The key to success is love - John Legend

The singer shared his words of wisdom with the graduating class of the University of Pennsylvania.

The following speech, reported by The Huffington Post was delivered by singer John Legend as part of the University of Pennsylvania’s commencement ceremonies.

“I am truly humbled and honoured and grateful to be here at the commencement of one of the finest universities on the planet. I first visited this campus as a high school senior named John Stephens in 1995 - 19 years ago - and I would have never thought at that moment that I would be standing here as John Legend, speaking to you today.

The reason I’m here, the reason I’ve had such a wonderful journey so far, is that I’ve found love. Yes, love. We were all made to love. The key to success, the key to happiness, is opening your mind and your heart to love. Spending your time doing things you love and with people you love.

My family was like a model family in our local community. My parents were leaders, raising intelligent, talented kids in a loving environment. But things started to fall apart when I was 10. My maternal grandmother passed away and her death devastated my family. Her death sent my mother into a deep depression that eventually tore our family apart.

After the initial shock of my family breaking apart, my outward response wasn’t very emotional. I coped by being stoic and seemingly unaffected. The only thing I allowed myself to really love without reservation was music. I put a lot of energy into becoming a better artist, a better writer and a better performer. I always believed that my big break would come sooner rather than later. I always thought my moment was just around the corner, but I was rejected by all the major labels; some of them rejected me multiple times. But I did find a young producer from Chicago named Kanye West who believed in me. Our collaboration has been a huge part of my career, and it had a lot to do with me finally getting a major recording contract in 2004. Now, Kanye and I have very different personalities, as you might have guessed. But what unites us is our true love for music and art.

I know what it’s like to be all ego in your 20s. I know what it’s like to be selfish and just focus on your immediate wants and desires. I know what it’s like to protect your heart from pain and disappointment. But years from now, when you look back, your life and your happiness will be way more defined by the quality of your relationships, not the quantity. You’ll get much more joy out of depth, not breadth. It’s about being there for the people you care about, and knowing that they’ll be there for you.

Now, I’ve already talked about the power of love in your work and your personal lives. But I also want to talk about how love changes the world. There are 7 billion other people out there. I want you to consider what it means to love them too. What does it mean to love people we don’t know, to see the value in every single person’s life? Think about that. It’s a pretty radical notion.

If you’re committed to loving in public, it requires you opening your eyes to injustice, to see the world through the eyes of another. This is not a passive activity. You have to read. You have to travel to other neighborhoods, other parts of the world.

We’re taught when we’re young that the opposite of love is hate. But it’s not. Hate is a byproduct. Hate is a result. Hate comes from one thing: fear. And fear is the opposite of love. Fear is what blinds us. Fear is corrosive. Fear makes us hold back. It whispers to us, tells us that we’ll fail. It tells us that our differences are too much to overcome. Fear locks us in place. It starts fights. It causes wars.

And fear keeps us from loving. Even though we’re made to love, we’re often afraid to love. We’re afraid of being hurt deeply. Love is all-consuming -- it infiltrates your body, it’s what allows you to experience bliss, joy and true friendship.

Yes, I’ve been not-so-subtly working in my song lyrics. And some might think it’s all a bit too much. Here I am this R&B singer with an album called Love in the Future, who’s recently married and wrote the biggest love song of the year. It’s so corny, isn’t it? It’s much cooler to be detached and apathetic, right?

But that cool detachment only gets you so far. Passion gets you a lot further. It makes you a better entrepreneur, a better leader, a better philanthropist, a better friend, a better lover.

I want you to live the best life you can. You can be world-changers. When you leave here today, you’re going to be looking for a lot of things: security, money, friendships, all kinds of things. But the most important thing you’ll find is love.

Congratulations to the Class of 2014 and thank you so much!

Published in The Express Tribune, May 23^rd, 2014.

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