Right after graduation today, make a list of the people who don't believe in you. And you call them tonight, and tell them to go to hell!
speech graduation independence
Ray Bradbury
Caltech Commencement 2000, 2000
The only limits that really matter are the ones you put on yourself, and in those crucial moments when you know what you need to do but others advise against it — know yourself, trust your whole self, and don't blink.
speech graduation courage
Carly Fiorina
MIT Commencement 2000, 2000
When a door is hard to open, and if nothing else works, sometimes you just have to rear back and kick it open.
speech graduation perseverance
Muriel Siebert
Case Western Reserve University Commencement 1998, 1998
There is not a page of American history, of which we are proud, that was authored by a chronic complainer or prophet of despair. We are doers.
speech graduation leadership
Madeleine Albright
Harvard University Commencement 1997, 1997
We have a responsibility not to be prisoners of history, but to shape history; a responsibility to fill the role of pathfinder.
speech graduation leadership
Madeleine Albright
Harvard University Commencement 1997, 1997
This is your time. Take it on. Don't be afraid to lean into the wind, love the earth in all of its natural glories and take care of each other.
speech graduation courage
Tom Brokaw
Connecticut College Commencement 1996, 1996
Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim. Your education is a dress rehearsal for a life that is yours to lead.
speech graduation courage
Nora Ephron
Wellesley College Commencement 1996, 1996
Whatever you choose, however many roads you travel, I hope that you choose not to be a lady. I hope you will find some way to break the rules and make a little trouble out there.
speech graduation courage
Nora Ephron
Wellesley College Commencement 1996, 1996
Pride is precisely what will lead the world to hell. I am suggesting an alternative: humbly accepting our responsibility for the world.
speech graduation humility
Vaclav Havel
Harvard University Commencement 1995, 1995
Recognize your limitations, and sure enough, they're yours. The world will provide you with every imaginable obstacle, but the one most difficult to overcome will be the lack of faith in yourself.
speech graduation faith
Callie Khouri
Sweet Briar College Commencement 1994, 1994
The only way sexism can truly harm you is if you get used to it. Don't ever get used to it.
speech graduation courage
Callie Khouri
Sweet Briar College Commencement 1994, 1994
And at last you'll know with surpassing certainty that only one thing is more frightening than speaking your truth. And that is not speaking.
speech graduation courage
Naomi Wolf
Scripps College Commencement 1992, 1992