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Speaker 1: Welcome to the ten Minute Storyteller. That's me Bill Simpson,

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Speaker 1: your host, narrator and author. We hear at the ten

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Speaker 1: minute Storyteller endeavor to entertain you with tall tales or

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Speaker 1: rendered swiftly and with the utmost empathy. We pledge to

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Speaker 1: pack as much entertainment, emotion, and exploration into the human

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Speaker 1: condition as ten minutes will permit. Mini novels on steroids.

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Speaker 1: This week we meet Sock. Every evening, Sock and various

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Speaker 1: companions meet at the park to go for a walk

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Speaker 1: and discourse on a variety of lofty topics. On this

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Speaker 1: particular evening, cold and blustery, it appears it will only

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Speaker 1: be Sock and his faithful hound, Sally, But jes as

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Speaker 1: they set off, a young lady appears, and together the

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Speaker 1: trio ambles up Lyceum Hill. Soon talk turns to camus

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Speaker 1: four conditions for happiness, and a lively discussion ensues. But

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Speaker 1: then suddenly, this newest member of the Walking Philosopher's Club

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Speaker 1: bids farewell and vanishes into thin air. Was she ever

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Speaker 1: really there? Or had Sock merely conjured her up? Does

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Speaker 1: it matter to such a phenomenon as reality even exists?

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Speaker 1: Join the walk and see what you think. The Walking

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Speaker 1: Philosopher's Club. Every evening at seven, the Walking Philosopher's Club

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Speaker 1: meets at the park to walk and talk. When Soak

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Speaker 1: dreamed up the club a couple of years ago, the

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Speaker 1: idea was to walk a few miles while discoursing on

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Speaker 1: lofty topics like art, beauty, god, the meaning of life,

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Speaker 1: and of course, the very real possibility that life has

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Speaker 1: no meaning, just whatever you conjure up in your crazy head,

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Speaker 1: say making money or doing good deeds, or rooting for

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Speaker 1: the Yankees or collecting rare bird feathers. Originally, the club

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Speaker 1: met weekly on Wednesdays, but that quickly turned into twice

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Speaker 1: a week, and then three times a week, until finally

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Speaker 1: Sock said, oh hell, let's meet every evening and if

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Speaker 1: no one shows up, well, so what. Some evenings no

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Speaker 1: one does show ice bitter cold, heavy rain, NFL playoff games.

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Speaker 1: But other evenings, especially those first deliciously warm evenings in

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Speaker 1: early spring, half the town turns out, and as expected,

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Speaker 1: a pent up yakathon ensues and philosophical gibber jabber abounds.

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Speaker 1: Sock shows up at least four or five times a week.

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Speaker 1: He's home from work by six, has eaten dinner with

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Speaker 1: the family and cleaned up the kitchen, and Sally needs

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Speaker 1: a walk anyway, so off they go for the short

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Speaker 1: stroll over to the park. Sock, a striver his whole life,

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Speaker 1: always pushing, always wanting more, always demanding, and disgruntled, has mellowed.

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Speaker 1: He actually feels a good deal of the time contented.

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Speaker 1: Getting outside every day going for a walk has been

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Speaker 1: a big part of that contentment. Sure, in the early

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Speaker 1: days of the Walking Philosopher's Club, Sock marched at a

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Speaker 1: brisk pace and blabbed and blabbed, a real no at

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Speaker 1: all who never shut up, But no more. He lets

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Speaker 1: others set the pace now, and when he does speak,

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Speaker 1: it's typically with brevity and a touch of humor of

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Speaker 1: the self deprecating variety whenever possible. Tonight is a chilly,

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Speaker 1: one coldest night since last spring, but Sock believes there's

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Speaker 1: no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothing.

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Speaker 1: He pulls on his lightweight down jacket and stuffs gloves

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Speaker 1: and wool hat into the pockets just in case. Sally,

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Speaker 1: a Beagle foxhound mix, waits at the door, leash in

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Speaker 1: her mouth. She's a first class dog. Knows Sock's moods,

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Speaker 1: maybe even better than Sock knows his moods himself. And

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Speaker 1: off they go, old pals. No one is at the park.

