COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS
Henry Rollins
Pop Culture Renaissance Man
The following is a transcript of the speech given at the Sonoma State University commencement, May 23, 2009. Read Henry Rollins bio.
"It is an honor to be in front of you today as we congratulate all of
our graduates and welcome their families and friends. My name is Henry
Rollins and the fact that I was asked to speak briefly to you all today
is one of the highest compliments and most terrifying propositions I
have ever had and I only hope my words have some meaning and merit.
"I would like to thank you for going to college. I would like to thank
you for taking years of your life and devoting it to study and the pursuit
of knowledge. The world is in great need of people who can think, people
who value ideas
"For a moment, think of the person you were before you came here as a
freshman or a freshperson if you will, and the person you are now. Of
course, there was a large amount of good times, carrying on and engaging
in behavior that we need not mention here. It is perhaps why the human
brain is allotted such a vast amount of cells, so that it’s not a big
problem when a few million fall off the
back of the truck. But amidst all the fun and frivolity there were infinitely
long stretches of time where you had to hit the books and work and work
in order to achieve. There was no one there to tell you to keep at it
but you. And you did it, and here you are. You may not need every single
course you ever took to get you though life, but the focus and discipline
that was required to complete the course will be invaluable tools that
you will utilize and that will hopefully benefit you and those around
you for the rest of your life.
"Your education and the time you spent here must be more than merely
the means to a good job and financial security. Those are certainly important
concerns but I am hoping for much more out of you. To come all this way
only to become content cogs in a large machine or merely indistinguishable
threads in a massive tapestry is not enough. It just isn’t.
"I know you are well aware of what is happening on planet Earth in 2009.
Some say that we are in tough times. I believe we are in challenging
times that are in need of bold thinking, fresh ideas and new ways of
going about old things. This is where you come in. The future greets
you today. You are a very big part of what it will be. So, it is incumbent
upon you to take all that you have learned and all that you have worked
so hard to achieve and do something with it that is more than the gathering
of items and the purchase of a place to put it all in. Because at the
end of the day, that is a bit of a checked swing, isn’t it? You don’t
want to retire into the dull roar that quickly and quietly, do you? I
should hope not!
"It is interesting, the excuses people give when they tell me why they
don’t read as much as they used to, don’t travel or inquire as much as
they did years before. They tell me they got tired, the kids, the job,
the drive to work, the grind, not enough hours in the day, they say.
When someone would tell the great philosopher Seneca that there wasn’t
enough hours in the day, Seneca said that the gods had been quite generous
with time allotment but that many people just don’t make good use of
it. Not a second of your life will you ever get back. Make every day
count, or acquire a taste for regret.
"I don’t understand how a mind that has been enlightened by years of
study and immersed in an environment of such frenetic intellectual activity
could ever suffer the crushing blow of complacency. I hope that none
of you ever suffer this self-inflicted, greatly compromised condition.
Not only is it inexcusable, it is boring as hell and no fun at all.
"Your curiosity must never wane! Ever. You are, therefore you want to
know, want to go, want to know more and want to go further. As college
graduates, you know all too well how much there is to know and the incalculable
amount of fascinating things there are to explore, from thought to geographic
destination. It is your curiosity that you must enhance, strengthen and
value, more and more as the years go on and on. It is your curiosity
that you must guard against exhaustion, apathy and that awful plague
called middle age. You are allowed occasional but brief vacations from
your curiosity, DVD box sets of television shows and carbohydrate rich
foods are permitted—but don’t make a career out of it! It is your curiosity
that you will pass on like a genetic trait to your children, infect all
those around you like a virus and inspire the anger of those who have
chosen to admit defeat. One of the greatest and most powerful words in
any language is: WHY.
"When you stop wanting to find out, you’re done. There are few things
more unendurable than being forced to spend time with someone who is
intellectually incurious. This can never be you. Ask a question. Go forth.
Arrive at the answer. Catch your breath. Ask Why. And then set off again.
Never relent!
"The world is in need of bright minds. Individuals who seek to spread
peace and prosperity by the way conduct themselves and the value they
place on the lives of others and on life itself. These people, by way
of their concern and awareness, whether they know it or not—are leaders.
"You lead through kindness, generosity, tolerance, innovation, the quest
for knowledge and a basic, resolved goodness that is incorruptible, inexhaustible
and undefeatable.
"You do not lead by intimidation, by economic coercion, overwhelming
military might or sanctions.
"Brutality, oppression and the constant threat of violence only results
in brutality, oppression and actual violence. The world has more than
it needs.
"A member of Ku Klux Klan doesn’t need a frying pan upside the head!
He needs an Al Green record and some good books. He needs better information
so he can make better decisions and reach better conclusions. He needs
to be inspired. You could do that for someone else, you could do that
for a lot of people. It might take a lot less and go a lot further than
you think.
"If you have noticed, I keep mentioning the people and the world around
you. I have been doing this because you are surrounded.
You are surrounded by millions of square miles of land, billions of gallons
of water and who knows how many cubic feet of air. You share all of these
finite and vulnerable resources with millions of people. Everything you
do, affects someone else, perhaps more than you realize. I am hoping
that you understand that your responsibility to yourself and your well-being
must also somehow include the planet on which you live and the people
you share it with because like it or not, it does."
