Empathy is at the heart of the actor's art.
speech graduation empathy
Meryl Streep
Barnard College Commencement 2010, 2010
When one door closes, another door always opens. It really does.
speech graduation resilience
Lisa Kudrow
Vassar College Commencement 2010, 2010
Nations of technically trained people who don't know how to criticize authority, useful profit-makers with obtuse imaginations.
speech graduation education
Martha Nussbaum
Connecticut College Commencement 2009, 2009
Imagination is cultivated, above all, by courses in the arts and humanities. It is in some ways the most essential of all, if we are to work toward a world in which we see distant lives as spacious and deep.
speech graduation empathy
Martha Nussbaum
Connecticut College Commencement 2009, 2009
The humanities and the arts only do what is much more precious than making money: they make a world that is worth living in.
speech graduation arts
Martha Nussbaum
Connecticut College Commencement 2009, 2009
Not knowing is just as important, if not more important, because you do not know yet what can't be done.
speech graduation courage
Robert Rodriguez
University of Texas at Austin Commencement 2009, 2009
I've always tried to be that little kid with his hand in the air. It really works to be that naive, to really think you can do anything.
speech graduation courage
Robert Rodriguez
University of Texas at Austin Commencement 2009, 2009
I had to substitute money with creativity and that's what made all the difference. I had to make a movie in a way that broke the traditional mold and learn not to be a slave to tradition.
speech graduation creativity
Robert Rodriguez
University of Texas at Austin Commencement 2009, 2009
Sometimes we need an event to shock us into the present. Some of us require a catastrophic experience to remind us that we are indeed alive. Others know this from their reading of poetry — a somewhat less traumatic experience.
speech graduation gratitude
Billy Collins
Colorado College Commencement 2008, 2008
Be present. Be present and open to the moment that is unfolding before you, because ultimately your life is made up of moments. So don't miss them by being lost in the past or anticipating the future.
speech graduation carpe diem
Jessica Lange
Sarah Lawrence College Commencement 2008, 2008
Art is an irreplaceable way of understanding and expressing the world, equal to but distinct from scientific and conceptual methods.
speech graduation arts
Dana Gioia
Stanford University Commencement 2007, 2007
You don't outgrow art. The same work can mean something different at each stage of your life.
speech graduation arts
Dana Gioia
Stanford University Commencement 2007, 2007