There are few things more liberating in this life than having your worst fear realized.

I went to college with many people who prided themselves on knowing exactly who they were, and exactly where they were going.

At Harvard, five different guys in my class told me that they would one day be President of the United States.

Four of them were later killed in motel shoot-outs.

The other one briefly hosted Blues Clues, before dying senselessly in yet another motel shoot-out.

Your path at 22, will not necessarily be your path at 32 or 42.

One's dream is constantly evolving, rising and falling, changing course.

This happens in every job, but because I have worked in comedy for 25 years, I can probably speak best about my own profession.

Way back in the 1940s, there was a very, very funny man.

named Jack Benny.

He was a giant star, easily one of the greatest comedians.

of his generation.

And a much younger man named Johnny Carson wanted very much to be Jack Benny.

In some ways he's in some ways he was, but in many ways he wasn't.

He emulated Jack Benny, but his own quirks and mannerisms pulled him in a different direction.

And yet, his failure to completely become his hero made him the funniest person of his generation.

David Letterman wanted to be Johnny Carson, and was not.

and as a result my generation of comedians wanted to be David Letterman.

And none of us are.

My peers and I have all missed that mark.

in a thousand different ways.

But the point is this, it is our failure to become our perceived ideal that ultimately defines us and makes us unique.

It's not easy.

but if you accept your misfortune and handle it right, your perceived failure can become a catalyst for profound re-invention.

So, at the age of 47, after 25 years of obsessively pursuing my dream, that dream changed.

For decades, in show business, the ultimate goal of every comedian was to host The Tonight Show.

It was the Holy Grail.

and like many people I thought that.

achieving that goal would define me as successful.

But that is not true.

No specific job or career goal defines me, and it should not define you.

In 2000 I told graduates to not be afraid to fail.

and I still believe that.

But today I tell you that whether you fear it or not, disappointment will come.

The beauty is that through disappointment you can gain clarity, and with clarity comes conviction and true originality.

Many of you here today are getting your diploma at this Ivy League school because you have committed yourself to a dream and worked hard to achieve it.

And there is no greater cliche in a commencement address than follow your dream.

Well I am here to tell you that whatever you think your dream is now, it will probably change.

And that's okay.

Four years ago, many of you had specific vision of what your college experience was going to be and who you were going to become.

And I bet, today, most of you would admit that your time here was very different from what you imagined.

Your roommates changed, your major changed, for some of you, your sexual orientation changed.

I bet some of you have changed your sexual orientation since I began this speech.

I know I have.

But through the good and especially the bad, the person you are now is someone you could never have conjured in the fall of 2007.

I have told you many things today, most of it foolish.

but some of it true.

I'd like to end my address by breaking a taboo and quoting myself from 17 months ago, at the end of my final program with NBC, just before signing off, I said, work hard, be kind, and amazing things will happen.

Today, receiving this honor and speaking to the Dartmouth Class of 2011 from behind a tree-trunk, I have never believed that more.

Thank you very much, and congratulations.