Why Intelligence Isn’t Enough to Succeed | Dennis AMA

Life Audio.

On today's episode of Timeless Wisdom.

So yeah, I just wanted to know your views on legalization of marijuana.

What are you— what are your views?

My views? Yeah, I'm for legalization. I think this, uh, the government and the way that it's illegal is just— it's ridiculous. Hi Dennis, I'm really embarrassed to be asking this question.

Don't be, don't be.

I'm 43 years old, my fiancée's 39. Never been married before. I love her very much, very, very much. But Dennis, as you know, a man as I am, I have a strong desire to date other women.

I'm calling on behalf of my 14-year-old son who is in one of the public schools here in the Dallas area, and he was given an assignment to write a paper on why we should remember the Holocaust.

That's coming up on Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager.

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Welcome to Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager. Hear thousands of hours of Dennis's lectures, courses, and classic radio programs. And to purchase Dennis Prager's Rational Bibles, go to dennisprager.com.

To ask me anything, anything, meaning of life to, uh, my favorite pipe tobacco, anything, anything you want to write. Are you curious about something? Did you hear something that, uh, that perturbed you? Would you like me to talk about a subject that I have never addressed, or you never heard me address? Because it's not easy to find subjects that I have never addressed. Now, that's an interesting thing in and of itself. Would I have said that if I were not on radio? Address. I think that that's a word— that's a, that's a public word. In private life, we tend not to use that. Gee, I haven't addressed that subject. It would not go on in private life. Generally, the talk— my talk is fairly similar, but I just caught that one. 1-800-PRAGER, P-R-A-G-E-R, 776. What would you like to talk about or ask about? Or have me talk about? That's the question, my dear friends. On a freeway in Southern California on KCBQ, it's Andy. Hello, Andy. Dennis Prager.

Dennis, how are you? Thanks for taking the call. I have to tell you, I've been listening for, gosh, 11, 12 years now.

Yes.

And I've talked to you, this is, I guess, the 3rd time.

Oh, that's great.

Because it's been bugging me almost since the beginning, and that is, I I love the clarity you bring, and somebody mentioned the PhD in life once, and that's what I consider it. But the concepts that you put forth, I get and I grab and I get passionate. I feel my blood pressure go up in good ways. But, uh, what I'm left with when it comes to real-world conversations is either the water cooler talk or, uh, you know, cocktail party conversation, and you run into somebody with whom you disagree. I'm able to state the case in generalities and conceptually. But when it comes time for specific examples, whether they be political or historical, I just don't have them within my reach. So I guess what I'm asking for is the intellectual version of being a physical trainer. What suggestion could you make to somebody, because I'm sure there are a lot of listeners in the same boat, to practice remembering the examples that support these specific points?

Oh, that's very interesting. You know, it would not be a bad idea Uh, to, uh, write them actually down. Uh, for example, I'll give you 2 examples of, of specifics to remember. For those who say, well, you know, what do you need those values for? Just tell them that a, a vast number of Americans would save their dog before a stranger if both were drowning. And tell them, you see, that's the problem of following your heart rather than a value system. You need a value system because you need values, which by definition is something to guide you that is greater than your heart or your feelings. So write down in a little— on a piece of paper, keep it in your wallet even— heart versus standards, or heart versus code, or need for Judeo-Christian value, save dog over stranger. Then you will remember it The third, fourth time. The reason I remember is because I use it so much, right? And because I did write it down. Brian in Elk River, Minnesota. Dennis Prager, hi.

Well, hi Dennis, thank you for taking my call. I sure appreciate your show.

Thank you very much.

A little background, I didn't have a religious upbringing myself, but I've always, uh, at least since adulthood, I've always been an agnostic, but at the same time I I do believe in a God, but I've never been a religious practicing person. However, in these last number of years, I've been married for 26 years, but I've always been trying to get my wife, especially in the last 10 years or so, to get more open-minded about religion and to look into it and to help, maybe help me with it. And She ridicules it and—

Wait, she ridicules what? Your desire to take it seriously? Or religion?

Both.

Both?

Both.

Now— So it's a real difficult thing for me, and I'm just looking for ways—

Is it a source of marital tension?

Yes, it is for me. I don't push the issue to the point of causing her to be intense about it, but yeah, for me it is, yeah.

Now let me understand, you at— you now, what are you, 47?

Yes, sir.

All right, you now would like to begin to take religion more seriously, and do I understand you correctly?

Very much so.

All right, and you would because you feel that it will give you a much richer and more meaningful life?

