Structure

Because this piece was originally given as a commencement speech at a college graduation ceremony, it is structured as a direct address to a specific audience. However, due to the largely universal nature of the ideas and wisdom contained within the speech, any person or group may fulfill the role of audience. Saunders begins by establishing his relationship to his audience, emphasizing his age and the wisdom he has gained through mistakes and missteps in his life. He then states that the main thesis of his speech is inspired by his personal regrets, specifically the moments in which he failed to be actively kind towards others.

Most of the speech is dominated by Saunders’s discussion of kindness, its supreme importance above all other virtues, and the individual’s role in nurturing their own capacity for kindness, love, compassion, and similar qualities. Saunders treats his speech as...