Palo Alto High School - Madrono Yearbook (Palo Alto, CA)

Page 12 text:

mmm PRINCIPAL'S MtSSAGP It has become a national habit to address youth at commencement time in terms of unbounded prospects of success. There is enough despair in the world now to seem to justify a sharp turn to the opposite or pessimistic view, but I should like to direct you to another exit from this false dilema of optomism or pessimism. It is not cynical but realistic to say that the first condition of serenity, without which people find life unbearable, is not to expect too much. A vivid sense of the present must be our best antidote to despair. Someone has said that one must learn to go along with events and have the courage and the industry to hold to the main stream and not be washed ashore by some immaterial cross current. Though the prospects of the immediate future may look uninviting to many of you, though there may appear to be no alluring road ahead, the same quali- ties that have won people positions of security and respect in the past must continue to do so. Our civilization cannot overcome the existing menaces to posterity without the youthful qualities of mind and spirit which have already brought you a long way toward a useful and happy life. IVAN H. LINDER Principal book i