good ending quotes for a graduation speech

50 Speech Closing Lines (& How to Create Your Own) | The Ultimate Guide

Hrideep barot.

• Public Speaking , Speech Writing

While speech openings are definitely one of the most important components of a speech, something that is equally as important is the way you conclude your speech.

There are few worse ways to end your speech than with a terse ‘thank you’–no elaboration or addition whatsoever.

Speech endings are just as crucial to the success of your speech as speech openings, and you must spend just as much time picking the perfect ending as you do to determine your best possible speech opening.

The words you speak at the beginning and end of your speech are words that your audience will pay the most attention to, and remember longer than any other part of your speech.

Speech endings can put even the most experienced speaker in flux, and increase their anxiousness manifold as they sit there attempting to figure out the perfect way to end your speech.

If you’re someone who’s in flux about your speech ending too, don’t worry. We’ve got some amazing ways to conclude your speech with a bang!

1. Circling Back To The Beginning

The idea behind circling back to the beginning of your speech is to reinforce the idea of your speech being a complete whole. By circling back to the beginning and connecting it to your ending, you let the audience understand that the idea of your speech is complete & standalone.

Circling back to the beginning of your speech also acts as an excellent way of reinforcing the central idea of your speech in the audience’s mind, and makes it more likely that they will remember it after the speech ends.

Need more inspiration for speech opening lines? Check out our article on 15 Powerful Speech Opening Lines & Tips To Create Your Own.

How To Circle Back To The Beginning

The easiest way to do this is to set up your beginning for the conclusion of your speech. That is, if you’re saying something like, say, a story or joke in the beginning, then you can leave your audience in a cliffhanger until the ending arrives.

Another great way to circle back to the beginning is by simply restating something you said at the start. The added knowledge from attending the rest of your speech will help the audience see this piece of information in a new–and better–light.

1. Will Stephen

Ending Line: “I’d like you to think about what you heard in the beginning, and I want you to think about what you hear now. Because it was nothing & it’s still nothing.”

2. Canwen Xu

Speech Ending: My name is Canwen, my favorite color is purple and I play the piano but not so much the violin…

Think of a memorable moment from your life, and chances are you’ll realize that it involved a feeling of happiness–something that we can associate with smiling or laughter. And what better way to generate laughter than by incorporating the age-old strategy of good humor.

The happy and lighthearted feeling you associate with good memories is the kind of emotional reaction you want to create in your audience too. That’s what will make your speech stick in their memory.

Done incorrectly, humor can be a disaster. Done right, however, it can entirely transform a speech.

Humor doesn’t only mean slapstick comedy (although there’s nothing wrong with slapstick, either). Humor can come in many forms, including puns, jokes, a funny story…the list is endless.

How To Incorporate Humor In Your Speech Ending

The simplest way to incorporate humor into your speech ending is by telling a plain old joke–something that’s relevant to your topic, of course.

You can also tell them a short, funny anecdote–may be an unexpected conclusion to a story you set up in the beginning.

Another way would be by employing the power of repetition. You can do this by associating something funny with a word, and then repeating the word throughout your speech. During the end, simply say the word or phrase one last time, and it’s likely you’ll leave off your audience with a good chuckle.

1. Woody Roseland

Ending Line: “Why are balloons so expensive? Inflation.”

2. Andras Arato

Ending Line: “There are three rules to becoming famous. Unfortunately, nobody knows what they are.”

3. Hasan Minhaj

Ending Line: “And you want to know the scariest part? Pretty soon every country on the earth is going to have its own TLC show.”

4. Sophie Scott

Speech Ending: In other words, when it comes to laughter, you and me baby, ain’t nothing but mammals.

5. Tim Urban

Speech Ending: We need to stay away from the Instant Gratification Monkey. That’s a job for all of us. And because there’s not that many boxes on there. It’s a job that should probably start today. Well, maybe not today, but, you know, sometime soon.

6. Hasan Minhaj

Speech Ending: Showing my legs on TV is probably the scariest thing I’ve ever done. And keep in mind last week I went after the Prince of Saudi Arabia.

3. Question

The idea behind posing a question at the end of your speech is to get the wheels in your audience’s minds turning and to get them thinking of your speech long after it has ended. A question, if posed correctly, will make your audience re-think about crucial aspects of your speech, and is a great way to prompt discussion after your speech has ended.

How To Add Questions To Your Speech Ending

The best type of questions to add to your speech ending is rhetorical questions. That’s because, unlike a literal question, a rhetorical question will get the audience thinking and make them delve deeper into the topic at hand.

Make sure your question is central to the idea of your speech, and not something frivolous or extra. After all, the point of a question is to reinforce the central idea of your topic.

1. Lexie Alford

Speech Ending: Ask yourself: How uncomfortable are you willing to become in order to reach your fullest potential?

2. Apollo Robbins

Speech Ending: If you could control somebody’s attention, what would you do with it?

Quotes are concise, catchy phrases or sentences that are generally easy to remember and repeat.

Quotes are an age-old way to start–and conclude–a speech. And for good reason.

Quotes can reinforce your own ideas by providing a second voice to back them up. They can also provoke an audience’s mind & get them thinking. So, if you add your quote to the end of your speech, the audience will most likely be thinking about it for long after you have finished speaking.

How To Use Quotes In Your Speech Ending

While adding quotes to your speech ending, make sure that it’s relevant to your topic. Preferably, you want to pick a quote that summarizes your entire idea in a concise & memorable manner.

Make sure that your quote isn’t too long or complicated. Your audience should be able to repeat it as well as feel its impact themselves. They shouldn’t be puzzling over the semantics of your quote, but its intended meaning.

1. Edouard Jacqmin

Speech Ending: “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.”

2. Chris Crowe

Speech Ending: “It’s more certain than death and taxes.”

3. Olivia Remes

Speech Ending: I’d like to leave you with a quote by Martin Luther King: “You don’ have to see the whole staircase. Just take the first step.”

4. Tomislav Perko

Speech Ending: Like that famous quote says, “In twenty years from now on, you’ll be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the things you did do.

5. Diana Nyad

Speech Ending: To paraphrase the poet, Mary Oliver, she says, “So, what is it? What is it you’re doing with this one wild and precious life of yours?”

5. Piece Of Advice

The point of giving a piece of advice at the end of your speech is not to pull your audience down or to make them feel bad/inferior about themselves. Rather, the advice is added to motivate your audience to take steps to do something–something related to the topic at hand.

