Conan O’Brien says there’s no secret to success.

“It’s about working hard and being kind to other people. I really believe that,’’ the talk show host told Harvard students Friday. “In any economy, sadly, you’ll be a rarity.’’

O’Brien’s sitdown at Sanders Theatre was a homecoming of sorts for the Brookline native, who graduated from Harvard in 1985. Though certainly a funny fellow in college — he was president of the satirical Harvard Lampoon — O’Brien made it clear he was also a serious student, writing his senior thesis on the works of William Faulkner and Flannery O’Connor on his way to graduating magna cum laude from the World’s Greatest University.

“School was a grind. My pursuit of academic excellence felt very white knuckle,’’ said O’Brien, wearing jeans and a blazer, his cartoonish hair cresting in a ginger wave. “I got very intense about my thesis. I think I might have pushed myself to a nervous breakdown.’’

He said he understands why it happened, and acknowledged that he still has many of the same insecurities, even after hosting his own late-night talk show for two decades.

“When I was you and looking at someone like me, the optics are that that person has figured it all out,’’ O’Brien said. “Nothing could be further from the truth. It’s an illusion that someone in my position has figured it out. You’re still constantly judging yourself on what you did half an hour ago.’’

His chat with Harvard president Drew Faust was billed as a wide-ranging conversation about the arts and education, and that’s what it was. O’Brien recommended Harvard students take all kinds of classes before deciding what they want to do with their lives. In his own case, he said, his career options were limited.

“I ran through the list of my skills that will A) help me not get picked on or beaten up, or B) get the attention of that girl I like,’’ he said. “I had this one thing. I could make people laugh.’’

Asked about the lack of women in late-night TV, O’Brien said change is coming.

“I’ve always thought there was a strong social reason. When guys do something outrageous, it’s cool, but when women do it, it’s, like, ‘Hey, settle down,’’’ he said. “Obviously, we live a world now where some of the funniest people are women, people like Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Amy Schumer, and Samantha Bee. . . . The trailblazers have shown there’s a huge appetite for funny women.’’

And what advice does he have for young people? Relax.

“Allow for mistakes,’’ he said. “I’ve had my career blow up on me two different times and I’m still here. I wouldn’t change anything about it. . . . Success is like a white tuxedo: It looks great, but you’re afraid of getting it dirty. . . . You have to be willing to screw up.’’

And be humble. O’Brien is opposed to what he called the “bragging culture’’ and said fame makes people say and do dumb things.

“Fame is a toxic drug,’’ he said. “I’d be willing to talk to the New England Journal of Medicine about it. I’m not kidding. It removes gravity from people and then they become less than human.’’