The British media is sinking down, as the American news media has lowered the bar for all of humanity. British news media is definitely trying to stoop down to that level. Everyone is stooping to the lowest common denominator.
John OliverRead
I have occasionally - if ever I do interviews that are difficult or nerve-wracking - I take my wife's dog tags and have them in my pocket because it's a very quick way to realize that what I'm doing is not that important. It's not really worth getting stressed about because it's not, you know, war.
Interpretation
Perspective can help reduce stress about trivial matters.
In this quote, John Oliver highlights how he uses a personal memento, his wife's dog tags, to put his stressful situations into perspective. By comparing these lesser stresses to the gravity of war, he reminds himself that what seems significant in the moment often pales in comparison to more serious issues, thus promoting a healthier approach to stress.
In practice
This quote can be shared during a workshop on stress management.
The British media is sinking down, as the American news media has lowered the bar for all of humanity. British news media is definitely trying to stoop down to that level. Everyone is stooping to the lowest common denominator.
There's never any time I think I'm a real journalist, because I don't have any of the qualifications or the intentions for that.
Australia turns out to be a sensational place, albeit one of the most comfortably racist places I've ever been in. They've really settled into their intolerance like an old resentful slipper.
I watch one news channel until my soul can't take it anymore. It's the background of my life.
My first 'Daily Show' piece was pretending I had this terrible immigrant journey, so I went to talk to an immigration lawyer who would help out people, and I ran into him in Penn Station about three months after I'd gotten the green card. I said, 'I got my green card yesterday.' And he hugged me because he understood that level of relief.
Southern people are bigger-hearted and kinder than I had any right to expect.
Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.
A teacher of fear can't bring peace on earth. We have been trying to do it that way for thousands of years. The person who turns inner violence around, the person who finds peace inside and lives it, is the one who teaches what true peace is. We are waiting for just one teacher. You're the one.
Good habits are not made on birthdays, nor Christian character at the new year. The vision may dawn, the dream may waken, the heart may leap with a new inspiration on some mountain-top, but the test, the triumph, is at the foot of the mountain, on the level plain. The workshop of character is every-day life. The uneventful and commonplace hour is where the battle is won or lost.
The deepest lessons come out of the deepest waters and the hottest fires.
You have so much pain inside yourself that you try & hurt yourself on the outside because you want help.
Never sit at a table you canβt walk away from.
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