Don't miss your life on the way to work.
balance purpose self discovery
John McEnroe
Stanford University Commencement, 2023
Cultivate your circle offline — not 500 Facebook friends, but the five people you would invite to dinner. That is so important.
speech graduation relationships
Josh Groban
High Point University Commencement 2018, 2018
The most traditionally successful people I know were divorced and they told me sacrificing their families wasn't worth it. Hold your children up high as your greatest inventions because they are.
speech graduation balance
John Fisher
University of San Francisco Commencement 2018, 2018
Not everything in Silicon Valley or any industry or life for that matter need be portrayed as home runs or strike-outs — success or failure — it's just what you hear about so often because it's what sells newspapers.
speech graduation balance
John Fisher
University of San Francisco Commencement 2018, 2018
Hold your children up high as your greatest inventions because they are. I invented something many of you use every day and it doesn't compare to any day with a happy, healthy child.
speech graduation love
Jon B. Fisher
University of San Francisco Commencement 2018, 2018
Don't be scared if you don't do things in the right order, or if you don't do some things at all. If you have a checklist, good for you. Structured ambition can sometimes be motivating. But also, feel free to let it go.
speech graduation patience
Mindy Kaling
Dartmouth College Commencement 2018, 2018
You will get nowhere without a spiritual practice. Not necessarily religion — maybe it's music, or dancing, or just time for yourself to feed and nurture your own spirit.
speech graduation spirituality
Oprah Winfrey
Agnes Scott College Commencement 2017, 2017
The trick is to listen to your instinct, grab the opportunity when it presents itself, and then give it your all. Like a hangover, neither triumphs nor disasters last forever. They both pass and a new day arrives.
speech graduation courage
Helen Mirren
Tulane University Commencement 2017, 2017
If you know what you're capable of, if you're always prepared, and you keep things in perspective, then life has a way of turning no into yes.
speech graduation perseverance
Russell Wilson
University of Wisconsin-Madison Commencement, 2016, 2016
Don't choose anything that will jeopardize your soul. Prioritize who you are, who you want to be, and don't spend time with anything that antagonizes your character. Don't drink the Kool-Aid — it tastes sweet today but it will give you cavities tomorrow.
speech graduation authenticity
Matthew McConaughey
University of Houston Commencement 2015, 2015
The road to success is a long, winding road that is littered with wreckages of promising careers that crashed and burned. It's not a pretty thing to see talent wasted, it's even sadder to waste it yourself.
speech graduation discipline
Jimmy Buffett
University of Miami Commencement 2015, 2015
Take a minute and just enjoy life. Sniff those roses, you guys. Sniff deep. Don't just rush into life's next chapter. You just climbed a mountain — twelve years of nose to the grindstone.
speech graduation gratitude
Jack Black
Montverde Academy Commencement 2015, 2015