I have always enjoyed this short piece of literature. In the late 1990’s when I was in high school it became an international phenomenon. The piece was often falsely credited to Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. and eventually turned into a slow rock song by Baz Luhrmann (director of the 1996 movie Romeo and Juliet) that jumped to #1 on the U.S. and U.K. pop charts in the summer of 1999. The song was played at my high school’s class of 1999 graduation commencement ceremony. It eventually became famously known as “Wear Sunscreen“.
Here it is in its original 1997 form by Mary Schmich of the Chicago Tribune:
“Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young”
Thanks for the words of wisdom Mary Schmich, and congratulations on your immortality. These words will live on forever.