Note: I have been threatened with legal action unless I removed the Will Smith quote. Apparently Pinterest and Flickr can upload copyright images and are immune from prosecution because they didn’t upload them personally, other people did.
I have been asked to pay $1,300 for using a Will Smith quote. As such I have removed all quotes and apologize for any inconvenience.
You can read more here. http://www.coachthelifecoach.com/the-hidden-danger-of-blogging-you-need-to-avoid/
There is a cognitive bias in psychology called the halo effect. Effectively it means that the more we admire and/or like somebody, the more we are likely to agree and align with something they say.
Advertisers use it to great effect when paying huge sums to stars to promote their products. After all, if the latest hot celeb is wearing a product it must be worth buying, right?
Politicians use it also, which is why few Obama fanatics can see his flaws and few GOP members can see his attributes.
Sadly, some people take this celebrity worship to ridiculous lengths. Rather than stop to think if what they say has real value, merely presume it has because they source is famous.
One particular example was a celebrity quote from Lauren Conrad that went like this.
“You can never make the same mistake twice. The second time you make it it’s no longer a mistake, it’s a choice”.
People flocked to re-pin this profound wisdom on Pinterest as though Conrad had discovered the very meaning of life itself.
Unfortunately, very few of the repinners stopped to think, “Hang on a minute, isn’t this total bollocks?”
Not to get too personal, but I have twice trapped a certain part of my anatomy in my zip. Trust me, the second time wasn’t a choice as the screams from the bathroom on a flight to London would testify.
On a more serious note, I’m sure that people who have been the victim of violent crime more than once didn’t choose it the second time and neither did people who got seriously ill more than once.
I do get what she means, but that doesn’t alter the fact that it’s a ham-fisted quote that if it had been uttered by somebody with less money, kudos and a face like a badgers arse, would have been rightly ignored or ridiculed.
Having said that, there are some celebrities who rightly deserve having their quotes and words of wisdom repeated and shared on Social Media.
I’m going to ignore the more well known people like Oscar Wilde, Mark Twain, Albert Einstein, Nelson Mandela, The Dalia Lama and Gandhi because we all know that those people rarely offered anything but outstanding value.
Instead, I’m taking a look at people from show business, some of whom you may not really expect to be offering such amazing advice.
Lauren Conrad probably isn’t going to be making an appearance and neither is the alleged quote by Paris Hilton when she inquired if Wal- Mart made walls, but I think you’ll like the ones that do.
1. Michael J Fox
This would be an awesome quote under any circumstances, but the fact that Fox has gone through so much and by all accounts kept a positive perspective on life and retained his own dignity at all times, makes it even more important.
If I can deal with adversity, then so can you is an additional message that I take away from this..
2. Johnny Depp
I love the quote because I think it can have two meanings (although I have no idea if that was intended).
On a personal level closing your eyes metaphorically to your own problems, such as an abusive spouse, addictions or just an all round bad attitude doesn’t mean you won’t feel the associated hurt any less.
But I also think it can be used on a more global level. That we can ignore global problems like war, poverty, corruption, discrimination, but that won’t make them go away, we actually have to make a stand if we want to feel like we are making a difference.
3. Ashton Kutcher
I didn’t really know anything about Kutcher other then he married Demi Moore and Punk’d people until I read this snippet from a speech he gave at a school.
He sky rocketed in my estimation because this is brilliant. Maybe not with this verbiage, but I could imagine the Dalai Lama saying this.
4. George Carlin
I’d never heard of Carlin until I moved to the US and now I’m sad that I hadn’t because he wasn’t just a comedian, he was a modern day philosopher.
Unfortunately, kids these days are told not to question and accept what is taught them which is why there’s an entire generation who think Christopher Columbus founded America and a group of people who believe the world is only marginally older than Betty White.
5. John Lennon
I have a sneaking suspicion that there may be an element of this that is apocryphal. Having said that, Lennon was a genius and he certainly nailed this one.
After all, isn’t being happy the ultimate goal in life?
6. Elvis Presley
I think context with this is important because Presley grew up in the time of segregation and racial intolerance, especially in the Deep South where he heralded from.
