Alfredisms
Nebraska Wesleyan Graduation Speech,
Dec. 15, 1989
From my Progress perch I have been studying the residents of Polk and community for more than 30 years and have stumbled upon a Great Truth, which I think will lose none of its greatness when extrapolated to include all of Nebraska, the United States and the world— People can be divided into two basic groups: Talkers and Listeners. I was born a Listener. You may well wonder why I am standing here talking. I have two reasons. First— I don’t listen so good (which is how the Progress Swedish Philosopher described the behavior of a small great granddaughter, who had accompanied her to Sunday church services—“She sat so good.”) My hearing is deteriorating. Second—Listeners can be divided into writers and nonwriters. I have spend the past 30 years writing. Talkers like to hear themselves talk. Writers like to read what they write.