The world is yours. Treat everyone kindly and light up the night.
Peter Dinklage
Bennington College Commencement 2012, 2012
Video starts at 27:54 — the moment this quote was spoken
The Story Behind This Quote
Dinklage closed his Bennington address with these words, invoking Beckett's famous line — 'Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better' — just before this final charge. The simplicity of his closing stood in stark contrast to the rich, painful, funny detail of the speech that preceded it. Throughout the address, Dinklage had painted a portrait of post-graduation life that was the opposite of inspirational clichés: couch-surfing, data entry, a cat named Brian who was his only window to the outside world. But he had also told graduates that 'everyone you need is in this room' and that their fellow students were 'the shiny, more important people.' His closing combined the grandness of possibility with the intimacy of kindness — a fitting final note from an actor who had found his way from a four-foot-something kid in a black velvet cape to one of the most acclaimed performers of his generation.