As Socrates declared:

   What is important

   is not simply to live,

   but to live well.

As Victor Hugo cried:

   Young people, take heart.

   If there are those who would make

   the present difficult,

   our future will be beautiful.

However much some may

be showered in renown

and receive the heated cheers

of the multitude,

this is of little concern.

For the value and significance

of a person’s life

must be assessed in its entirety.

We must ask:

Has this been a life

which brightly cast the light

of conviction and justice

over past, present and future–

like a jewel whose facets

mutually capture and reflect?

My friend!

Sharing a celebratory toast,

let us envision the immense

scale of our future,

free from sorrowful sighs,

lit by ten million sparkling

points of light.

My dear friend,

in the midst of this demented era

you advance boldly, youthfully, powerfully

along the freshly open path

of the new century,

laughing grandly with

your friends and fellows.

Sounding the bell of conviction

you gather strength and empower

one another.

There, the sun’s

pleasant, lively light awaits.

There line up

the adornments

of numberless stars.

And there await

friends passionately

sharing our convictions,

who peer with calm and easy smiles

into the deepest reaches

of our heart.

Most noble and precious

are such friends;

changeless, undiminished friends,

our eternal treasure.

Even if,

for the sake of truth,

we are together forced

to drain the bitter cup,

the time will surely come when

–now bathed in honor

and having shed all failure

or exhaustion—

we will address to all humanity

a proud acceptance speech

for the victory that is ours.

Emperors are human.

Ordinary citizens are human.

So are the powerful.

All people are.

Our true human worth

is determined by the state

of our inner life.

It is determined by

what we achieve.

And it is determined by

the nobility of the goals

toward which we strive.