Ars Longa Vita Brevis

   On April 5, I made the following remarks at Cheverus High School, in Portland, Maine.   The occasion was receipt of a 2018 Magis Award from the Jesuit college preparatory school that I attended from 1964-68: 

I was asked to speak for four minutes or so -- pretty short for a diplomat, but I'll hark back to my UPI Radio days, when I learned a 30-second spot gets twice as much play as a 45-second one.

  I was a pretty ordinary Cheverus grad 50 years ago.  I did not intend to become either a journalist or a diplomat.  But a lot of the things that disposed me in those directions I learned right here at Cheverus.   It wasn’t just instruction, although we were indeed blessed with some very fine and dedicated teachers.  And at the time, the Jesuits outnumbered lay teachers.

  At Cheverus, we were not taught what to think, but how to think -- how to take a good, hard, critical look, and then make up your mind.  We were taught intellectual rigor.

But we were also drilled, in various ways, on the central importance of humility, including intellectual humility -- that is, to recognize that you don’t, you can’t, know it all, and the beginning of knowledge is to understand that. 

A corollary is the need for tolerance, and respect for the opinion of others. 

It’s only a short step from there to understanding that life is a lot less trouble if you spend it building people up, and not putting people down.  And when someone puts you down, and you don’t give up on them. 

Another notion that crept in along the way for me was the realization that getting really rich is not about having a lot of money and nice stuff. 

Getting really rich is about having mental and spiritual moorings, a fundamental faith in God that will always sustain you, even when you’re far away, and even when you’re down, as we all sometimes are.

Getting really rich is about having a family and friends, like all of you here tonight, who love and support you, wherever you may be, even when you fall, maybe especially when you fall, as we all do.

And getting really rich is about having the intellectual and ethical discernment to see the right path, and then take it, particularly if you are a leader or manager, even if it’s really hard, or unpopular, as it often is.

So in 1968, I left Cheverus, like many an 18-year-old, knowing vaguely that I wanted a life of meaning, but having little idea what that would look like.  That fall, I set off on what so far has been a 50-year quest, first down the road a piece to Bowdoin, then to Ohio, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan, Greece and now back to Maine. 

I wanted more involvement than I could get with pure academics, so I turned first to journalism.  Then I wanted more than just writing about events, I wanted to help shape them, so I turned to the Foreign Service.  And then I wanted more than a diplomatic position, I wanted to serve and make a difference, so I studied Arabic and signed up for a lot of hard things in hard places. 

And always in the back of my mind, was the idea of getting back to Maine someday. 

The Greek poet C.F. Cavafy wrote a wonderful piece called “Ithaka”, inspired by the long voyage home of Odysseus.  Here are a few of the lines from the poem:

“As you set out for Ithaka

Hope your road is a long one,

Full of adventure, full of discovery…

Keep Ithaka always in your mind.

Arriving there is what you’re destined for.

But don’t hurry the journey at all.

Better if it lasts for years,

So you’re old by the time you reach the island,

Wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way,

Not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.

Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.

Without her you wouldn’t have set out.”

I’ve left the Foreign Service now, but my quest for Ithaka, that voyage of discovery that started right here at Cheverus, continues. 

  I hope yours does, too. 

  And may you get really rich along the way. 

Thank you.

More information about Cheverus and the Magis Award can be found here:  https://www.cheverus.org/about-chs/magisawards.cfm