We didn't have music videos. You weren't an overnight sensation. You had to work at it and learn your craft: how to take care of your voice, how to pace your concerts, all that trial and error.
Aretha FranklinRead
People are not as nice as they used to be. There used to be a time when we conversed. You don't get a lot of real responses now. They used to be more polite and well-mannered people, generally. It's minimal now.
Interpretation
The quote reflects a sentiment of nostalgia for a past where interpersonal interactions were more respectful and genuine.
Aretha Franklin expresses a concern about a perceived decline in social manners and genuine communication among people. She reminisces about an era when conversations were more meaningful and polite, suggesting that today's interactions lack the same level of civility and authenticity. This sentiment captures a common reflection on changing social norms and the impact of modern technology on communication.
In practice
During a speech about modern communication challenges at a social forum.
We didn't have music videos. You weren't an overnight sensation. You had to work at it and learn your craft: how to take care of your voice, how to pace your concerts, all that trial and error.
Trying to grow up is hurting. You make mistakes. You try to learn from them, and when you don't, it hurts even more.
My mentor was Clara Ward of the famous Ward gospel singers of Philadelphia. And my dad was my coach. He coached me. And just my natural love for music is what drove me.
It really is an honor if I can be inspirational to a younger singer or person. It means I've done my job.
In terms of helping people understand and know each other a little better, music is universal - universal and transporting.
Everybody wants respect. In their own way, three-year-olds would like respect, and acknowledgment, in their terms.
We all need one another; much and often. Just as every human creature needs a place to be alone in, a sacred, private "home" of his own, so all human creatures need a place to be together in, from the two who can show each other their souls uninterruptedly, to the largest throng that can throb and stir in unison.
Dogs live with man as courtiers 'round a monarch, steeped in the flattery of his notice ... to push their favor in this world of pickings and caresses is, perhaps, the business of their lives.
I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself.
It's always the case that the minority has to navigate two different worlds. Women have to know how to live in a man's world. Gay people have to know how to live in a straight world. Black people gotta know how to live in a predominantly white world.
Does not a man physically tremble under the mere look of a wild beast or fellow-man that is stronger than himself? Does not a woman redden all over when she feels her lover's eyes on her? How then should one doubt the mysterious power of one individual over another?
Anything that takes you out of the context of being separate is healing. Anything that takes you out of the context of separateness is intimacy.
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