I say, over and over and over and over and over and over, things like "Political Correctness IS a religion" is exactly what you need to hear.
You are free to agree with me or disagree with my words. But you have no right to TWIST them.