完整视频

Thank you very much.

Rain,  somebody said, is like confetti from heaven. So even the heavens are  celebrating this morning, joining the rest of us at this wonderful  commencement ceremony.

Before we go any further, graduates, you have an  important task to perform because behind you are your parents and  guardians. Two or three or four years ago, they drove into Cardigan,  dropped you off, helped you get settled and then turned around and drove  back out the gates. It was an extraordinary sacrifice for them. They  drove down the trail of tears back to an emptier and lonelier house.  They did that because the decision about your education, they knew, was  about you. It was not about them. That sacrifice and others they made  have brought you to this point. But this morning is not just about you.  It is also about them, so I hope you will stand up and turn around and  give them a great round of applause. Please.

Now  when somebody asks me how the remarks at Cardigan went, I will be able  to say they were interrupted by applause. Congratulations, class of  2017. You’ve reached an important milestone. An important stage of your  life is behind you. I’m sorry to be the one to tell you it is the  easiest stage of your life, but it is in the books. While you’ve been at  Cardigan, you have all been a part of an important international  community as well. And I think that needs to be particularly recognized.

[Roberts gave brief remarks in other languages.]

Now  around the country today at colleges, high schools, middle schools,  commencement speakers are standing before impatient graduates. And they  are almost always saying the same things. They will say that today is a  commencement exercise. ‘It is a beginning, not an end. You should look  forward.’ And I think that is true enough, however, I think if you’re  going to look forward to figure out where you’re going, it’s good to  know where you’ve been and to look back as well. And I think if you look  back to your first afternoon here at Cardigan, perhaps you will recall  that you were lonely. Perhaps you will recall that you were a little  scared, a little anxious. And now look at you. You are surrounded by  friends that you call brothers, and you are confident in facing the next  step in your education.

It is worth trying to  think why that is so. And when you do, I think you may appreciate that  it was because of the support of your classmates in the classroom, on  the athletic field and in the dorms. And as far as the confidence goes, I  think you will appreciate that it is not because you succeeded at  everything you did, but because with the help of your friends, you were  not afraid to fail. And if you did fail, you got up and tried again. And  if you failed again, you got up and tried again. And if you failed  again, it might be time to think about doing something else. But it was  not just success, but not being afraid to fail that brought you to this  point. 

Now the commencement speakers will  typically also wish you good luck and extend good wishes to you. I will  not do that, and I’ll tell you why. From time to time in the years to  come, I hope you will be treated unfairly, so that you will come to know  the value of justice. I hope that you will suffer betrayal because that  will teach you the importance of loyalty. Sorry to say, but I hope you  will be lonely from time to time so that you don’t take friends for  granted.I wish you bad luck, again, from time to time so that you will  be conscious of the role of chance in life and understand that your  success is not completely deserved and that the failure of others is not  completely deserved either. And when you lose, as you will from time to  time, I hope every now and then, your opponent will gloat over your  failure. It is a way for you to understand the importance of  sportsmanship. I hope you’ll be ignored so you know the importance of  listening to others, and I hope you will have just enough pain to learn  compassion. 

Whether I wish these things or not, they’re going to happen.  And whether you benefit from them or not will depend upon your ability  to see the message in your misfortunes. 

Now  commencement speakers are also expected to give some advice. They give  grand advice, and they give some useful tips. The most common grand  advice they give is for you to be yourself. It is an odd piece of advice  to give people dressed identically, but you should — you should be  yourself. But you should understand what that means. Unless you are  perfect, it does not mean don’t make any changes. In a certain sense,  you should not be yourself. You should try to become something better.  People say ‘be yourself’ because they want you to resist the impulse to  conform to what others want you to be. But you can’t be yourself if you  don't learn who are, and you can’t learn who you are unless you think  about it. The Greek philosopher Socrates said,  ‘The unexamined life is not worth living.’ And while ‘just do it’ might  be a good motto for some things, it’s not a good motto when it’s trying  to figure out how to live your life that is before you. And one  important clue to living a good life is to not to try to live the good life. The best way to lose the values that are central to who you are is frankly not to think about them at all. So  that’s the deep advice. 

Now some tips as you get ready to go to your  new school. Other the last couple of years, I have gotten to know many  of you young men pretty well, and I know you are good guys. But you are  also privileged young men. And if you weren’t privileged when you came  here, you are privileged now because you have been here. My advice is:  Don’t act like it. When you get to your new  school, walk up and introduce yourself to the person who is raking the  leaves, shoveling the snow or emptying the trash. Learn their name and  call them by their name during your time at the school. 

Another piece of  advice: When you pass by people you don’t recognize on the walks,  smile, look them in the eye and say hello. The worst thing that will  happen is that you will become known as the young man who smiles and  says hello, and that is not a bad thing to start with.You’ve been at a school with just boys. Most of you will be going to a school with girls. I have no advice for you. The  last bit of advice I’ll give you is very simple, but I think it could  make a big difference in your life. Once a week, you should write a note  to someone. Not an email. A note on a piece of paper. It will take you  exactly 10 minutes. Talk to an adult, let them tell you what a stamp is.  You can put the stamp on the envelope. Again, 10 minutes, once a week. I  will help you, right now. I will dictate to you the first note you  should write. It will say, ‘Dear [fill in the name of a teacher at  Cardigan Mountain School].’ Say: ‘I have started at this new school. We  are reading [blank] in English. Football or soccer practice is hard, but  I’m enjoying it. Thank you for teaching me.’ Put it in an envelope, put  a stamp on it and send it. It will mean a great deal to people who —  for reasons most of us cannot contemplate — have dedicated themselves to  teaching middle school boys. As I said, that will take you exactly 10  minutes a week. By the end of the school year, you will have sent notes  to 40 people. Forty people will feel a little more special because you  did, and they will think you are very special because of what you did.  No one else is going to carry that dividend during your time at school. 

Enough  advice. I would like to end by reading some important lyrics. I cited  the Greek philosopher Socrates earlier. These lyrics are from the great  American philosopher, Bob Dylan. They’re almost 50 years old. He wrote  them for his son, Jesse, who he was missing while he was on tour. It  lists the hopes that a parent might have for a son and for a daughter.  They’re also good goals for a son and a daughter. The wishes are  beautiful, they’re timeless. They’re universal. They’re good and true,  except for one: It is the wish that gives the song its title and its  refrain. That wish is a parent’s lament. It’s not a good wish. So these  are the lyrics from Forever Young by Bob Dylan: 

May God bless you and keep you always May your wishes all come true May you always do for others And let others do for you May you build a ladder to the stars And climb on every rung And may you stay forever young May you grow up to be righteous May you grow up to be true May you always know the truth And see the lights surrounding you May you always be courageous Stand upright and be strong And may you stay forever young May your hands always be busy May your feet always be swift May you have a strong foundation When the winds of changes shift May your heart always be joyful May your song always be sung And may you stay forever young.

Thank you.