363: General George Patton's Speech to the Third Army

Here are the notes I read from for this episode.

Following pattern of effective speeches and leadership to lead people to love doing things not obviously personally benefiting.

If you've seen movie Patton, George C Scott delivers a shorter, cleaner, but better acted version.

Compare what he's asking his men to do with what it takes to pollute less

What is required of us in environmental stewardship is almost nothing in comparison.

I'll read it, but translate while I'm reading it. The language is obviously of the time and would cause him to be canceled today except that he helped defeat Rommel and Hitler and save the free world from the Nazis taking over, which probably even the most offended person would value.

Some parallels:

• Germans - pollution, so when he talks of attacking Germans, think of reducing pollution. He leads his men to love attacking Nazis.
• Could you love reducing pollution? You won't risk your life.
• Fighting - reducing consumption, but less risky
• Going home - living without thinking about stewardship
• Learning to fight - training to pollute less. Nobody can start perfect. Every little thing you do trains you to do more
• Brave - active, acting with integrity
• Surrendering - acting for yourself ignoring how your pollution hurts others, especially those helpless to defend themselves.

What's the same: the emotions that hold you back, the training that overcomes the fear, the reward in the moment of the physical challenge, and the reward after of satisfaction.

Different: zero risk to your health. On the contrary, improvement. The risk comes if you don't ask.

Okay, enough explanation. Time for the speech. I'll let you translate in your mind to motivate yourself to help your country, family, world,

and self.

Listen through to the end, because the last analogy is what motivated those men most, I believe, and it applies to us as much as to any human.

We are free in part because of them. Can we honor their defending us from Hitler by doing some tiny fraction of what they did?

Wikipedia:

• George S. Patton's speech to the Third Army, which includes the text of the speech
• George Patton

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