And as you stand on the threshold of what is sometimes called real life, I want to extol the crucial importance of imagination. On this wonderful day when we are gathered together to celebrate your academic success, I have decided to talk to you about the benefits of failure. I have asked myself what I wish I had known at my own graduation and what important lessons I have learned in the 21 years that have expired between that day and this. Actually, I have wrapped my mind and heart for what I ought to say to you today. You see, if all you remember in years to come is the gay wizard joke, I’ve come out ahead of Baroness Mary Warnock.Īchievable goals, the first step to self-improvement. This liberating discovery enables me to proceed without any fear that I might inadvertently influence you to abandon promising careers in business, the law, or politics for the giddy delights of becoming a gay wizard. Reflecting on her speech has helped me enormously in writing this one because it turns out that I can’t remember a single word she said. The commencement speaker that day was the distinguished British philosopher Baroness Mary Warnock. Now, all I have to do is take deep breaths, squint at the red banners, and convince myself that I am at the world’s largest Gryffindor reunion.ĭelivering a commencement address is a great responsibility or so I thought until I cast my mind back to my own graduation. Not only has Harvard given me an extraordinary honor, but the weeks of fear and nausea I have endured at the thought of giving this commencement address have made me lose weight. President Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation, and the board of overseers, members of the faculty, proud parents, and above all graduates, the first thing I would like to say is thank you.
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