Congratulations, by the way: Some Thoughts on Kindness

This is a bound and published edition of Saunders' commencement speech at Syracuse University in 2013. You could certainly complain that it's not really a "book", that it was originally published in the New York Times, and that it is very brief.But it's worth reading.What advice do you give to graduating students? Often it's about how to succeed in the world -- e.g., find something you love to do and do it. And there have been memorable commencement speeches of that type. Some go beyond that, e.g., the speech that Steve Jobs gave to graduating Stanford students in 2005.Saunders gives a very simple message -- be kind.He asks himself what he regrets in his own life, from the vantage point of decades that the students he is talking to haven't experienced yet. And the thing that he identifies is his indifference toward a girl in his school when he was young. He wasn't mean to her, but he ignored her when she needed kindness.I can certainly think of the missed opportunities in my life when I wasn't kind to someone -- it would have taken so little. My life won't be any the less for having missed that last jump shot in the final seconds of a basketball game. It will be less for having turned away from someone who I could have helped have a better life. Few of us can say that we've kept the right balance of self-interest and kindness.I've read criticisms of Saunders' speech, that he ignores the material difficulties facing students who graduate from college today, with poor employment opportunities and often carrying heavy college loan debts on into their distant futures. I would imagine those things weigh more heavily on their minds than whether or not they are kind persons. But Saunders' message is one from a vantage point he knows is decidedly not that of his audience but one he feels they could profit from -- it is better to decide what matters in your life before you are looking back on it.I'd give the book 5 stars for content, but I'm giving it 4 as a "product" -- the speech itself is (and should be) available for free in a number of places, including video. I bought the book because . . . well, I buy George Saunders' books. I do like the idea that others have mentioned, of giving the book as a gift.

This is a fantastic book I just wish it was longer

This book is the perfect gift for graduating seniors. It is about Kindness. That’s about all you really need.

Wish I hadn't bought it.

Psychotherapists don't give gift books. Well, that's what I was taught in training, but 30 years of practice and a clear sense that this book would fill the bill, allowed me to bestow this thought in print to a client before my leave of absence from my practice. She had worked hard in her therapy to accept the fact that both her parents seemed to be mentally ill, as they were periodically in and out of clinics for as long as she could remember. She had raised her siblings with a determination that she would earn her own life, free of illness, and it would be good and deserving. Nonetheless, a difficult family of origin, an arduous work life and an extended educational life, this combination left her secretly bitter and resentful. We'd been stuck in this miserable state in our therapy work, until the day she called to thank me for the gift book. Adding that she thought her negativity was "kind of falling away, as I think about kindness, what it means when someone is kind to me...and how I want to learn to give kindness to others more easily and more often." Why else would anyone put an idea into book form? It's to change lives for the better...move us on.

I love George Saunders and this little book was the perfect graduation gift (plus $$ of course) for my nephew and niece. I might get one for myself too, it’s a sweet little book.

George Saunders is a professor of English at Syracuse University and a writer of short stories, essays, novellas and children's books. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker and Harper's, among other publications.In 2013, Saunders delivered the convocation speech at Syracuse University for the class of 2013, and shared it with The New York Times where it was reprinted with his permission.In April of 2014 the speech was published by Random House in this little book. Mr. Saunders argues that "as a goal in life, you could do worse than: Try to be kinder." He understands that we all have ambitions for fame, fortune and love but urges us as much as possible to: "err in the direction of kindness. Do those things that incline you toward the big questions, and avoid the things that would reduce you and make you trivial."Although the entire graduation speech appears in The New York Times, the book is beautifully produced. The speech takes only about 15 minutes to read but each word carries weight and meaning. It is a speech to savor and re-read often. Although the speech is available online, I recommend buying the book. But in any event, the speech is absolutely worth reading.

George Saunders’ “Congratulations, by the Way” joins that pantheon of Great Commencement Addresses, that for me include “This is Water” by David Foster Wallace, and others by Kurt Vonnegut, Barack Obama, Bono, and J. K. Rowling. Saunders’ address is distinguished by his simplicity, clarity, sweetness, and plain goodness. It’s worth reading at least once a year—maybe more often—especially if you’re feeling low or ashamed at some mean thing you did or just hoping that such kindness as he talks about will become second nature to you—for others.

The bible of young graduates particularly in our times when kindness is scarce !

An interesting speech.

The basic message is 'be kind'. No moral depth on why kindness is better than the alternative or any deep philosophical discussions, not even solid examples of how to be kind. I spent the entire book watching the slides grown from black to progressively white. Don't buy this book.

Liked the concept of kindness growing with ageDisliked any real meat in the book cover - no tools for increasing kindness. Not worth paying money for a short dissertation such as this.

I've recommended this fine little book to others. Any one who is interested in a little book as a gift. this is it.