You guessed it! Class of '63, that's me.
The temptation is to share lighter thoughts and platitudes about commencement days. Like: "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." Mark Twain
or "To those of you who received honors, awards and distinctions,
I say well done.
And to the 'C' students,
I say you too may one day
be President of the United States." George W. Bush
But my reader expects something more cerebral, after all this is a philosophic column of some repute. How about: Success isn't a result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire. Arnold H. Glasow - American humorist.
Now that is getting closer to a message. Go with the fire in your belly. If you pursue your passionate interests and make a career of them, you may never have to work a day in your life.
In 1972 a meteorologist Edward Lorenz gave us a theory called the "butterfly effect". Lorenz theorized that large systems such as weather patterns could be affected by trivial events. The flap of a butterfly's wings in Brazil may set off a tornado in Texas.
Now that has applications. An act of kindness to another can set off a reaction to yet others who affect many more. Conversely, being nasty to someone may set of a chain of similar reactions that go on until after the sun sets. (thoughts borrowed from The Word Among Us - June 2013).
A couple of other quotes worth sharing:
"Success is the ability
to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." Sir Winston Churchill
Education is when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get if you don't.
Pete Seeger - folk singer and political activist.
Education is what remains when one has forgotten everything he learned in school.
Albert Einstein
I cannot resist the temptation to share thoughts with those young and beautiful men and woman who are leaving our school systems in which I taught for 35 years. Go with God! Hang on to your dreams; these will sustain you during difficult times. Risk sharing with others; you always receive more back. Be joyful; you'll find a world smiling back at you.
Your parents and friends love you! You can count on them. God loves you more.
Let me conclude with three of my favourite from Top 50 Graduation Quotes
"Recipe for success: Study while others are sleeping, work while others are loafing, prepare while others are playing, and dream while others are wishing." ~William A. Ward
"The rewards of the journey far outweigh the risk of leaving the harbor." ~ Unknown
"Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant." ~Robert Louis Stevenson