The key point to remember is that your advice is included to help your audience, not to discourage them.

How To Add Piece Of Advice To Your Speech Ending

To truly make your audience follow the advice you’re sharing, you must make sure it resonates with them. To do so, you need to inject emotions into your advice, and to present it in such a manner that your audience’s emotions are aroused when they hear it.

Your advice shouldn’t be something extra-complicated or seemingly impossible to achieve. This will act as a counter-agent. Remember that you want your audience to follow your advice, not to chuck it away as something impossible.

Our article, 15 Powerful Speech Ending Lines And Tips To Create Your Own , is another great repository for some inspiration.

1. Ricardo Lieuw On

Speech Ending: “Learn something new, or a new way of approaching something old because there are a few skills are valuable as the art of learning.”

2. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic

Speech Ending: “If we want to improve the competence level of our leaders, then we should first improve our own competence for judging and selecting leaders.”

3. Sharique Samsudheen

Speech Ending: “Some people love money, some people hate money, some people crave money, some people even kill for money. But what they miss is they just need to learn how to manage money well, and that will give them financial freedom.”

4. Kate Simonds

Speech Ending: Teens, you need to believe in your voices and adults, you need to listen.

5. Melissa Butler

Speech Ending: When you go home today, see yourself in the mirror, see all of you, look at all your greatness that you embody, accept it, love it and finally, when you leave the house tomorrow, try to extend that same love and acceptance to someone who doesn’t look like you.

6. Iskra Lawrence

Speech Ending: Speak to your body in a loving way. It’s the only one you got, it’s your home, and it deserves your respect. If you see anyone tearing themselves down, build them back up And watch your life positively grow when you give up the pursuit of perfection.

6. Contemplative Remark

As the name itself suggests, contemplative remarks are intended to make your audience contemplate or mull over something. The ‘something’ in question should be the idea central to your speech, or a key takeaway that you want them to return home with.

The idea is to get your audience thinking and to keep them thinking for a long, long time.

How To Add A Contemplative Remark To Your Speech Ending

To add a contemplative remark to your speech ending, you first need to figure out your key takeaway or main theme. Then, you want to arrange that as a question, and propose it to your audience at the end of your speech.

Remember that your question shouldn’t be something too wordy or complicated to understand. As with the quotes, you don’t want your audience stuck on the semantics. Rather, you want them to focus on the matter at hand.

1. Lisa Penney

Speech Ending: “So I invite you to pay more attention to your thoughts & consider the legacy you leave behind.”

2. Grant Sanderson

Speech Ending: “Some of the most useful math that you can find or teach has its origin in someone who was just looking for a good story.”

3. Greta Thunberg

Speech Ending: “We will not let you get away with this. Right here, right now is where we draw the line. The world is waking up & change is coming whether you like it or not.”

4. Bill Eckstrom

Speech Ending: Now, think about this: it’s not the complexity-triggering individuals or events you should fear the most, but it’s your own willingness to accept or seek discomfort that will dictate the growth of not just you, but our entire world.

5. Robert Hoge

Speech Ending: Choose to accept your face, choose to appreciate your face, don’t look away from the mirror so quickly; understand all the love, and the life, and the pain that is the part of your face, that is the art of your face. Tomorrow when you wake up, what will your choice be?

7. Personal Anecdote

Personal anecdotes, as the name suggests, are anecdotes that are personal to the speaker or instances from their life. Personal anecdotes are a great way to incorporate the magical powers of storytelling in your speech, as well as to make a personal connection with the audience. Using personal anecdotes, you can hit two birds with one stone!

How To Add Personal Anecdotes To Your Speech Ending

To add personal anecdotes to your speech ending, you need to filter through your life experiences to find out ones that directly relate to your topic at hand. You don’t want to include an anecdote, no matter how compelling it is, if it doesn’t relate to your topic.

Remember to not keep your anecdote too long. Your audience will most likely lose their attention if you do so.

1. Sheila Humphries

Speech Ending: “Why do you go work for these people?” My answer to them was, “If I could help one child make it in this world, it’ll be worth it all.”

8. Call To Action

A call-to-action is one of the absolute best ways to conclude a speech with a bang. A well-written speech should aim to alter the audience’s mind or belief system in some way and to make them take an action in that direction. One crucial way to assure your audience does this is by using a call to action.

How To Add A Call To Action To Your Speech Ending

A call to action comes right before the ending of your speech to provide your audience with a clear idea or set of instructions about what they’re supposed to do after your talk ends.

A call to action should provide a roadmap to the audience for their future steps, and to outline clearly what those future steps are going to be.

1. Armin Hamrah

Speech Ending: “So tonight, after you finish your Math homework & before you lay your head down on that fluffy pillow, bring a piece of paper and pen by your bedside…”

2. Graham Shaw

Speech Ending: “So I invite you to get your drawings out there & spread the word that when we draw, we remember more!”

3. Andy Puddicombe

Speech Ending: You don’t have to burn any incense, and you definitely don’t have to sit on the floor. All you need to do is to take out 10 minutes out a day to step back, familiarize yourself with the present moment so that you get to experience a greater sense of focus, calm, and clarity in your life.

4. Amy Cuddy

Speech Ending: Before you go into the next stressful evaluative situation, for two minutes, try doing this in the elevator…

5. Jia Jiang

Speech Ending: When you are facing the next obstacle or the next failure, consider the possibilities. Don’t run! If you just embrace them, they might become your gifts as well.

9. Motivational Remark

As the name clearly explains, a motivational remark motivates your audience to carry out a plan of action. It ruffles the audience’s mind and emotions and has a powerful impact on the steps that your audience will take after you’ve finished speaking.

How To Add A Motivational Remark To Your Speech Ending

The key to a good motivational remark is to inspire your audience. Your motivational remark should act as a ray of hope to your audience and positively inspire them to take a desired course of action.

Your motivational remark should not be negative in any way. You don’t want to guilt or coerce your audience into doing something or feeling a certain way. You want to leave them on a positive note to move forward with their life.

1. Khanh Vy Tran

Speech Ending: “No matter what you’re going through right now & no matter what the future holds for you, please don’t change yourself. Love yourself, accept yourself & then transform yourself.”

2. Mithila Palkar

Speech Ending: “Get a job, leave a job, dance, sing, fall in love. Carve your own niche. But most importantly: learn to love your own randomness.”

3. Andrew Tarvin

Speech Ending: “Anyone can learn to be funnier. And it all starts with a choice. A choice to try to find ways to use humor. A choice to be like my grandmother, to look at the world around you and say WTF–wow, that’s fun.”

