Green made the counterintuitive argument that the void inside us gets filled not through strength but through weakness. The seductive lie of our time, he said, is that strength and toughness are always assets, that selfishness is not just necessary but desirable. That lie is appealing because it lets us imagine we are the center of the universe. But it is only when you are weak — when love and listening have broken you open — that you can truly see, acknowledge, forgive, and love the weakness in others. Weakness allows you to see other humans not as enemies to defeat but as collaborators and co-creators. 'In the end,' Green told the graduates, 'we're making humanness up together as we go along.'