- For what you do now and what you decide now
at this age, may well determine
which way your life shall go.
And the question is, whether you
have a proper, a solid, and a sound blueprint.
And I wanna suggest some of the things
that should be in your life's blueprint.
Number one in your life's blueprint
should be a deep belief
in your own dignity, your own worth,
and your own somebodiness.
Don't allow anybody to make you feel
that you are nobody.
Always feel that you count.
Always feel that you have worth.
And always feel that your life
has ultimate significance.
Secondly, in your life's blueprint
you must have as a basic principle
the determination to achieve excellence
in your various fields of endeavor.
You're gonna be deciding as the days
and the years unfold, what you will do in life,
what your life's work will be.
Once you discover what it will be
set out to do it and to do it well.
Be a bush if you can't be a tree.
If you can't be a highway, just be a trail.
If you can't be the sun, be a star.
For it isn't by size that you win or you fail.
Be the best of whatever you are.
(audience applauds)
And finally, in your life's blueprint
must be a commitment to the eternal principles
of beauty, love, and justice.
While life for none of us has been a crystal stair
we must keep moving, we must keep going.
If you can't fly, run.
If you can't run, walk.
If you can't walk, crawl.
But by all means keep moving.
(audience applauds)
(instrumental music)