Zakaria closed his speech with this remarkably traditional message from one of the world's most sophisticated analysts of global trends. After spending most of his address discussing the unprecedented forces of change reshaping the world — technological disruption, economic globalization, the rise of new powers — he argued that the qualities that lead to human fulfillment have remained constant for millennia. The juxtaposition was deliberate. Zakaria acknowledged that he couldn't tell graduates whether to go into nanotechnology or biotechnology, whether to become investment bankers (which 'isn't looking so hot these days') or artists. The specific career advice was beyond anyone's ability to give. But the deeper guidance was timeless and universal. By grounding his advice in five thousand years of human civilization, Zakaria offered something more durable than trend analysis. For 5,000 years, he noted, people have built statues to men and women who exhibited intelligence, hard work, honesty, character, loyalty, love, and faith. The forms of recognition might change — 'they'll build weird modernist pieces of art, mobile sculptures with strange do-dads on them' — but the qualities honored would not.