Most inspiring commencement speech of all time?

I finally found a link to one of the most inspiring commencement speeches of all time, in my opinion. And it’s from the late Fred “It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” Rogers, delivered at Dartmouth in 2002.

What impresses me so much is one small story that can’t be repeated enough…

“We are intimately related. May we never even pretend that we are not. Have you heard my favorite story that came from the Seattle Special Olympics? Well, for the 100-yard dash there were nine contestants, all of them so-called physically or mentally disabled. All nine of them assembled at the starting line and at the sound of the gun, they took off. But not long afterward one little boy stumbled and fell and hurt his knee and began to cry. The other eight children heard him crying; they slowed down, turned around 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’ll make it better.” And the little boy got up and he the rest of the runners linked their arms together and joyfully walked to the finish line. They all finished the race at the same time. And when they did, everyone in that stadium stood up and clapped and whistled and cheered for a long, long, time. People who were there are still telling the story with great delight. And you know why. Because deep down, we know that what matters in this life is more than winning for ourselves. What really matters is helping others win too. Even if it means slowing down and changing our course now and then.”

Great stuff. I’ll be looking for other great snippets from graduation speeches that can inspire all of us in our work. In the meantime, read the entire speech by Mr. Rogers.