Purpose

The search for purpose is really a search for a place, not an idea. It is a search for a location in the world where you want to be part of making things better for others in your own small way.

You cannot flourish without a larger purpose. And that's lucky in a way, because our society cannot flourish without your reaching for a larger purpose, either.

If you find yourself in a place where you stop caring — where your greatest concern becomes only you — get out of there.

People often say find your passion. But there's more to it than that. Not all passions are enough. Just existing for your desires feels empty and insufficient, because our desires are fleeting and insatiable. You need a loyalty.

What gnaws at you? And what will you do about it?

If this day means anything, it means that you are now in the contingent of the responsible.

No dream is too big, no vision is too bold; as long as we stay hungry for education and let that hunger be our North Star, there is nothing, graduates, nothing that we cannot achieve.

Education is still the key to real and lasting freedom — it is still true today. So it is now up to us to cultivate that hunger for education in our own lives and in those around us.

You take words, and you turn them into the infrastructure that keeps our world stable. A lot of you will become the quiet heroes of our country.

I look at all of you and see America's future — attorneys, corporate lawyers, public prosecutors, judges, politicians, maybe even the President. Those are all positions of such great influence. Understand that one day, you will have the power to make a difference. So use it well.

In the profession of the law, it's not how much you make that matters, but whether you make a difference.

Making a difference as a lawyer means devoting time to public service. This is what makes the practice of law a profession, and not just a job.