A tradition of convocation speeches has been formed: to say some old things, to reminisce about the best times of one's life, to warn everyone about one's mistakes and to give advice to potential young people. I also want to follow that path.
When I was in seventh grade, a new girl came with us to study. I don't want to say his real name, I assumed his name came up. Ellen was very shy, small and quiet. She wore glasses in a frame that was only used by older women in those days. He was often nervous and chewed on a bunch of his own hair. When he came to our school and became our neighbor. He was almost always ignored. He was only occasionally ridiculed for saying, ‘Is your hair so delicious?’ I noticed, these words hurt him a lot. I still remember, after such words, he would lower his eyes, his neck would bend, as if he wanted to disappear from the world around him. After a while he would run away from there and then his hair would be on his face. Occasionally I would imagine that at home his mother might ask him, ‘How was your school today? How many new friends have you made? ’He would look down and answer, many.
Occasionally I would see him wandering alone in their garden. He seemed to be afraid to get out of the garden. Suddenly one day we discovered they had left. There is no tragedy, no end. One day he was, the next day he is not. This is the end of the story.
The question is, why do I regret it? Why even after 42 years I still think about this incident. I used to get along better with the girl than others. I never said anything to hurt him. Rather sometimes I wanted to hide him from others. But, even then it hurts me. The word I believe in is the biggest regret of my life, not being able to forgive. Slowly, thoughtfully working in those moments when another man in front of me was having trouble.
We can look at the matter differently; Which people have the strongest memories in our lives? I bet the people who were forgiving of others. I want to tell you, you can choose to be forgiving as the purpose of life. Maybe it's too straight or too hard. But not too bad as intended.
How can we be less selfish, think of everyone, and be loved by everyone?
Very good question. But the problem is, we have very little time to answer this question. I just want to say, there must be a way. Education is very important in this case. It is a good thing to keep yourself busy in the practice of art. Meditating deeply on a subject in solitude, talking to a friend by immersing oneself in it, searching for spirituality সব all these improve us as human beings. We understand that countless wise men have come to earth before us and left many questions unanswered for us.
The funny thing is, people are naturally very forgiving at one time or another. This is perhaps the characteristic of man. As we grow older, we realize how meaningless and irrational it is to be selfish. Our thinking changes with age and we learn to love people. When we see that someone in our danger has come forward, helping us, we realize that we are not really separate from anyone. When we see our loved ones leaving our lives, we begin to believe that we too will one day leave. Almost all people became much better and more generous in his last days. Maybe that's why the poet Hayden Keruth said in a poem written in his last years, 'Now it's just love'.
I wish from the bottom of my heart that the older you get, the less selfish you will be and the more love you will have. You will gradually become full of love. When you have children, you will be filled with love. You will not think of your own good or bad until your children are good. This is the reason why your parents are so happy today. Because, one of their many days old dream has come true today, you have come through a difficult and important step in life. You have achieved something that will make your life beautiful in the days ahead and raise you as a human being. I wish you all the best for that.
In the early days of your youth, you may have been anxious how to succeed in life? What can you do to make your life better? But have you ever noticed a strange aspect of life's ambitions? You do well in high school so that you can get admission in a good college. Then you do well in college, so that you get a good job. You want to do well in the job then.
These are some small aspects of life, not the whole life. If you take forgiveness as your goal in life, you will discover yourself more fully as a worker and a dreamer. It will help you a lot to find your best. You will then learn that success is like a mountain, the more you climb it, the bigger it will be. The thought of success will take away the beautiful times of your life, you will not be able to enjoy its original taste.
So my advice to you. I assume, the goal of your life is to gradually become more forgiving, to give up selfishness and to be filled with love. Let it start from now. We all have the disease of selfishness. Find the antidote and be a sensitive good person.
Then fulfill the desires of life. Travel, be rich, be famous, discover, lead, love, acquire wealth and spend it, swim barefoot in a river in the jungle. But be forgiving in the end. Do things that will help you to be forgiving. Don't do things that will make you cruel. The bright side of your heart is like all other great men. Eliminate the deeds that cover your radiance, spread the warmth of the heart among all. Thus 70 years from today, when you are 100 and I am 134, you will see that you are drowning in love. I hope then you will say, life is very beautiful.
Batch of 2013, good luck to you again. I pray that you may enjoy joy, good luck and a beautiful summer.
Translated from English
Introduction: George Saunders is a popular American novelist. His famous books are: Civil War Land in Bad Decline, Pastoralia, The Brief and Frightening Rain of Phil, In Persuasion Nation, Tenth of December. He gave this speech at the convocation of Syracuse University in the United States in 2013.
