Long

Don't just follow the trends. Think in terms of the physics approach of first principles — rather than reasoning by analogy, you boil things down to the most fundamental truths you can imagine and you reason up from there.

No dream is too big, no vision is too bold; as long as we stay hungry for education and let that hunger be our North Star, there is nothing, graduates, nothing that we cannot achieve.

We're the lucky ones, and we can never forget that we didn't get where we are today all on our own. We got here because of so many people who toiled and sweat and bled and died for us. We owe them.

That fairness that my parents and I take for granted, that many Americans take for granted, is in many ways resting on your shoulders to uphold. You represent those who will make laws and effect change.

I look at all of you and see America's future — attorneys, corporate lawyers, public prosecutors, judges, politicians, maybe even the President. Those are all positions of such great influence. Understand that one day, you will have the power to make a difference. So use it well.

Hard work beats talent if talent doesn't work hard. Don't be content to work around the edges of your profession. Speak up. Volunteer. Show your enthusiasm. Knock on doors.

She was not a white man. So Clara rewrote the law that governed the practice of law in California, replacing 'white man' with 'any citizen or person resident of this state.'

Your need for acceptance can make you invisible in this world. Don't let anything stand in the way of the light that shines through this form. Risk being seen in all of your glory.

The effect you have on others is the most valuable currency there is. Everything you gain in life will rot and fall apart, and all that will be left of you is what was in your heart.

I believe we're shaped by our failures, by our weaknesses and setbacks, at least as much as we are by our successes. In many cases, those failures make ultimate success possible.

There is no straight path from your seat today to where you are going. Don't try to draw that line. You will not just get it wrong, you'll miss big opportunities.

We don't always see the hard truths, and once we see them, we don't always have the courage to speak out. The world was not equal then, and it is not equal now.