When receiving an honorary degree from the University of Miami in 2015, Jimmy Buffett gave a commencement speech in which he offered several pieces of advice to the graduates, but two items stick out.
Buffett recalled an evening when he performed a show hungover; "I cashed in way to many fun tickets the night before," he said, adding, "It all worked out … I made it through the show, but I was mad at myself for not giving the crowd their money's worth. Nobody in the crowd knew, but I sure did. It's not a pretty thing to see talent wasted, it's an even sadder thing to waste it yourself … that is when I had to reorganize my priorities, and remind myself of how lucky I was to call what I do for a living a 'job'."
Buffett also called on the students to be generous going forward: "Be Santa Claus when you can. Just being a graduate of this great university makes you a lot luckier than most. Don’t ever take this opportunity as something you deserved."
