Graduation

Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in.

Be as smart as you can, but remember that it is always better to be wise than to be smart.

Silence is the soul's invisibility. We can, of course, conceal ourselves behind lies and sophistries, but when we speak, we are present, however careful our disguise.

The center of the self, itself, is this secret, obsessive, often silly, nearly continuous voice — the voice that is the surest sign we are alive.

To think for yourself — not narrowly, but rather as a mind — you must be able to talk to yourself: well, openly, and at length.

You cannot afford to think of being here to receive an education: you will do much better to think of being here to claim one.

Responsibility to yourself means refusing to let others do your thinking, talking, and naming for you; it means learning to respect and use your own brains and instincts; hence, grappling with hard work.

It means insisting that work be as meaningful as love and friendship in our lives. It means, therefore, the courage to be different.

What should young people do with their lives today? Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured.

A good education in skepticism can help us to discover those bad guesses, and to destroy them with mockery and contempt.

I have seen the past, and it works.

A cleaner neighborhood begins with your own broom. A more beautiful city begins with a seed in your own garden. A more just society begins in your own heart.