Today I yield my column to the commencement speeches from Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and from the iconic actor and comedian Jim Carrey.

I do so with no allegiance to a political party or to no great affinity for a comedian’s performances.

I do so because whether we are graduating from high school, college or are graduating from one thing to another in our later lives, these words of wisdom are worth sharing.

Pritzker to Northwestern University, 2023:

If you want to be successful in this world, you have to develop your own idiot detection system. As part of the responsibilities of being your commencement speaker, I’m going to share mine.

Sure. I’m naturally suspicious of people who never saw the original Star Wars movies, and even more cautious of people who loved the prequels and the sequels. But I admit this is not a reliable idiot indicator. No. The best way to spot an idiot, look for the person who is cruel.

Let me explain. When we see someone who doesn’t look like us, or sound like us, or act like us, or love like us, or live like us, the first thought that crosses almost everyone’s brain is rooted in either fear or judgment or both. That’s evolution. We survived as a species by being suspicious of things that we aren’t familiar with.

In order to be kind, we have to shut down that animal instinct and force our brain to travel a different pathway. Empathy and compassion are evolved states of being. They require the mental capacity to step past our most primal urges. This may be a surprising assessment because somewhere along the way in the last few years, our society has come to believe that weaponized cruelty is part of some well-thought out master plan.

Cruelty is seen by some as an adroit cudgel to gain power. Empathy and kindness are considered weak. Many important people look at the vulnerable only as rungs on a ladder to the top.

I’m here to tell you that when someone’s path through this world is marked with acts of cruelty, they have failed the first test of an advanced society. They never forced their animal brain to evolve past its first instinct. They never forged new mental pathways to overcome their own instinctual fears. And so, their thinking and problem solving will lack the imagination and creativity that the kindest people have in spades.

Over my many years in politics and business, I have found one thing to be universally true. The kindest person in the room is often the smartest.

Carrey to Maharishi University of Management, 2014:

As someone who’s done what you’re about to go and do, I can tell you from experience, the effect you have on others is the most valuable currency there is. Because everything you gain in life will rot and fall apart, and all that will be left of you is what was in your heart.

My choosing to free people from concern got me to the top of a mountain. Look where I am, look what I get to do? Everywhere I go … I’m going to get emotional because when I tap into this, it really is extraordinary to me. I did something that made people present their best selves to me, wherever I go.

I am the top of the mountain, and I was. And the only one I hadn’t freed was myself, and that’s when my search for identity deepened. I wondered who I’d be without my fame. Who would I be if I said things that people didn’t want to hear, or if I defied their expectations of me? What if I showed up to the party without my Mardi Gras mask? You guys are so ahead of the game. You already know who you are.

And that peace, that peace that we’re after lies somewhere beyond personality, beyond the perception of others, beyond invention and disguise. Even beyond effort itself. You can join the game, fight the wars, play with form all you want, but to find real peace you have to let the armor go.

Your need for acceptance can make you invisible in this world. Don’t let anything stand in the way of the light that shines through this form. Risk being seen in all of your glory.

Your job is not to figure out how it’s going to happen for you, but to open the door in your head. And when the door opens in real life, just walk through it. And don’t worry if you miss your cue because there’s always doors opening. They keep opening. And when I say, ‘Life doesn’t happen to you, it happens for you,’ I really don’t know if that’s true. I’m just making a conscious choice to perceive challenges as something beneficial so that I can deal with them in the most productive way.

You’ll come up with your own style. That’s part of the fun. Oh, and why not take a chance on faith as well? Take a chance on faith, not religion, but faith. Not hope, but faith. I don’t believe in hope. Hope is a beggar. Hope walks through the fire and faith leaps over it. You are ready and able to do beautiful things in this world.

And after you walk through those doors today, you will only ever have two choices, love or fear. Choose love, and don’t ever let fear turn you against your playful heart.

I have graduated more times since I held my high school and college degrees. I’m not done graduating yet. I’m still learning to earn an advanced degree on life, but I know that when that becomes achieved, it’s a worthless as the certificate I once earned for attending an all-day workshop that taught me nothing.

Caps and gowns mark important achievements, but we should never stop our curiosity to learn. Understanding life is impossible. Learning about it is still fascinating.”

From these two speeches of words of wisdom, I am reminded of the book titled “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten” by Robert Fulghum. The world would be better off if adults adhered to the same basic rules as children. Share what you have. Be kind. And clean up after yourself. I have passed the first two tests. I’m still working on the last one.

Email Rich Strack at richiesadie11@gmail.com