Commencement addresses are meant to articulate all that pent-up promise. In theory, they should congratulate, celebrate, and inspire; in reality, they are largely forgettable. The amnesiac-quality of those speeches should not be any surprise: they are delivered amidst pomp and circumstance and crowds of incredulous graduates and parents pondering, “I (expletive) can’t believe I (they) actually made it!”
But there are a few speeches with staying power, including those from good authors. Writers may not actually be any wiser than the average bear, but given the amount of contemplative time spent poking around in other people’s (real and fictional) lives, some pearly bits of their wisdom (or at least wit) should withstand all the revelry.