Write your story, change history - Brad Meltzer

229,932 views ・ 2013-01-16

TED-Ed


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

00:00
Transcriber: Andrea McDonough Reviewer: Bedirhan Cinar
0
0
7000
00:15
You know what the greatest secret of history is?
1
15448
3323
00:18
It's that history can be changed.
2
18771
2917
00:21
And, yeah, yeah, I know,
3
21688
813
00:22
everyone says history can't be changed,
4
22501
1738
00:24
but it can.
5
24239
1366
00:25
And today we're going to talk about
6
25605
1454
00:27
how history isn't just something that goes backwards,
7
27059
3117
00:30
history goes forward too.
8
30176
1650
00:31
And all those great things that haven't happened yet,
9
31826
2378
00:34
that's history that's just waiting to be written.
10
34204
3312
00:37
So how do you change history?
11
37516
1486
00:39
I'm going to tell you by sharing with you
12
39002
1696
00:40
the three things that I tell my kids every night
13
40698
3290
00:43
when I tuck them into bed.
14
43988
1717
00:45
It's true.
15
45705
366
00:46
I stole the idea from a friend of mine
16
46071
1463
00:47
who told me what his father used to share with him.
17
47534
2358
00:49
Every single night, when I tuck my kids into bed,
18
49892
2033
00:51
I tell them these three things:
19
51925
1604
00:53
dream big,
20
53529
1098
00:54
work hard,
21
54627
1061
00:55
and stay humble.
22
55688
1861
00:57
So let's look at them all.
23
57549
841
00:58
First, dream big.
24
58390
1046
00:59
You know who has the biggest, best dreams of all?
25
59436
3597
01:03
You, young people.
26
63033
2238
01:05
You know how old Martin Luther King, Jr. was
27
65271
2252
01:07
when he became the leader
28
67523
1404
01:08
of the most famous bus boycott in history?
29
68927
2954
01:11
He was 26.
30
71881
1647
01:13
You know how old Amelia Earhart was
31
73528
1437
01:14
when she broke her first world record?
32
74965
2131
01:17
25
33
77096
1248
01:18
You know how old Steve Jobs was
34
78344
1827
01:20
when he co-founded Apple Computer?
35
80171
2410
01:22
21
36
82581
1418
01:23
And you know how old Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were
37
83999
2834
01:26
when they came up with their idea for the greatest superhero of all time,
38
86833
4058
01:30
the first one, that they named "Superman"?
39
90891
2852
01:33
These guys were 17 years old!
40
93743
2849
01:36
Two 17-year-old kids created Superman.
41
96592
3703
01:40
They weren't good looking.
42
100295
1161
01:41
(Look at the picture, right?)
43
101456
2109
01:43
They weren't popular.
44
103565
1884
01:45
They had no money,
45
105449
1524
01:46
but they were two best friends with one dream.
46
106973
2801
01:49
And with just their imaginations,
47
109774
1536
01:51
they gave the world Superman.
48
111310
2432
01:53
And I know, creating Superman is a once-in-a-lifetime big dream,
49
113742
4150
01:57
so I want to tell you about Alexandra Scott.
50
117892
3014
02:00
She goes by Alex.
51
120906
1872
02:02
Alex was diagnosed with cancer
52
122778
2607
02:05
before she was even a year old,
53
125385
2011
02:07
and that was the only life she knew:
54
127396
2227
02:09
sickness, chemotherapy, and surgery.
55
129623
3518
02:13
When she was four, Alex asked her parents
56
133141
1883
02:15
could she put a lemonade stand in the front yard?
57
135024
3210
02:18
She didn't want to buy anything for herself,
58
138234
1336
02:19
she wanted to use the money
59
139570
1204
02:20
to give it to doctors to help other kids with cancer.
60
140774
4167
02:24
OK, in a single day, Alex's lemonade stand raised $2,000!
61
144941
5387
02:30
But, here's what I love:
62
150328
1431
02:31
soon after that, other lemonade stands started popping up,
63
151759
3352
02:35
all with Alex's name on it.
64
155111
1866
02:36
Eventually, they raised $200,000.
65
156977
3374
02:40
And then Alex had a new goal.
66
160351
1822
02:42
She said let's raise $1,000,000.
67
162173
1910
02:44
On June 12, 2004,
68
164083
2787
02:46
hundreds of lemonade stands started opening up
69
166870
2474
02:49
in every state in the country.
70
169344
2678
02:52
Ordinary people selling water and sugar and lemons
71
172022
3581
02:55
to help kids with cancer.
72
175603
2378
02:57
Nearly two months later,
73
177981
1346
02:59
Alex died while her parents were holding her hands.
74
179327
3358
03:02
She was 8 years old.
75
182685
1884
03:04
But before she died, Alex said that next year's goal
76
184569
2930
03:07
should be $5,000,000.
77
187499
2010
03:09
Today, her dream has raised over $45,000,000
78
189509
4572
03:14
and it is still going strong!
79
194081
1884
03:15
One idea, one girl, one big dream.
80
195965
4713
03:20
And you know what she said?
81
200678
712
03:21
This is a direct quote before she died.
