Summary

Congratulations, by the Way was originally a speech given by author George Saunders as the commencement speaker at Syracuse University in the spring of 2013. Saunders opens the speech by commenting on the “traditional form…for this type of speech” (1). Saunders says that as an elder person who has acquired wisdom by making “a series of dreadful mistakes” (1) in his life, he will attempt to give sincere advice to the young graduates who “have their best years ahead of them” (1). Saunders goes on to say that elderly people are a valuable resource in that they can discuss the regrets they have had in life, thereby allowing younger people to learn from those regrets and avoid making similar mistakes. Saunders proceeds to list misfortunes in his life that he does not regret, such as being poor sometimes, working some grueling and unremunerative jobs, contracting a serious...