Reader's Digest New Zealand - August/September 2025

GARY GERSHOFF/CONTRIBUTOR/GETTY IMAGES i have long suspected that the best Americans are not always famous. More than 20 years of research has confirmed my intuition. The best Americans are not the critics; they are the doers. They are the people who went for broke when everyone else yelled to turn back. They are those who know that one becomes great because of who they lift up, not who they put down. I have learned that no one reaches their final moments of mortal existence and whispers to their loved ones, “I wish I had gotten in some more sick burns in the com- ments section on Facebook.” —Sharon McMahon, political commentator, in the book the small and the mighty POINT TO PONDER reader ’ s digest The RD List 120 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2025 | READERSDIGEST.CO.NZ