It's moments like these that force us to try harder, to dig deeper, and to discover gifts we never knew we had — to find the greatness that lies within each of us.
speech graduation resilience
Barack Obama
Arizona State University Commencement 2009, 2009
As painful as it is, failure has been my friend. And it can be your friend too.
speech graduation failure
Jarl Mohn
USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism Commencement 2009, 2009
You don't need the answers today. Your job is to walk out into the unknown and see what happens. Take your time, learn and enjoy something from each job, layer it on, and then pass it along so others can benefit from your wisdom.
speech graduation patience
Jerry Yang
University of Hawaii Commencement 2009, 2009
Find the smartest people you can and surround yourself with them. Smart people will challenge you to think harder and in entirely different ways.
speech graduation leadership
Marissa Mayer
Illinois Institute of Technology Commencement 2009, 2009
Find allies rather than adorers. Adorers are people who fawn over you but never tell you when you screw up. Instead, seek out allies who are honest with you when you feel you are not living up to your potential.
speech graduation relationships
Marissa Mayer
Illinois Institute of Technology Commencement 2009, 2009
Find the courage to do things you are not ready to do. Doing something you are not ready to do isn't comfortable. But in pushing through this discomfort you will learn a lot more about yourself.
speech graduation courage
Marissa Mayer
Illinois Institute of Technology Commencement 2009, 2009
Recognize that you are the change you seek. You are the great agents of change in the world. You can adapt, you can embrace, you can respond in ways that will better your life and better the life of your society. You cannot ignore them. You cannot fight them. But what you can do is adapt and make the world a better place.
speech graduation growth
Fareed Zakaria
Bates College Commencement 2009, 2009
Being average doesn't mean you can't have an effect on the world.
speech graduation humility
Anthony Corvino
Binghamton University Commencement 2009, 2009
It is what you do during those valleys that will determine the heights of your peaks.
speech graduation resilience
Rahm Emanuel
George Washington University Commencement 2009, 2009
The best way to deal with most difficulties and challenges is to see them as opportunities to help us grow—lessons that are presented to us to help us go further than we have gone before.
speech graduation resilience
John Mackey
Bentley College Commencement 2008, 2008
The only time you lose at something is when you don't learn from that experience.
speech graduation failure
Chuck Norris
Liberty University Commencement 2008, 2008
No question is too stupid. You're not as smart as you think you are. You never will be. There's always room to learn. Don't be scared to ask.
speech graduation humility
Meredith Vieira
Tufts University Commencement 2008, 2008