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№ 2009.003 — Bates College — Commencement address
Fareed Zakaria
Field: letters
Fareed Zakaria acknowledges that the Class of 2009 is graduating into difficult economic and geopolitical times, but argues he remains optimistic because of the graduates themselves. Using examples like the swine flu response and Thomas Malthus's failed predictions, he stresses that it is easy to describe the world's problems but impossible to predict the human response that ultimately changes history. He urges graduates to recognize themselves as agents of change and to pursue enduring qualities such as intelligence, hard work, honesty, character, loyalty, love, and faith.
Key moments
- 01 Acknowledging the difficult economic and geopolitical moment of 2009
- 02 Using the swine flu response and Malthus to show human response shapes history
- 03 Telling graduates they are the agents of change in the world
- 04 Advising pursuit of timeless qualities like honesty, hard work, and faith
Transcript
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Read the full transcript at source →Provenance
Imported from NPR commencement archive; cross-referenced with Open Commencement DB
NPR archive last updated in 2015; destination availability has not been exhaustively rechecked | Open Commencement DB transcript; not independently verified against the original recording