I have no idea if racism was even in his mind (I suspect not), but my guess is it caused a number of his followers to stop and think for a moment. At least I hope so.
7. Marilyn Monroe
It’s only just recently started to understand that Marilyn Monroe was nothing like I presumed. Sadly, I’d bought into the stereotype of her being a vacuous self absorbed movie star only interested in her looks and being told how wonderful she was.
I’m happy to say I was very wrong and she was a witty, caring and intelligent women trying to fill a roll that was never right for her.
I hope more women take this message on board and ignore the ridiculous attempts of the beauty industry to brain wash them into thinking looks are more important than what’s on the inside.
8. John Stewart
How could I ignore such an awesome quote when I’m openly obsessed with values and think they are the most important aspect of self development.
I almost used Roy Disney’s quote “Making decisions is easy when you know what your values are“, but I gave this the nod.
9. Lucille Ball
This almost sounds self indulgent, but it’s not.
You are the most important person in the world to you and as such you have a duty to love yourself.
Too many people (and I have to say this is more of a female thing) spend all their time putting others first. That is noble and I know it has a positive intent, but not looking after yourself is not a recipe for being a great parent, sibling, friend etc.
10. Will Smith
If you look around you every single thing you can see was at one time considered unrealistic.
If you only do things that you and the people around you think are realistic then there is a high probability that you’ll never do anything extraordinary.
11. Robin Williams
I used to know a guy who was a lighting engineer on big Hollywood movies.
I asked him who the nicest big star he ever met was and he immediately replied, Robin Williams. He said he would always eat with the technicians, even sometimes bringing them lunch and usually have them in fits of laughter.
Williams has that spark of genius/madness and whereas it hasn’t been all plane sailing for him with drug addiction etc, the world would be worse off without people like him.
So why on earth do we work so hard on teaching kids to conform and not stand out in the crowd
12. Ricky Gervais
I saw this the other day and laughed my ass off because it’s so true.
People who are highly offended by something often believe their indignation makes them more right. Er, it doesn’t.
13. Robert Downey Jnr
It’s dead easy to have no interest in others and I can certainly be guilty of it.
Yet we all have fascinating stories to tell and it’s not just the rich and famous who we can learn from.
14. Kurt Cobain
I think we can all agree Kurt had a few problems, he was certainly a tortured soul and had an unhealthy relationship with drugs and shot guns.
However, you couldn’t accuse him of playing the media game. In other words he was authentic and not in the people pleasing business.
I try to be like this with this blog. I never want to offend people, but I also don’t want to be censoring myself all the time and end up delivering a vanilla inoffensive blog that inspires nobody.
Kurt inspired millions whether you like him or not.
15. Mathew Bomer
I had to Google who this guy was as I’d never heard of him, but I’m glad I have now.
He so nails discrimination. The moment we start to ponder whether we are being discriminatory because of a persons race, sexuality or religion is the moment we have lost the battle.
I know it’s not easy (largely down to social stereotyping) but we haven’t beaten discrimination until we don’t even think about it.
See the reason for this missing image above
16. Ellen DeGeneres
I have never met Ellen, nor do I ever expect to, so I could be completely wrong in what I’m about to say, but everything about her oozes authenticity, caring and compassion.
I for one thinks she means every word of this and I love that we have such a powerful role model showing younger people that it’s not just about looking after yourself.
17. John Cussack
What can I say other than, YES! Whether you’re a religious person or not, surely this has to make sense?
18. Willie Nelson
Another quote touching on values.
Not sure if it’s the years of weed use that has made him so laid back, or he’s just a nice guy!
19, Tina Fey
I could have picked any number from this very sassy and incredibly intelligent woman.
This not only makes a great point, it also made me laugh as only a couple of weeks ago I had two Jehovah’s Witnesses on my door step trying to tell me I had everything all wrong.
20. Jimi Hendrix
I have no idea if this will ever happen although I suspect not, but when he wasn’t, having wild parties, getting high and kissing the sky, Hendrix made a lot of sense
So what do you think?
I think there are some gems here from some people who we maybe wouldn’t normally associate such insights from.
So what’s your favorite, please let me know in the comments!
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