“He is the kind of man one likes to listen to because he always says something that goes straight to the point, and after he covers the subject he stops.” -Booker T. Washington, “My Larger Education (1911)”
Presidential Commentary by Dr. Brian Johnson
There is nothing more painstaking to endure than one who talks simply for the sake of talking. For such a person rambles until-hopefully-someone picks up upon perhaps a word, a phrase or a sentiment that would justify the many other poorly thought or mis-spoken ideas that the rambler has already proffered. This is entirely unlike the man or woman that the founding principal president of Tuskegee Institute (University) describes when he states the following: “he is the kind of man one likes to listen to because he always says something that goes straight to the point, and after he covers the subject he stops.” And this is the quality of a man or woman of “substance”. Unlike a rambler, a person of substance stands pat, ready to answer-no substantiate-every word uttered or written. This is not so for the rambler. A rambler excuses every utterance he or she has offered except for the singular one or two statements–out of a great many-that have received approbation from one or two of his or her hearers. (Even in this, the substantiation is grounded in the nodding heads of others as opposed to deeds done or objective and impartial evidence.) Contrarily, going “straight to the point” requires past, present and future knowledge of what can be verified or plausibly deduced-without regard to the approbation of “nodding heads”. For all persons “like to listen to” one whose thoughts and opinions are supported by facts instead of feelings.
Brian L. Johnson, Ph.D.
Brian Johnson, Ph.D. 