Many of you know that， as President Hennessy said， I started this school in Africa. And I founded the school， where I，m trying to give South African girls a shot at a future like yours-Stanford. And I spent five years making sure that school would be as beautiful as the students. I wanted every girl to feel her worth reflected in her surroundings. So， I checked every blueprint， I picked every pillow. I was looking at the grout in between the bricks. I knew every thread count of the sheets. I chose every girl from the villages， from nine provinces. And yet， last fall， I was faced with a crisis I had never anticipated. I was told that one of the dorm matrons was suspected of sexual abuse.
That was， as you can imagine， devastating news. First， I cried-actually， I sobbed-for about half an hour. And then I said， let，s get to it； that，s all you get， a half an hour. You need to focus on the now， what you need to do now. So， I contacted a child trauma specialist. I put together a team of investigators. I made sure the girls had counseling and support. And Gayle and I got on a plane and flew to South Africa.
And the whole time I kept asking that question: What is this here to teach me? And， as difficult as that experience has been， I got a lot of lessons. I understand now the mistakes I made， because I had been paying attention to all of the wrong things. I，d built that school from the outside in， when what really mattered was the inside out. So， it，s a lesson that applies to all of our lives as a whole. What matters most is what，s inside. What matters most is the sense of integrity， of quality and beauty. I got that lesson. And what I know is that the girls came away with something， too. They have emerged from this more resilient and knowing that their voices have power.
And their resilience and spirit have given me more than I could ever give to them， which leads me to my final lesson-the one about finding happiness-which we could talk about all day， but I know you have other wacky things to do.
Not a small topic this is， finding happiness. But in some ways I think it，s the simplest of all. Gwendolyn Brooks wrote a poem for her children. It，s called "Speech to the Young : Speech to the Progress-Toward." And she says at the end， "Live not for battles won. / Live not for the-end-of-the-song. / Live in the along." She，s saying， like Eckhart Tolle， that you have to live for the present. You have to be in the moment. Whatever has happened to you in your past has no power over this present moment， because life is now.
But I think she，s also saying， be a part of something. Don，t live for yourself alone. This is what I know for sure: In order to be truly happy， you must live along with and you have to stand for something larger than yourself. Because life is a reciprocal exchange. To move forward you have to give back. And to me， that is the greatest lesson of life. To be happy， you have to give something back.
I know you know that， because that，s a lesson that，s woven into the very fabric of this university. It，s a lesson that Jane and Leland Stanford got and one they，ve bequeathed to you. Because all of you know the story of how this great school came to be， how the Stanfords lost their only child to typhoid at the age of 15. They had every right and they had every reason to turn their backs against the world at that time， but instead， they channeled their grief and their pain into an act of grace. Within a year of their son，s death， they had made the founding grant for this great school， pledging to do for other people，s children what they were not able to do for their own boy.
The lesson here is clear， and that is， if you，re hurting， you need to help somebody ease their hurt. If you，re in pain， help somebody else，s pain. And when you，re in a mess， you get yourself out of the mess helping somebody out of theirs. And in the process， you get to become a member of what I call the greatest fellowship of all， the sorority of compassion and the fraternity of service.
The Stanfords had suffered the worst thing any mom and dad can ever endure， yet they understood that helping others is the way we help ourselves. And this wisdom is increasingly supported by scientific and sociological research. It，s no longer just woo-woo soft-skills talk. There，s actually a helper，s high， a spiritual surge you gain from serving others. So， if you want to feel good， you have to go out and do some good.
But when you do good， I hope you strive for more than just the good feeling that service provides， because I know this for sure， that doing good actually makes you better. So， whatever field you choose， if you operate from the paradigm of service， I know your life will have more value and you will be happy.
I was always happy doing my talk show， but that happiness reached a depth of fulfillment， of joy， that I really can，t describe to you or measure when I stopped just being on TV and looking at TV as a job and decided to use television， to use it and not have it use me， to use it as a platform to serve my viewers. That alone changed the trajectory of my success.
So， I know this-that whether you，re an actor， you offer your talent in the way that most inspires art. If you，re an anatomist， you look at your gift as knowledge and service to healing. Whether you，ve been called， as so many of you here today getting doctorates and other degrees， to the professions of business， law， engineering， humanities， science， medicine， if you choose to offer your skills and talent in service， when you choose the paradigm of service， looking at life through that paradigm， it turns everything you do from a job into a gift. And I know you haven，t spent all this time at Stanford just to go out and get a job.
You，ve been enriched in countless ways. There，s no better way to make your mark on the world and to share that abundance with others. My constant prayer for myself is to be used in service for the greater good.
So， let me end with one of my favorite quotes from Martin Luther King. Dr. King said， "Not everybody can be famous." And I don，t know， but everybody today seems to want to be famous.
But fame is a trip. People follow you to the bathroom， listen to you pee. It，s just-try to pee quietly. It doesn，t matter， they come out and say， "Oh my God， it，s you. You peed."
That，s the fame trip， so I don，t know if you want that.
