Graduation season is almost upon us once again, and commencement speakers no doubt are honing their annual messages of hope and glory, in which they will urge newly minted graduates to be passionate and compassionate; to follow their dreams wherever they lead; to be grateful to their families, teachers and coaches for their unwavering support; to treasure the good friends they have made; to consider the road not taken; or take the road not considered. And so on.

All good as far as it goes. But we submit today for the edification of soon-to-be graduates a salient bit of advice offered by the legendary investor Warren Buffett, who announced recently his impending retirement as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, the company he built over time into a juggernaut with a $1 trillion market capitalization.

According to Forbes magazine, Buffett, 94, has amassed a net worth of $168 billion, making him the world’s fifth-richest person. Nonetheless, he continues to live in the same five-bedroom house in Omaha, Neb., that he bought in 1958 for $31,500. He has breakfast most mornings from McDonald’s. There’s no doubt a valuable lesson in modesty to be absorbed from those circumstances alone.

More to our point, Buffett is known as the “Oracle of Omaha” for the plainspoken folk wisdom he has dispensed in his annual letters to shareholders, which are closely scrutinized for investment insight. Not for nothing are the company’s annual meetings, which attract thousands to Omaha, known as “Woodstock for capitalists.”

Following the retirement announcement, the Washington Post published a compilation of memorable quotations from the annual shareholder letters, and it is from here that we take our text for today, to wit: “We are all duds at one thing or another.”

The full quotation from the 2019 letter reads: “I’d like you to know that almost all of the directors (of companies) I have met over the years have been decent, likable and intelligent. Nevertheless, many of these good souls were people I would never have chosen to handle money or business matters. It simply was not their game. They, in turn, would never have asked me for help in removing a tooth, decorating their home or improving their golf swing ... We are all duds at one thing or another. For most of us, the list is long. The important point to recognize is that if you are Bobby Fischer, you must only play chess for money.”

To be sure, this is not a message to which graduates and their parents are likely to be receptive at a heady time of celebration. But we are indeed all duds at something; for most of us, at many things. Humility is the order of the day, and of all our days. Although there are exceptions, far too many people who are successful in one field come to think, without evidence, that they are expert in unrelated realms. Worse yet, some try to cash in by holding themselves out as such to the unsuspecting.

The flip side is that most of us are also good at something, (although, to be honest, not as good as Warren Buffett is at investing). The trick is to identify what that something is, while recognizing that it might take a while to find it. But once you do, focus on it like a laser. Playing to your strengths is a virtue. Even if it’s not where your dreams would have led you, down the road not taken, it’s often a precursor to success and satisfaction.