Is Kindness Still Relevant?
In May 2013, best-selling author and Professor of English George Saunders听听at the College of Arts and Sciences | Maxwell School Convocation with a simple but powerful message: Choose kindness.
At the time, Saunders never imagined the speech would one day become one of the most celebrated Convocation addresses of all time.
鈥淲hen I finished writing the speech, I was proud of it and looked forward to presenting it,鈥 says Saunders. But after the Convocation ceremony, he distinctly remembers walking about the Quad with little feedback鈥攇ood or bad鈥攃oming his way. In fact, he specifically recalls an indifferent reaction from one gentleman who recognized him in the crowd.
鈥楢re you the guy that gave that speech,鈥 the man said. When Saunders replied 鈥榶eah,鈥 the man simply said, 鈥榟uh.鈥
鈥淚t鈥檚 safe to say it wasn鈥檛 a huge success at first,鈥 says Saunders. But three months after Convocation, a transcript of that speech was posted on听The New York Times听website, where it immediately went viral with over one million shares.
The message of kindness struck a chord with readers around the world, and the speech has since been immortalized, as websites including听,听,听,听听and many others rank it among their top ten Commencement addresses year after year.
鈥淚 think the simplicity was the thing because I wasn鈥檛 trying to be academic,鈥 Saunders says about its broad appeal. 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 trying to be intellectually persuasive. I was just speaking from the heart in the simplest way I could.鈥
The speech even inspired his 2014 book, “,” where Saunders explores kindness and identifies his biggest regrets in life, which were failures of kindness.
Want more Saunders? Watch the听.
