heh-heh, Ellison aside, maybe there is some value in reminding those graduates (or anyone for that matter) in a sensational way to be non-conformists, to experience life directly/creatively rather than buying wholly into any system or group-think and then just living up in their heads. (Assuming that's what being a drop-out implies) However, I'm with you Craig. Ellison is not "aside" here. His lack of a degree is simply being used like those mythic-charachter building stories like "Lincoln was born in a cabin he built with his own hands" or when, at the height of his success, Rod Stewart used to claim he "only knows three chords on the guitar." (on second thought, that may have been true but I digress). "*I* don't need no steenkin' degree!!"

It's a real shame those graduates - after a lot of work/study and the good fortune to be able to attend school - had to sit passively (nievely?) and listen to such an arrogant display. (Please denegrate me with $200k a year!) He wasn't speaking to *them*. He was talking about *himself* on there time. Was he paid to do this? I wonder...sounds like he wants to appear virile so he masturbates in public. One of those "loser" students should've stood up an shouted "get a room!" :-)


>I'm a college dropout and not even close to being on the list, so...once again...Larry Ellison's philosophy is flawed. Even if not true, this definately sounds like something he would say. I remember a joke, that pretty much identifies Ellison:
>
>Q: What's the difference between God and Larry Ellison?
>A: God doesn't think he's Larry Ellison
>
>
>>DEFINITELY A MUST READ!!!
>>-------------------------
>>
>>"Graduates of Yale University, I apologize if you have endured this type of prologue before, but I want you to do something for me. Please, take a good look around you. Look at the classmate on your left. Look at the classmate on your right. Now, consider this:
>>
>>Five years from now, 10 years from now, even 30 thirty years from now, odds are the person on your left is going to be a loser. The person on your right, meanwhile, will also be a loser. And you, in the middle? What can you expect? Loser. Loserhood. Loser Cum Laude.
>>
>>"In fact, as I look out before me today, I don't see a thousand hopes for a bright tomorrow. I don't see a thousand future leaders in a thousand industries. I see a thousand losers. "You're upset. That's understandable. After all, how can I, Lawrence 'Larry' Ellison, college dropout, have the audacity to spout such heresy to the graduating class of one of the nation's most prestigious institutions? I'll tell you why. Because I, Lawrence "Larry" Ellison, second richest man on the planet, am a college dropout, and you are not.
>>
>>"Because Bill Gates, richest man on the planet-for now, anyway-is a college dropout, and you are not. "Because Paul Allen, the third richest man on the planet, dropped out of college, and you did not.
>>
>>"And for good measure, because Michael Dell, No. 9 on the list and moving up fast, is a college dropout, and you, yet again, are not."
>>
>>"Hmm... you're very upset. That's understandable. So let me stroke your egos for a moment by pointing out, quite sincerely, that your diplomas were not attained in vain. Most of you, I imagine, have spent four to five years here, and in many ways what you've learned and endured will serve you well in the years ahead. You've established good work habits. You've established a network of people that will help you down the road. And you've established what will be lifelong relationships with the word 'therapy.' All that of is good. For in truth, you will need that network. You will need those strong work habits. You will need that therapy.
>>
>>"You will need them because you didn't drop out, and so you will never be among the richest people in the world. Oh sure, you may, perhaps, work your way up to No. 10 or No. 11, like Steve Ballmer. But then, I don't have to tell you who he really works for, do I? And for the record, he dropped out of grad school. Bit of a late bloomer.
>>
>>"Finally, I realize that many of you, and hopefully by now most of you, are wondering, 'Is there anything I can do? Is there any hope for me at all?' Actually, no. It's too late. You've absorbed too much, think you know too much. You're not 19 anymore. You have a built-in cap, and I'm not referring to the mortar boards on your heads."
>>
>>"Hmm... you're really very upset. That's understandable. So perhaps this would be a good time to bring up the silver lining. Not for you, Class of '00. You are a write-off, so I'll let you slink off to your pathetic $200,000-a-year jobs, where your checks will be signed by former classmates who dropped out two years ago."
>>
>>"Instead, I want to give hope to any underclassmen here today. I say to you, and I can't stress this enough: leave. Pack your things and your ideas and don't come back. Drop out. Start up. "For I can tell you that a cap and gown will keep you down just as surely as these security guards dragging me off this stage are keeping me down..."