So, you can start with that. And then you can read Steve Jobs’ commencement address at Stanford University in 2005, a reflection upon life’s unexpected twists and the prospect of facing death. And then you can read the baccalaureate address from Harvard University president Drew Gilpin Faust in 2013, a brilliant and humorous exhortation imploring graduates to “run toward” life and its challenges.
The point is to read. Read good writers. Read people from different backgrounds. Read the words of those whose lives you aspire to emulate. The world is filled with an accumulated wisdom much more fulfilling than the latest TMZ story about the Kardashians. It is filled with a tapestry of characters and intelligence much more enriching than the latest cat video on your Facebook feed.
Words of advice
So, while commencement speakers have been imparting wisdom for centuries (NPR.org has a collection of memorable speeches dating back to Barnabas Binney in 1774), I will attempt to add a few suggestions:
• Believe the best in others. People tend to live up or down to your expectations for them.
• Be nice. It costs nothing and it pays dividends long after.
• Live in one of the world’s great cities for a while. You will be amazed at how a vibrant melding of cultures can open your eyes to the depth of humanity. Or, as Schmich wrote, “Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.”
• Be intellectually curious. Nobody has all the answers to all the questions, but everybody you meet knows something you don’t.
• Be tough, and don’t whine. The world owes you nothing.
• Be pliable, and don’t gloat. You owe the world your humility.
I know, I know, as far as oratory goes, this isn’t exactly “I Have A Dream.” So, when it comes to commencement addresses and words of wisdom, we return again to Schmich’s insight: “Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.”