(This is the transcript of a commencement speech I gave to a Marin County high school a few years ago.)
Mahatma Gandhi was approached one day by a woman and her young son. She asked, “Mahatma, can you please tell my son to stop eating sugar. It’s not good for him, and he won’t listen to me. He respects you, and I know he will listen to you.”
The Mahatma said, “Fine. Come back in a week.”
A week later, the woman and her son came back. The Mahatma said, “I’m not quite ready. Please come back in another week.”
Another week went by, and the woman came back with her son. The Mahatma was ready, and he said, “Son, you should stop eating sugar. It is not good for you.”
The woman was pleased, but also a bit confused. She said, “Why did it take you so long to say such a simple thing.”
The Mahatma replied, “When you first came to me, I had not stopped eating sugar myself.”
The moral of the story is clear: Don’t tell people to do things you haven’t done yourself. So, I don’t want to speak about things I haven’t tried and tested myself, and I don’t want to tell you a bunch of nonsense I don’t believe in. I don’t want to tell you all kinds of fancy stuff about the future and your place in it, because I’m not psychic.
