Graduation

What most of us recognized in South Africa, at the very last moment, was just how much we needed one another. We realized that violent confrontation promised only destruction and a long life of shared misery.

They discovered that being 'tough' was not so much about going to war, but about choosing to avoid it.

The world needs a leading nation, or group of nations, that can reassure, inspire hope, and offer fresh perspectives and new directions.

Critical thinking is the key to our past, our present, and our future.

We are too experienced and too well educated to lead our lives as puppets. We cannot afford to listen silently then nod our heads and move on.

We dare not squander our education. We dare not squander our integrity. We must be brave to think critically. We must be free to believe in ourselves.

College is something you complete. Life is something you experience. So don't worry about your grade, or your job, or your career. Here is the best piece of advice I can give you: Every day, once a day, give yourself a present.

Love what you do. Get good at it. Competence is a rare commodity in this day and age. And let the chips fall where they may.

The best commencement speech I can give you is: We broke it. But here's the good news — you fix it, and it's going to be a heck of a lot of fun.

When we experience our fear, when we say the words 'I am scared,' we have the choice to acknowledge that being scared is not who we are. It is not our identity. And while there is a part of us that is scared, there's also a part of us that isn't scared.

We need our fear in order to find our love. They go together. Yin and Yang.

To be a good doctor, a good researcher, is to be one who can listen, assimilate and diagnose information from without, but can also listen and hear what is being said from within themselves.