It's not deadly to ask stupid questions. What's deadly is to not ask the right question at the right time.
speech graduation curiosity
Elias A. Zerhouni
MIT Commencement 2004, 2004
You are smarter when you're in the company of smarter people than you. Fifty percent of my friends have to be from walks of life that are not directly related to my walk of life, and at least fifty percent of my friends are smarter than I am.
speech graduation relationships
Elias A. Zerhouni
MIT Commencement 2004, 2004
It really is better to fail than not to try, because if you never try, you'll never succeed, and as bad as failure feels, success feels so much better.
speech graduation failure
Ruth Westheimer
Trinity College Commencement, 2004, 2004
Excellence is the antidote to racism, sexism and nepotism. The harder you work, the luckier you become. What is luck? Luck is when opportunity meets preparation.
speech graduation perseverance
Yvonne Thornton
Tuskegee University Commencement 2003, 2003
If you are educated, if you are a doctor with those stethoscopes hanging around your neck, people may not want to come to see you, but they will have to come to see you because you have a skill and knowledge.
speech graduation education
Yvonne Thornton
Tuskegee University Commencement 2003, 2003
Don't spend so much time trying to choose the perfect opportunity, that you miss the right opportunity.
speech graduation courage
Michael Dell
University of Texas at Austin Commencement 2003, 2003
Passion should be the fire that drives your life's work.
speech graduation passion
Michael Dell
University of Texas at Austin Commencement 2003, 2003
True opportunity never knocks. I have found that I have to go looking for opportunity — and if I don't find it, I have to create it.
speech graduation ambition
Sumner Redstone
Kellogg School of Management Commencement, 2002, 2002
Great success is not built on success. It is built on failure, frustration and sometimes even calamity.
speech graduation failure
Sumner Redstone
Kellogg School of Management Commencement, 2002, 2002
Giving is not something that should be saved for the sweet by and by. It should be a lifelong practice.
speech graduation gratitude
Stephen King
Vassar College Commencement 2001, 2001
Not experiencing any failure in life is rarely a sign of perfection. Rather, it's a sign that your goals are not bold enough.
speech graduation failure
Daniel S. Goldin
MIT Commencement 2001, 2001
You can spend your life tripping on yourself. You can also spend your life tripping yourself up. Get out of your own way.
speech graduation self discovery
Suzan-Lori Parks
Mount Holyoke College Commencement 2001, 2001