4. Laura Vanderkam

Speech Ending: There is time. Even if we are busy, we have time for what matters. And when we focus on what matters, we can build the lives we want in the time we’ve got.

5. Julian Treasure

Speech Ending: Let’s get listening taught in schools, and transform the world in one generation into a conscious listening world, a world of connection, a world of understanding, and a world of peace.

6. Mariana Atencio

Speech Ending: Let’s celebrate those imperfections that make us special. I hope that it teaches you that nobody has a claim on the word ‘normal’. We are all different. We are all quirky and unique and that is what makes us wonderfully human.

10. Challenge

Much like a call to action, the aim of proposing a challenge at the end of your speech is to instigate your audience to take some desired course of action. A challenge should make an appeal to your audience’s emotion, and motivate them to meet it.

How To Add A Challenge To Your Speech Ending

To apply a challenge effectively to your speech ending, you need to make sure that it’s something relevant to your topic. Your challenge should drive the central topic of your speech forward, and make your audience engage in real-life steps to apply your idea in the real world.

While its always a good idea to set a high bar for your challenge, make sure its an achievable one too.

1. Jamak Golshani

Speech Ending: “I challenge you to open your heart to new possibilities, choose a career path that excites you & one that’s aligned to who you truly are.”

2. Ashley Clift-Jennings

Speech Ending: So, my challenge to you today is, “Do you know, would you even know how to recognize your soulmate?” If you are going out in the world right now, would you know what you are looking for?

11. Metaphor

Metaphors are commonly used as a short phrase that draws a comparison between two ideas in a non-literal sense. People use metaphors quite commonly in daily life to explain ideas that might be too difficult or confusing to understand otherwise. Metaphors are also great tools to be used in speech, as they can present your main idea in a simple and memorable way.

How To Add Metaphors To Your Speech Ending

To add a metaphor to your speech ending, you need to first decide on the main idea or takeaway of your speech. Your metaphor should then be organized in such a way that it simplifies your main idea and makes it easier for your audience to understand & remember it.

The key is to not make your metaphor overly complicated or difficult to retain and share. Remember that you’re trying to simplify your idea for the audience–not make them even more confused.

1. Ramona J. Smith

Speech Ending: “Stay in that ring. And even after you take a few hits, use what you learned from those previous fights, and at the end of the round, you’ll still remain standing.”

2. Shi Heng YI

Speech Ending: “If any of you chooses to climb that path to clarity, I will be very happy to meet you at the peak.”

3. Zifang “Sherrie” Su

Speech Ending: “Are you turning your back on your fear? Our life is like this stage, but what scares are now may bring you the most beautiful thing. Give it a chance.”

12. Storytelling

The idea behind using stories to end your speech is to leave your audience with a good memory to take away with them.

Stories are catchy, resonating & memorable ways to end any speech.

Human beings can easily relate to stories. This is because most people have grown up listening to stories of some kind or another, and thus a good story tends to evoke fond feelings in us.

How To Incorporate Stories In Your Speech Ending

A great way to incorporate stories in your speech ending is by setting up a story in the beginning and then concluding it during the end of your speech.

Another great way would be to tell a short & funny anecdote related to a personal experience or simply something related to the topic at hand.

However, remember that it’s the ending of your speech. Your audience is most likely at the end of their attention span. So, keep your story short & sweet.

1. Sameer Al Jaberi

Speech Ending: “I can still see that day when I came back from my honeymoon…”

2. Josephine Lee

Speech Ending: “At the end of dinner, Jenna turned to me and said…”

Facts are another excellent speech ending, and they are used quite often as openings as well. The point of adding a fact as your speech ending is to add shock value to your speech, and to get your audience thinking & discussing the fact even after your speech has ended.

How To Add Facts To Your Speech Ending

The key to adding facts to your speech ending is to pick a fact that thrusts forward your main idea in the most concise form possible. Your fact should also be something that adds shock value to the speech, and it should ideally be something that the audience hasn’t heard before.

Make sure that your fact is relevant to the topic at hand. No matter how interesting, a fact that doesn’t relate to your topic is going to be redundant.

1. David JP Phillips

Speech Ending: 3500 years ago, we started transfering knowledge from generation to generation through text. 28 years ago, PowerPoint was born. Which one do you think our brain is mostly adapted to?

14. Rhethoric Remark

Rhetoric remarks are another excellent way to get the wheels of your audience’s minds turning. Rhetoric remarks make your audience think of an imagined scenario, and to delve deeper into your topic. Rhetoric remarks or questioned don’t necessarily need to have a ‘right’ or one-shot answer, which means you can be as creative with them as possible!

How To Add Rhethoric Remarks To Your Speech Ending

Since rhetorical questions don’t need to have a definite answer, you have much freedom in determining the type of question or statement you wish to make. However, as with all other speech endings, a rhetorical question shouldn’t be asked just for the sake of it.

A rhetorical question should make your audience think about your topic in a new or more creative manner. It should get them thinking about the topic and maybe see it from an angle that they hadn’t before.

Rhetorical questions shouldn’t be too confusing. Use simple language & make sure it’s something that the audience can easily comprehend.

1. Mona Patel

Speech Ending: Pick your problem, ask “What if?” Come up with ideas. Bring them down. Then execute on them. Maybe you’re thinking, “What if we can’t?” I say to you, “What if we don’t?”

2. Lizzie Velasquez

Speech Ending: I want you to leave here and ask yourself what defines you. But remember: Brave starts here.

Another great way to end your speech with a literal bang is by using music! After all, if there’s something that can impact the human mind with just as much force as a few well-placed words, it’s the correct music.

How To Add Music To Your Speech Ending

To add music to your speech ending, you must make sure that the music has something to do with your speech theme. Remember that you’re not playing music in your concert. The piece of music that you choose must be relevant to your topic & work to have a contribution in your overall speech.

1. Tom Thum

Speech Ending: *ends the TED Talk with beat boxing*

16. Reitirate The Title

The title of your speech is its most important component. That’s why you need to pay careful attention to how you pick it, as it is something that your viewers will most likely remember the longest about your speech.

Your title will also act as a guiding hand towards how your audience forms an initial idea about your speech and is what they will associate your entire speech with.

By repeating your title at the end of your speech, you increase the chances that your audience will remember it–and your speech–for a long time.

