Allow that diploma you're receiving today to be a reminder of who you are and what you want. Let it be a guiding light that always brings you back to this day — when you were proud of yourself, when you were at the height of hope.
speech graduation purpose
Ava DuVernay
Compton College Commencement 2021, 2021
Love should be your North Star. Let it guide you. What does it mean to love people we don't know? It means letting go of fear and embracing our shared humanity.
speech graduation love
John Legend
Duke University Commencement 2021, 2021
I have never known anybody who got to the age of 70 or so and had all of the people love him or her that they wanted to have in that position, that ever felt like anything but a success.
speech graduation love
Warren Buffett
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Commencement 2020, 2020
Your mentors may leave you prepared, but they can't leave you ready.
resilience growth loss grief
Tim Cook
Stanford University Commencement, 2019
Measure happiness not by what you do as work, but by what you give to others. It is the most important lesson and the deepest source of meaning I have found in life.
speech graduation purpose
Sonia Sotomayor
Manhattan College Commencement 2019, 2019
Your piece of paper not only says where you were educated, but who you were educated with. It declares that you are a member of a community of people to be relied upon, to take risks, provoke thought, and to be committed participants in this world.
speech graduation education
John Krasinski
Brown University Baccalaureate 2019, 2019
When you listen, when you really listen to people, when you listen as fiercely as you want to be heard, when you respect the idea that you are sharing the earth with other humans, when you lead with your nice foot forward, you'll win every time.
speech graduation empathy
Kristen Bell
USC School of Dramatic Arts Commencement 2019, 2019
We think we know what we want, but we often have no idea what we need. Because of that, we often approach life with one goal and end up finding our real purpose along the way.
speech graduation self discovery
Kristen Bell
USC School of Dramatic Arts Commencement 2019, 2019
When people show unhidden joy in their accomplishments and good fortune and blessings, witnessing it feels almost intimate, and that is why all graduations, for all the pomp and ceremony and brass bands, all of them are so personally moving every year.
speech graduation gratitude
Peggy Noonan
University of Notre Dame Commencement 2019, 2019
When you listen — when you really listen to people, when you listen as fiercely as you want to be heard, when you respect the idea that you are sharing the earth with other humans, when you lead with your nice foot forward, you'll win every time.
speech graduation empathy
Kristen Bell
USC School of Dramatic Arts Commencement 2019, 2019
Your life isn't some big break. It's about taking one significant life-transforming step at a time.
speech graduation patience
Oprah Winfrey
Colorado College Commencement 2019, 2019
Your legacy is every life that you touch.
speech graduation legacy
Oprah Winfrey
Colorado College Commencement 2019, 2019