All I ask of you is one thing: please don’t be cynical. I hate cynicism — it’s my least favorite quality and it doesn’t lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard, and you’re kind, amazing things will happen.
—
Conan O’Brien on his final show.
Conan O’Brien on his final show.

Quoted by Jason Fried on January 23 2010. There are 8 comments.
Rory Marinich 23 Jan 10
I thought it was interesting when he said this, because Conan’s humor’s so frequently cynical in nature. There’s a difference between being skeptical and disbelieving, and taking those disbeliefs and using them to assume nothing in the world at all’s good. I was glad he used his final moment on the show to make that plea.
PeterB 24 Jan 10
This reminds me of Conan’s Harvard graduation commencement speech a number of years ago. It has always stuck in mind when thinking about success and failure. Skip down the the “white tuxedo” words for the key points. The jokes in it are hilarious as are the serious points meaninful.
Bryan Sebastian 24 Jan 10
I was so impressed with Conan O’Brien and the way he handled himself over the past few weeks. Even though there were plenty of jabs at NBC , I never thought he “crossed the line”. I was especially impressed with his last words about NBC being thanks and gratitude. I always liked Conan, but I was never a “fan”... now I am.
Jarin Udom 25 Jan 10
Isn’t “Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get.” itself a cynical statement?
Conan is awesome though, he went out with style.
Sean McCambridge 25 Jan 10
That was great. One of my favorite parts was when he said, “and you’re kind.” That’s one bit a lot of smart, talented, driven people sometimes overlook.
tommy 25 Jan 10
“A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing”
Oscar Wilde
Cynic 26 Jan 10
Yes, I bet he’s gone home to his fancy house and his gazillions of dollars to cry his eyes out over the whole affair. Not.
Justin 26 Jan 10
Jarin Udom: But you took that out of context.
This discussion is closed.