I think that's putting it pretty well. I've been listening to you for several years. I've read a couple of your books. I've read some of Harold Kushner's books. I guess I'm looking pretty hard at Judaism.

Mm-hmm.

And I've listened to some of your tapes. I'm a subscriber to your stuff there.

Oh, I see. Well, thank you.

And, you know, and I look at Christianity just as hard too.

Mm-hmm. Good. But what were you raised, Brian, religiously speaking?

Christian.

Were you raised cultural Christian or believing?

I guess culturally, yeah. It was a rather laid-back attitude. There was nothing too strict about it. You know, we didn't pray before meals, or we didn't go to church and stuff like that.

So basically, did you go to church on Easter?

No.

So you didn't even do that. So to Jeff—

Not even that.

You had a Christmas tree.

There you go.

That was about it. Okay. Now, and you say you do believe in God?

I do, yes, sir.

Right. Well, the issue for you is, is very clear. You, you— I think you have been touched by the fact that it— that a good religious life, as opposed to a fanatical one, uh, is, is a deeply, deeply satisfying, positive experience and makes life more meaningful, etc. The problem is that your wife doesn't feel that way. Now, what does she think? Religion is for dummies, or for the Psychologically weak? What does she think?

All of the above. Yeah, she ridicules it and thinks it's a big fairy tale.

What was— what was she— how was she raised?

Well, she actually did go to some catechism classes as a young child until maybe about 10 years of age. So her parents were semi-Catholic, but they never really practiced it seriously either. They had a Catholic marriage and She's the oldest of her family, so she went to catechism until she was maybe 8 or 10, and then, you know, then that was dropped.

All right, well, look, this is a, this is a huge issue because yours, yours is not the first marriage to have this issue where one part— and let me just say this, while I fully sympathize with your desire, obviously, to take religion seriously, I also sympathize with your wife because you're changing on her.

Because I'm what?

You're changing on her.

Oh, I— okay, I understand.

Yep.

This is a very—

No, I've always lived my life with a set of ethical laws.

No, no, that's—

I wouldn't be able to explain them, but I can certainly—

Right, no, that's different. But you're changing on her in that you now want to become religious, and the two of you were leading a secular life.

Right.

Remember, she married secular Brian, who now wants to be religious Brian.

I understand.

Okay, this is very important. I want everybody to hear this. Though I fully and totally and completely support someone taking religion seriously who didn't, obviously, yes, I mean, for so many, many reasons, I, I, I, it is impossible for me to envision a meaningful and happy life without a religious affirmation. But at the same time, I have absolute respect and sympathy for the spouse who now wonders, what has happened to my spouse? We marry X, and then after 26 years or 10 years or 15 years or 5 years or what have you, X decides to be not X.

Or why?

For many people, a religious conversion on the part of their spouse is almost like a sexual conversion. It would almost be as if, uh, Brian decided to become Barbara. I married Brian, his wife said. I don't want you to be Barbara. I married secular Brian. I don't want you to become religious Brian on me. I understand her feelings. I don't agree with her attitude toward religion, but I completely understand her feelings. Just as in a marriage, if 2 people were religious and one decides not to be after a period of time, that is a huge transformation of the person that one loved that becomes a challenge. When, you know, it's one thing to adopt a new hobby. Well, when we met, you really didn't care about, I don't know what, crocheting. That's irrelevant. Nobody cares if you pick up a new hobby. But if you become religious from secular, or, or, or become less religious, or whichever direction you go, or change religions, On your spouse, that's heavy. What you need to do, Brian, and any of you who are doing this, is say, you know what, number one, I understand why this bothers you. You have every right to be bothered. Now tell me, what do you fear will happen with me? What do you think will happen with us if if I do take Christianity or Judaism seriously. That is step one and the most critical step. I, I hear why you're upset. You have every right to be. We'll be back in a moment. You're listening to The Dennis Prager Show.

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Okay. Over to more of your calls here, and to DeKalb, Illinois, on WIND, and Devin. Hello, Devin, how are you?

Hey, how's it going?

Okay, how old are you?

I'm 18.

Thank you for calling.

What?

You're welcome.

Yeah, so yeah, I just wanted to know your views on legalization of marijuana.

What are you— what are your views?

My views?

Yeah.

I'm all for legalization. I think this, uh, the government and the way that It's illegal, it's just ridiculous.

Who's in the background? Is that a radio?

No, no, no, that's one of my friends talking on the phone. Hey, shut up!

Oh, yeah, tell him to shut up, exactly. Uh, the, uh, no, I'm not for it, Devin, and I'm curious, do you think that the government should allow harder drugs to be legal?

No, no, no, no, definitely not harder drugs.

