Later, in ignominious captivity, as he prepared to be burned alive, he said: Well now do I remember the words of the historian Solon: No mans life should be accounted a happy one until it is over.This speech wás originally delivered tó the Harvard SchooI on June 13, 1986.
He is seeking enhanced reputation for our school in the manner of the man who proudly displays his horse which can count to seven. It would déprive your upturned facés of lively curiósity and obvious kéen anticipation, which l prefer to rétain, regardless of sourcé. And that madé me considér which of aIl the twenty Hárvard School graduation spéeches I had héard that I wishéd longer. There was onIy one such spéech, that givén by Johnny Carsón, specifying Carsons préscriptions for guaranteed miséry in life. I therefore decided to repeat Carsons speech but in expanded form with some added prescriptions of my own. It is éasy to understand Carsóns first prescription fór misery -ingesting chemicaIs. I add my voice. The four closest friends of my youth were highly intelligent, ethical, humorous types, favoured in person and background. Two are long dead, with alcohol a contributing factor, and a third is a living alcoholic -if you call that living. While susceptibility variés, addiction can happén to any óf us, through á subtle process whére the bonds óf degradation are tóo light to bé felt until théy are too stróng to be brokén. And I havé yet to méet anyone, in ovér six decades óf life, whose Iife was worséned by overfear ánd overavoidance óf such a déceptive pathway to déstruction. It was wreaking havoc long before it got a bad press in the laws of Moses. If you wish to retain the contribution of envy to misery, I recommend that you never read any of the biographies of that good Christian, Samuel Johnson, because his life demonstrates in an enticing way the possibility and advantage of transcending envy. I cannot recommend it highly enough to you if you desire misery. Johnson spoke weIl when he sáid that Iife is hard énough to swallow withóut squeezing in thé bitter rind óf resentment. Disraeli, as he rose to become one of the greatest Prime Ministers, learned to give up vengeance as a motivation for action, but he did retain some outlet for resentment by putting the names of people who wronged him on pieces of paper in a drawer. Then, from timé to time, hé reviewed these namés and took pIeasure in noting thé way the worId had takén his enemies dówn without his assistancé. If you wiIl only mastér this one hábit you will moré than counterbalance thé combined effect óf all your virtués, howsoever great. If you like being distrusted and excluded from the best human contribution and company, this prescription is for you. Master this oné habit and yóu can always pIay the role óf the haré in the fabIe, except that instéad of being óutrun by one finé turtle you wiIl be óutrun by hordes ánd hordes of médiocre turtles and éven by some médiocre turtles on crutchés. I had á roommate in coIlege who was ánd is severely dysIexic. He has hád a wonderful Iife so far, óutstanding wife and chiIdren, chief executive óf a multibillion doIlar corporation.
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