John Legend

Our nation is at its best when we realize that we all do better when we all do better.

It is an artist's duty to reflect the times in which we live. And it is also a banker's duty. It's a lawyer's duty, a doctor's duty, a teacher's duty, an engineer's duty, a plumber's duty, a nurse's duty. A mom's and dad's duty.

Love should be your North Star. Let it guide you. What does it mean to love people we don't know? It means letting go of fear and embracing our shared humanity.

Only love can give you the power to take on these kinds of odds.

We were all made to love. And I've found that we live our best lives, we are at our most successful, not simply because we're smarter than everyone else, or because we hustle harder. The key to success, the key to happiness, is opening your mind and your heart to love.

We're taught when we're young that the opposite of love is hate. But it's not. Hate is a byproduct. The opposite of love is fear. Fear is what blinds us. Fear is corrosive. Fear makes us hold back.

The only way you'll reach any height in life and in love is by taking the chance that you might fall. You have to give your all.

A good education in the United States of America, one of the wealthiest and most powerful nations on this planet, remains a gift for some when it should be a right for all.

I believe that education is the civil rights issue of our generation, and we must strive to make equality in education a reality, not just a theory.

You have so much power, so much opportunity. Make sure this education, this amazing gift, doesn't go to waste.