“There Is A Crack In Everything That’s How The Light Gets In.” – Leonard Cohen

“There Is A Crack In Everything That’s How The Light Gets In.” – Leonard Cohen

Shaun Nishmas

Good morning, faculty members and students.

Let me start by saying that I am very proud to be addressing such a distinguished audience.

We have gathered here today to celebrate imperfection. Yes, I said imperfection, not perfection. Today I will be talking to you about imperfection and knowledge—and how each thrives on the other. During this meeting, I will take the position that in a perfect world, you cannot attain knowledge. Only in an imperfect world can knowledge thrive. That is why we should celebrate imperfection.

Ask yourself: can you learn anything if everything were perfect?

Do we learn more when something is imperfect, or when something is perfect?  I believe that we learn more when something is imperfect.  If everything were perfect, all imperfections would be eliminated, and I mean ALL. 

What is perfection?

The oldest definition of “perfection” is by Aristotle, a renowned Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. He once wrote about three different ways of looking at perfection:

1. Perfection is complete — that which contains all the requisite parts.

2. Perfection is so good that nothing of the kind could be better.

3. Perfection is that which has attained its purpose.

You might say that perfection is, broadly, a state of completeness and flawlessness. By definition, perfection would stop the pursuit of knowledge because there would be nothing left to pursue. We are talking about a state of completeness and flawlessness, after all. In other words, if everything were complete and flawless, there would be no need to learn anything.

In a perfect world, every story would have a happy ending, so we wouldn’t learn the lessons that come from sadness.

In a perfect world, we would all be New York Yankees, so we would never learn the lessons that come from the agony of defeat.

In a perfect world, everyone would be popular, so we would never learn the lessons that come from isolation and loneliness.

In a perfect world, nobody would die, so we would never learn the lessons that come from grief.

I can honestly argue that we would not need to learn anything because all our needs would be met…perfectly. So why question anything? Why bother?

So do we learn more if something is imperfect? I think so.

I would even venture to say that something needs to be imperfect before we can learn something. Even perfection isn’t perfect. Without the knowledge that comes from imperfection, perfection would cease to be perfect. According to Leonard Cohen, one of the most important and influential songwriters of the 20th century, “There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.”

What does Leonard Cohen mean by the crack? I believe that it is imperfection. What is imperfection? If perfection is a state of completeness and flawlessness, then imperfection is a flawed, incomplete state that could only inspire perfection in the form of knowledge.

Unless the heart breaks, you would never learn about love.

Unless you’ve been wronged, you would never learn about what is right.

Unless you failed at something, you would never learn about success.

By recognizing the lessons that come from an imperfect world and learning from them, we attain personal growth and well-being. In other words, the “light” Leonard Cohen talks about.

The pathway to this light is not a perfectly straight line. There are many cracks in the road, each leading to a different truth. Hundreds, if not thousands, of truths, in fact. In an imperfect world, there’s no limit to how much you can learn…how much light can come into your life.

I hope the cracks in your world bring light to your life.

Thank you.