I stumbled across the transcript of Conan O'Brien's 2000 speech to the graduating class at Harvard. It is quite funny, and also quite insightful. Unfortunately, it is also quite long so don't follow the link unless you have a few minutes to sit down and read it.
The most meaningful part:
I left the cocoon of Harvard, I left the cocoon of Saturday Night Live, I left the cocoon of the Simpsons. And each time it was bruising and tumultuous. And yet every failure was freeing, and today I'm as nostalgic for the bad as I am for the good. So that's what I wish for all of you--the bad as well as the good. Fall down. Make a mess. Break something occasionally. Know that your mistakes are your own unique way of getting to where you need to be. And remember that the story is never over.
I haven't had a chance to read Will Ferrell's 2003 attempt.
