The last person to hold you accountable is you yourself. If you allow others to tell you your worth, you will have given up on yourself.
speech graduation discipline
Rita Dove
University of Virginia Commencement 2016, 2016
This act of choosing — the stories we tell versus the stories we leave out — will reverberate across the rest of your life.
speech graduation writing
Lin-Manuel Miranda
University of Pennsylvania Commencement 2016, 2016
If you calm down, you will know what your instincts are telling you and you'll know which way, right or wrong, that you must proceed.
speech graduation authenticity
Hank Azaria
Tufts University Commencement 2016, 2016
I could do things my way, even if that was a way that no one had ever done before or would ever care to do again. It was valid and unique and ultimately viable.
speech graduation authenticity
Hank Azaria
Tufts University Commencement 2016, 2016
Just please be honest with yourself about what you think and how you feel about all of that, what you like and dislike, what angers you or scares you or saddens you or inspires you, or delights you. Those feelings are called your instincts, and you ignore them at your own peril.
speech graduation authenticity
Hank Azaria
Tufts University Commencement 2016, 2016
Knowing who you are is the compass that will help guide you to unexpected opportunity or when a setback blows your way. Knowing who you are is the centerboard that will help steady you when you're afraid you may capsize.
speech graduation self discovery
Elizabeth Warren
Suffolk University Commencement 2016, 2016
Your conscience shouts, 'here's what you should do,' while your intuition whispers, 'here's what you could do.' Listen to that voice that tells you what you could do. Nothing will define your character more than that.
speech graduation authenticity
Steven Spielberg
Harvard University Commencement, 2016, 2016
You are not born with a fixed amount of resilience. Like a muscle, you can build it up, draw on it when you need it. In that process, you will figure out who you really are — and you just might become the very best version of yourself.
speech graduation resilience
Sheryl Sandberg
UC Berkeley Commencement, 2016, 2016
When life tells you no, ask yourself honestly, 'What am I capable of?' And once you know the answer, don't be afraid to let everyone else know it too.
speech graduation courage
Russell Wilson
University of Wisconsin-Madison Commencement, 2016, 2016
The moment you focus on that, you vacate your own soul.
speech graduation authenticity
Maria Popova
University of Pennsylvania Annenberg School Commencement 2016, 2016
You need to raise your expectations of yourself.
speech graduation ambition
Bernard Harris
Worcester Polytechnic Institute Commencement 2015, 2015
Don't build your life around the expectations of others.
speech graduation independence
Bernard Harris
Worcester Polytechnic Institute Commencement 2015, 2015