Commencement Quotes

• You might as well take a chance on doing what you love.

  Jim Carrey

  Graduation, Doing What You Love, Might

  "Jim Carrey Receives Honorary Diploma from Maharishi University of Management". Jim Carrey's commencement speech at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa, www.iowasource.com. May 24, 2014.

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• Do not follow where the path may lead.

  Ralph Waldo Emerson

  Graduation, Travel, Adventure

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• Whatever you choose, however many roads you travel, I hope that you choose not to be a lady. I hope you will find some way to break the rules and make a little trouble out there. And I also hope that you will choose to make some of that trouble on behalf of women.

  Nora Ephron

  Inspirational, Motivational, Graduation

  "What graduation speeches can teach you about life" by Natasha Lunn, www.redonline.co.uk. April 15, 2015.

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• It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might has well not have lived at all, in which case you have failed by default.

  J. K. Rowling

  Inspirational, Success, Graduation

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• Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.

  Steve Jobs

  Inspirational, Motivational, Inspiring

  Commencement Address at Stanford University, delivered 12 June 2005, Palo Alto, CA

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• Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking.

  Steve Jobs

  Inspirational, Life, Graduation

  Commencement Address at Stanford University, delivered 12 June 2005, Palo Alto, CA

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  Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.

  Judy Garland

  Inspirational, Life, Motivational

  "Business Etiquette for the Nineties: Your Ticket to Career Success". Book by Lou Kennedy, 1992.

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  Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life.

  Steve Jobs

  Inspirational, Life, Motivational

  Commencement Address at Stanford University, delivered 12 June 2005, Palo Alto, CA

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  Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't.

  Bill Nye

  Inspirational, Inspiring, Learning

  Bill Nye (2015). “Unstoppable: Harnessing Science to Change the World”, p.370, St. Martin's Press

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  Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.

  Steve Jobs

  Love, Inspirational, Life

  Commencement Address at Stanford University, delivered 12 June 2005, Palo Alto, CA

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• Never follow anyone else's path, unless you're in the woods and you're lost.

  Ellen DeGeneres

  Graduation, Funny Inspirational, Funny Motivational

  "12 Inspiring Graduation Speeches by Amazing Women" by Kelly Conniff, time.com. May 18, 2014.

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• Harry taught me that death isn't the end, it's the beginning.

  Jennifer Love Hewitt

  Graduation, Senior, College

  "Dexter: Popping Cherry". TV series, 2006.

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• You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.

  Dr. Seuss

  Graduation, Being Single, Self Confidence

  Dr. Seuss (2017). “Oh, The Places You’ll Go”, p.7, HarperCollins UK

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  Those who matter don't mind, and those who mind don't matter.

  Bernard Baruch

  Inspirational, Funny, Life

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• A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.

  Francis Bacon

  Inspirational, Success, Graduation

  1625 Essays, no.52,'Of Ceremonies and Respects'.

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  Go, and make interesting mistakes, make amazing mistakes, make glorious and fantastic mistakes. Break rules. Leave the world more interesting for your being here.

  Neil Gaiman

  Inspirational, Graduation, Mistake

  Neil Gaiman's Commencement Address at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, www.uarts.edu. May 17, 2012.

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• A man who has never gone to school may steal from a freight car; but if he has a university education, he may steal the whole railroad.

  Theodore Roosevelt

  Graduation, Senior, Education

  "Art of Communicating Ideas". Book by William Joseph Grace, p. 389, 1952.

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• Commencement speeches were invented largely in the belief that outgoing college students should never be released into the world until they have been properly sedated.

  Garry Trudeau

  Graduation, College, World

  "Peace, war, economy dominate graduation speeches" by Patricia McCormack, www.upi.com. May 29, 1982.

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• A graduation ceremony is an event where the commencement speaker tells thousands of students dressed in identical caps and gowns that 'individuality' is the key to success.

  Robert Orben

  Funny, Graduation, Senior

  "A Few Tips for the Graduates". The Topeka Capital-Journal, abcnews.go.com. May 20, 2007.

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• At commencement you wear your square-shaped mortarboards.My hope is that from time to time you will let your minds be bold, and wear sombreros.

  Paul A. Freund

  Cute, Graduation, Squares

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• There is a good reason they call these ceremonies 'commencement exercises'. Graduation is not the end; it's the beginning.

  Orrin Hatch

  Graduation, Senior, Exercise

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• If you feel that you have both feet planted on level ground, then the university has failed you.

  Robert F. Goheen

  Graduation, Education, Learning

  1961 Baccalaureate address. Reported in Time magazine, 23 Jun.

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• There is no such thing as failure. Failure is just life trying to move us in another direction.

  Oprah Winfrey

  Success, Graduation, Business

  Commencement address in Harvard, news.harvard.edu. May 30, 2013.

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• It is clear the future holds great opportunities. It also holds pitfalls. The trick will be to avoid the pitfalls, seize the opportunities, and get back home by six o'clock.

  Woody Allen

  Life, Graduation, Home

  Woody Allen (2007). “The Insanity Defense: The Complete Prose”, Random House Incorporated

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• Life has a very simple plot: first you're here and then you're not.

  Eric Idle

  Inspirational, Graduation, Simple

  "17 Funniest Lines from Monty Python Star Eric Idle’s Commencement Speech" By Gillian Frew, www.huffingtonpost.com. May 21, 2013.

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