Each spring, the pundits and poohbahs of America sharpen their
skills on whatmay be the country's largest captive audience--the
thousands of young men and women graduating from colleges and
universities.
Just what kind of counsel do they deliver? Below, a sample of the
wisdom spewed in commencements past. (Most of it can be found in
Graduation Day, a new compilation published by William Morrow.)
"When I graduated from college, I watched a candidate for summa cum
laude honors walk up me stairs to be recognized, step on the in. side hem
of his gown, and walk all the way up the inside of R. H was something mat
we all remembered as an object lesson in how talent and intelligence
might fare in this world."
--Garrison Keillor, 1987, Gettysburg College
"Being twenty-something is all about taking it in, eating K,
drinking it, and spitting out the seeds later. It's about being fearless
and stupid and dangerous and unfocused and abandoned. It's about being in
it, not on top of it."
--Jodie Foster, 1993, Yale
"So live that you can look any man in the eye and tell him to go to
hell."
--John D. Rockefeller, Jr., 1930, Dartmouth
"If I had to restrict myself to Just one [counsel], I would want to
praise the virtue of obstinacy."
--Susan Sontag, 1983, Wellesley
"Avoid the word `career' and even `profession'... Continue to
investigate."
--Ken Burns, 1987, Hampshire College
"What you learned in college will be of absolutely no use to you
whatsoever. College is actually not much more than a place where parents
who can afford it store their children for four years, because they can't
stand hewing them around the house while they age."
--Andy Rooney, 1996, Colgate
Tags:
advice,
andy rooney,
captive audience,
colgate,
colleges and universities,
Commencement,
dartmouth,
garrison keillor,
gettysburg college,
Graduation,
graduation day,
hampshire college,
jodie foster,
john d rockefeller,
john d rockefeller jr,
ken burns,
obstinacy,
poohbahs,
pundits,
speech,
summa cum laude,
susan sontag,
wellesley,
william morrow,
wisdom
