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- | ====== 2001 Commencement Speech by TV Personality, | ||
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- | Words of Wisdom \\ | ||
- | By FRED ROGERS, TV's Mr. Rogers \\ | ||
- | Marquette University - May 20, 2001 \\ | ||
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- | For a long time, I wondered why I felt like bowing when people showed their appreciation for the work that I've been privileged to do. What I've come to understand is that we who bow are probably - whether we know it or not -acknowledging the presence of the eternal: we're bowing to the eternal in our neighbor. You see, I believe that appreciation is a holy thing, that when we look for what's best in the person we happen to be with at the moment, we're doing what God does. So, in loving and appreciating our neighbor, we're participating in something truly sacred. Thank you for your warm welcome. Some of you I've known for just a little while. | ||
- | mentally disabled. All nine of them assembled at the starting line; and, at the sound of the gun they took off - but one little boy stumbled and fell and hurt his knee and began to cry. The other eight children heard the boy crying. They slowed down, turned around, saw the boy and ran back to him - every one of them ran back to him. One little girl with Down Syndrome bent down and kissed the boy and said, "This will make it better." | ||
- | When I graduated from college, I had little notion of how I'd ever be able to put together all the interests that I had. It took a good deal of time, and my parents probably wondered if I'd ever be able to make anything of all I'd been given; but after a lot of help from a lot of people, I'll never forget the sense of wholeness I felt when I finally realized what, in fact, I really was: not just a song writer or a language buff or a student of human development or a telecommunicator, | ||
- | we finally discover whom we're best equipped to serve, when we can best appreciate the unique life we've been given. | ||
- | One day, I was privileged to sit in on one of Yo-yo Ma's master cello classes. | ||
- | interest. Finally, Yo-yo said, " | ||
- | Anyone who has ever graduated from a university, anyone who has ever been able to sustain a good work has had at least one person - and often many - who believed in him or her. We just don't get to be competent human beings without many different investments from others. I'd like to give you all an invisible gift; a gift of silence to think about those who nourish you at the deepest part of your being . . .anyone who has ever loved you and wanted what was best for you in life. Some of those people may be right here today. Some may be far away, some may even be in heaven; but if they' | ||
- | have a silent minute to think of them. One minute: I'll watch the time. . . . Whomever you've been thinking about: just imagine how grateful they must be that at this extra special moment in your life, you're remembering them with such thanksgiving. You know, the Greek word for " | ||
- | television neighborhood - some as children, some as parents - and I'm proud of the way you've grown. Before I say goodbye and bow again to the eternal within you, I'd like to give you the words of one of my favorite neighborhood songs. This song is called " | ||
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