Love and Kindness

The central thematic thrust of Saunders’s speech is the importance of love and kindness as central tenets in the formation of a virtuous and fulfilling life. Saunders introduces this theme by ruminating on a personal anecdote from his childhood. When he was in the seventh grade, there was a new student who was generally ignored or teased by the other children. Saunders himself was not unkind to the student, but even as an adult, he regrets not taking a more active role in attempting to make the student to feel welcome. Saunders declares in his speech, “What I regret most in my life are failures of kindness. Those moments when another human being was there, in front of me, suffering and I responded…sensibly. Reservedly. Mildly” (7). With this anecdote and statement, Saunders establishes the active pursuit of kindness as the central focus of the wisdom...