Rick Warren
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“There are no accidental kids, and I think you matter. ” (Warren).
Richard Warren is a religious pastor and author, who earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the California Baptist University. He is best known for having written The Purpose Driven Life, for which he won the New York Times Bestselling Author award. He is also a pastor in at the Saddleback Church, the eight largest church in the United States. There are many similarities between Catcher in the Rye and Warren's speech "A life of purpose." In Warren's TED Speech, he explains that everyone is born with a purpose, and that it is necessary to fulfill that purpose in one's lifetime. He claims that he has met many successful and wealthy people who are having trouble figuring out what to do with the wealth, and how they should live their lives. Warren himself was a victim of this. He says that after publishing his best-selling book, he had a crisis where he did not know how to manage the enormous amounts of money. This is similar to Catcher in the Rye where the main character, Holden Caulfield, is unsatisfied with his life, despite his rich family. He just wants find himself, and discover his purpose. He believes that most people act phony just to impress others, not to impress themselves. Holden has a rebellious nature, and he is not burdened by others' opinions. Aside from his personal story about his fame, Warren provides many anecdotes about his family experiences to back up his claim. For example, he made the speech only 48 hours before his father-in-law died of cancer. Warren believed that he would have died in peace and after fulfilling his purpose in life. I completely agree with Rick Warren and JD Salinger in that an integral component of the American Dream is finding the purpose of one's life. I believe that in order to change others and change the environment, it is crucial to change oneself to be how he or she wants to be. Discovering purpose in life is very important, because without purpose, you are not living; you are just existing. |
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