Commencement: What Next?

June 4, 1967

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“You have received certain talents, some ten, some five, some one . . .” Dr. Karl T. Compton said to a class at Commencement. “Whether you wish it or not. . . the world will hold you . . . accountable . . . Each of you has his own particular amount and kind of knowledge. Some . . . have had wider experiences . . . some have studied harder, . . . some . . . have the more retentive memories, . . . Like the nobleman in the parable, . . . we may . . . say, here are your talents as they are today; what next? What are you going to do about it? You may reply: ‘That is my business, I’ll do as I please with them.’ Or you may answer, ‘I wish I knew;’ or, ‘I want to do the best I can. . .’ But . . . let me call attention to a very important point: after a time the nobleman called on his servants for an accounting . . . and dealt with them . . . in accordance with their performance . . . Just so, . . . the world will call on you for an accounting . . . From now on, for better or for worse, is very largely within your own control. What you have today . . . has largely [been] given you; what you will have made of it . . . is up to you . . . . Some students have the mistaken idea that, after graduation, they quit learning and begin to practice,” Mr. Compton continued “But . . . graduation should be no such sharp break as this. . . . You have only just enough to start out with. There is an infinite lot for you still to learn, . . . to extend your knowledge and improve your skill. . . . [A survey has shown] far too many in the category of that servant who simply gave back to his master that which was his young men who worked the appointed hours . . . and drew their pay, and beyond that were making no effort to increase their talents. Such men constitute the great . . . mass of mediocrity; . . . In infancy, parents and all the world protect us. In childhood also every effort is made to give each one of us the best possible chance. . . . Parents are indulgent, teachers try to help; but the world is not indulgent, and [expects] . . . performance . . . . By and large, man sinks or swims by his own efforts. . . . It is you, . . . who must use these opportunities so that, when the accounting comes, the world will say unto you, ‘. . . thou has been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things (Matthew 25:21).'”1


1Karl T. Compton, President, Mass. Institute of Technology, “The Stuff of Life Our Talents and Their Care,” Baccalaureate to Class of 1937, published in Vital Speeches of the Day, 1937, pp. 556-9

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