Quotes Collection

Timeless wisdom from legendary speeches. Browse by speaker or search for any quote.

356 speakers · 1298 quotes

RS

Ray Sidney

Edwin O. Smith High School Commencement 2007, 2007

"Make choices that will make you happy for a long time, rather than just focusing on the next two seconds."

3 quotes
MS

Muriel Siebert

Case Western Reserve University Commencement 1998, 1998

"When a door is hard to open, and if nothing else works, sometimes you just have to rear back and kick it open."

3 quotes
AS

Anne-Marie Slaughter

Tufts University Commencement 2014, 2014

"Providing care is every bit as important as providing cash."

3 quotes
RFS

Robert F. Smith

Morehouse College Commencement 2019, 2019

"Nothing replaces actually doing the work. Greatness is born out of the grind, so embrace the grind."

4 quotes
ZS

Zadie Smith

New School University Commencement 2014, 2014

"Perhaps this self you've been treasuring for so long is itself the work of many hands."

4 quotes
AS

Alex Smith

University of Utah Commencement 2014, 2014

"Embrace your journey to your own potential. It wasn't until I stopped worrying about my own validation and finally refocused my energy on things I could actually change that I finally grew as a person and as a professional."

3 quotes
JS

Jefferson Smith

University of Oregon Commencement 2012, 2012

"We show off and have a vision of success as a ladder to climb. But there is no ladder, and it has no top, and eventually we have to decide what we want to do, what we want to be, what we want to stand for."

3 quotes
PS

Patti Smith

Pratt Institute Commencement 2010, 2010

"We are all Pinocchio. We go out into the world filled with good intentions, with a vision. We are pulled this way and that. We falter. We make mistakes. But the little flame inside, no matter what we go through, will not be extinguished."

3 quotes
DS

Douglas Smith

DeVry University Commencement 2010, 2010

"Whatever blocks you encounter, you have learned that there is a way over, around or through them. It is not those obstacles that inhibit your progress but your confidence, and will to break the inertia of fear and doubt."

3 quotes
TS

Tony Snow

Catholic University of America Commencement, 2007, 2007

"The only things that are sure to endure are the artifacts of love. So go out and build as many as you can."

3 quotes
SS

Susan Sontag

Wellesley College Commencement 1983, 1983

"BE BOLD, BE BOLD, BE BOLD. Keep on reading. And remember when you hear yourself saying you don't have time anymore to read — then you're getting old. That means they got to you, after all."

3 quotes
AS

Aaron Sorkin

Syracuse University Commencement 2012, 2012

"Decisions are made by those who show up."

7 quotes
SS

Sandra Soto

University of Arizona Commencement 2010, 2010

"A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste."

3 quotes
SS

Sonia Sotomayor

Manhattan College Commencement 2019, 2019

"You cannot dream of becoming something you do not know about. You have to learn to dream big."

4 quotes
MS

Margaret Spellings

Montgomery College Commencement 2006, 2006

"If you believe in yourself, others will too. And if you have confidence in who you are, there is no end to what you can accomplish."

2 quotes
OS

Octavia Spencer

Kent State University Commencement 2017, 2017

"Keep chasing those moments where you discover something new about your voice. Don't ever let that end."

3 quotes
SS

Steven Spielberg

Harvard University Commencement, 2016, 2016

"Your conscience shouts, 'here's what you should do,' while your intuition whispers, 'here's what you could do.' Listen to that voice that tells you what you could do. Nothing will define your character more than that."

3 quotes
JS

Jim Steen

Kenyon College Commencement 2011, 2011

"It's not whether your attitude is good or bad, but does it define your direction? People usually fall short because they're a degree or two off in attitude, and over time and distance, that can put you in a place far away from where you would like to be."

3 quotes