Game of Loans: 2017 Celebrity Commencement Speeches: Recent Episodes
Tipping Point
Interest is coming...let 2017’s motivational commencement speeches melt away your post-college stresses.
“As inspired as you might be by a single idea or way of looking at the world, I suggest that you entertain many different ways of thinking and consider various points of view,” Salovey said at the annual Opening Assembly in Woolsey Hall. “Try them all on. See what fits you best.”
“when you keep people at the center of what you do, it can have enormous impact. … That responsibility is immense, but so is the opportunity. … As you go forward today, use your minds and hands — and hearts — to build something bigger than yourselves.”
When things go really, really wrong — and then when it rains on top of everything else — I ask you to choose to keep your heads up and come together, to connect, and to rally around one another, especially those who need it the most. It is likely to uplift you all.
“You are graduating into a tragic, dumbass comedy. My advice is to lock the [university’s] Van Wickle Gates and stay here.
“But if you do leave, work for the change. Work to stop the insanity. Start now so the class of 2018 will graduate into a better world.”
“Today, I stand in front of you giving the commencement speech at one of the top universities in America, if not the world,” said Jobrani, whose family fled Iran during that country’s 1978 revolution. “I am the American dream.”
"That free men and women will volunteer to fight, ethically and fiercely, to defend our experiment that you and I call, simply, 'America.”
“Nobody is paying attention to your failure. The world is full of people failing. People are failing all around you. Failure is boring. Your failure will not be so spectacular that people will write articles about your failure or even remember your failure.”
The only rational choice we have, the only real response we can make is to stand up and to fight back, reclaim American democracy, and create a government that works for all of us, not just the one percent
Be the generation that embodies real tolerance, genuine inquiry and authentic open-mindedness.
You’re the most engaged, tolerant, talented generation in our history. But none of that will matter if you don’t get engaged in the public affairs of this nation.
There is nothing more powerful than you using your personality to serve the calling of yourself.
“10 years can do a lot, but the next 10 will do much much more than the last 10. Why? Because, the next decade will be the Age of Artificial Intelligence, or AI.”
“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
“ I believe with all my heart that the future of America—indeed, the future of the world—depends on brave, thoughtful people like you insisting on truth and integrity, right now, every day. ”
“You could have gone to school anywhere you wanted -- and with very, very few responsibilities by comparison. Instead, you chose the path of service. You chose hard work, high standards, and a very noble mission -- to save lives, defend the homeland, and protect America’s interests around the world. You chose the Coast Guard. Good choice. ”
“As long as we believe our common humanity is most important, as long as we understand that diverse groups make better decisions than homogeneous ones or lone geniuses, as long as we realize the great thing about life is not final victories and the great tragedy is not final defeats—there aren’t any final victories or final defeats…but a life of permanent possibility”
I experience now, the same rush of chasing after dreams, of racing around a day, of moving from there to there, but I realized a simple lesson the older I get, that how we live our days, is how we live our lives.
“Our country needs you now more than ever before,” Lewis said. “When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have a moral obligation, a mandate to stand up, speak up and speak out.”
"Ideas don't come out fully formed. They only become clear as you work on them. You just have to get started. If I had to know everything about connecting people before I got started, I never would have built Facebook."
“Don’t sit back and wait for good things to happen, make them happen. Shake off your past limitations and be the best version of yourself. Live up to your potential.”
“It's important to recognize that at every step of the way, I had help. It's important to acknowledge that, as soon as you understand that you are here because you had a lot of help, you realize you need to help others.”
“Our country -- our democracy -- is not a machine that will run on its own. It needs you out there fighting for what you believe in.”
“You don't have to do something huge. You don't have to wait until someone tells you exactly what they need. And you don't have to be someone's best friend from the first grade to show up. If you are there for your friends, and let them be there for you — if you laugh together until your sides ache, hold each other while you cry, and maybe even bring them a burger before they ask — that won't just make you more resilient. It will also help you live a deeper and more meaningful life.”
“NO MATTER HOW CLICHÉ IT MAY SOUND, YOU WILL NEVER TRULY BE SUCCESSFUL UNTIL YOU LEARN TO GIVE BEYOND YOURSELF.”
“Summon your compassion, your curiosity, your empathy towards others and your commitment to service. Give more than you receive, and I promise you it will come back to you in ways you can’t possibly imagine.”