Jill Konrath [00:06]: Hi, everybody. Thanks for joining us today. I'm Jill Konrath. Most of you know me from my background in sales—which is what I've been focusing on for the last two decades.
But most recently, I've made a big pivot into focusing on something that really matters to me. I'm just one of those millions of people in the middle of politics. I'm not on either side. And I want to bring our country together.
I can't understand why things don't get done that so many of us agree on. So that's why I started WhatsReallyPossible.com. It’s all about how we can create a better future.
That’s why I am so excited to have Tom Morris with us today because that’s what he’s doing too. It's only part of what he does, but it's a big part, in my opinion.
First, a bit about Tom's background. He is a public philosopher, at least that’s how he describes himself. He’s been a professor at the University of Notre Dame for many years.
He's the author of 30 books, some of which you may have heard of over the years, like Plato's Lemonade Stand, Socrates and Silicone Valley and If Aristotle ran General Motors. But the one we're here to talk about today is this one—The Everyday Patriot: How to be a Great American Now.
For those of you who are not Americans, let me just say that everything he's saying doesn't just apply to Americans. It applies to any citizen of every country.
So, with that, I'm going to ask Tom a question that I think is a good way to start. Can you tell us about the genesis of this book? How did it get started?
Tom Morris [01:50]: Well, this is probably the most unexpected book I've ever written. A lot of my books have been unexpected, though. Somebody will ask me a question, “Hey, can you come and talk to our company about change? Can you come to talk our company about success?” And I'll say, okay. And before you know it, I've got a book.
But this one. It all started with Norman Lear—the famous television producer. He produced shows like All in the Family, Sanford and Sons and The Jeffersons. He also produced movies like The Princess Bride.
I've known him since I was 39, and he was 69. We've been friends. And he called me one day out of the blue and said, “Hey, I just bought a copy of the Declaration of Independence for $8 million.”
And I said, “Norman, you overpaid, buddy. I got mine for $4.95 at Barnes and Noble.”
Then he said, “No, listen, I got a yard sale deal.” He’d bought a painting; he’d wanted the frame for something he had at home. He started taking it apart. And there in the back, hidden away, was an original printing of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776.
It was one of 200 copies printed to be taken throughout the colonies and read aloud in public places so people would know what was going on.
Then he said, “I want to send you on a road trip around America. Could you write something about the values of the Declaration of Independence, about our nation's birth certificate, about why we have a United States of America?
And I said, “Yeah, absolutely. Let me get on it.” That was the origin and the beginnings of this book, and it's been one of the great adventures of my life.
Jill Konrath [03:17]: A great adventure. Why do you call it a great adventure?
Tom Morris [03:20]: Yeah. I hadn't read the Declaration of Independence since I was a kid in school. Right. I think that's true of so many people. So, I went back and got a copy and pulled it down off the shelf and read it.
Norman originally wanted me to do a speech and travel with the Declaration. Then word got out in Hollywood, and every Oscar winner wanted to travel with the Declaration.
He said to me, “Tom, my team said to me, who's going to draw the crowd, your friend, the philosophy professor, or Denzel? And all the Oscar winners. So maybe you'll stay at home.”
And I said, “Look, I'm going to just turn this into a little book. How's that? We'll sell the book on the Decoration Road trip.”
So, the adventure was I’d never really thought about the values of our founders that we should embody now. What's politics all about? What's government all about? What's citizenship and patriotism? What are they really about?
And, Jill, nobody was talking about these things, and so I’d to kind of deep dive into the history of our nation, the ideas that gave birth to our nation.
The adventure was that I learned something new every day, and for some remarkable reason, I was able to put all the main ideas into this small book of about 130 pages.
And since the book came out, people have been saying, “Thank you for writing this book. Thank you that it's a short book because I was able to read it on an airplane the other day, and now I've already bought 50 copies for my friends, and I know they'll have time to read it because its jam packed with ideas.”
That adventure led to these ideas.
Jill Konrath [04:59]: So, in that adventure, what popped out at you most when you were first reading it? You said you had to read the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
Tom Morris [05:10]: You don't get very far into the Declaration of Independence before you get this phrase, “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
Jill Konrath [05:16]: Yeah.
Tom Morris [05:17]: And you think, well, wait a minute. This is, like, one of the major political documents of all. What were they talking about? Then, there are the founders meeting secretly in Philadelphia. They could be executed for treason against the Crown.
And they're talking about pursuing happiness? Do we have time for that? In a world in which so many people seem so unhappy, people seem miserable, people seem worried and threatened and anxious.
The Founders were concerned about happiness at a time of great tumult for them, when there was great danger lurking on the horizon for what they were trying to do. They wanted to make time not just for life, not just for liberty, but for the pursuit of happiness.
A friend told me that in their time, the pursuit of something didn't necessarily mean seeking, trying to find. It could mean the practice of happiness. Life, liberty, and the practice of happiness.
Right away, I started making connections with Aristotle. The Founders were very philosophical souls. They had read the history of world philosophy on these ideas that they were talking about. And when you start unlocking those doors, you get some really interesting results.
Jill Konrath [06:39]: So, what did Aristotle have to say? That happiness was a practice or what?
Tom Morris [06:44]: Well, Aristotle said some interesting things. I mean, the Greek word for happiness was eudaemonia, and it can be translated as happiness or well-being. It doesn't mean giddiness. It doesn't mean having a smile on your face all the time.
It has subjective and objective aspects. A subjective aspect is contentment, an ability to accept things as being what they are. And not being balled up in negative emotions, bitterness and resentment and anger and hatred that we see so much in modern politics.
Jill Konrath [07:11]: I was going to say it sounds familiar, right? Yeah, way too familiar.
Tom Morris [07:15]: You have to shed all that. That's an itchy jacket you need to take off. So, part of happiness is contentment, a measure of contentment. Part of happiness is a measure of fulfillment, which is the progressive realization of our potential as human beings.
Is your work fulfilling? Are your relationships fulfilling? Do they help you become who your best self? So, there's a little bit of contentment, there's a little bit of fulfillment, and there's a little bit of enjoyment—which I define as pleasure in love. Do you take pleasure in what you're doing?
