The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, it's conformity.
speech graduation courage
Ari Weinzweig
University of Michigan Commencement 2015, 2015
Achievement is wonderful when you know why you're doing it, and when you don't know, it can be a terrible trap.
speech graduation purpose
Natalie Portman
Harvard Senior Class Day 2015, 2015
Joy is not a choice, not a response to some result, it is a constant. Joy is the feeling we have from doing what we are fashioned to do, no matter the outcome.
speech graduation passion
Matthew McConaughey
University of Houston Commencement 2015, 2015
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 first step that leads to our identity in life is usually not 'I know who I am.' It's 'I know who I am not.' Process of elimination.
speech graduation self discovery
Matthew McConaughey
University of Houston Commencement 2015, 2015
Don't make the mistake of comparing your twisted up insides to other people's blow-dried outsides.
speech graduation authenticity
Mary Karr
Syracuse University Commencement 2015, 2015
I don't know jack diddly squat about nothing. I'm just a really good-looking rocker that stumbled into a tremendous acting career.
speech graduation humility
Jack Black
Montverde Academy Commencement 2015, 2015
Never let others define you. Define yourselves.
speech graduation authenticity
Ed Helms
University of Virginia Commencement 2015, 2015
I implore you to never back away from fear, but instead, dive into it. I'm talking about the kind of inhibiting fear that erupts out of the idea of failure, or the possibility of making mistakes, and that nagging belief that you're actually a fraud and not good enough.
speech graduation courage
Brooke Shields
Fashion Institute of Technology Commencement 2015, 2015
Hold on to your own. There will be compromises, but that's not one of them. The more you listen to your own instincts, the better you're going to serve yourself, the grander you will serve your industry, and the happier you will be in your work.
speech graduation authenticity
Brooke Shields
Fashion Institute of Technology Commencement 2015, 2015
Please do not twist yourselves into shapes to please. Don't do it. If someone likes that version of you, that version of you that is false and holds back, then they actually just like that twisted shape, and not you.
speech graduation authenticity
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Wellesley College Commencement 2015, 2015
I speak because I think our time on earth is short and each moment that we are not our truest selves, each moment we pretend to be what we are not, each moment we say what we do not mean because we imagine that is what somebody wants us to say, then we are wasting our time on earth.
speech graduation authenticity
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Wellesley College Commencement 2015, 2015