If you must find your own path, and we have left you no easy path, then decide now to choose the hard path that leads to the life and the world that you want.
Stephen Colbert
University of Virginia Valedictory Exercises 2013, 2013
Do not take no for an answer. Not when you're applying for jobs. Not when you actually get a job. The food court at the mall is littered with people who didn't fight for it. Fight for it.
Sharyn Alfonsi
University of Mississippi Meek School of Journalism Commencement 2013, 2013
Ignore the competition and just run your race. People will try to distract you. Keep your eyes straight ahead and run your race.
Sharyn Alfonsi
University of Mississippi Meek School of Journalism Commencement 2013, 2013
It ain't where you start in life, it's where you end up and what you did along the way.
Colin Powell
Northeastern University Commencement 2012, 2012
All forms of success, from being a great mother to being a great actor, take tenacity and determination. They say for every light on Broadway there is a broken heart, an unrealized dream — and that's the same in every profession.
Sutton Foster
Ball State University Commencement 2012, 2012
With each new obstacle comes a new opportunity to grow.
Wesley Chan
UC San Diego Sixth College Commencement 2012, 2012
You cannot tell yourself where things would lead. Finding what you want to do next is a job, and like any job, you have to put in the hours.
Ira Glass
Goucher College Commencement 2012, 2012
Great stories happen to those who can tell them. The world will not do your work for you, but it will meet you more than halfway if you go after what you want with energy and passion.
Ira Glass
Goucher College Commencement 2012, 2012
Hold fast to your dreams, for when dreams die, life is like a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.
Hank Aaron
Marquette University Commencement 2012, 2012
If you live long enough, every defeat will turn into a victory.
Angela Davis
Pitzer College Commencement 2012, 2012
Our greatest glory consists not in never falling, but in rising every time you fall.
Lee Corso
Florida State University Commencement 2012, 2012
Make failure your friend, but not a habit. First of all, I'm not sure survival is such a bad plan.
Benno Schmidt
University of Missouri-Kansas City Commencement 2012, 2012