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Hi \ Pres \ Pres ofc \ kds

Commencement Address
The Ohio State University
March 21, 1997
Final

0397 OSU com

TO BE A DREAMER OF THE DAY

Dr. Kathryn D. Sullivan
President and Chief Executive Officer
Ohio's Center for Science and Industry

Thank you, Dr. Gee

Those of you waiting for your diplomas, take heart:  I know what you're going through.I, too, have had to sit for hours in uncomfortable gear, listening to others talk through formal proceedings when all I wanted to do was get launched!

So, I know what today is like for you.  In recognition of, and sympathy for your plight, I promise to stay on time.

As I considered what to say to you today, I realized that I remembered precious little of what was said at commencement ceremonies I've attended over the years... least of all my own graduations, when I was wrapped up in the thoughts and feelings that surround anyone waiting for launch into a world of infinite questions and, I must warn you, largely indefinite answers.

What on earth could I say that you'd remember? What wisdom could I possibly impart in ten minutes that you hadn't already discovered during one of the many all-nighters on High Street, or in some episode of the X-Files?

I decided it's best not to attempt great wisdom or teaching...but simply to tell you what has worked for me. To share with you some of my philosophy of life. To quote Lawrence of Arabia.

Yes...Yes -- I know -- there are only two sources an astronaut is supposed to quote on such a momentous occasion as this:  Captain Kathryn Janeway or Obi Wan Kanobi! But, I've found in T. E. Lawrence -- a somewhat renegade European who adventured through Arabia on camelback decades ago -- some words that are to me a timeless message about dreams and accomplishments.

In "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom", Lawrence wrote a verse that I keep on my office wall to this day.  It reads like this:

All men dream, but not equally.
Those who dream by night,
in the dusty recesses of their minds

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Transcription Notes:
---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-03-23 10:55:06