How we cite our quotes: (Sentence)
Quote #1
Instead of saying now that I hope you will all go forth from this ivory tower of college into the Real World and forge a triumphant career or at least help your husband to and keep our country strong and be a success in everything – instead of talking about power, what if I talked like a woman right here in public? (17)
So… she doesn't hope that the new graduates go on to lead successful, fulfilling lives? Maybe we should keep reading…
Quote #2
What if I said what I hope for you is first, if – only if – you want kids, I hope you have them. Not hordes of them. A couple, enough. I hope they're beautiful. I hope you and they have enough to eat, and a place to be warm and clean in, and friends, and work you like doing. (20-24)
Reality check, courtesy of Ursula K. Le Guin. Not everyone is lucky enough to have those things, and she's simply wishing them a life filled with happiness. Perhaps being happy is the ultimate success.
Quote #3
Success is somebody else's failure. Success is the American Dream we can keep dreaming because most people in most places, including thirty million of ourselves, live wide awake in the terrible reality of poverty. No, I do not wish you success. I don't even want to talk about it. I want to talk about failure. (28-32)
That's a pretty pivotal statement: "success is somebody else's failure." Is it possible to succeed without that being true? Knowing what we do about the rest of the speech, is Le Guin suggesting that experiencing failure would lead to succeeding? (And is this like a "which came first: the chicken or the egg" type thing?)