A writer and poet who graduated from the University of California in 1982, O'Brien returned to campus this month to give the commencement address to graduates of the English Department. I admire you for having the courage to major in English. While your friends in other departments have been pestered these past weeks by recruiters from Boeing, Bechtel and IBM, you have been left free to complete your studies in peace and to consider your future in burger flipping. It took courage for you to choose English and it took more courage to stick with it, so I congratulate you. You have chosen the word as the focus of your studies.
Language is our greatest achievement.
It can even aspire to possess the beauty of music. We who live by the word know how powerful it is, know that it can corrupt and destroy as much as it can edify and enlighten. To make sure that we use the word for its highest purposes, we must obey three conditions. We must be humble. The words we use are old and powerful.