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Speaker 1: Sock is not surprised. It's a Monday, cold, windy, and

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Speaker 1: it'll be dark in half an hour. Only the diehards,

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Speaker 1: the true walking philosophers, come out in the dark. Sock

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Speaker 1: has no problem walking in the dark. He actually kind

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Speaker 1: of likes it, at least he tells himself he does,

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Speaker 1: and isn't that half the battle? He takes what comes.

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Speaker 1: There are sidewalks and street lights, after all, and he

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Speaker 1: always carries a flashlight for those roots that include unlit

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Speaker 1: roads and trails. Sock waits a few minutes for any stragglers,

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Speaker 1: and at ten after seven, he and Sally head across

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Speaker 1: the park to start the two mile Lyceum Hill loop.

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Speaker 1: Just you and me tonight, kid, old Buddy, Old pal

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Speaker 1: Let's roll along. But then, just as they set off,

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Speaker 1: he hears someone call hello, excuse me, I'm looking for

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Speaker 1: the folks who walk. Sock turns s he's a young

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Speaker 1: woman ambling purposely toward them. I think you're looking for

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Speaker 1: the Walking Philosopher's Club. Yes, I am. I am such

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Speaker 1: a great name. I probably would have called it the

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Speaker 1: Philosopher's Walking Club. Hah, sockclass I thought about that. In fact,

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Speaker 1: I moled over which word to place in front of

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Speaker 1: the other for like weeks. The woman closes the distance

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Speaker 1: between them and says, so, then you must be the

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Speaker 1: walking philosopher. Well, I would never be that presumptuous, but

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Speaker 1: I most certainly do walk, and I am the founder

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Speaker 1: and charter member. Well that's splendid. And are you off

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Speaker 1: with your hound to walk and philosophize? I am, indeed

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Speaker 1: we are. Would you like to join us? Yes? I would, Well,

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Speaker 1: I would be honored to join you. Well, then let's

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Speaker 1: be off and to cross the park and up by

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Speaker 1: seam Hill they go. I'm sok, says Sock, pleased to

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Speaker 1: meet you. Soak, that's a fine hound you have there.

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Speaker 1: Indeed she is, says Sock, and an existentialist, also of

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Speaker 1: the first order, believes one hundred percent in free will,

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Speaker 1: and even seven years into her existence, she can't accept

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Speaker 1: for even a second that anyone, anyone at all, including me,

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Speaker 1: the human who feeds and walks her, has the right

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Speaker 1: to inflict their will upon her. Finds the whole notion

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Speaker 1: of it both maddening and ridiculous. That little hound right

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Speaker 1: there is the canine version of Jean Paul Sartre. Well.

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Speaker 1: Three cheers and bravo for the pup, says the newest

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Speaker 1: member of the Walking Philosopher's Club. She and I could

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Speaker 1: be soul mates. Show me a creature who does not

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Speaker 1: seek control over his or her existence, and I will

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Speaker 1: show you a doormat a Sock nods and laughs and

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Speaker 1: quotes the Dane. The most common form of despair is

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Speaker 1: not being who you are, care geguard, says the new member.

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Speaker 1: None other, says Sock. The only way to deal with

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Speaker 1: an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that

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Speaker 1: your very existence becomes an act of rebellion. Ah, says Sock, delighted,

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Speaker 1: absolutely delighted. That's crazy, Camu, Yes it is, Yes, it is,

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Speaker 1: she says. Do you recall his first four conditions for happiness? Well?

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Speaker 1: Think SoC Maybe maybe not all four, but really the

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Speaker 1: whole idea of the Walking Philosopher's Club came about because

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Speaker 1: of condition number one. Yes, and which condition would that be?

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Speaker 1: The need, says Sock, to live as much of one's

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Speaker 1: life as possible out in the open. Air. Of course,

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Speaker 1: that's condition number one. We stay too much inside, says Sock,

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Speaker 1: closed up in small spaces, Yes, our little cells. It's

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Speaker 1: such a shame. And how about the three other conditions

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Speaker 1: for happiness, Well, says SoC number two and one, I

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Speaker 1: have of late finally embraced with all my heart and soul,

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Speaker 1: for it was beating me down, making me surly, and

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Speaker 1: turning me old before my time. Yes, freedom, says Sock.

