Summary of the Speech:
- It was a thought-provoking commencement speech that urges us to be more aware of the world around us and choose how we perceive and respond to everyday challenges.
- Discussed the importance of liberal arts education in “teaching you how to think”.

Some Important Parts of the Speech:
There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes “What is water?”

- Nod 點頭
Many people in the audience nodded in agreement.
許多聽眾點頭表示贊同

…if you’re worried that I plan to present myself here as the wise, older fish explaining what water is to you younger fish, please don’t be. I am not the wise old fish. The point of the fish story is merely that the most obvious, important realities are often the ones that are hardest to see and talk about.

- Wise 明智的
I think you made a wise choice.
我認為你作了一個明智的選擇

- Merely（用於強調所說的即為所想表達的）僅僅

- Obvious 明顯的
It's obvious that she doesn't like him.
顯然她不喜歡他

Of course the main requirement of speeches like this is that I’m supposed to talk about your liberal arts education’s meaning, to try to explain why the degree you are about to receive has actual human value instead of just a material payoff. So let’s talk about the single most pervasive cliché in the commencement speech genre, which is that a liberal arts education is not so much about filling you up with knowledge as it is about “teaching you how to think.”

- Pervasive 充斥各處的; 瀰漫的; 遍佈的
A pervasive smell filled the room.
The pervasive nature of the problem is making it hard to solve.


- Cliché 陳腔濫調; 老生常談; 老套的話
My wedding day - and I know it's a cliché - was just the happiest day of my life.
我結婚那天——我知道這是老生常談——是我一生中最幸福的一天