I see. Well, I'll be perfectly honest with you, if marijuana were legal, there's a good chance that I would not in fact favor the beginning of its legalization. But since it is already illegal, I know that I will be living in a worse society if it becomes legal for a very simple reason. Far more people, especially people your age, will use it then. And to be perfectly honest, Evan, I hate marijuana. I have a deep, deep hatred of it. I think it's a narcissistic thing. And much worse than that, because there are a lot of narcissistic things, I believe that it tampers with the brain. And I believe that that is one of the truly great sins of life, is to tamper with your mind.

Well, you have to think of it in a way as what the government is considering legal right now, such as alcohol.

Alcohol is legal. Well, you're right. Well, you know, one of the great joys of being young, and I say this with total empathy because I was the same, is— and a lot of older people don't grow up in this way— Is the desire to have pure consistency. It's like, hey, gee, why should we liberate Iraq? We're not liberating Sudan. And that gives you an excuse, therefore, to let evil just transpire everywhere. Well, if we allow alcohol, why not allow marijuana? Well, one could argue just as well, well, since we don't allow marijuana, let's not allow alcohol, and then we'll have the prohibition again. But I have a very simple answer to you. There is a huge difference between alcohol And marijuana. And I have asked this over and over when this issue has come up, and I'll ask it to you. Imagine you are about to board a flight. Would you prefer that your pilot have had a martini prior to flying, or a joint?

A joint, definitely.

Okay. I would rather the martini.

No, I think—

I think—

I have been around people who have had a drink, and there is no perceptible difference in their ability to function. And I have been around people smoking a joint, and frankly, they are a bit, uh, they're quite out of it. They're happy, they can conduct a conversation, all sorts of nice emotional things happen, but, uh, they are— they aren't— they don't have the same alertness, they don't have the same ability to concentrate that they, that they had prior to the joint.

Well, you, you— if you put it as that, you have to put it as how messed up you'd be off of a joint compared to one drink.

That's correct. That's what I'm talking about. That's exactly what I'm saying.

Well, yeah, you get to put it as like, uh, 2 to 3 drinks equals a joint.

Oh, well then, that's my point, isn't it? You need a lot of alcohol to match the amount of marijuana the average person smokes.

The more—

yeah, the more alcohol you have to drink to get—

That's right. So therefore, since most people are capable of having enough drink that it has no effect on their reaction time, whereas that is not the case with the marijuana smoker, I prefer the alcohol. Of course, if you tell me, well, if you're going to ply a pilot with a gallon of liquor, of course I'd rather have the joint.

Yeah.

Yeah, but that's not what people have. People have one drink.

No, nobody has a drink to get themselves a feeling. You don't get a feeling off of a drink.

Oh, a lot of people have one drink, and even if they have the feeling, they're not impaired. Unless they're alcoholic.

Exactly.

If you have one drink, you're not going to get the same—

You're right. So that's my point, then. People who do have one drink and who— first of all, one drink does in fact make a lot of people feel good. I am not to be a drinker, not for moral reasons. I just don't enjoy the taste. But people have one glass of wine. A lot of people have one glass of wine.

Yeah, but what kind of effects do you get off of one glass of wine?

You're right, but that shows that you need a much greater effect than marijuana to enjoy marijuana. Marijuana, and that effect impairs the ability to think clearly.

Well, that's not true. You can, you could take a hit off a bowl or have half a joint.

Yeah, do you? Yeah, and how often is that done?

Well, in my case, not very often.

Okay, well then you're an honest guy and I love you for it, Devin. That, my case rests. I know for a fact, as I sit at this microphone, that if marijuana were legalized, Millions upon millions more would use it. And among them would be— and I didn't even use this as an argument— among them would be a significant number who would say, God, if this thrill is great, imagine what the real thing must be. But even in and of itself— and I will say another thing, I believe that those who rely on it have a boredom that pervades their life, that they cannot get high. And I hope you're hearing me, Devin, that they cannot get high on life itself. And that is my biggest argument, I guess, of all. It is so sad for me when a teenager, with all the vitality and health that the average teen has, or any young person, or any middle-aged person for that matter, resorts to marijuana. It is truly like saying, you know what, life really bores the living daylights out of me. I can't get high on life. Nothing excites me. Not music, not going out with a girl or a guy, not, not reading, not exploring the world, not sports, not, not movies, nothing. I need to escape. How sad. How, how— it's just sad. Just absolute sadness. Why we would, why we would make that available to have a further ability To, to leave life is beyond me. I am delighted that you called, Devin. I thank you very kindly. And, uh, right, all right, we have great calls coming up here from Pennsylvania to Oregon and points in between. Yeah, I felt that way. That's one thing that, that I did not learn in life. That was one thing that I felt Immediately, growing up in the dopehead generation of the baby boomers, it just depressed me. Absolutely depressed me. Kids would sit around at a party smoking a joint.