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Speaker 1: From ambition. Ah, exactly blame the puritan, says Sock. They

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Speaker 1: inflicted that nonsense on us eons ago. You know what

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Speaker 1: about these youngsters, says the new member from the generation

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Speaker 1: near the end of the alphabet. You mean jens, Y

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Speaker 1: and z. Yes, well, I live with a few of them,

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Speaker 1: says Sock. They're my offspring. Well, adds Sock's companion, who

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Speaker 1: has yet to offer her name, as they slow on

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Speaker 1: the steep part of Lyceum Hill. They just seem to

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Speaker 1: reject all that ambitious business and all that nonsense out

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Speaker 1: of hand. It's lifestyle and leisure time first, money grubbing

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Speaker 1: and striving a distant second to the devil with striving

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Speaker 1: lament Sock and glad he is, this energetic lass popped

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Speaker 1: around to stroll. I am so done with striving life,

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Speaker 1: she sings. Life is just too short to strive. Life

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Speaker 1: should be a lark ad Sock that, she says, could

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Speaker 1: be the philosopher's song. Now tell me, Sock, you've knocked

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Speaker 1: two of Camu's four conditions out of the park. Can

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Speaker 1: you take a swing at the other two? Sock looks

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Speaker 1: at her curiously and asks, did someone send you? Oh?

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Speaker 1: God knows, I don't know. Did they hmm, says Sock.

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Speaker 1: I hope you can, because I certainly can't. I can't

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Speaker 1: remember the last two, can't. You can't remember them now?

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Speaker 1: I remember the first two, but not the second two. Love,

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Speaker 1: announces Sock. Love. To have any shot at happiness at all,

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Speaker 1: you must have love, of course, she says, of course,

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Speaker 1: someone and hopefully something to love. What utter futility is

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Speaker 1: life without love? Says Sock. Oh, a total drag, she agrees.

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Speaker 1: Emotional imprisonment. Now all this decided, they walk aways in silence,

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Speaker 1: up and over l i Cmhill and back down into town.

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Speaker 1: The creation, she shouts, the silence all gone. Creation. Yes,

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Speaker 1: that is Kmu's fourth condition for happiness. Creation. Sock, let's

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Speaker 1: out of hoot, good God. Of course that's it. It

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Speaker 1: is the one thing humans can do that no other

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Speaker 1: creature on earth can. You're right, create. Other creatures can procreate,

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Speaker 1: but they cannot create art, war, religion, philosophy, Yes, philosophy,

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Speaker 1: the walking Philosopher's Club, She shouts and pounds him on

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Speaker 1: the back. The four conditions for happiness. Live outside as

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Speaker 1: much as possible, chuck ambition, love with reckless abandon and

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Speaker 1: create your world and your image, never ever in anyone else's. Yes,

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Speaker 1: she sings, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, I think we've

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Speaker 1: got it. And now sock good luck. It's been great,

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Speaker 1: good fun. But I must be off so soon, Yes,

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Speaker 1: I must go, I must be off. But wait, you

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Speaker 1: never told me your name? Oh I'm sorry. I'm Sally,

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Speaker 1: same as your pup and puff. Sally's gone vanishes practically

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Speaker 1: into thin air. Sok doesn't think he told Sally Sally's name,

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Speaker 1: but he's not sure. Can't remember, doesn't know, not with

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Speaker 1: any absolute certainty. Where did she go? Where did she go?

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Speaker 1: This lovely last Sally? Where did she go? She has vanished?

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Speaker 1: Was she ever really here? Or was it just he

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Speaker 1: and his hound strolling through the lovely Autumn night. Thanks

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Speaker 1: for listening to this original audio presentation of The Walking

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Speaker 1: Philosopher's Club. Narrate it of course by the author. If

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Speaker 1: you enjoyed today's story, please take a few seconds to rate,

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Speaker 1: or review and subscribe to this podcast, and then go

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Speaker 1: to Thomas William Simpson dot com for additional information about

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Speaker 1: the author and to view his extensive cannon. The Ten

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Speaker 1: Minute Storyteller is produced by Andrew Pigleasi and Josh Klani

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Speaker 1: and as part of the Elvis Duran Podcast Network in

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Speaker 1: partnership with iHeart Productions. So until next time, this is

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Speaker 1: Bill Simpson, your ten Minute Storyteller,