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He did the usual well wishing and pats on the backs for their accomplishments. He wished them well and asked them to strive to attain their full potential...you know the exercise.
At the end he said..."Now, realize that this isn't life, some succeed and some fail but in the end it makes little difference. I'm old and I'm not sure why I was asked to speak but I am just going to save you alot of trying to understand this life by reading one little book. (At this point I was thinking, I hope it's not something really odd.)
He went on about our civilization and told a brief history of Will and Ariel Durant and their life time achievment of "The Story of Civilization." I'm probably one of the few that read all 11 volumes but I'm richer for it.
He noted that few would read all the volumes.
At the end he described the Durants synopsis of a lifetime as historians. He recommended that all get a copy of one small volume, "The Lessons of History." This is how the Durants summed up 5000 years of our civilization in one small volume and condensed all their books. I have read it and I still get it out and read it now and then. At the beginning, Will Durant, said "Only a fool would proceed." They did and it's an incredible small volume. It pretty much explains the world with no bias and comes to a great conclusion you need to read. Just the summation of a lifetime looking at our civilization.
I encourage you to find a copy..it's easily found on Amazon, etc.
I'm copying and pasting from Wikipedia:
The Lessons of History is a book by historians Will Durant and Ariel Durant.
In The Lessons of History the authors provided a summary of periods and trends in history they had noted upon completion of their momentous eleven volume The Story of Civilization. Will Durant stated that he and Ariel "made note of events and comments that might illuminate present affairs, future probabilities, the nature of man, and the conduct of states."
The book thus presents an overview of the themes and lessons observed from 5000 years of world history examined from 13 perspectives such as geography, biology, race, character, morals, religion, economics, socialism, government, war, growth and decay and progress.
Chapter outline
Hesitations
History and the Earth
Biology and History
R*ce and History
Character and History
Morals and History
Religion and History
Economics and History
Socialism and History
Government and History
History and War
Growth and Decay
Is Progress Real?
It's an incredible read.
Mark
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