Yep.

God, I just— I got a lot of other things that made me high. We'll be back in a moment. 1-800-PRAGER-776.

This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this. Who answers America's call for more energy? Our people do. They've helped boost Chevron's U.S. energy production by nearly 60% in the past 3 years, helping fuel national energy security, and drives down the open roads that make America. Learn more about what our people do at chevron.com/america. Now, back to more of Dennis Prager's timeless wisdom.

Oh, okie dokie. Pueblo, Colorado, KNUS. Jack. Hello, Jack. Dennis Prager.

Yes, sir. How are you today?

I am well, sir. Thank you, sir.

Um, nervousness giving speeches.

Right.

And even talking on the phone to you or another radio station, right, the feeling of I can't take a breath, right, I need to, right, I don't want to stop talking.

This is a great question. Let me, let me first tell you, this may come as a shock to you.

Can I hang up real quick and listen?

Oh, you want to listen? Sure, go right ahead. No problem. Thank you, Jack. Okay. I am sure that there are methods of coping with it somewhat. Probably the best method is to do it a lot and you gain the confidence and the, the, and you gain the, uh, the used-to-edness of doing it. You know how nervous I was my first radio shows? Do you know? I was so nervous that I dripped perspiration onto the microphone. I remember thinking, Will people think it is raining and I'm doing a broadcast outside? I give you my word, I actually thought that, because sweat would fall onto the mic. So that is very, very human. On the other hand, there is also a sense of gift. I spoke publicly very early in life, and while I was nervous, I had tremendous confidence in front of an audience at a very early age. That's built in to a certain extent. I believe it can be gained. One of the things to do is have your mind understand you are not talking to 500 people. You are talking to one person and 500 ones. And that helps you understand That, that, that's all you're really doing. And think of it like that, that you are speaking to this individual and this individual and that one. But it, but it is something that over time either works out or you just shouldn't be publicly speaking. There's no, no number of times— I conduct publicly and I am very, very nervous before conducting. I have the score in front of me, the orchestra knows what it's doing, we've had rehearsals. But I'm very nervous, because it's a performance, and I don't have the same confidence in my ability to conduct as I do in my ability to speak. So confidence is surely a factor. Where is this? I want to get this guy here. Yeah, Daniel. Daniel, Montebello, California, KRLA. Hello, Daniel. Dennis Prager.

Mr. Prager, I just want to thank you for your contributions. I just want to say that I really thank God for your existence.

Wow.

Thank you. Thank you.

I just, uh, I have a question, but, um, I want to know, people who are born with, uh, with intelligence and, and, and another person who's born with average, um, intellectuality, you could say. Yeah. Uh, what are the chances for the average person to succeed in a high-ranked success, meaning Uh, like true wealth, you know, people like who succeed, kind of like a, I don't know, a person who invents something and, and makes a certain amount of money and, or just has a place of limit, you know. It's because I want to refer to the last caller about the kid who, who has, uh, these, all these activities and, and, but he was getting bad grades.

Yes.

Okay, because all my life, you know, I was never good in school. As a kid, I never picked up an instrument, or I didn't really do anything. You know, basically I was outside playing for hours and hours, and I didn't discipline myself. And to this day, I'm still not getting achievement as far as, you know, because I'm going to community college.

How old are you?

I'm 25. Uh-huh.

OK. You think that your parents should have pressed you to work harder in high school?

Yes, yes, but then I say I don't want to blame my parents, you know.

No, you shouldn't. You shouldn't. I mean, there's no question. Well, you see, I'm I'm happy that you said that, even though it goes against what I— the advice that I gave to that other woman.

Right.

Uh, uh, there are, there are really two sides to that coin, uh, because maybe you develop habits in high school. Uh, you know, I was totally undisciplined in high school. Totally, totally, totally undisciplined in high school. And I became extremely disciplined And because I'm doing what I think is important. I didn't think high school was important. So there's no, there's no, I guess, no full predicting.

But I want to know how it's like—

Okay, but I want to answer your bigger question. Let's say you're not endowed with great intelligence. How do you succeed? Is that what you're asking?

Yes, because—

Okay, first of all, first of all, there's one problem that you and I have, and that is what— how you— you're defining success entirely as monetary.

