If Kurt Vonnegut were to give a graduation speech
The following article was published in a US newspaper (Chicago Tribune) in 1997. People assumed that the author, Kurt Vonnegut, wrote this particular speech for the graduating class of 1997 from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). It turned out to be a a satyrical piece written by a reporter, Mary Schmich, for the paper. However, this speech became very famous. Even a song was written about it by Baz Luhrmann called Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen).
Links to explain this “speech”:
http://www.urbanlegends.com/ulz/sunscreen.html
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,5762,00.html
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/tt/1997/aug13/schmich.html
http://urbanlegends.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa081097.htm
http://www.ipass.net/~brianrodr/vonnegut/misc.html
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.
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.
yep, i remember this song. it was nice reading the lyrics
I am impressed.
why so sad face, Teacher?
If someone does not understand any words in this, please ask. I think the words are very wonderful.
Jei kas nors nesupranta zodziu ar perduotu minciu, prasau pasiklauskite. Manau, kad labai geras rasinys.
There are few sentences I did not understand:
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.
Be kind to your knees. You’ll miss them when they’re gone
Don’t mess too much with your hair or by the time you’re 40 it will look 85.
If you’ll be so kind and will translate them, it will help me to catch the essence.
liokajus rašė:
There are few sentences I did not understand:
Greitai isverciau, tai supraskite, kad minti pagauti…
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.
Tikros bedos gyvenime tikriausia bus tokie, kur niekad neisivaizdavai, tokie kur staiga trenkia Tau 4 val po piet kokia nors leta antradieni.
Be kind to your knees. You’ll miss them when they’re gone
Buk geras savo keliams/kojoms. Pasigesi ju, kai ju nebebus/nebegerai veiks.
Don’t mess too much with your hair or by the time you’re 40 it will look 85.
Negadink per daug laiko (ir tikriausia ir chemikalu) su savo plaukais, nes kai busi 40, plaukai atrodys, kad jiems 85.
If you’ll be so kind and will translate them, it will help me to catch the essence.
Jeigu dar nesupranti, tai leisk zinoti. Juk cia tik grubus vertimai. Smegenys dar nesugalvojo kaip sklandziai isversti.
Sitiem aparatams kas 6000 km strogai reikia tikrinti ir reguliuoti voztuvu siluminius tarpelius kitaip jie dega,nes daznai uzsispaudzia ir tampa nesandarus,tada krenta galingumas ir blogai dirba dvigas.Tai vienintelis patarimas,visa kita ten norma.
SPEEDSTER --> rimtai? tai ko nesakei? na bet kai seimininkas geras buvo tai gerai ir ejo, o as kadangi nieko ten beveik nenusimanau tai ne kas, net nezinau ar dabar pas ja viskas gerai ta prasme voztuvai karbai ir t.t galetum prie progos duot keleta patarimu, nesupykciau as jau paburciau ka nors
Siaip jau sita katana ant drago apie 500m.ejo lygiai su 95m.zx6r
dar degaline LT kuras
karalai
SRAD’as daug graziau atrodo…
Tadas kriuksiaus snuki nutaises
na jo truksta jei siek tiek smarves bet cia gi ne super sport klases motociklas tuo labiau senas ir sunkus bet pradedantiesiems tokiems kaip as kaip tik
sako - “katana nivalyt”
neverk tadai
su katana pozuoja …
ne, tadas sradas