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St. George's University
2000 Commencement
May 12, 2000
Copyright 2000 by Julian Bond

Chancellor, members of the faculty, administrators, parents, family members -- and most importantly, graduates -- it is a high honor to have been asked to speak here today.

Ceremonies like this one inevitably call to mind my own graduation from high school many years ago. The man who delivered the commencement address spoke -- without notes -- for almost three hours. Sitting in the hot afternoon sun, I thought, "Someday I'll get a chance to do that."

Luckily for you, this isn't it.

It is, however, the occasion for congratulations to you and for reflections from me. And it is the occasion for you to think back on what you have learned here, and how that learning will carry you forward from this place and time.

Your curriculum has been varied ,but I trust you have learned to avoid what Ghandi called the seven sins - wealth without works, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, worship without sacrifice, and politics without principle.

These are lessons which ought to guide us all as our world grows smaller and distant neighbors become closer friends.

If we were to shrink the world's population to a village of 100 people, with existing ratios remaining the same, that village would look like this:

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