From Joseph Brodsky’s commencement address at the University of Michigan (1984):
At all costs try to avoid granting yourself the status of the victim. Of all the parts of your body, be most vigilant over your index finger, for it is blame-thirsty. A pointed finger is a victim’s logo — the opposite of the V-sign and a synonym for surrender. No matter how abominable your condition may be, try not to blame anything or anybody: history, the state, superiors, race, parents, the phase of the moon, childhood, toilet training, etc.
The menu is vast and tedious... [But] the moment that you place blame somewhere, you undermine your resolve to change anything… A victim status is not without its sweetness ... There is an entire victim-culture, ranging from private counsellors to international loans. The professed goal of this network notwithstanding, its net result is that of lowering one’s expectations … However abundant and irrefutable the evidence that you are on the losing side, negate it as long as you have your wits about you, as long as your lips can utter "No".
Hardships
On the whole, try to respect life not only for its amenities but for its hardships, too. They are a part of the game, and what’s good about a hardship is that it is not a deception. Whenever you are in trouble, in some scrape, on the verge of despair or in despair, remember: that’s life speaking to you in the only language it knows well. In other words, try to be a little masochistic: without a touch of masochism, the meaning of life is not complete.
If this is of any help, try to remember that human dignity is an absolute, not a piecemeal notion, that it is inconsistent with special pleading, that it derives its poise from denying the obvious.
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