A Brilliant Speech By Marc. S. Lewis On What It Means To Be Successful

I recently stumbled upon a commencement speech by Marc S. Lewis given in 2000. I found it to be very inspiring and thought provoking and would encourage you to read the entire speech which can be found here: http://homepage.psy.utexas.edu/homepage/admin/Grad/lewis.html. Below are three excerpts from the speech that I especially loved.

"There are times when you are going to do well, and times when you're going to fail. But neither the doing well, nor the failure is the measure of success. The measure of success is what you think about what you've done. Let me put that another way: The way to be happy is to like yourself and the way to like yourself is to do only things that make you proud."

"The way to be happy is to like yourself. That’s the real reason not to lie or cheat or turn away in fear. There’s that old joke, not very funny, that goes "no matter where you go, there you are." That’s true. The person who you’re with most in life is yourself and if you don’t like yourself you’re always with somebody you don’t like."

"...whatever strong belief you now hold about what it means to be successful, I hope you will stay open to the possibility that you’ve got it all wrong and graciously accept your new awareness when it comes, with gratitude and humility."

My 10 Favorite Martin Luther King Jr. Quotations

1. “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

2. “Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a constant attitude.”

3. “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”

4. “Faith is taking the first step even when you can't see the whole staircase.”

5. “I have decided to stick to love...Hate is too great a burden to bear.”

6. “There comes a time when silence is betrayal.”

7. “Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.”

8. “Never, never be afraid to do what's right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society's punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.”

9. “Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.”

10. “As my sufferings mounted I soon realized that there were two ways in which I could respond to my situation -- either to react with bitterness or seek to transform the suffering into a creative force. I decided to follow the latter course.”

Thought Of You

I already shared this short animated film by Ryan Woodward on my short films blog (Must See Shorts) but I wanted to share it here as well. It's just so beautiful, and mesmerizing, and I've always loved the song! The meaning is vague which I think just makes it more interesting. Let me know what you think!

As One's Perspective Grows Do Things Mean Less?

I recently picked up a book by Karl Ove Knausgaard called "My Struggle." I started reading it, although once it started boring me I stopped, so unfortunately, I cannot recommend it, although some readers will undoubtedly find it to be magnificent. However, there were a couple lines in the beginning that really made me think.

Knausgaard says, "As your perspective of the world increases not only is the pain it inflicts on you less but also its meaning. Understanding the world requires you to take a certain distance from it."

Is this true? Can meaning and understanding be enemies of each other? Is this why sometimes it takes years after a relationship ends before you can really understand why everything happened the way it did? Is this why sometimes you don't realize how much you loved and depended on someone or something until after it is gone? Is this why the things we cherish the most are so often confusing and mysterious?

I don't know.

What do you think?

                                                               

Inspirational "Make Good Art" Speech Turned Into Book

The "Make Good Art" commencement speech given by Neil Gaiman in 2012 has been made into a book! Find it on Amazon here. I think that is very cool! I absolutely loved the speech the first time I watched it online and will occasionally watch parts of it again for inspiration. If you haven't seen the speech, here's the video from youtube. I'd say it's a must watch video for aspiring artists!