Quote of the Week…“It is a thousand times better to have common sense without an education than to have an education without common sense.”

Obviously, this is a very unusual graduation for the 2020 class. Dennis Prager reminds graduates that waiting until everything is “safe” means never.

Some Thoughts About Being Safe

The pursuit of “safe” over virtually all other considerations is life-suppressing. This is true for your own individual life, and it is true for the life of a society.

I always give the following example: I have been taking visitors to Israel for decades, and for all those decades, people have called my radio show to say, “Dennis, I would so love to visit Israel, but I’m just going to wait until it’s safe.” And I’ve always told these people, “Then you’ll never go.” And sure enough, I’ve gone there over 20 times, and they never went.

I have never led my life on the basis of “until it’s safe.” I do not take ridiculous risks. I wear a seatbelt whenever I’m in a car because the chances are overwhelming that in a bad accident, a seatbelt can save my life. But I get into the car, which is not 100% safe.

You are not on earth to be safe. You are on earth to lead a full life. I don’t want my epitaph to be, “He led a safe life.” It’s like another epitaph I don’t want: “He experienced as little pain as possible.”

The nature of this world is such that if you aim for 100% safety and no pain, you don’t live. I have visited 130 countries, some of which were not particularly safe. Safe, as in “no risk,” doesn’t exist. Accepting there are degrees of safety and balancing risk with reward are part of the reason I’ve led a rich life.

I’ll give a personal example. I started teaching myself to conduct an orchestra when I was in my teens. I have conducted orchestras periodically for much of my adult life. As a guest conductor, I raise funds for orchestras, as I did two years ago at the Disney Concert Hall, where I conducted a Haydn symphony with the Santa Monica Symphony Orchestra.

Now, I rarely get nervous. But the first time I conducted, I was so nervous I was actually dripping sweat onto the score — and it was only a rehearsal.

What I did was not play it safe. Playing it safe would have meant I wouldn’t have accepted the invitation to conduct.

All of life confronts you with this question: Are you going to take risks or play it safe? If you play it safe, you don’t get married. If you play it safe, you don’t have kids. There are real risks in getting married; there are real risks in having children.

Take the issue of the word “safe” on campuses. “Safe” is used to suppress freedom of thought: “If we have a conservative speaker on campus, we need a ‘safe space’ where we can avoid feeling discomfort from exposure to ideas we don’t like.” A conservative speaker comes to campus and some students go to a “safe space” where they’re given Play-Doh, hot chocolate and stuffed animals. I’m not joking. That’s what they do at some colleges — for people who are 18 and older.

That’s why Adam Carolla and I named our movie about free speech “No Safe Spaces” (which you can and should watch at NoSafeSpaces.com).

“Safe” has become a dirty word. I rarely use it in the context of living life. It’s one of the reasons I’m a happy person and have led a full life. I’m thinking of a trivial example, but life is filled with trivial examples. Most of life is not major moments. If I am at a restaurant and my fork or knife falls, I pick it up and use it. They rush over to give me a new one, like I am flirting with death if I take the fork from the floor. My view is there’s no reason to come over. The fork fell on the floor. What did it pick up — diphtheria? Am I going to get pancreatic cancer from a fork that fell? I’m not troubled by these things

“Safe” is going to suppress your joy of life.

When I was 21 years old, I was sent to the Soviet Union to smuggle in religious items for Soviet Jews and to smuggle out names of Jews who wanted to escape the Soviet Union.

It wasn’t safe. I was in a totalitarian state, smuggling things in and out. But it was one of the most important things I’ve done in my life. Not to mention a lifetransforming experience.

Before I went, I told my father about my plans. We both knew it wasn’t safe. I’ll never forget what my father said: “Dennis, I spent two and a half years on a Navy ship in World War II, fighting in the Pacific. So, you can take risks for a month.”

Yes, he was worried. But this was a man who, despite having a wife and child, enlisted in the U.S. Navy to fight in World War II. He was an officer on a troop transport ship, a prime target of the Japanese. He wasn’t safe. The World War II generation has been dubbed “the greatest generation.” Part of what made them great was the last thing they would ever ask was, “Is it safe?”

If you want to lead a good and full life, you cannot keep asking, “Is it safe?” Those at college promoting “safe spaces” are afraid of life, and they want to make you afraid of life.

We’re going crazy on the safe issue. It is making police states. That’s my worry: In the name of safety, many Americans are dropping all other considerations.

“Is it safe?” shouldn’t be the overarching element in your life. Pick the fork up. Wipe it off. And use it.

Dennis Prager

Now that we have told you not to worry about playing it safe, we want to share with you some thoughts about how to fail.

How to Fail

What strange tales I would tell if I were a guest speaker at a graduation.

To get at those minds still fresh from the accomplishment of 12 years’ education — what a great opportunity.

I would tell them something they never thought they would hear, I would tell them how to fail.

You know, anyone can tell you how to succeed. There are thousands of books on that subject.

The blueprints ad formulas are all there for anyone to follow.

What is not found very often are the directions on how to fail. I would tell the graduates that success is never guaranteed, no matter how closely you follow the diagrams. Failure, however, is pretty much a certainty, and not just once, but probably several times in your life.

You will fail if you are inconsiderate of others. So many people think the world was created just for them, and they disregard the feelings of others. We must share the space on this planet with each other.

You will fail if you think anybody owes you anything because of your education. The only ones who are owed anything are those whose victories and defeats paved the way for all the opportunities available to you. Among those might be your greatgrandparents who now live in a nursing home.

You will fail if you start your business life looking for a job that suits you. You must suit the job. Applying for any kind of work in a T-shirt and jeans will further enhance your chance for failure.

You will fail if you climb a corporate ladder by stepping on people. As the saying goes, “You will meet the same people on the way down.”

You will fail if you are intolerant of individuals with strange-sounding names and different color skin. Remember, you are just as different as them.

You will fail if you do not try to right a wrong whenever possible. You will fail if you see abuse and do not speak out against it. You will fail if you see corruption and do not fight it. You will fail if you suffer bad politicians and do not bother to vote.

You will experience the biggest failure of all if you believe the romantic notion that “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” For in truth, anyone who has lived long enough to retire will tell you that love means just the opposite. It means being able to say, “I’m sorry.”

Congratulations to all graduates everywhere!

James Jackowski

Take risks and learn to fail…These are thoughts seniors probably don’t hear to often, but they are so true.

And last of all, my favorite story of the week. Phil Proctor writes the following:

Well, I finally lost it! I just saw a guy in CVS whose cart was FULL to the brim with hand sanitizers, baby wipes, soaps and TP — everything that people need!

I called him a selfish, disgusting person, and gave him a lowdown about the elderly, moms, and people who really need these types of things and told him he should be freaking ashamed of himself!

“Are you done?” he asked, “I actually work here and am restocking the shelves.”

It pays not to jump to conclusions!