Graduation

You can't be paralyzed by fear of failure or you will never push yourself. You push yourself because you believe in yourself and in your vision.

You can't climb the ladder of success with your hands in your pockets.

You cannot authentically live anyone's life but your own. That is the deal life offers us.

Pursue your passion, and everything else will fall into place. This is not being romantic. This is the highest order of pragmatism.

Standing up for one's own integrity makes you no friends. It is costly. Yet defiance of the mob, in the service of that which is right, is one of the highest expressions of courage I know.

Find the smartest people you can and surround yourself with them. Smart people will challenge you to think harder and in entirely different ways.

Find allies rather than adorers. Adorers are people who fawn over you but never tell you when you screw up. Instead, seek out allies who are honest with you when you feel you are not living up to your potential.

Find the courage to do things you are not ready to do. Doing something you are not ready to do isn't comfortable. But in pushing through this discomfort you will learn a lot more about yourself.

There is another path to take. It's hard work. You'll be right sometimes, you'll be wrong sometimes. People will doubt you, you'll doubt yourself. But if you are doing something you want and have a passion for, at least you'll have that to guide you.

When you work for other people, they do know what's best for them and for the company. And you should listen to them and be respectful. But they don't know what's best for you. Only you know that.

You should also know there are a lot of really mean, stupid bosses out there. But there are also some really good ones that do good things.

It is much easier to describe the structural challenges we face than to describe the human response to those challenges that will change history.