How To Retierate The Title In Your Speech Ending

Your title is something that your audience associates your entire speech with. However, you don’t want to simply add the title in your speech end for the sake of adding it. Instead, make it flow naturally into your speech ending. This will make it seem less forced, and will also increase the chances of your audience remembering your entire speech ending and not just the title of your speech.

1. Ruairi Robertson

Speech Ending: I feel we can all contribute to this fight worth fighting for our own health, but more importantly, our future generations’ health by restoring the relationship between microbe and man. There is SOME FOOD FOR THOUGHT!

Need more inspiration for speech closing lines? Check out our article on 10 Of The Best Things To Say In Closing Remarks.

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To sum up, speech endings are just as imperative to the success of your speech as speech openings, and you must spend just as much time picking the perfect ending as you do to determine your best possible speech opening. The words you speak at the beginning and end of your speech are words that your audience will pay the most attention to, and remember longer than any other part of your speech.

Still looking for inspiration? Check out this video we made on closing remarks:

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110 graduation quotes to send off the class of 2024 in style

Graduations are among life's biggest accomplishments. They speak to hard work , dedication and success.

For the graduate, it's a day well-earned. For friends and loved ones, it's a time to let someone special know that their achievement is recognized and celebrated.

Whether it be a kindergarten , high school or college graduation, honor the grad in your life this year with a thoughtful gift, greeting card or one of these inspirational graduation quotes.

In recognition of commencements of every kind, we’ve gathered a list of the best graduation quotes to post on Instagram , send via text or jot down in a heartfelt note.

To help you find exactly the right words, we've put together a comprehensive collection of sayings from notable figures including Eleanor Roosevelt, Maya Angelou , Mahatma Gandhi, Helen Keller and other luminaries.

You'll find short quotes, funny quotes from the likes of Steve Martin, Tina Fey and Robin Williams, and time-honored quotes from the treasured Dr. Seuss book “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!”

Whatever message you’re searching for to celebrate someone special, you’re sure to find it in the compilation below.

So, without any further pomp and circumstance, here are the best graduation quotes to help you say "hat's off" to the class of 2024.

Best graduation quotes

• “A bright future beckons. The onus is on us, through hard work, honesty and integrity, to reach for the stars.” — Nelson Mandela
• “Your talent determines what you can do. Your motivation determines how much you are willing to do. Your attitude determines how well you do it.” — Lou Holtz
• “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” — Norman Vincent Peale
• “Life loves to be taken by the lapel and be told, ‘I am with you kid. Let’s go!’” Maya Angelou

• “Set your course by the stars, not by the lights of every passing ship.” ― Omar N. Bradley
• “I never dreamed about success. I worked for it.” — Estée Lauder
• “You change the world by being yourself.” — Yoko Ono
• “Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.” — Theodore Roosevelt
• “You get whatever accomplishment you are willing to declare.” ― Georgia O’Keeffe

• “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
• “What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson
• “Let us make our future now, and let us make our dreams tomorrow’s reality.” — Malala Yousafzai
• "Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." — Mahatma Gandhi
• “Success is getting what you want, happiness is wanting what you get.” ― W.P. Kinsella

• “It is not where you start but how high you aim that matters for success.” — Nelson Mandela
• "The love of learning, the sequestered nooks, And all the sweet serenity of books." ― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
• “Am I good enough? Yes, I am.” ― Michelle Obama, “Becoming”
• “The only impossible journey is the one you never begin.” — Tony Robbins
• “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” — Helen Keller

• “When you have a dream, you’ve got to grab it and never let go.” — Carol Burnett
• “Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible!’” ― Audrey Hepburn
• "I scorched the earth with my talent and I let my light shine.” — André Leon Talley
• “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure.” — Colin Powell
• “I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart: I am, I am, I am.” — Sylvia Plath, “The Bell Jar”

• “Be the best of whatever you are.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.
• “Forever is composed of nows.” — Emily Dickinson
• “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” — Steve Jobs
• “To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.” ― Henri Bergson
• “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us. And the world will live as one.” ― John Lennon, "Imagine"

• “A #2 pencil and a dream can take you anywhere.” — Joyce Meyer
• “Passion first and everything will fall into place.” — Holly Holm
• “You’re off to great places. Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So ... get on your way.” — Dr. Seuss, “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!”
• “The beginning is always today.” — Mary Shelley
• “You don’t become what you want, you become what you believe.” — Oprah Winfrey
• “You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” — A.A. Milne, “Winnie the Pooh”

Short graduation quotes

• “Celebrate endings — for they precede new beginnings.” — Jonathan Lockwood Huie
• “There are no goodbyes for us. Wherever you are, you will always be in my heart.” — Mahatma Gandhi
• “The harder the battle, the sweeter the victory.” — Les Brown
• “A star is a rock that never gave up on its dream to rise.” ― Matshona Dhliwayo
• “Success is loving life and daring to live it.” ― Maya Angelou

• “Your education is a dress rehearsal for a life that is yours to lead.” — Nora Ephron
• “Through discipline comes freedom.” — Aristotle
• “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” ― Robert Collier
• “What could we accomplish if we knew we could not fail?” — Eleanor Roosevelt
• “Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.” ― John D. Rockefeller

• “Nothing is impossible. The word itself says, ‘I’m possible!’” — Audrey Hepburn
• “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” — Steve Martin
• “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” — Neale Donald Walsch
• “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” — Mark Twain
• “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” — Nelson Mandela

• “Success is not the absence of failure; it’s the persistence through failure.” — Aisha Tyler
• “Accept no one’s definition of your life. Define yourself.” ― Harvey Fierstein
• “Today’s accomplishments were yesterday’s impossibilities.” — Robert H. Schuller
• “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” ― Mahatma Gandhi
• “Your education has prepared you for what lies ahead.” — Conan O’Brien, 2020 Harvard commencement

• “What we learn with pleasure we never forget.” — Alfred Mercier
• “The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible.” — Arthur C. Clarke
• “It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great.” — Jimmy Dugan, “A League of Their Own”
• “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” — Lao Tzu

• “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” ― Theodore Roosevelt
• “Persistence is the most powerful force on earth, it can move mountains.” — Albert Einstein
• “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope and confidence.” — Helen Keller

Funny graduation quotes

• “Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.” — Albert Einstein
• “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” — Ferris Bueller, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”
• “I look to the future because that is where I’m going to spend the rest of my life.” — George Burns
• “Try not to have a good time ... This is supposed to be educational.” — Lucy Van Pelt, “Peanuts”