82
201390
1509
03:22
She said, "Oh, we can do it!
83
202899
1947
03:24
If other people will help me, I think we can do it.
84
204846
2880
03:27
I know we can do it!"
85
207726
2027
03:29
You dream big,
86
209753
840
03:30
I don't care how old you are,
87
210593
2147
03:32
and don't let anyone tell you otherwise,
88
212740
2118
03:34
you will change history.
89
214858
2295
03:37
And that leads me to the second thing I tell my kids:
90
217153
1824
03:38
work hard.
91
218977
1337
03:40
Such a simple one, everyone knows this one.
92
220314
1619
03:41
Work hard.
93
221933
998
03:42
I saw this one for my father
94
222931
1805
03:44
and my father died a few months ago.
95
224736
2338
03:47
When I was growing up in Brooklyn,
96
227074
1630
03:48
ok, my father, he worked hard.
97
228704
3007
03:51
He had no money, we had, no money growing up.
98
231711
1548
03:53
He worked every Saturday, every Sunday.
99
233259
1727
03:54
I watched first-hand every weekend what hard work was.
100
234986
2789
03:57
And I saw that the hardest work of all
101
237775
2391
04:00
is being resilient when you're facing failure.
102
240166
3600
04:03
When I started writing my first book,
103
243766
2175
04:05
my first book got me 24 rejection letters.
104
245941
3197
04:09
To be clear, there are only 20 publishers,
105
249138
2745
04:11
I got 24 rejection letters, OK?
106
251883
3305
04:15
That means that some people were writing me twice
107
255188
1818
04:17
to make sure I got the point.
108
257006
2319
04:19
But it wasn't until I was writing my ninth book,
109
259325
2947
04:22
a book of heroes for my son,
110
262272
1584
04:23
that I found my favorite story of working hard through failure.
111
263856
4556
04:28
It was a story that a friend told me about the Wright brothers.
112
268412
2323
04:30
That every time the Wright brothers went out to fly their plane,
113
270735
3072
04:33
they would bring enough extra materials for multiple crashes.
114
273807
4322
04:38
That means for every time they went out,
115
278129
1381
04:39
they knew they would fail.
116
279510
2049
04:41
And they would crash and rebuild,
117
281559
1464
04:43
and crash and rebuild,
118
283023
1284
04:44
and that's why they took off.
119
284307
2206
04:46
I love that story.
120
286513
1333
04:47
I wanted my son to hear that story,
121
287846
1009
04:48
I wanted my daughter to hear that story,
122
288855
1090
04:49
I wanted everyone to know that if you dream big
123
289945
2197
04:52
and you work hard and you fight failure,
124
292142
2506
04:54
you will change history
125
294648
1767
04:56
and do what no one on this planet has ever done before.
126
296415
3771
05:00
And that leads me to the final thing I tell them:
127
300186
2380
05:02
stay humble.
128
302566
1375
05:03
Here's the thing:
129
303941
632
05:04
if you invent the world's first airplane,
130
304573
1719
05:06
or Superman,
131
306292
787
05:07
or a multi-million dollar lemonade stand,
132
307079
2035
05:09
you don't need to be humble.
133
309114
1035
05:10
You can get a tattoo on your face that says, "I'm the best!"
134
310149
2696
05:12
Right?
135
312845
562
05:13
But pay attention here:
136
313407
1423
05:14
no one likes a jerk.
137
314830
1930
05:16
In fact, the world needs fewer loudmouths,
138
316760
2601
05:19
so stay humble!
139
319361
2255
05:21
When Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence,
140
321616
2793
05:24
you know he never took credit for writing it while he was alive?
141
324409
4140
05:28
It wasn't until he died and it was in his obituary
142
328549
2516
05:31
that the average American found out that he was the author.
143
331065
3680
05:34
That's humble.
144
334745
2315
05:37
So there's the big secret:
145
337060
1431
05:38
dream big,
146
338491
762
05:39
work hard,
147
339253
858
05:40
stay humble.
148
340111
1298
05:41
"Wait," you're saying, "that's it?"
149
341409
1924
05:43
"What, you tell me a bunch of stories and what?
150
343333
1543
05:44
How do I change history?"
151
344876
1391
05:46
Here's the answer:
152
346267
1754
05:48
all history ever is
153
348021
1473
05:49
is a bunch of stories,
154
349494
2003
05:51
conflicting stories,
155
351497
1271
05:52
big stories,
156
352768
721
05:53
little stories,
157
353489
678
05:54
our stories.
158
354167
1705
05:55
So how do you change history?
159
355872
1281
05:57
All you got to do is write your story.
160
357153
3027
06:00
OK? No, I'm serious, this is it.
161
360180
2447
06:02
If people think history is a bunch of facts and dates you got to memorize,
162
362627
2616
06:05
that's not what history is at all.
163
365243
1635
06:06
History is a selection process,
164
366878
1702
06:08
and it chooses every single one of us every single day.
165
368580
3354
