We say of some things that they can't be forgiven, or that we will never forgive ourselves. But we do—we do it all the time.
And I hope you will come back here to Harvard 30 years from now and reflect on what you have done with your talent and your energy. I hope you will judge yourselves not on your professional accomplishments alone, but also on how well you have addressed the world's deepest inequities…on how well you treated people a world away who have nothing in common with you but their humanity.
We are all trapped in the web of language, but it is also our only means of escape.