Dean Ellis, honored guests, faculty, family, friends, and the Class of 2019,
I cannot begin to express my gratitude for your generosity today. Thank you so much forinviting me to join you in celebrating your graduation! Three years ago, I could never havecomprehended such an opportunity. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
About three years ago today, I was right where you are. I was sitting in a folding chair, justlike that one, and I was wearing my cap and gown, waiting to walk on stage. But I wasn'tgraduating. When they shook my hand and took my picture, they handed me an empty folder.You see at Stanford, they let you "walk" through graduation even if you haven't actually finishedthe requirements necessary to get your diploma. You get to pretend that you are graduatingjust like everyone else, even though you aren't. The University had created this program forstudents who were using the summer term to finish up their degrees. I was using it because Iwas embarrassed, and I didn't want to be left out of the celebrations. What was I going to do?Stay in my dorm room while all of my friends processed into the stadium and tossed their capsinto the air without me? So I sat in the hot sun and I listened to Cory Booker talk for what feltlike quite a while, and I waved to my family who had traveled all the way to Stanford to watchme not to graduate. By the way, hi, Mom!
It only recently occurred to me, while preparing this address, how totally absurd this wholecharade was. It reminded me that oftentimes we do all sorts of silly things to avoid appearingdifferent. Conforming happens so naturally that we can forget how powerful it is – we want tobe accepted by our peers – we want to be a part of the group. It's in our biology. But the thingsthat make us human are those times we listen to the whispers of our soul and allow ourselves tobe pulled in another direction. Conformity is so fascinating and so pervasive that it has beenstudied for a very long time. See, it turns out there are two things that can dramatically reduceconformity in a group setting. The first is a single dissenting voice, and the second is theability to communicate privately with other members of the group. Our government gives usthe right to privacy and the right to express ourselves freely in the hope that we mightmitigate conformity. Democracy wasn't designed to promote popular thought. It wasarchitected to protect dissent. For, as President Kennedy said, "Conformity is the jailer offreedom and the enemy of growth."
I recently fell in love with a story about a great piece of American art. And it's about a guynamed Bob Rauschenberg. He was a young artist, and he went to go visit his idol. You know, hereally loved this guy and he was totally terrified. He was so nervous that he was clutching abottle of Jack Daniels for liquid courage. And the truth is: he actually wasn't just visiting. Hewas visiting Bill de Kooning to ask for something. He wanted one of Bill de Kooning's drawings.You see, Bill de Kooning, he was a dumb guy, he knew exactly what Rauschenberg was up to,because Rauschenberg had recently been experimenting with his own art. He had been creatingthese drawings and then erasing them. But that wasn't enough for Bob Rauschenberg, becauseBob Rauschenberg didn't want to just erase his own art, he wanted to erase the art of hishero. So de Kooning obliged but he took his time, and he tortured the young artist as hewandered around his studio in search of the perfect drawing. He didn't want to just give him arandom drawing. He wanted it to be something really great, something that he really loved.And he finally settled on a drawing that was very, very hard to erase. It was comprised oflayers of lead and charcoal. And he generously gave it to Bob Rauschenberg. According to Bob,it took nearly two months to erase the drawing. But it was Jasper Johns who came along andframed it and he gave that drawing a title, called "Erased de Kooning by Bob Rauschenberg." Itwas Jasper Johns who recognized that in the process of erasing de Kooning's work, BobRauschenberg had actually created something new, his own new work of art.
I love this story because Bill de Kooning had the humility to recognize that the greatest thingwe can do is provide the best possible foundation for those who come after us. We mustwelcome our own erasure. So I'm asked one question most often: "Why didn't you sell yourbusiness? It doesn't even make money. It's a fad. You could be on a boat right now. Everybodyloves boats. What is wrong with you?" And I am now convinced that the fastest way to figureout if you are doing something that is truly important to you is to find someone who offers youa bunch of money to part with it. So the best thing is that no matter whether or not you sell,you will learn something very valuable about yourself. If you sell, you will know immediatelythat it wasn't the right dream anyways. And if you don't sell, you're probably onto something.Maybe you have the beginning of something meaningful. But don't feel bad if you sell out. Justdon't stop there. I mean, gosh, we would have sold our first company, for sure. But no onewanted to buy it. When we decided not to sell our business, people called us a lot of thingsbesides crazy – things like arrogant and entitled. The same words that I've heard used todescribe our generation time and time again. The Millennial Generation. The "Me" Generation.Well, it's true. We do have a sense of entitlement, a sense of ownership, because, after all,this is the world we were born into, and we are responsible for it.
The funny thing about "Erased de Kooning" is that it isn't for sale. It's safe and sound in theSan Francisco Museum of Modern Art. It's tremendously valuable, but it bears no price. Youalready have inside of you all of the amazing things you need to follow the dreams that youhave. And if you get stuck along the way, there's a ton of free information available on theInternet. Have faith in yourself and the person you are going to become. Know that you arecapable of all of the growth that will be expected of you and that you expect from yourself. Youwill tackle every challenge headed your way – and if you don't – it won't be for lack of trying.Someone will always have an opinion about you. Whatever you do won't ever be enough. So findsomething important to you. Find something that you love. You are going to make a lot ofmistakes. I've already made a ton of them – some of them very publicly – and it will feelterrible, but it will be okay. Just apologize as quickly as you can and pray for forgiveness.
When you leave here, you're going to face a great challenge: a full-time job. And the hardestpart is going to be getting used to solving problems that don't yet have answers. In times ofdespair, you may believe the cynic who tells you that one person cannot make a difference –and there are times it may be hard to see your own impact. I beg you to remember that it isnot possible at this time or at any time to know the end results of our efforts. That is for ourGod alone. Please voice your dissent, anticipate your erasure, and find something you aren'twilling to sell.
Congratulations to the class of 2019! Fight on!