Okay, because I appreciate, uh, as far as the sciences, innovations, and I really admire that, and I'm really into that stuff. But for some reason, I say to myself, okay, I have these abilities, supposedly abilities, as far as creativity, because people think, wow, you're very creative, and, you know, you're into the sciences, and, and, uh, you know, the way you imagine things. But then I doubt myself. But then I said, well, if I don't— if You know, if I don't really kind of apply myself in school, you know, I'm getting D's and F's, but I study real hard, I don't know if it's a mind thing, you know, what good are my ideas? You know, they're useless if I can't even, you know, reach up to a certain level.

Right, right. Well, all right, so listen to me, listen to me. The number of people who will invent something that will make them any money of any seriousness is smaller than the number of talk show hosts with a national radio show.

Okay?

Please, please understand that. You are aspiring to do something that is left to the, you know, the Thomas Edisons and a handful of human beings in any generation. I'm not saying you won't. And I think that you must pursue that if that is your first love. You may not be able to pursue it for a living. You may have to do something else for money and do that for A lot of people do that, and then they get good enough in what they love and then can make a living at it. But if you are aspiring to serious money through an invention, that is as unlikely as a kid aspiring to great money because there are baseball players making $20 million. The odds are simply overwhelmingly against it. That doesn't mean you shouldn't aspire and work to it. But there is a larger question, and that is, do you— does one need great intelligence for success? And the answer is no. One needs clarity, maturity, discipline, character, trustworthiness, and hard work. All righty, on to your calls. Whatever is on your mind, that is the nature of this hour, the last hour of the week on the Dennis Prager Show. And let's go to Denton, Denton, Texas, and Andrew. Andrew, Dennis Prager. Hi, how are you?

I'm doing great. How are you, sir?

Okay, thank you.

It's great to talk with you. Um, one of the things that I've found hard in life, at least for myself, is to really— is to really contextualize my ideas. And one thing I enjoy is the fact that you're able to bring deep truths in a very clear and concise manner. And I really want to know, how did you develop that? And did you— I mean, was it something— I mean, some people say it was a gift, or was it something that you were able to, through a process and through habit, really bring it out and develop that?

It's a very important question, and I think about it a lot because I want to, uh, Give a formula, as it were, to as many people as possible since I am passionately of the belief that clear thinking will make a better world. Well, first I have to say, just sitting outside of myself, half of it is gift. I take no credit for it. I do believe that whether it's a psychological gift or just a genetic gift or whatever it is, I know that I was pretty much always blessed with that. But 50% has been hard work, and that part I can tell you about. One thing is to try as little as possible to have an agenda. The most important thing is to really ask oneself, well, what— A, what is true? What is really true? B, what works? And what works may in fact be against your agenda. It may, it may, it may not comport with what you want to believe. So it's important to know, what do I want to believe? What is really true? Uh, have I challenged myself? I, I have this, uh, I have a running dialogue whenever I come up with an idea that you'll find this interesting, Andrew. Every time I come up with an, an argument for something, immediately my mind comes up with the alternate argument. And so it is very rare— it happens, but it is very rare that people I debate on the air or at public forums or in writing have actually challenged me with an argument that I didn't already develop or hear.

Mm-hmm.

Part of it is I read a lot of people that I don't agree with, so therefore I have to say, well, wait a minute, well, does that make sense? And if it makes sense, then I have to adopt it. Now, these are all unfortunately generalities, and though I love generalities, I always try to give specific examples. And if we were to talk again, I want you to raise an example like, how would you— how do you think clearly about such and such? For example, I'll give you this example here. This will be very telling. On a major, major impact in my life of opening my mind to other things. I was raised deeply religious in my faith, Judaism. And anyone raised in the more fundamentalist, which I never use as a pejorative, as a negative, as an insult, But I was raised an Orthodox Jew, studied many, many years in yeshiva, which is very grounded learning, and believed, and still do, that Judaism is true. I didn't deal that much with, well, what about other religions? Are people walking around believing in things that are false? Over the course of years with exposure to others, especially Christians, through the first radio show I ever had. I was profoundly affected by the goodness and the biblical grounding of many Christians, and I had to rethink. Now, I'm not a Christian, and I don't, I don't have belief in Jesus Christ, but I had to rethink the question, well, wait a minute, is there a Christian way to God? And I am absolutely certain that there is. It was too obvious from real life that there is. Back in a moment.

This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this. Who answers America's call for more energy? Our people do. They've helped boost Chevron's U.S. energy production by nearly 60% in the past 3 years, helping fuel national energy security. And drives down the open roads that make America. Learn more about what our people do at chevron.com/america. Now, back to more of Dennis Prager's timeless wisdom.

