I wish you bad luck
I was watching this commencement address by US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, when I heard this part that made me stop in my tracks:
From time to time, in the years to come, I hope you will be treated unfairly, so that you will come to know the value of justice.
I hope that you will suffer betrayal because that will teach you the importance of loyalty.
…I hope you will be lonely from time to time so that you don’t take friends for granted.
I wish you bad luck… so that you will be conscious of the role of chance in life and understand that your success is not completely deserved and that the failure of others is not completely deserved either.
…I hope you’ll be ignored so you know the importance of listening to others, and I hope you will have just enough pain to learn compassion.
Whether I wish these things or not, they’re going to happen. And whether you benefit from them or not will depend upon your ability to see the message in your misfortunes.
Hat tip to James Clear, who included this commencement address on his list of great speeches.