Don't be afraid to fail big, to dream big, but remember, dreams without goals are just dreams. And they ultimately fuel disappointment.
Denzel Washington
Dillard University Commencement 2015, 2015
You'll never see a U-Haul behind a hearse. I don't care how much money you make, you can't take it with you. It's not how much you have — it's what you do with what you have.
Denzel Washington
Dillard University Commencement 2015, 2015
In this text, tweet, twerk world that you've grown up in, remember that just because you're doing a lot more doesn't mean you're getting a lot more done. Don't confuse movement with progress.
Denzel Washington
Dillard University Commencement 2015, 2015
Your fulfillment in life will not come from how well you explore your freedom and keep your options open. Your fulfillment in life will come by how well you end your freedom. Your primary mission in life is to be really good at making commitments.
David Brooks
Dartmouth College Commencement 2015, 2015
Success leads to the greatest failure, which is arrogance and pride. Failure can lead to the greatest success, which is humility and learning. In order to fulfill yourself, you have to forget yourself. In order to find yourself, you have to lose yourself.
David Brooks
Dartmouth College 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.
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.
Brooke Shields
Fashion Institute of Technology Commencement 2015, 2015
It doesn't matter how slow you go, so long as you don't stop. My point is: be fair to yourselves with regards to how you view your achievements. And don't be afraid to try things outside your comfort zone.
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.
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.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Wellesley College Commencement 2015, 2015
We cannot always bend the world into the shapes we want, but we can try. We can make a concerted and real and true effort. Always just try, because you never know.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Wellesley College Commencement 2015, 2015
Adversity is a necessary and important part of life. Adversity strengthens each of us in ways that success cannot.
Jason Kilar
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Commencement 2015, 2015