In, uh, Georgia.

Is that right?

Are you in Georgia, Mark?

Um, no, I'm actually in Murrieta, California.

Oh, ah, big deal. Ah, same country. I got the country right.

Right.

I'm a student at Cal Poly Pomona.

Right.

Um, I'm a finance major.

Uh-huh.

And I was taking an upper division synthesis course, uh, general education synthesis course entitled Environment, Technology, and Culture. It's an anthropology course.

Right.

Um, I wrote a, uh, term paper for the class entitled Technological and Economic Prosperity, Existential Despair, and the Religious Dogma of Modern Natural Science. The professor claims that my, my paper is inconsistent with what the guidelines were for the term paper. He gave me a 0, thus effectively giving me an F in the class. I have a 3.7 grade point average.

All right, now what were you supposed to write on? Let's, let's get this very clear to everybody.

OK.

You were supposed to write on what subject?

He said that we could write on any subject that we wanted to, provided that it dealt with environment, technology, and culture.

And what did you write on?

I wrote on, um, the methods of science and how they're beneficial, um, to the, um, to the economy, or economically beneficial, practically or pragmatically beneficial. But how the metaphysics of science undermine ethical values, right, undermine the concept of the university, the materialism or naturalism of science undermines the laws of logic, mathematics, etc., and how this leads to a cultural decline and ultimately undermines the concept of—

And again, he wanted it on environment, technology, and culture?

That's right. And I wrote about the philosophy of science as well as the practical bit.

Well, give me an example of environment, technology, and culture that that he would have liked? What topic would have encompassed all 3 subjects?

OK. Some of the topic areas that he gave as possible recommendations were environmental pollution, environmental degradation, ecotourism, production, distribution, consumption of goods and services, health and sanitation, demography, shelter, clothing, personal adornment.

Well, so he had an agenda.

Yeah, he wanted me to think the way that he wanted me to think.

Well, you know, if I— I did teach college, and if a student did that in good faith, wrote on a topic, wrote a sincere paper, and it didn't address the topic as I wanted it addressed, I would have said do it over. I wouldn't flunk him.

Well, see, the thing is, is that he says even here in his guidelines, he says the with the following ideas for the topic you might consider for your term paper. This is just a provisional list, not intended to be final.

Right, I understand. Now, you feel he did it because of your content, not your subject.

That's right. I included some of my perspectives on religion.

Right.

You know what?

Mark, I believe you. I believe you. I believe you. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I hit the button too quickly, but I want to get a lot of calls. But I believe that. I'll let— I, I was lucky in that sense. I had a professor of Marxism. My field was Marxism in graduate school. And one of my professors— well, most of my professors were Marxist, neo-Marxists, proto-Marxists, crypto-Marxists, Marxist sympathizers, or something, something Marxian. And I wrote a paper, my big paper for one class on Marxism, a comparison of Judaism and Marxism. Where I came out, oddly enough, on behalf of Judaism. And in fact, it became the basis of the chapter I'm particularly proud of in my book on Judaism, which I wrote in my 20s, and it's still a widely used introduction to Judaism. Wrote it with my dear friend Joseph Telushmoun, The 9 Questions People Ask About Judaism. And one of them is, how does Judaism differ from Marxism? And it was based on the paper I gave him. He gave me a B+, and he hated every word I wrote. And that, that is, that was to his great credit. I'll never forget. I believe his name was Sidney Morgan Besser. I can't believe that. I'm sure I've not said his name in, in, in, in the decade since I was in graduate school.

Whew.

So that's what a teacher has to do. I don't think that your teacher did that. And where is Anonymous? I understand why you want to be anonymous, so take it away. Dennis Prager, hi.

Hi, Dennis. I'm really embarrassed to be asking this question.

Don't be, don't be.

I'm 43 years old, my fiancée 39. We've never been married before. I love her very much, very, very much. But Dennis, as you know, a man as I am, I have a strong desire to date other women, and I just don't want this to be damaging to the marriage. Is there a point at which the desire to date other women should hinder one from marrying?

Yeah, you got— it's a very important question.

Do you—

now, you must be utterly honest with me. Do you want to date other women or go to bed with other women?

Date.

That's not a good sign.

Hmm.

Because dating means that you want a relationship with other women.

Oh, I see. Um, you know what? I think— you know what, Dennis? I actually— I didn't— I wasn't quite honest with you on that. I think the first option.

Oh, you want sex with other women? Well, you know, I wish I had a snoring button. That's what I would play here. Do we have snoring, Sean?

I'm sorry.