• “People don’t turn down money. It’s what separates us from the animals.” — Jerry Seinfeld
• “When all else fails, there’s always delusion.” — Conan O’Brien
• “Summer vacation does kind of set up an adulthood of disappointment. That first job, you’re like, ‘I have to go to work in July? What is this, Russia?’”— Jim Gaffigan, “Cinco”
• “Adults are always asking little kids what they want to be when they grow up because they’re looking for ideas.”  —Paula Poundstone
• “A mind is like a parachute. It doesn’t work if it is not open.” — Frank Zappa

• “Do not take life too seriously — you will never get out of it alive.” — Elbert Hubbard
• “You’re only given a little spark of madness, you mustn’t lose it.” — Robin Williams
• “You can’t be that kid standing at the top of the water slide overthinking it. You have to go down the chute.”   — Tina Fey
• “All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific.” — Jane Wagner
• “If at first you don’t succeed, then skydiving definitely isn’t for you.” — Steven Wright
• “Never follow anyone else’s path. Unless you’re in the woods and you’re lost and you see a path; then, by all means, you should follow that path.” — Ellen Degeneres
• “You’re still here? It’s over. Go home. Go.” — Ferris Bueller, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”

Inspirational graduation quotes

• “All dreams are within reach. All you have to do is keep moving towards them.” — Viola Davis
• “That’s a great motto for all of us — find somebody to be successful for. Raise their hopes. Rise to their needs.” — Barack Obama, Arizona State University commencement speech 2009
• “Look back on the journey that brought you here. What moments challenged you most? When were you asked to step outside of your familiar territory in order to rise to the occasion of your potential? I want you to remember those moments because they will embolden you.” — Kerry Washington, George Washington University commencement speech 2013

• “Just because you don’t know what you want yet, it doesn’t mean that there’s nothing to want.” — Emily Henry, “The Love That Split the Wind”
• “You educate a man; you educate a man. You educate a woman; you educate a generation.” — Brigham Young
• “You’ll be on your way up! You’ll be seeing great sights! You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.” — Dr. Seuss, “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!”
• “Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a better person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in.” — Martin Luther King, March for Integrated Schools
•  “Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” — Dr. Seuss, “Happy Birthday to You!”

• “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go...” — Dr. Seuss, “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!”
• “A great accomplishment shouldn’t be the end of the road, just the starting point for the next leap forward.” — Harvey Mackay
• “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” — Henry David Thoreau, “Walden”
• “It is you, the young and fearless at heart, the most diverse and educated generation in our history, who the nation is waiting to follow.” — Barack Obama, Selma Anniversary speech 2015

• “It’s opener, out there, in the wide, open air.” ― Dr. Seuss, "Oh, the Places You’ll Go!"
• “Why fit in when you were born to stand out?” ― Dr. Seuss
• “Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.” — Malcolm X
• “Congratulations! Today is your day. You’re off to Great Places! You’re off and away!” ― Dr. Seuss, “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!”
• “It is our failure to become of perceived ideal that ultimately defines us and makes us unique.” — Conan O’Brien, 2011 Dartmouth College commencement address

• “Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in.” — Bill Bradley
• “There are two types of people who will tell you that you cannot make a difference in this world: those who are afraid to try and those who are afraid you will succeed.” — Ray Goforth
• “All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.” — Walt Disney
• “Becoming isn’t about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self. The journey doesn’t end.” — Michelle Obama, “Becoming”
• “I am a firm believer that you don’t achieve greatness on your own. There is always someone there to lend a hand.” — Greg Louganis

Graduation quotes inspired by song lyrics

• “Tonight / We are young /So, let’s set the world on fire / We can burn brighter than the sun.” — Fun, “We Are Young”
• “I’ll spread my wings and I’ll learn how to fly / I’ll do what it takes ‘til I touch the sky / And I’ll make a wish, take a chance, make a change and breakaway.” — Kelly Clarkson, “Breakaway”
• “And I’ll be gone, gone tonight / The ground beneath my feet is open wide.” — One Direction, “Story of My Life’

• “You just gotta ignite the light and let it shine / Just own the night, like the Fourth of July.” — Katy Perry, “Firework”
• “It’s something unpredictable, but in the end, it’s right / I hope you had the time of your life.” — Green Day, “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)”
• “Ain’t about how fast I get there / Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side / It’s the climb.” — Miley Cyrus, “The Climb”
• “I am unwritten / Can’t read my mind / I’m undefined / I’m just beginning / The pen’s in my hand / Ending unplanned.” —Natasha Bedingfield, “Unwritten”

• “As we go on, we remember / All the times we had together / And as our lives change / Come whatever / We will still be friends forever.” — Vitamin C, “Graduation (Friends Forever)
• “I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance / Never settle for the path of least resistance.” — Lee Ann Womack, “I Hope You Dance”
• “School’s out for summer / School’s out forever.” — Alice Cooper, “School’s Out”

Sarah Lemire is a lifestyle and entertainment reporter for TODAY based in New York City. She covers holidays, celebrities and everything in between.

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Here are a few quotes for graduation speeches that may help to spark your imagination.

Oftentimes, a quote can inspire a whole graduation speech. Quotes for graduation speeches can be taken from anywhere, then woven into your speech to help make it more memorable for your audience.

So check out the graduation quotes below and see if any of them fire up your imagination. If you would like to submit a quote for a graduation speech that you think is brilliant, use the form at the end of this page and I will place it here with your name as the submitter!

"You don't have to be great to start but you have to start to be great."

- Zig Ziglar ( submitted by Swapna )

"Time and tide waits for none."

- Unknown ( submitted by Ibrahim )

"Reach for the stars, dream for tomorrow, live for today."

- Unknown ( submitted by Caltren )

"Translate the good things of your learning into the welfare of humanity."

- Unknown ( submitted by Bishwanath )

"Never say die."

- Unknown ( submitted by Siddharth )

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."

- Winston Churchill ( submitted by Allie )

"We were all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid."

- Benjamin Franklin ( submitted by Joe )

"Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave."

- Prophet Mohammad ( submitted by Khulud )

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with but a single step."

- Confucius ( submitted by Jafar )

"Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today."

- Malcom X ( submitted by Liin )

"Life is a journey. Day by day we learn more and this is just the beginning of our journey." ( submitted by Jay )

"Make your dreams happen by working on them and believing in yourself."

( submitted by Mariah )

"Wisdom is power."

( submitted by Marilou )

"Work hard, have fun, make history."

