"Quotes" ✅

Wear Sunscreen

     Ladies and Gentlemen of the class '99. Wear sunscreen.

     If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience.

     I will dispense this advice now.

     Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh never mind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth, until they have faded. But trust me, in twenty years you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

     Don't worry about the future; or worry, but know that worry is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4:00 pm or some idle Tuesday.

     Do one thing everyday that scares you.

     Sing.

     Don't be reckless with other people's heart; don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

     Floss.

     Don't waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you are ahead; sometimes you are behind; the race is long and in the end its only with yourself.

     Remember compliments you receive; forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

     Keep your old love letters; throw away your old bank statements.

     Stretch.

     Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you wanna do with your life; the most interesting people didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives; some of the most interesting 40-year olds I know, still don't.

     Get plenty of calcium.

     Be kind to your knees; you'll miss them when they are gone.

     Maybe you'll marry - maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children - maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40 - maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either - your choice are half chance; so are everybody else's.

     Enjoy your body; use it everyway you can. Don't be afraid of it, or what people think of it. Its the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

     Dance-

     Even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

     Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

     Do not read beauty magazines; they will only make you feel ugly.

     Get to know your parents; you'll never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings; they are your best link to your past and people most likely to stick with you in the future.

     Understand that friends come n' go, but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography, in lifestyle, because the older you get the more you need the people to know when you were young.

     Live in New York city once, but leave before it makes you hard.

     Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

     Travel.

     Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise; politicians will philander; you too will get old, and when you do you'll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

     Respect your elders.

     Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you'll have a trust friend; maybe you'll have a healthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.

     Don't mess too much with your hair, or bu the time you're 40, it'll look 85.

     Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia: Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts, and recycling it for more than its worth.

     But trust me on the sunscreen!

•••

Author's note:

This is an article by 'Mary Schmich'. Its not a speech, it should have been. This was supposed to be delivered by Mary at a graduation ceremony in a college.

How did I find it out? I was searching for speeches for my friend to participate in a competition, and I found this on the last page of it.

Isn't this the best? Its the best I've ever heard.

This is the last chapter.

Thank you for being a part of this book.

Hope you have a great time ahead. :)

Don't forget to smile.

With lots of love,

-The_Dweeb