Long

It's okay to not really know what you're doing, and just trust your gut. Make the best judgment you can. There's not going to be a syllabus assigned to you.

You're all here because you're good at not failing. This is the culmination of doing a great job at not failing. However, there are no GPAs after this. Failure is an option.

Work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But family, health, friends, and spirit are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will never be the same.

As important as freedom of expression is — and it most surely is — so too it is important to know what it is we want to express, and why.

Nobody cares how tough your upbringing was. Nobody cares if you suffered some discrimination. And moreover, you have to remember that whatever you've gone through, it pales in comparison to the hardships previous generations endured — and they overcame them.

I know that when I am on my deathbed someday, I will not be thinking about any particular legislation I passed; I will not be thinking about a policy I promoted; I will not be thinking about the Nobel Prize I received. I will be thinking about that walk I took with my daughters.

Whatever success I have achieved, whatever positions of leadership I have held have depended less on Ivy League degrees or SAT scores or GPAs, and have instead been due to that sense of connection and empathy.

What I regret most in my life are failures of kindness. Those moments when another human being was there, in front of me, suffering, and I responded... sensibly. Reservedly. Mildly.

Do all the other things, the ambitious things — travel, get rich, get famous, innovate, lead, fall in love — but as you do, to the extent that you can, err in the direction of kindness.

A peaceful world means a compassionate world. If you respect others' life, you love others — how can a person who has that kind of motivation use force to eliminate them? Impossible.

Through inner peace, all your profession, all your knowledge, can be constructive. But if all your professional knowledge is motivated by anger, hatred, suspicion — then your knowledge becomes destructive.

It's easier to friend someone than to be someone's friend. It's easier to like things than to love them. It's easier to say nothing — but people who become used to saying nothing become used to being nobody.