Near the end of his speech, Nimoy offered this quote as a guiding principle for the arts graduates. It came after he had told the story of leaving Mission: Impossible — walking away from a hit TV series with three years left on his contract — because the characters had no inner life, no truth. The work was 'totally superficial' and he was 'dying a slow, creative death.' The Victor Hugo quote distilled the lesson Nimoy had learned through six decades in the arts: that pursuing popularity for its own sake leads to hollow work, while pursuing greatness — truth, depth, substance — might occasionally produce popularity as a byproduct. Nimoy himself had experienced both sides. Spock was enormously popular precisely because the character had genuine depth and meaning. Mission: Impossible was popular but spiritually empty. He followed this quote with a humorous but earnest plea to the graduates: 'And please... PLEASE. For the sake of our culture, for the sake of mankind... don't create any more reality TV shows.' Then he closed with his signature farewell: 'And, of course, Live Long... and Prosper.'