Gear yourself for the long haul. Success, however small, however incomplete, success is still success. Better is good. It may not be perfect, it may not be great, but it's good. That's how progress happens.
speech graduation perseverance
Barack Obama
Rutgers University Commencement 2016, 2016
Greatness isn't about bragging. It's about doing. It's about never being satisfied. It's about testing the limits of what we can achieve together.
speech graduation ambition
John F. Kerry
Northeastern University Commencement 2016, 2016
Remember always what Nelson Mandela said: 'All the hardest jobs seem impossible until they are done.'
speech graduation perseverance
John F. Kerry
Northeastern University Commencement 2016, 2016
You're about to embark on careers that will take many of you to companies not yet founded, using devices not yet developed, based on ideas not yet conceived. That is how fast things are moving.
speech graduation innovation
John F. Kerry
Northeastern University Commencement 2016, 2016
The last person to hold you accountable is you yourself. If you allow others to tell you your worth, you will have given up on yourself.
speech graduation discipline
Rita Dove
University of Virginia Commencement 2016, 2016
This life is yours to fill. Nobody will taste it but you, so you should only be looking to fill it with those tasty bites you want to savor.
speech graduation authenticity
Rita Dove
University of Virginia Commencement 2016, 2016
If you are lucky, you will never lose the sensation of terror that precedes discovery, nor the delight that follows.
speech graduation courage
Rita Dove
University of Virginia Commencement 2016, 2016
The bus that you drive, make sure it's the right one. Make sure you only let good people on it. Good people will make you better.
speech graduation relationships
Mike Krzyzewski
Duke University Commencement 2016, 2016
We have no rules, only standards: communication, truth, support, enthusiasm, and to win and lose together.
speech graduation leadership
Mike Krzyzewski
Duke University Commencement 2016, 2016
Failure or any kind of setback is not a destination. There was something good about being knocked down, as long as it wasn't your destination.
speech graduation failure
Mike Krzyzewski
Duke University Commencement 2016, 2016
This act of choosing — the stories we tell versus the stories we leave out — will reverberate across the rest of your life.
speech graduation writing
Lin-Manuel Miranda
University of Pennsylvania Commencement 2016, 2016
You are about to enter the most uncertain and thrilling period of your lives. The stories you are about to live are the ones you will be telling your children and grandchildren and therapists.
speech graduation courage
Lin-Manuel Miranda
University of Pennsylvania Commencement 2016, 2016