Environmentalist, entrepreneur, journalist, and author
Commencement Speech at University of Portland, 2009
In 2009, the University of Portland welcomed Paul Hawken, a prominent environmentalist and visionary entrepreneur. His insights into sustainability, environmental stewardship, and his entrepreneurial spirit left a lasting impression, emphasizing the urgent need for environmental action and the role of innovation in creating a more sustainable future for our planet.
10 top life lessons by Paul Hawken
- Lesson: Humanity’s Role as Earth’s Programmers: We must acknowledge that the Earth is in crisis, and it’s our responsibility to develop a new “operating system” for the planet.
- Lesson: The Lost Operating Instructions: We’ve disregarded essential rules for maintaining the Earth, such as not polluting the environment and not overpopulating, leading to a need for urgent change.
- Lesson: The Earth is Hiring: We have a unique opportunity and a moral obligation to address the world’s problems. The Earth is calling for our help.
- Lesson: Defying the Perception of Impossibility: Instead of being deterred by what seems impossible, we should take action without preconceived limitations and assess the feasibility afterward.
- Lesson: Data and Optimism.: Understanding the scientific data may lead to pessimism, but optimism arises from witnessing the countless individuals working to restore the world.
- Lesson: The Global Movement of Caring People: A vast, interconnected network of people and organizations is working to address global challenges, and it’s the largest movement in history.
- Lesson: Life Creates the Conditions for Life: Life strives to create conditions that support life, which can be a guiding principle for a sustainable future economy.
- Lesson: Healing the Future Instead of Stealing It. We need an economy based on restoration and healing, not exploitation, as exploiting the Earth leads to suffering for both nature and people.
- Lesson: Interconnectedness and Collective Wisdom. Each of us is interconnected with all life on Earth, and humanity is showing a collective wisdom in coming together to heal and protect the planet.
- Lesson: Embrace Hope and Take Action: We must be hopeful and proactive in the face of daunting challenges, recognizing that hope makes the most sense when circumstances seem bleak. It’s our century, and we must act like it’s our responsibility to preserve life on Earth.
Best quotes of Paul Hawken‘s speech
"YOU ARE BRILLIANT, AND THE EARTH IS HIRING.""Life is a miracle every moment of your existence."
"The most unrealistic person in the world is the cynic, not the dreamer."
Video of Paul Hawken‘s Commencement speech at University of Portland
Commencement speech transcript
“Ralph Waldo Emerson once asked what we would do if the stars only came out once every thousand years. No one would sleep that night, of course… We would be ecstatic, delirious, made rapturous by the glory of God. Instead the stars come out every night, and we watch television.”
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There is invisible writing on the back of the diploma you will receive, and in case you didn’t bring lemon juice to decode it, I can tell you what it says: YOU ARE BRILLIANT, AND THE EARTH IS HIRING. The earth couldn’t afford to send any recruiters or limos to your school. It sent you rain, sunsets, ripe cherries, night-blooming jasmine, and that unbelievably cute person you are dating. Take the hint. And here’s the deal: Forget that this task of planet-saving is not possible in the time required. Don’t be put off by people who know what is not possible. Do what needs to be done, and check to see if it was impossible only after you are done.
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There is a rabbinical teaching that says if the world is ending and the Messiah arrives, first plant a tree, and then see if the story is true. Inspiration is not garnered from the litanies of what may befall us; it resides in humanity’s willingness to restore, redress, reform, rebuild, recover, reimagine, and reconsider. “One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began, though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice,” is Mary Oliver’s description of moving away from the profane toward a deep sense of connectedness to the living world.
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The first living cell came into being nearly 40 million centuries ago, and its direct descendants are in all of our bloodstreams. Literally, you are breathing molecules this very second that were inhaled by Moses, Mother Teresa, and Bono. We are vastly interconnected. Our fates are inseparable. We are here because the dream of every cell is to become two cells. In each of you are one quadrillion cells, 90 percent of which are not human cells. Your body is a community, and without those other microorganisms, you would perish in hours. Each human cell has 400 billion molecules conducting millions of processes between trillions of atoms. The total cellular activity in one human body is staggering: one septillion actions at any one moment, a one with twenty-four zeros after it. In a millisecond, our body has undergone ten times more processes than there are stars in the universe exactly what Charles Darwin foretold when he said science would discover that each living creature was a “little universe, formed of a host of self-propagating organisms, inconceivably minute and as numerous as the stars of heaven.”
So I have two questions for you all: First, can you feel your body? Stop for a moment. Feel your body. One septillion activities going on simultaneously, and your body does this so well you are free to ignore it, and wonder instead when this speech will end. Second question: who is in charge of your body? Who is managing those molecules? Hopefully not a political party. Life is creating the conditions that are conducive to life inside you, just as in all of nature. What I want you to imagine is that collectively humanity is evincing deep innate wisdom in coming together to heal the wounds and insults of the past.
Ralph Waldo Emerson once asked what we would do if the stars only came out once every thousand years. No one would sleep that night, of course. The world would become religious overnight. We would be ecstatic, delirious, made rapturous by the glory of God. Instead, the stars come out every night, and we watch television.
This extraordinary time when we are globally aware of each other and the multiple dangers that threaten civilization have never happened, not in a thousand years, not in ten thousand years. Each of us is as complex and beautiful as all the stars in the universe. We have done great things and we have gone way off course in terms of honoring creation. You are graduating to the most amazing, challenging, stupefying challenge ever bequested to any generation. The generations before you failed. They didn’t stay up all night. They got distracted and lost sight of the fact that life is a miracle every moment of your existence. Nature beckons you to be on her side. You couldn’t ask for a better boss. The most unrealistic person in the world is the cynic, not the dreamer. Hopefulness only makes sense when it doesn’t make sense to be hopeful. This is your century. Take it and run as if your life depends on it.
Read the full commencement speech »
University of Portland
Berkeley
May 03, 2009