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 点头
Many people in the audience nodded in agreement.
许多听众点头表示赞同

…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.
我认为你作了一个明智的选择

- Merely（用于强调所说的即为所想表达的）仅仅

- Obvious 明显的
It's obvious that she doesn't like him.
显然她不喜欢他

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 充斥各处的; 弥漫的; 遍布的
A pervasive smell filled the room.
The pervasive nature of the problem is making it hard to solve.


- Cliché 陈腔滥调; 老生常谈; 老套的话
My wedding day - and I know it's a cliché - was just the happiest day of my life.
我结婚那天——我知道这是老生常谈——是我一生中最幸福的一天