Uncommon Sense: Warren Buffett's Priceless Advice for College Graduates
"You go out [into the world] with a winning hand," said Buffett. "That doesn't mean that every single day is perfect. The world isn't that way."
Back in June, I transcribed Warren Buffett’s closing speech at the Goldman Sachs “10,000 Small Businesses” Summit. I noted then that this was the closest Buffett ever came to delivering a traditional college commencement address.
But there’s actually one other talk of his that equally fits that description.
On December 19, 2020, as the world grappled with the uncertainty of the Covid-19 pandemic, Buffett made a memorable “appearance” at the University of Nebraska’s virtual graduation ceremony.
Speaking to the graduates by phone, Buffett radiated his signature optimism — at a time when that was in very short supply in certain quarters — and offered them a roadmap for navigating an uncertain world, finding your purpose, and redefining a successful life.
Warren Buffett opened with a bold-ish claim: Despite the pervasive gloom of the Covid era, he would happily trade places with any of the 2020 graduates without a second thought. To students facing a professional landscape pockmarked by Zoom fatigue, a shaky job market, and global instability, this probably sounded like the old man was just blowing smoke.
But Buffett, who built his prodigious fortune during some of the most turbulent decades of the 20th century, was not being glib.
“They feel they’re going out into an uncertain world,” he said about the graduates, “but there’s never been a better time [to be alive].”