Justice Roberts Commencement Speech

[Tidewater]

Okay, it's a 9th grade commencement speech, but I appreciate what he was trying to say here.

"From time to time, in the years to come, I hope you will be treated unfairly, so that you will come to know the value of justice. I hope that you will suffer betrayal because that will teach you the importance of loyalty. Sorry to say, but I hope you will be lonely from time to time, so that you don't take friends for granted. I wish you bad luck again, from time to time, so that you will be conscious of the role of chance in life and understand that your success is not completely deserved and the failure of others is not completely deserved either. ... And when you lose, as you will from time to time, I hope every now and then, your opponent will gloat over your failure. It is a way for you to understand the importance of sportsmanship. ... I hope you will be ignored, so you know the importance of listening to others, and I hope you will have just enough pain to learn compassion. ... Whether I wish these things or not, they're going to happen. And whether you benefit from them or not will depend upon your ability to see the message in your misfortunes."

Not your every day commencement speech.

 

[Elefantman]

I like it. Basically he is saying, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Now where have I heard that before???

 

[Tidewater]

I like it. Basically he is saying, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Now where have I heard that before???

Yes, but I think he took it a bit further. He hopes that his audience got to experience just enough of the bad in the world to realize why we have things like justice, loyalty, friendship, sportsmanship and compassion.
Whether 9th graders were able to really process that thought or not is another question, but I appreciate how different that is from the habitual "you're great and life is going to be a bowl of cherries" commencement speech.

 

[Elefantman]

Yes, but I think he took it a bot further. He hopes that his audience got to experience just enough of the bad in the world to realize why we have things like justice, loyalty, friendship, sportsmanship and compassion.
Whether 9th graders were able to really process that thought or not is another question, but I appreciate how different that is from the habitual "you're great and life is going to be a bowl of cherries" commencement speech.

Agree, I like the way he pointed out that life is not always fair but you don't have to contribute to the injustice just because it happened to you. I feel like the current climate in our country tolerates unfair persecution of some as a form of payback for injustices carried out by those of similar persuasion in the past.

We all have to learn from the past or we are doom to repeat it. Now where have I heard that before???