Jerry Zucker - Commencement Speech

by Liz Heather in ,

I really like reading commencement speeches. Obviously they can’t all be great, since that would be impossible. But once in awhile, I’ll come across a really fantastic one and then save it in a file. Here’s an excerpt from one of the ones worth reading, in my opinion. 

My brother David and Jim Abrahams and I were having pie at Rumpelmeyer’s Coffee Shop in New York on the day after our third movie, “Top Secret,” opened. The reviews were terrible and it was bombing at the box office. We were really getting into some serious moping and self-flagellation when John Travolta walked in. We knew him from the Paramount lot and he could see right away that we were in a funk. We immediately poured out our heart to him, explaining the pain of our humiliating misfortune.

I’m not sure what we were expecting, but John just smiled and said, “Guys, the thing you have to remember is (that) nobody else is paying as much attention to your failures as you are. You’re the only ones who are obsessed with the importance of your own life. To everyone else, it’s just a blip on the radar screen, so just move on. By the way, are you going to finish that pie?” Think of the world as a big glass of water with some salt in it. You have a choice. You can try to pick out all the salt or you can keep pouring in more water so eventually it gets less bitter. As you begin your new journey, you can try to remove everything that you find distasteful in the world, or you can just pour in more love. It’s the only thing that the more you give away, the more you have.

So take all that warm, fuzzy stuff you’ve been hiding and spread it around a little. And then judge yourself not by your accomplishments, but by the happiness of the people around you. If you do that, you can do anything, you can go anywhere, you can fail at anything, and wherever you are, you will find a “there” there, because you’ll bring it with you.

– Jerry Zucker, Commencement Speech, University of Wisconsin

Read Alan Alda's Autobiographies (Yes, There Are Two)

by Liz Heather in

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It’s no secret that Alan Alda is great. If you don’t know who he is… then… man. Google it. It’s a sin that you don’t know already/I’m not about to waste time in here educating you. That man is wonderful. And these books of his are gems. GEMS! And keep in mind - I was only lukewarm on the ol’ Alda train before I read these, but after? Well, let’s not delve into the dreams I’ve had about him. 

Here are some of my favorite parts from the two books:

“It seems hard to believe you grew from that little baby… into a friend of mine.”

“I went out for a beer after class one evening with a fellow student. He looked down in his beer and said, “You know, if we really want to be first-class artists, we’ll have to give up everything. Everything. We’ll have to give up friends and movies and reading the Sunday Times.” I nodded and grunted in agreement. But inwardly I was thinking, “What the hell is he talking about? What kind of romantic bullshit is this?”

“And then he gave me, apart from not drifting while I talked, the only advice he ever gave me about acting. “Always find a place to sit down,” he said. “Your legs will get tired. Look for places to sit down. Whenever you can.” I nodded as if I understood. This is really strange advice, I thought. What could he possibly mean? Is he so empty that he thinks this is the secret of a life on the stage? I wish I could go back now and touch his hand. Touch his hand and thank him for sharing a speck of the reality of his life with me. Not the vague generality of most people’s advice, but a little bite of life: the ache in his leg on a long day. Anesthetized by youth, I missed it.”

These are just a few parts, but both books are definitely worth reading. Even if you miraculously DON’T love this man already.