My bright white tuxedo

This is a sort of follow up post to that Ira Glass thing from a few weeks ago - I stumbled upon this Harvard commencement speech Conan O'Brien delivered to the class of 2000 there. It's an entertaining speech throughout, but the great part is an analogy he makes for the need to succeed when all you've known is success. It's 20 minutes worth watching, but you can pick up the important bit by clicking the square in the bottom row, one from the right, or just by reading on:



"I've dwelled on my failures today because, as graduates of Harvard, your biggest liability is your need to succeed. Your need to always find yourself on the sweet side of the bell curve.

Because success is a lot like a bright, white tuxedo. You feel terrific when you get it, but then you're desperately afraid of getting it dirty, of spoiling it in any way.

I left the cocoon of Harvard, I left the cocoon of Saturday Night Live, I left the cocoon of The Simpsons. And each time it was bruising and tumultuous. And yet, every failure was freeing, and today I'm as nostalgic for the bad as I am for the good.

So, that's what I wish for all of you: the bad as well as the good. Fall down, make a mess, break something occasionally. And remember that the story is never over."

Let's all stop feeling bad about making a mess.