A review by tevreads
Congratulations, by the Way: Some Thoughts on Kindness by George Saunders
5.0
I think Saunders is quickly becoming my favourite modern author. This transcript of a graduation speech he presented at Syracuse offers a simple message, be kind. Indeed, like one of my favourite speeches by David Foster Wallace, This is Water, compassion is the central theme. To me, I believe a compassion for others, but also self, is really the key to life, and I wish everyone else would see it the same way.
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Poignantly, Saunders states that one of the biggest mistakes of his life was not being kinder to a girl being bullied at school. He then goes on to explain this cycle of wanting to be a nicer person, but not until you work on yourself, that you need to get that job, or that degree, and only then are you in a position to be a compassionate person. Critically, this is a never-ending cycle, a Sisyphean struggle.
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Therefore, as Saunders states, be kind, and do it now, tomorrow, and always. It's really not that hard to reach out to someone, a stranger or a friend, and the feeling of doing so is unlike anything else. If you strip back everything else in life, as you grow old and weary, is that not the one thing you will remember?
_________
Poignantly, Saunders states that one of the biggest mistakes of his life was not being kinder to a girl being bullied at school. He then goes on to explain this cycle of wanting to be a nicer person, but not until you work on yourself, that you need to get that job, or that degree, and only then are you in a position to be a compassionate person. Critically, this is a never-ending cycle, a Sisyphean struggle.
_________
Therefore, as Saunders states, be kind, and do it now, tomorrow, and always. It's really not that hard to reach out to someone, a stranger or a friend, and the feeling of doing so is unlike anything else. If you strip back everything else in life, as you grow old and weary, is that not the one thing you will remember?