Harvard University

The effort is optional, but the truth is sacred, unalterable, chiseled into the stone of the foundation of our republic.

The work that is called for, that we must do, has no expiration date. It is the construction of our more perfect union, and that job will never, ever be completed.

Every day, every year, and for every graduating class, there is a choice to be made: those who embrace liberty and freedom for all, those who won't, or those who are indifferent. Only the first do the work.

When you respect the law and the rights of all — because if you don't, who will? When your food is brought to you, when you thank the server — because if you don't, who will? When you pick up the litter that has missed the recycling bin — because if you don't, who will?

Being ethical does not require a master's degree. It requires having a conscience and following it.

Anything that seems to be set in stone or inalterable can, indeed, change.

Am I doing something because it is right, or simply because it is possible?

Tear down walls of ignorance and narrow-mindedness, for nothing has to stay as it is.

The Berlin Wall limited my opportunities. It quite literally stood in my way. However, there was one thing which this wall couldn't do. It couldn't impose limits on my inner thoughts. My personality, my imagination, my dreams and desires — prohibitions or coercion couldn't limit any of that.

The most radical act we can take is to make a commitment to a particular thing — to a place, to a profession, to a cause, to a community, to a person.

Nobody wants to be stuck behind a locked door, but nobody wants to live in a hallway either.

It is not only the bomb or the bully that should keep us up at night — it is also the garden untilled and the newcomer unwelcomed, the neighbor unhoused and the prisoner unheard.