- Jeff Bezos ( submitted by Rajesh )

"Success doesn't happen overnight, it is a product of long term diligence and perseverance."

( submitted by Elena )

"Cherish your education as if it was the last Oreo in the bag."

( submitted by Daniel )

"Never follow someone who is going nowhere."

( submitted by Zam )

"Our future depends on what we do in the present.."

( submitted by King )

"Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation."

- Robert F. Kennedy

"You cannot teach people anything. You can only help them discover it within themselves."

"It's choice - not chance - that determines your destiny."

- Jean Nidetch

"If we did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves."

- Thomas Edison

"Success is never final. Failure is never fatal. It is courage that counts."

- Winston Churchill

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it."

"You never achieve real success unless you like what you are doing."

- Dale Carnegie

"In any moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing."

- Theodore Roosevelt

"Cherish your visions and your dreams, as they are the children of your soul; the blueprints of your ultimate achievements."

- Napolean Hill

"Life is what we make it. Always has been, always will be."

- Grandma Moses

More quotes for graduation speeches

"Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do."

- Pope John XXIII

"Realize that the reason most people fail isn't because of the competition but because of the limits they place upon themselves, allowing defeat to take over. Take responsibility for your destiny. You can come up with a performance, if you can reach down and dig deep enough into your competitive soul. You can overcome tremendous obstacles."

- Bruce Jenner

"So long as there is breath in me, that long I will persist. For now I know one of the greatest principles on success; if I persist long enough I will win."

- Og Mandino

"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"As long as you're going to think anyway, think big."

- Donald Trump

"To accomplish great things we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe."

- Anatole France

"My father always used to say that when you die, if you've got five real friends, you've had a great life."

- Lee Iacocca

"If caterpillars can fly, so can you"

- Submitted by Juliet

I hope these quotes for graduation speeches have given you some ideas in helping you to write your graduation speech! If you feel so inclined, send in your own graduation quote using the form below.

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Example of a Valedictorian Speech

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Sample High School Graduation Speech to Inspire You

A sample high school graduation speech sent in by a visitor to Best Speech Topics. This speech honors all those who helped this student graduate and is an excellent example to follow when crafting a speech of your own.

Top 15 Graduation Speech Topics

15 Graduation speech topics, plus tips for coming up with your own ideas for what to say on this important occasion.

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25 of the Most Inspirational Graduation Quotes

In the current world of social distancing, graduation is just one of the many celebrations that has been impacted. What was supposed to be an auditorium filled with high spirits, proud scholars, and supportive friends and family, is now online ceremonies and mailed diplomas. But to the graduates reading this, know that your hard work has not gone unnoticed.

No matter if your cap and gown has been replaced with sweatpants or your celebratory hugs with virtual high fives, you are still celebrated, still recognized and still loved. So, Class of 2020, we want reassure you that the tassel was indeed worth the hassle! We applaud you. You did it!

Celebrate your accomplishments and look to the future with these 25 quotes by speakers who we all know and love:

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167 Graduation Quotes That’ll Remind You to Follow Your Dreams

Finding the right graduation quote can be a tedious process. After four years of hard work, you want to commemorate this special moment with the right words. Something that defines who you are and sets the tone for the future. The truth of the matter is, it takes lots of blood, sweat, tears, and ramen to make it to graduation .

But, the day has finally come for you to don your hard-earned graduation robes, decorate your cap, and rewatch your favorite graduation movies to get excited for the big day. Bear your tassel proudly, and find the right motto for graduation captions on Instagram, of course. Hey, you didn’t work this hard in school just to post a captionless photo, right?

From inspirational quotes from Taylor Swift to funny graduation quotes from Timotheé Chalamet , we rounded up the best graduation quotes, best senior quotes, and graduation messages from celebrities, athletes, politicians, writers, cartoon characters and more. These thoughtful bits of advice are perfect to include in graduation cards (that go far beyond your “congratulations graduate” message), a commencement speech , or even to use for senior quotes in your yearbook. The choice is yours! Read on to discover 167 best graduation quotes.

In this article:

High school graduation quotes

Funny graduation quotes, college graduation quotes, inspirational graduation quotes, proud graduation quotes, short graduation quotes, graduation quotes for instagram, senior quotes.

