Do what needs to be done, and check to see if it was impossible only after you are done.
speech graduation courage
Paul Hawken
University of Portland 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
If you run out of hope at the end of the day, rise in the morning and put it on again with your shoes.
speech graduation resilience
Barbara Kingsolver
Duke University Commencement 2008, 2008
The first five minutes of the game does not decide the outcome. It never does.
speech graduation perseverance
Mike Tomlin
Saint Vincent College Commencement 2008, 2008
Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.
speech graduation failure
J.K. Rowling
Harvard University 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
The first five minutes of the game does not decide the outcome. It never does.
speech graduation perseverance
Mike Tomlin
St. Vincent College Commencement 2008, 2008
The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something, because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough.
speech graduation perseverance
Randy Pausch
Carnegie Mellon University 'The Last Lecture' 2007, 2007
The important test is whether you can get back up after being knocked down and risk failure again.
speech graduation resilience
Robert Ballard
Connecticut College Commencement 2007, 2007
Don't let anybody tell you that there's some obstacle that you can't overcome or some dream that you cannot realize.
speech graduation perseverance
Omid Kordestani
San Jose State University Commencement 2007, 2007
Failure is merely a dress rehearsal for future success. The strength of your character comes not from how you react to your successes, but from how you react to your failures.
speech graduation failure
Larry Bock
UC Berkeley College of Chemistry Commencement 2007, 2007
There is no substitute for hard work, for doing well at the job you're in.
speech graduation discipline
Katie Couric
Williams College Commencement 2007, 2007