“Don't let your fellow humans be alien to you, and as
you get older and perhaps a little less open than you are now, don’t assume
that exclusive always and everywhere means better. It may only mean lonelier.
There will always be folks hard selling you the life of the few: the private
schools, private planes, private islands, private life. They are trying to
convince you that hell is other people. Don't believe it. We are far more
frequently each other's shelter and correction, the antidote to solipsism, and so
many windows on this world.” — Novelist-essayist Zadie Smith, Commencement Speech at the New School, New York, May 23, 2014
This week, we are reading the comments of some university
commencement speakers, and it will continue like this for several days or so.
But Ms. Smith’s reminder from a dozen years ago bears
keeping in mind, perhaps now more than ever. Barriers of class, ethnicity,
race, religion, and politics should not be as rigid as physical structures in
blocking access to each other.
The image accompanying this post, of Zadie Smith announcing
the five 2010 National Book Critics Circle finalists in fiction, was taken on
Jan. 22, 2011, by David Shankbone.
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