Sunday Inspiration -- Joseph Brodsky

I love the form of the commencement address. The good ones are a combination of personal story and life lessons. Although commencement addresses are usually in May and June, there were mid-year commencements around the country this week.. so commencement addresses. One of the best commencement addresses ever was given at a mid-year commencement 28 years ago today and featured on the Brain Pickings Blog.

On December 18th 1988, Joseph Brodsky gave the commencement address at the University of Michigan. To summarize it, he had six pieces of advice that are certainly worth it to me to consider in my life -- maybe for you too. They are listed here.

1) Zero in on being precise with your language
2) Try to be kind to your parents
3) Try not to set too much store by politicians
4) Try not to stand out; try to be modest
5) At all costs try to avoid granting yourself the status of victim
6) Try not to pay attention to those who will try to make life miserable for you

If you have time, you can read more of why he believes this advice to be essential here. The Greatest Commencement Address Ever -- Brain Pickings

As well here is a link to a PDF of the speech: Brodsky Commencement University of Michigan December 1988

If you don't know who Joseph Brodsky is, he -- like Bob Dylan -- won the Nobel Prize for Literature for his poetry. In the last years of his life, Brodsky started a "Gideon-like project" to put poetry in every hotel room next to the bible as he was outraged at the price of poetry anthologies and that only the well to do had access to poetry. Brodsky said:

"I find it absurd and idiotic and in the long run tragic. Poetry is perhaps the only insurance we've got against the vulgarity of the human heart and it should be available to everyone at low cost. Anthologies of American poetry should be sitting there in motel rooms next to the Bible. The Bible won't mind this. It doesn't mind being next to the telephone book."