This is possibly the best address to a graduating class in history, and maybe one of the best speeches, period. It originally appeared as a Mary Schmich column in the Chicago Tribune called Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young. This dazzling video is what adding a little Baz Luhrman to that text turned it into.
Video over the jump, full text here, via PersianDNA.
Ladies and gentlemen of the class of ’97
“WEAR SUNSCREEN!”
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, “sunscreen” would be it.
The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists,
whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience.
I will dispense this advice NOW!
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth.
Oh, never mind.
You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they’ve faded.
But trust me, in 20 years, you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked.
You are not as fat as you imagine.
Don’t worry about the future.
Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum.
The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind,
The kind that blindside you at 4 pm on some idle Tuesday. Do one thing every day that scares you.
Sing
Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts.
Don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.
Floss
Don’t waste your time on jealousy.
Sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind.
The race is long and, in the end, it’s only with yourself.
Remember compliments you receive.
Forget the insults.
If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your old love letters.
Throw away your old bank statements.
Stretch
Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life.
The most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives.
Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don’t.
Get plenty of calcium.
Be kind to your knees.
You’ll miss them when they’re gone.
Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t.
Maybe you’ll have children, maybe you won’t.
Maybe you’ll divorce at 40.
Maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary.
Whatever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much,
or berate yourself either.
Your choices are half chance.
So are everybody else’s.
Enjoy your body.
Use it every way you can.
Don’t be afraid of it or of what other people think of it.
It’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own.
Dance
Even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.
Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.
Do not read beauty magazines.
They will only make you feel ugly.
“Brother and sister together we’ll make it through,
Someday a spirit will take you and guide you there
I know that you’re hurting but I’ve been waiting there for you
and I’ll be there just helping you out
whenever I can…”
Get to know your parents.
You never know when they’ll be gone for good.
Be nice to your siblings.
They’re your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go,
but with a precious few you should hold on.
Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get,
the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.
Live in “New York City” once, but leave before it makes you hard.
Live in “Northern California” once, but leave before it makes you soft.
Travel
Accept certain inalienable truths:
Prices will rise.
Politicians will philander.
You, too, will get old.
And when you do, you’ll fantasize that when you were young,
prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders.
Respect your elders.
Don’t expect anyone else to support you.
Maybe you have a trust fund.
Maybe you’ll have a wealthy spouse.
But you never know when either one might run out.
Don’t mess too much with your hair or by the time you’re 40 it will look 85.
Be careful whose advice you buy,
but be patient with those who supply it.
Advice is a form of nostalgia.
Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal,
wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.
But trust me on the sunscreen.
“Brother and sister together we’ll make it through,
Someday a spirit will take you and guide you there
I know that you’re hurting but I’ve been waiting there for you
and I’ll be there just helping you out
whenever I can…”
Everybody’s Free, Everybody’s Free
To Feel Good!
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raincoaster media 
azahar
May 5, 2007
Coincidently, I happened across this video for the first time a couple of weeks ago and also put it up my blog. I’ve been familiar with the Baz Luhrmann version for quite some time but had never seen the video before. Yes, it’s a wonderful speech and one I’ve sometimes used as a ‘gap fill’ listening exercise with my students. It usually brings up some interesting discussion afterwards.
Did you know about the internet hoax that had attributed it to the late Kurt Vonnegut? Apparently he thought cyberspace was “spooky” and filled with people who’ll believe anything they read.
raincoaster
May 5, 2007
He was right. You don’t want to know how I know that, trust me.
That’s weird synchronicity. I hadn’t seen the video before, and while I remember the speech from waaaaaay back, hadn’t encountered it in at least five years. Well, GMTA.
azahar
May 5, 2007
Put it up my blog? That sounds rather painful. Of course that should read “put it up on my blog” (ooops).
WordPress really needs a preview button.
raincoaster
May 5, 2007
Well, those YouTubes fold really flat…
azahar
May 5, 2007
“You don’t want to know how I know that, trust me.”
Au contraire – do tell! And what does GMTA mean?
raincoaster
May 5, 2007
GMTA means Great Minds Think Alike.
I knew a woman who pretended to be Viggo Mortensen online. For four years and counting…she keeps finding groups who want so much to believe that her need to be the center of attention, no matter how mendaciously, is fulfilled. Eventually people find out, but the truly sad thing is that they then engage in pure doublethink, deliberately deceiving themselves when they know better, because confronting her at that point would mean they themselves would be marginalized out of the group AND they would make themselves look like fools for having believed for so long. It’s easier to lie to yourself every day than face things and change them. I know one woman had to be institutionalized on a suicide watch over that narcissistic game-playing, and several who had to seek counselling.
I sincerely hope that people who manipulate people like that to fill holes in their own souls eventually hit bottom and realize just who and what they are.
Metro
May 11, 2007
I’ve always enjoyed this.
Melissa Manchester on the backing vocals.
azahar
May 13, 2007
“It’s easier to lie to yourself every day than face things and change them.”
You’re quite right about that. But, generally speaking, I think people who lie to themselves every day also have to take personal responsibility for what happens as a result for them putting their lives into someone else’s hands – virtually or otherwise.
Looking for someone else to blame will never get you anywhere.
ps
funny link, Metro! I was sooo into the ‘Desiterata’ when I was 14…
raincoaster
May 13, 2007
People always have to take responsibility for their lives; it’s the great truth that most people spend their lives denying. The extent to which someone does take responsibility for themseves is, in my mind, the extent to which they are truly human.