George Saunders Syracuse Convocation Address (2013)

On May 11, 2013, author and professor George Saunders delivered the convocation address to the graduating class of the College of Arts and Sciences at Syracuse University. Saunders asked what he regretted most about his life, concluding that his deepest regrets were not poverty, difficult jobs, or career embarrassments, but rather failures of kindness towards others. He observed that humans are born with a built-in delusion of self-importance and urged graduates to actively combat this selfishness over their lifetimes, advising that as a goal in life, one could do worse than simply trying to be kinder.

Text from OyList