06:11
The only question is, do you hear the call?
166
371934
1861
06:13
And that leads me to the most important thing I'm going to tell you here:
167
373795
3574
06:17
you will change history.
168
377369
3153
06:20
Some of you will change it in big ways,
169
380522
1835
06:22
affecting millions of people.
170
382357
2069
06:24
Others of you will do it in more personal ways,
171
384426
1987
06:26
helping a family member or someone who needs it.
172
386413
2699
06:29
But let me tell you right now,
173
389112
1543
06:30
one is not more important than the other.
174
390655
2966
06:33
If you help people in mass or one-by-one,
175
393621
1913
06:35
that's how history gets changed,
176
395534
1945
06:37
when you take action.
177
397479
1485
06:38
But when you start writing your story
178
398964
2399
06:41
and you get scared, as we all inevitably do,
179
401363
2133
06:43
I want you to know one thing:
180
403496
1462
06:44
no one is born a hero.
181
404958
2514
06:47
Every single person that we talked about today,
182
407472
3372
06:50
whether they were a 26 year old preacher,
183
410844
2053
06:52
or two 17 year old nerds,
184
412897
1753
06:54
or little girl who had cancer,
185
414650
1851
06:56
every single one of them had moments
186
416501
1504
06:58
where they doubted themselves,
187
418005
1282
06:59
like you, like me.
188
419287
1980
07:01
They had moments where they worried about school
189
421267
1799
07:03
and friendships
190
423066
971
07:04
and would they be accepted by others,
191
424037
1881
07:05
like you, like me.
192
425918
2116
07:08
They had moments where they worried about loneliness and failure
193
428034
2324
07:10
and would they ever succeed,
194
430358
1459
07:11
like you, like me.
195
431817
2371
07:14
But the best part is, you don't have to start
196
434188
2763
07:16
a multi-million dollar lemonade stand to change the world,
197
436951
3030
07:19
all you got to do is help one person,
198
439981
2568
07:22
be kind to one person, that's the answer.
199
442549
2868
07:25
It's my core belief,
200
445417
1334
07:26
it is in every story I just told you.
201
446751
2454
07:29
I believe ordinary people change the world.
202
449205
2794
07:31
I don't care how much money you have,
203
451999
1282
07:33
I don't care where you go to school,
204
453281
876
07:34
that is all nonsense to me.
205
454157
1690
07:35
I believe in regular people and their ability to affect change in this world.
206
455847
3564
07:39
I believe in my father,
207
459411
1142
07:40
and a 25 year old daredevil named Amelia,
208
460553
2512
07:43
and a little girl who sells lemonade like nobody's business.
209
463065
3335
07:46
And it's why I believe in that very first hero we were talking about today, Superman.
210
466400
4889
07:51
To me, the most important part of the story isn't Superman.
211
471289
3148
07:54
The most important part of the story is Clark Kent.
212
474437
3257
07:57
And you want to know why?
213
477694
1160
07:58
Because we're all Clark Kent.
214
478854
1692
08:00
We all know what it's like to be boring and ordinary
215
480546
2137
08:02
and wish we could do something incredibly beyond ourselves.
216
482683
2584
08:05
But here's the real news:
217
485267
1142
08:06
we all can do something incredibly beyond ourselves.
218
486409
2749
08:09
I got 24 rejection letters on my first book,
219
489158
2738
08:11
24 people who told me to give it up,
220
491896
1942
08:13
and I don't look back on the experience and say,
221
493838
1837
08:15
"I was right, and they were wrong, and haha on them."
222
495675
2454
08:18
What I look back and realize is that every single one of those rejection letters
223
498129
3827
08:21
told me to work harder, to dream bigger,
224
501956
2325
08:24
and you better believe it,
225
504281
1070
08:25
made me more humble,
226
505351
1501
08:26
but it also made me want it more than anything.
227
506852
3295
08:30
So whatever it is you dream big about,
228
510147
1883
08:32
whatever it is you work hard for,
229
512030
2209
08:34
don't let anyone tell you,
230
514239
1252
08:35
you're too young
231
515491
1034
08:36
and don't let anyone tell you no.
232
516525
3042
08:39
Every life makes history.
233
519567
2257
08:41
And every life is a story.
234
521824
2256
08:44
Thank you.
235
524080
1151
About this website

This site will introduce you to YouTube videos that are useful for learning English. You will see English lessons taught by top-notch teachers from around the world. Double-click on the English subtitles displayed on each video page to play the video from there. The subtitles scroll in sync with the video playback. If you have any comments or requests, please contact us using this contact form.

https://forms.gle/WvT1wiN1qDtmnspy7