Scorsese acknowledged what most commencement speakers don't: that many artists are not bold, confident, extroverted people. They are shy, tentative, and fragile. The creative impulse itself is 'delicate' and 'needs to be nurtured and protected against the incursions of the world which can be merciless.' But protection of the creative voice, Scorsese argued, is not optional. It demands 'tenacity, confidence, and resilience' — qualities that might seem at odds with shyness and fragility but are in fact their necessary companions. The message was especially powerful coming from Scorsese, whose own early career was marked by intense shyness, asthma that kept him indoors as a child, and a deeply personal filmmaking style that drew on his most vulnerable experiences in Little Italy.