Chief Justice at Graduation – 9th Graders, I Wish You Bad Luck

This guy here, the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, spoke at his son's ninth-grade graduation. And the advice he gave was the advice all students...and all adults need to hear and believe. 

Last month John Roberts gave the speech and Time put out the transcript.  There are two parts that are perfect for ninth-graders...and you and me, too.

1) In which the Chief Justice says things will go bad, and that's good.

...I hope you will be treated unfairly, so that you will come to know the value of justice. I hope that you will suffer betrayal because that will teach you the importance of loyalty. Sorry to say, but I hope you will be lonely from time to time so that you don’t take friends for granted. I wish you bad luck, again, from time to time so that you will be conscious of the role of chance in life and understand that your success is not completely deserved and that the failure of others is not completely deserved either... I hope you’ll be ignored so you know the importance of listening to others, and I hope you will have just enough pain to learn compassion.

2) In which the Chief Justice gives them an assignment...

Once a week, you should write a note to someone. Not an email. A note on a piece of paper. It will take you exactly 10 minutes....By the end of the school year, you will have sent notes to 40 people. Forty people will feel a little more special because you did, and they will think you are very special because of what you did. No one else is going to carry that dividend during your time at school.

Read the whole talk at Time.

And it's not too late to start the one note a week thing!