Justice Scalia's speech at a high school graduation was surprisingly funny

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia gave a riveting high school graduation to Stone Ridge High School graduating seniors. In his commencement speech there last week, he gave lighthearted and humorous advice in which he railed against the platitudes normally given during graduation speeches.

Scalia - whose granddaughter attends the school - rolls his eyes at advice like "follow your star," "never compromise your principles," or 'to thine own self be true."

"Indeed never compromise your principals unless of course your principals are Adolf Hitler's," Scalia said. "In which case you would be well advised to compromise them as much as you can."

And he explained that being zealous is not nearly as admirable as being right. "If I had to chose, I would always take the less dynamic, indeed even the lazy person who knows what's right rather than the zealot in the cause of error," Scalia said. "He may move slower, but he's headed in the right direction." 

And Scalia even ended the speech with some tongue in cheek platitudes of his own, telling graduates that, "you are captains of your own ship ... masters of your own destiny ... the future is in your hands."

Take a look below if you want to listen to the entire speech:

 

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