• "Your life is your adventure. And the adventure ahead of you is a journey to fulfill your own purpose and potential." —Kerry Washington
• “If you can do what you do best and be happy, you are further along in life than most people.” —Leonardo DiCaprio
• "Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world." —Nelson Mandela
• "Your education is a dress rehearsal for a life that is yours to lead." —Nora Ephron
• "You are about to start the greatest improvisation of all. With no script. No idea what's going to happen, often with people and places you have never seen before. And you are not in control. So say 'yes.' And if you're lucky, you'll find people who will say 'yes' back." —Stephen Colbert
• "You must have some vision for your life. Even if you don't know the plan, you have to have a direction in which you choose to go." —Oprah
• "You don’t go to university so you can punch a clock. You go to university so you can be in a position to make a difference." —Janet Napolitano
• "Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today." —Malcolm X
• "I've learned it's important not to limit yourself. You can do whatever you really love to do, no matter what it is." —Ryan Gosling
• "Fight for what makes you optimistic about the world. Find it, insist on it, dig into it, go after it." —Jennifer Garner
• "Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education." —Martin Luther King Jr.
• "You cannot dream of becoming something you do not know about. You have to learn to dream big. Education exposes you to what the world has to offer, to the possibilities open to you." —Sonia Sotomayor
• "If I must give any of you advice it would be say yes. Say yes, and create your own destiny." —Maya Rudolph
• "Your inexperience is an asset in that it will make you think in original, unconventional ways. Accept your lack of knowledge and use it as your asset." —Natalie Portman
• "Take your risks now. As you grow older, you become more fearful and less flexible … Try to keep your mind open to possibilities and your mouth closed on matters that you don't know about. Limit your 'always' and your 'nevers.' Continue to share your heart with people even if it’s been broken." —Amy Poehler
• "You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. You have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future." —Steve Jobs
• "Now 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
• "When you respect the idea that you are sharing the Earth with other humans, and when you lead with your nice foot forward, you’ll win, every time. It might not be today, it might not be tomorrow, but it comes back to you when you need it." —Kristen Bell
• "Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have you, you will never, ever have enough." —Oprah
• "He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life." —Muhammad Ali
• "Go make your big beautiful dent, and as you do so come down on the side of boldness. If you err, may it be for too much audacity, and not too little. For you really are enough. You have untold strengths and resources inside. You have your glorious self." —Sue Monk Kidd
• "It is often easier to make progress on mega-ambitious dreams. I know that sounds completely nuts. But, since no one else is crazy enough to do it, you have little competition." —Larry Page
• "Some life lessons don’t ever change. They need to be highlighted and they need to be remembered throughout our entire lives. But how you embrace them will distinguish you from the pack." —Brooke Shields
• "You and you alone are the only person who can live the life that writes the story that you were meant to tell." — Kerry Washington
• "Be the hardest working person you know. Because if you’re not, someone else will be." —Ian Brennan
• "In response to those who say to stop dreaming and face reality, I say keep dreaming and make reality." —Kristian Kan
• "It’s your turn to choose and define what success means to you. Now, others will try to define it for you, but yours is the only voice that matters." — Octavia Spencer
• Nobody else is paying as much attention to your failures as you are . . . to everyone else, it’s just a blip on the radar screen, so just move on. —Jerry Zucker
• "I am here to tell you that whatever you think your dream is now, it will probably change. And that's okay." —Conan O'Brien
• "Learn from every mistake because every experience, encounter, and particularly your mistakes are there to teach you and force you into being more who you are. And then figure out what is the next right move. And the key to life is to develop an internal moral, emotional G.P.S. that can tell you which way to go." —Oprah
• "If we’d all stuck with our first dream, the world would be overrun with cowboys and princesses. So whatever your dream is right now, if you don’t achieve it you haven’t failed and you’re not some loser." —Stephen Colbert
• "Don’t be afraid of fear. Because it sharpens you, it challenges you, it makes you stronger; and when you run away from fear, you also run away from the opportunity to be your best possible self."—Ed Helms
• “Success is not about wealth or fame, but about inner happiness and fulfillment.” —Margot Robbie
• “There are multiple sides to all of us. Who we are — and who we might be if we follow our dreams. —Miley Cyrus
• “God will never give you anything you can’t handle, so don’t stress.” —Kelly Clarkson
• "We're only here for so long. Be happy, man. You could get hit by a truck tomorrow." —​Timothée Chalamet​
• “Don’t allow people to dim your shine because they are blinded. Tell them to put on sunglasses.” —Lady Gaga
• "Get busy living or get busy dying." —Stephen King
• "You can’t climb the ladder of success with your hands in your pockets." —Arnold Schwarzenegger
• "If you aren't going all the way, why go at all?" —Joe Namath
• "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." —Wayne Gretzky
• "You will stumble and fall, you will experience both disaster and triumph, sometimes in the same day. But it's really important to remember that like a hangover, neither triumphs nor disasters last forever." —Helen Mirren
• "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." —Thomas Edison
• "You have to dance a little bit before you step out into the world each day, because it changes the way you walk." —Sandra Bullock
• "Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there." —Will Rogers
• "The road to success is always under construction." —Lily Tomlin
• "You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it." —Robin Williams
• "Opportunity dances with those who are already on the dance floor." —Jackson Browne
• “Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.” —Elbert Hubbard
• “If you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one.” —Dolly Parton
• “Sometimes it takes a good fall to know where you stand.” —Hayley Williams
• “Success is nothing if you don’t have the right people to share it with; you’re just going to end up lonely.” —Selena Gomez
• "The meaning of life is to find your gift, the purpose of life is to give it away." —Joy J. Golliver
• "That clock you hear is the sound of your own heart. Sink your teeth into this life, and don’t get let go." —Lin-Manuel Miranda
• "No job or task is too small or beneath you. If you want to get ahead, volunteer to do the things no one else wants to do, and do it better." —Bobbi Brown
• "You can’t do it alone. Be open to collaboration. Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you. Spend a lot of time with them and it will change your life." — Amy Poehler
• "When we show up, act boldly, and practice the best ways to be wrong, we fail forward. No matter where we end up, we’ve grown from where we began." —Stacey Abrams
• "I celebrate you as you remember the power of grace and pride, and I challenge you to choose freedom over fear." —Janelle Monáe
• "Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself." —John Dewey
• "You could travel with the sheep, follow everybody else’s stuff, but then you’re not you. I guess if I want to say anything it’s ‘Be you.’ Be true to you, and that should make the ride a little more interesting." — Whoopi Goldberg
• "There will be times when your best isn’t good enough. There can be many reasons for this, but as long as you give your best you’ll be OK." —Robert De Niro
• "We may live in an age of instant messaging, instant gratification and Instagram, but there is no way to short circuit the path to success." —Tory Burch
• "Now the first suggestion is to aim high, but be aware that even before you have reached your ultimate professional destination, if you always strive for excellence, you can and should have a substantial impact on the world in which you live." —Sandra Day O’Connor
• "As you graduate, as you deal with your excitement and your doubts today, I urge you to try and create the world you want to live in. Minister to the world in a way that can change it. Minister radically in a real, active, practical, get your hands dirty way." —Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
• "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined." —Henry David Thoreau
• "The horizon leans forward, offering you space to place new steps of change." —Maya Angelou
