My dear young friends!
Ministers!
Dear leaders of education!

It is wonderful to live here, isn't it? Take this song with you when you leave!

On May 25, I received a short notice on my homepage: ''Hello, I just wanted to say I am so glad that school is over. Paul Berg.'' He had typed this jubilant message, with all his heart in it, at 11.37, pressed the key, and less than a second later I could read it on my homepage. And I have taken this message with me, to render it to you. Paul Berg may be one of you standing here today. I want to tell you that in the present day, today, there are some words that you ought to take with you when leaving - the words of the song you just heard, and some more, that I am just about to say.

A couple of days after receiving Paul Berg's beautiful message on my homepage, I met my fellow-students, with whom we graduated from the university together in 1953, and later that day I had a meeting with my schoolmates, with whom I graduated from college in 1948. Those times were very different from today. We had a common graduation party for four parallel forms in the long corridor of Tallinn School No. 10. At that time we still called our school by its old name, the Nõmme High School. After we had heard all the teachers' speeches, our much-respected teacher of astronomy and logic, Mr. Teaste, got to his feet. We had great respect for him, because he had been the headmaster of our school before the Second World War and during the German occupation. What he said was this: ''I wish you, my dear young graduates, to have the blue sky of Estonia always above your heads, to have the strength to plough the black earth of Estonia and to have the white colour of hope in your hearts.'' This is what professor Teaste said in spring 1948. A few months later he was arrested and had to leave Estonia for many years. Those were times when mentioning blue, black and white meant long years in prison. And yet, it meant something else too. I wish I could describe the deep silence that fell over us all sitting at our tables, for these words went right into our hearts. As you see, they are still in my heart now, fifty years later. And now that I speak to you, I am certain that fifty years later, looking into your hearts and your memories, you will see there some of your teachers whose words have remained with you for fifty years to come. They will remain just as guiding, just as fatal, just as pure.

I would like you to take along a couple of words from Tammsaare. I suppose most of you are well familiar with the sentence: ''Work hard, and there will be love.'' Think also of the times that Tammsaare describes. Think of Andres and Pearu and all the others who were just starting to build their homes in Estonia. The homes did not exist yet, only the material - the same earth, the same hope, the same blue sky and an enormous load of work - were there. At that time, work had to come before love. My request to you today, dear boys and girls, is that work and love would come hand in hand in your life. Work can not come before love, just like love can not come before work. They can not be separated from each other.

Was this too complicated? I can see it was not. I hope you will find out for yourselves what it means to work with love, to love your work. There is no greater joy, and no greater responsibility. And when thinking about your future, think also of the dream our generation once had, a dream which has become your reality today - that all the doors could be open. They are open to you. All doors are open for all 10,500 graduates. You will continue your studies or start working, and before you even know it, one day Estonia, the Estonian state, your own life, your fate, your love, your family, your children will be in your hands, and in your hands only. Now everything depends only on your ability to sow the seeds you gathered at school - on the right day and in the right weather; so that they will bear your own fruit, golden fruit, if only you will sow them with diligence and love. With love and diligence. Today, Estonia needs love as much as it needs work, and needs work just as much as love. Love Estonia, that is - love each other. I wish you the best of luck on this long, long journey.

Thank you!

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