There should be. I have to find it. Let's see. I, I, I, we— I don't see it right now. That's what I would do is I— well, you know, you're a man. That's, that's what men do. That's what men want. So that's, that's not an issue. The issue is if you, if you feel that, uh, you are not— you're— are you attracted to your fiancée?

Absolutely.

Okay, then, then this is, this is, this is it. This is not going to end. I mean, it should subside somewhat in the, in the heyday of one's romantic love for one's partner approaching a marriage, but it doesn't matter. I mean, you, when you will see a nice body, it doesn't matter how much. And every woman needs to hear this. It has no— it is not at all a reflection on his love for you that he is taken with another body. That is the way we are designed. It is like saying— He, uh, that he's— my God, he had a meal. Why does he, why does he still salivate over cheesecake? I mean, that, that's, that's just the way— it's the way it is.

Yes, yes.

So no, not to worry. That's why I asked, did you want— do you want— if you want to date, it is a bad sign. If you are, if you are still having sexual fantasies, that makes you male, and that's the way it is, right?

Dennis, can I just say something that Once a caller called in and described you as the Jewish C.S. Lewis, and that's how I've always described you to other people. You are wonderful. God bless you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And you have a terrific trip next week.

Thank you. That's very sweet of you. Thank you kindly. 1-800-PRAGER-776. And, uh, oh, this is a good one. Cindy in San Diego, KCBQ. Dennis Prager, hi.

Oh, this is Cindy?

Yes.

Yeah, okay.

This isn't— I hope, I hope you would know better than I. Go ahead.

I apologize.

No problem.

Dennis, the reason I'm calling is, um, I don't get to hear you the full 3 hours, so I'm sorry if you've maybe talked about this before and I didn't hear you, but, um, regarding, uh, if you have a child who gets, uh, not outstanding grades but more along the C line or barely, you know—

What age? What age?

Teenager.

In high school?

Yes.

Go ahead.

And— but they demonstrate other qualities that I find very admirable: loyalty, honesty, integrity. And often in high school, children are patted on the back for outstanding grades, outstanding classes, outstanding this, as far as academics, and they necessarily attribute someone with outstanding grades as being necessarily good. And I just wondered, as I've never heard you talk about it, what your thought as a parent is, what we should— am I not emphasizing grades enough? Or, I mean, he has nearly a genius IQ, so it's—

Why? All right, well, this is right up my alley because I had— I graduated in the top 80% of my high school class. Are you with me?

Yeah.

You know what that means?

Yeah. 20%.

Yes, the bottom 20, exactly. And it drove my parents nuts. I mean, they thought I was bright. What's going on here? And they knew I had good character.

Uh-huh.

So I totally identify with your situation. But the key question I always ask a parent when their kid does not do well in school is, what is your child doing when he or she is not doing schoolwork?

Okay, he participates in band and is in percussion section. Also, he does sports and like church youth group activities.

So why is he getting Cs and not Bs or As? Because—

I think he's overextended with activities and I've kind of left the choices up to him. I figure—

Yeah, I happen to agree with you. I happen to agree with you. I believe you can drive your kid nuts on only a couple of things. And I personally have thought that character was the thing to do it over, not grades. I'll tell you another thing. I will be very surprised if he does not become a very good student in college.

That's what I'm thinking too, because a lot of— you know, you get more focus in college.

Well, exactly. And also, you know, I believe in timing. That if you start the marathon of life at a sprint pace, you're going to tire out pretty early.

Mm-hmm.

Part of the reason I work so hard as an adult is because I didn't work at all as a kid. I mean it. I spent my entire high school year laughing. 4 years I laughed. That's what I did in high school. If you want to know what I did, I laughed. I had the best time. I laughed myself silly. It was a total lark for me. I couldn't care less about homework. I can't believe the little amount of work that I did and still graduated. And not only that, I got elected president of the graduating class. I was the lowest ranking, 'cause in my very competitive high school, private high school, they actually knew where you ranked in the class from one to last. I was the lowest ranking kid ever elected class president. Brought me great joy. And you know what? I've never said this on the air. I took the valedictorian to the prom.

Hi Dennis, we miss you and love you.

Wish you had— wish we had your voice right now. Really, really need that. Lots of luck and miss your lectures and everything else. And Godspeed with your recovery. Thank you very much again. Dennis, I'm an atheist and I love your show. I listen every day. I hope you get well. I don't pray, but I'm certainly rooting rooting for you, and you're just a wonderful. I got turned on to you from Adam Carolla, my hero, and you are such a sensible guy. I disagree with a lot of things, but I listen to your reasoning, and I'm just ever impressed with you. You're a wonderful. Wonderful, wonderful radio show host, and I'm so glad that I've gotten to listen to you. Thank you, sir. Get well.

