This is an excerpt for a speech given by Kurt Vonnegut at the University of Wisconsin Madison at the age of 81.
From: In These Times
November 6, 2003, "Knowing What’s Nice," By
Kurt Vonnegut...And now I want to tell you about my late Uncle Alex. He was my father's kid brother, a childless graduate of Harvard who was an honest life insurance salesman in Indianapolis. He was well-read and wise. And his principal complaint about other human beings was that they so seldom noticed it when they were happy. So when we were drinking lemonade under an apple tree in the summer, say, and talking lazily about this and that, almost buzzing like honeybees, Uncle Alex would suddenly interrupt the agreeable blather to exclaim, “If this isn't nice, I don't know what is.”So I do the same now, and so do my kids and grandkids. And I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, “If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.”That’s one favor I’ve asked of you.Now I’ve got another one, a show of hands. How many of you have had a teacher at any point in your entire education who made you happier to be alive, prouder to be alive than you had previously believed possible? Now please say the name of that teacher out loud to someone sitting or standing near you.OK? All done? “If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.”
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/646/knowing_whats_nice/---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You may not be a fan of Kurt Vonnegut. He had an amazing ability to piss-off those who opposed his point of view and often alienating those who shared it. Hate is an ugly and often misused word. For example, I hate brussel sprouts. If this were true, I should be inspired to take action to eradicate the sprouts or at least protect others from their harm. Honestly, I don't have the energy. So to say I hate Mr. Vonnegut, would better be phased that he provoked and still often infuriates me. He was articulate enough to make me listen and think, even while not agreeing. Like Christopher McCandless, who went out "Into the Wild" (book and movie of the same name). Man that kid still pisses me off! There is something about a person who can make you cringe or shake your fist while not forcing you to stop listening to them for their existence helps define your own values and may even implore you to action. God Bless Kurt Vonnegut - I know that would make him laugh.
He described himself as a humanist - that we are driven solely by an internal desire to do what is right, which is contrary to my belief in God. Rather I am a creationist who believes we cannot deny that God exists because the evidence is overwhelming and I believe that man is inherently flawed. Yet around us there is perfection, if only glimpses. We should aspire to emulating what we see of God - these small perfections.
If you have a talent at seeing the good, do us all a favor and point these things out to us. Stop us on the street or mid-sentence and point out what we are missing and say, "If this isn't nice, I don't know what is."
Many of us go through life blocking-out our senses, we are blind to beauty, deaf to our own heartbeat, afraid to touch one another, our mouths are often so full of ash that we are unable to taste the fruit of our strife, and I don't need say anything about to smelling the roses! God Bless those who have their senses, and let us praise those who remind us all take a moment to open our eyes, clean out our ears, drink from the cup, walk barefoot in the grass or feel the warmth of an embrace.
