Today I will graduate from Yale University with a Master’s of Divinity degree. In the spirit of this season of graduations, I share with you this excerpt from Conan O’Brien’s speech at Dartmouth’s commencement last year:
I learned a hard but profound lesson last year and I’d like to share it with you. In 2000, I told graduates ‘Don’t be afraid to fail.’ Well now I’m here to tell you that, though you should not fear failure, you should do your very best to avoid it. Nietzsche famously said ‘Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.’ But what he failed to stress is that it almost kills you. Disappointment stings and, for driven, successful people like yourselves it is disorienting. What Nietzsche should have said is, ‘Whatever doesn’t kill you, makes you watch a lot of Cartoon Network and drink mid-price Chardonnay at 11 in the morning.’
[…] lack of personal identity you’ve been trying to get transcendence from the wrong source. HT: Mockingbird blog. Share this:Like this:LikeBe the first to like this post. This entry was posted in Anthropology, […]
[…] the writers over at Downton Abbey have been taking notes from Conan O’Brien, who remarked of his own very public suffering: “Nietzsche famously said ‘Whatever […]
[…] the writers over at Downton Abbey have been taking notes from Conan O’Brien, who remarked of his own very public suffering: “Nietzsche famously said ‘Whatever doesn’t […]
[…] good, they really stand out. Among our favorites would have to be Bill Watterson, JK Rowling, Conan O’Brien, Jonathan Franzen and, of course, David Foster Wallace. Anyway, with schools around the country […]
[…] studying comedy/humor and its connection to the Christian faith for a little while (see examples here, here, here, here, and here). And in parallel fashion I have been attempting to cultivate my own […]
[…] what it is, getting vulnerable, and addressing the futility and mortality of human efforts. As Conan O’Brien so poignantly said in his speech at Dartmouth several years ago: “Nietzsche famously said […]
[…] people would say, and again they’re very well meaning, it just was absolutely no help, was that, “Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” The problem with that was that I felt like I had come to New York, I had started this little […]
I learned a hard but profound lesson last year and I’d like to share it with you. In 2000, I told graduates ‘Don’t be afraid to fail.’ Well now I’m here to tell you that, though you should not fear failure, you should do your very best to avoid it. Nietzsche famously said ‘Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.’ But what he failed to stress is that it almost kills you. Disappointment stings and, for driven, successful people like yourselves it is disorienting. What Nietzsche should have said is, ‘Whatever doesn’t kill you, makes you watch a lot of Cartoon Network and drink mid-price Chardonnay at 11 in the morning.’
10 comments
R-J Heijmen says:
May 21, 2012
Canons’ grad speech is GENIOUS. Proof that suffering creates wisdom, humility and compassion
Rutger-Jan Heijmen says:
May 21, 2012
*Conan’s
Zach says:
May 21, 2012
Wonderful jewel of honesty amidst the dregs of mealy pap spewed from lecterns across the country this time of year
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