Are you enjoying Timeless Wisdom? We'd love to hear from you. Call 877-243-7776 and leave a review, share your thoughts, or just even an encouraging word for Dennis. Your voicemail might just make it on the show. That's 877-243-7776. That's 877-243-7776. Thanks for listening and for your support.

And in Dallas, it's Gene. Hello, Gene. Dennis Prager.

Uh, yes, sir, Dennis. This is indeed an honor to get to speak with you.

You're very kind. Thank you.

I'm calling on behalf of my 14-year-old son who is in one of the public schools here in the Dallas area. And he was given an assignment to write a paper on why we should remember the Holocaust. And what I really wanted to do to help build his confidence was I wanted him to call you himself so that you could help him out with an answer to that question.

I would have loved it, but he was a little afraid.

Well, he's in the school right now while you're on, so that's how come I couldn't set that up.

Oh, I see.

That's why I'm calling on his behalf. We, we had several discussions Uh, about this. We talked at length.

What did you tell him?

Well, I started with, uh, the old adage that those who fail to remember the past are doomed to repeat it, and he nipped that in the bud by telling me that he was told off the bat that he could not use that as an analogy. So what I tried to do was I tried to explain, uh, the history— well, not the history, but the, uh, the white supremacists today who are trying to put forth the premise that the Holocaust never occurred. And we spent a great deal of time talking about those people. But, um—

All right, let me give you some answers, okay?

Okay, thanks.

And if you got a pen, uh, it's probably worth just jotting down quickly.

Sure.

There are enormous lessons to be learned from the Holocaust that are utterly applicable. In no order of importance, number 1, it is critical for kids at that age to understand how much evil human beings, supposedly normal human beings, can engage in. It is very important for them to understand this. That way they understand the fragility of civilization. Civilization is very fragile because lurking right beneath that surface of civilized behavior is sadism, cruelty, and on a scale that is almost mind-boggling. So that's— that is of utter significance to understand evil may be normal. It must— so it must— we must always be aware of its possibility. Number 2, it is important to understand the Holocaust, to know about the Holocaust, to understand that the most artistic nation, the most highly cultured nation in the world, is the one that created the Holocaust and built Auschwitz. This was not done by people with bones through their nose in some, in some jungle. This was done by Beethoven-loving, Mozart-loving, art-loving, museum-visiting Germans. Number 3, the hatred of the Jews Is a classic indicator of the evil of its day, and to dismiss Jew hatred, called antisemitism, as the Jews' problem has been a terrible error on the part of good non-Jews. Because those who hate the Jews only start with the Jews, just like the Islamic terrorists. They began with Israel. They never ended with Israel. Now they are blowing up fellow Muslims.

OK?

Oh, this is incredible. I was quite proud of the teacher for having given the assignment. It surprised me that a teacher in a public school system would give an assignment of this nature.

Yes, it is a pleasant surprise.

And I— so I applaud her for having given the assignment. These are incredible answers. I talked at length about these at a very shallow level, But of course, your explanation is much more complete than I could have come up with.

Well, well, if you even talked about them at all is of great credit to you. Listen, I've devoted a lifetime of thought to it. I have a head start. Gene, thanks a million.

Thank you, sir.

All right, be well. That was a great question, and I hope it was a great answer.

Tomorrow on Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager.

The great issue is today animals. Animals. That's a great issue, and it really is. How do we regard animals? Do animals have rights? Do we have obligations to animals? Are animals our equal? Are we superior to animals? Can we eat them? I mean, it is, it is an enormous issue, and it is larger today than perhaps ever before. And I will tell you my take at the very outset, so you will know where I'm coming from. Again, because of my belief in clarity over agreement. So here, here, here it goes. And it's very simple. I don't think simplistic, but certainly simple. In fact, it actually is the opposite of simplistic, since it's quite on the middle of the road. It neither regards animals as our equal, nor regards animals as an it, as just some, you know, toy that you can do what you want with. And that is that we have moral obligations To treat animals humanely, and not to induce— and here is the key— not to induce gratuitous suffering.

Join us tomorrow to hear more on Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager. Visit DennisPrager.com for thousands of hours of Dennis's lectures, courses, and classic radio programs, and to purchase Dennis Prager's Rational Bibles. We want to take just a second to thank the team at Life Audio for their partnership with us on the podcast. Go to lifeaudio.com to find dozens of other faith-centered podcasts in their network, including shows about prayer, Bible study, parenting, and more.

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