Commencement Speeches

There are two truly fine commencement speeches floating around the Internet right now. Both are from actual, bonafide 2005 graduation ceremonies. Both go beyond pithy aphorisms. And both are a pleasure to read.
The first is from Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Computer. He spoke at Stanford University; read the entire speech here. Jobs talks about loving your work, taking risks, and finding the connections in your own life story. And he talks about death.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

The second speech is by Senator Barack Obama, who spoke at Knox College; read it here. His speech is quite different -- it's closely reasoned political rhetoric, in the best sense of the term. He argues, in a wonderfully down-to-earth style, that the American experiment has been built on the importance of community. Maintaining the value of community in the face of a global economy is the best thing we can do for our country, he argues.. In this brief passage, he urges the graduates, for their own sakes, to embrace the challenges of making America a better place. I love how he ends up bringing it back to his central point.

There is no community service requirement in the real world; no one is forcing you to care. You can take your diploma, walk off this stage, and go chasing after the big house, and the nice suits, and all the other things that our money culture says that you should want, that you should aspire to, that you can buy.
But I hope you don't walk away from the challenge. Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a certain poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. You need to take up the challenges that we face as a nation and make them your own. Not because you have a debt to those who helped you get here, although you do have that debt. Not because you have an obligation to those who are less fortunate than you, although I do think you do have that obligation. It's primarily because you have an obligation to yourself. Because individual salvation has always depended on collective salvation. Because it's only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential.