Wednesday, March 5, 2025

Deceased prominent lawyer Mario De Orchis was an authentic voice early in life of the " Greatest Generation " . His departing words to graduating class of Central High School , Providence, RI June 1941


I want to add to this obituary of Mario De Orchis his last words to the graduating class of Central High School , Providence, Rhode Island ( June 1941 ) as editor-in-chief - of the school newspaper " The Centralite " . I think it marks Mario DeOrchis as an authentic voice very early in his life ( an Italian immigrant on Federal Hill , Providence ) of the " Greatest Generation ". [ " The School of Life is a hard and a stern school . The answers to the problems you encounter will not be found in textbooks , the tests you must pass will not be written on paper.Many of you will find difficulty in getting jobs. Some of you will go to college because you can't find work . [ SOME OF YOU MAY EVEN BE BLOWN TO BITS IN THAT " WAR OF THE CONTINENTS " - my emphasis ] There are no easy courses in this school.The only answer lies in following a philosophy of self-reliance . Every person has a place, every person has something in which he excels. His greatest difficulty is to find that one thing to which he surpasses and supersedes others.Once this is found , the formula to success is simple : Be determined, be confident, be faithful . An Interpretation : The term " success " should not be interpreted as getting ahead of everybody else. The aim should be bettering the heap , not in getting on top of it. Education was never meant as an instrument to gain money and social prominence.The yardstick of success is happiness and satisfaction , not dollars and cents. It is not found in the pocketbook , but in the government, in the factory , and in the home. Life is a dangerous business, but a good risk . It contains greater rewards and more possibilities for success and happiness than you ever dreamed of. So to you , members of the Class of June 1941, we say - Good-bye, good luck, and God bless you . [First paragraph : " After three years of study and hard work, after three years of achievement and self-gratification, you leave the halls of Central High School as men and women ready to take your place in that great and complex community known as our American democracy . It is impossible to say with complete earnestness that your high school education has guaranteed your future or that it has increased your chances of getting into " Who's Who " , but it has - and we say it with full throated conviction -helped to prepare you for the difficult courses you will encounter in the school you are about to enter, the School of Life . As you are about to open this door to a new world of opportunity , your steps, contrary to former expectations become hesitant .... " ]

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