• "There is nothing more beautiful than finding your course as you believe you bob aimlessly in the current. Wouldn’t you know that your path was there all along, waiting for you to knock, waiting for you to become. This path does not belong to your parents, your teachers, your leaders, or your lovers. Your path is your character defining itself more and more everyday like a photograph coming into focus." —Jodie Foster
• "Real leadership comes from the quiet nudging of an inner voice. It comes from realizing that the time has come to move beyond waiting to doing." —Madeleine Albright
• "Dreams are lovely. But they are just dreams. Fleeting, ephemeral, pretty. But dreams do not come true just because you dream them. It's hard work that makes things happen. It's hard work that creates change." —Shonda Rhimes
• "Don't just get involved. Fight for your seat at the table. Better yet, fight for a seat at the head of the table." —Barack Obama
• “Life can be heavy if you carry it all at once. Know what to keep and what to release. Decide what is yours to hold, and let all the other things go." —Taylor Swift
• “A lot of people give up just before they’re about to make it. You know you never know when that next obstacle is going to be the last one.” —Chuck Norris
• “It’s the choice. You have to wake up every day and say, ‘There’s no reason today can’t be the best day of my life’.” —Blake Lively
• “We are all deserving and we don’t need permission or an invitation to exist and to step into our power.” —Ilhan Omar
• “Your self worth is determined by you. You don’t have to depend on someone telling you who you are.” —Beyoncé
• "No matter what happens in life, be good to people. Being good to people is a wonderful legacy to leave behind." —Taylor Swift
• "There’s something so special about a woman who dominates in a man’s world. It takes a certain grace, strength, intelligence, fearlessness, and the nerve to never take no for an answer." —Rihanna
• "Understand that one day you will have the power to make a difference, so use it well." —Mindy Kaling
• "I'm continually trying to make choices that put me out of my own comfort zone. As long as you're uncomfortable it means you're growing." —Ashton Kutcher
• "It's amazing what you can get if you quietly, clearly and authoritatively demand it." —Meryl Streep
• "It's the choice. You have to wake up every day and say 'There's no reason today can't be the best day of my life.'" —Blake Lively
• "I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." —Michael Jordan
• "There may be people that have more talent than you, but there’s no excuse for anyone to work harder than you do." —Derek Jeter
• "My favorite animal is the turtle. The reason is that in order for the turtle to move, it has to stick its neck out. There are going to be times in your life when you’re going to have to stick your neck out. There will be challenges, and instead of hiding in a shell, you have to go out and meet them." —Ruth Westheimer
• "There is no passion to be found in playing small — in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living." —Nelson Mandela
• "When someone who loves you hugs you, hug them back with two arms—don’t do the one-arm hug, because when you hug someone with two arms, it allows you to lean on somebody, and we all need someone to lean on." — Sandra Bullock
• "Frustration, although quite painful at times, is a very positive and essential part of success. —Bo Bennett
• "You can never be the best. The only thing you can be the best at is developing yourself." — Natalie Portman
• "Real courage is holding on to a still voice in your head that says, ‘I must keep going.’ It’s that voice that says nothing is a failure if it is not final. That voice that says to you, ‘Get out of bed. Keep going. I will not quit.'" —Cory Booker
• "Cynicism has never won a war, or cured a disease, or started a business, or fed a young mind, or sent men into space. Cynicism is a choice. Hope is a better choice." —Barack Obama
• "What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us." —Ralph Waldo Emerson
• "When people tell you not to believe in your dreams, and they say 'Why?' say 'Why not?'" —Billie Jean King
• "I encourage you to live with life. Be courageous, adventurous. Give us a tomorrow, more than we deserve." —Maya Angelou
• "There is no such thing as failure. Failure is just life trying to move us in another direction." — Oprah Winfrey
• "I’m a greater believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it." —Thomas Jefferson
• “Sometimes the problem feels so big that changing one life doesn’t feel like enough. But it is.” —America Ferrera
• “Don’t take yourself too seriously. Know when to laugh at yourself, and find a way to laugh at obstacles that inevitably present themselves.” —Halle Bailey
• “Heroes are ordinary people who make themselves extraordinary.” —Gerard Way
• “Every day is a new opportunity to change your life and be who you want to be.” —Demi Lovato
• "Don't be afraid. Be focused. Be determined. Be hopeful. Be empowered." —Michelle Obama
• "Remember this: You are awesome. I’m not suggesting you be boastful. No one likes that in men or women. But I am suggesting that believing in yourself is the first necessary step to coming even close to achieving your potential." —Sheryl Sandberg
• “Don’t ever doubt yourselves or waste a second of your life. It’s too short and you’re too special.” —Ariana Grande
• "Ignore the naysayers. Really the only option is: head down and focus on the job." —Chris Pine
• "Success is only meaningful and enjoyable if it feels like your own." —Michelle Obama
• "The best remedy for those who are frightened, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be alone with the sky, nature, and God. For only then can you feel that everything is as it should be and that God wants people to be happy amid nature’s beauty and simplicity." —Anne Frank
• "It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are." —E. E. Cummings
• "I can’t think of any better representation of beauty than someone who is unafraid to be herself." —Emma Stone
• "You don’t have to be famous. You just have to make your mother and father proud of you, and you already have." —Meryl Streep
• "In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love." —Mother Teresa
• “So often in life things that you regard as an impediment turn out to be great good fortune.” —Ruth Bader Ginsburg
• “It never hurts to keep looking for sunshine.” —Eeyore
• “What do you have to do? What do you want to do? Tomorrow is not promised. Make plans anyway.” —Lin Manuel Miranda
• “There are no regrets in life. Just lessons.” —Jennifer Aniston
• “For the great doesn’t happen through impulse alone, and is a succession of little things that are brought together.” —Vincent Van Gogh
• "Change takes courage." —Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
• "You're never a loser until you quit trying." —Mike Ditka
• "Your imagination is your preview of life's coming attractions." —Albert Einstein
• “Work so hard that you never have to introduce yourself.” —Gigi Hadid
• "It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up." —Babe Ruth
• "There are no regrets in life — just lessons." —Jennifer Aniston
• "Stay hungry. Stay foolish." —Steven Jobs
• "A woman with a voice is, by definition, a strong woman." —Melinda Gates
• "You get in life what you have the courage to ask for." —Oprah Winfrey
• "To give any less than your best is to sacrifice a gift." —Steve Prefontaine
• "Being realistic is the most commonly traveled road to mediocrity." —Will Smith
• "Persistence can change failure into extraordinary achievement." —Matt Bondi
• "If you can’t outplay them, outwork them." —Ben Hogan
• "This above all: To thine own self be true." —William Shakespeare
• "Do. Or do not. There is no try." —Yoda
• "Be bold, be courageous, be your best." –Gabrielle Giffords
• "It is absolutely still possible to make a difference." —Michelle Obama
• “You’re not a slacker if you cut yourself some slack.” —Bill Gates
• “Be persistent and never give up hope.” —George Lucas
• “Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.” —Gloria Steinem
• "It is better to be a failure at something you love than to be a success at something you hate." —George Burns
• “There’s always going to be someone who doesn’t like you.” —Ariana Grande
• "All of our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them." —Walt Disney
• “Started from the bottom, now we’re here.” —Drake
• "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." —Eleanor Roosevelt
• "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." —Sun Tzu
• "Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can." —Arthur Ashe
• "She turned her can’ts into cans and her dreams into plans." —Kobi Yamada
• "There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind." —C.S. Lewis
• "You can never be overdressed or overeducated." —Oscar Wilde
• "Nothing is impossible. The word itself says 'I'm possible.'" —Audrey Hepburn
• "A champion is someone who gets up when he can't." —Jack Dempsey
• “Don’t you ever let a soul in the world tell you that you can’t be exactly who you are.” —Lady Gaga
• “Be kind to yourself a little more every day.” —Dua Lipa
• “You will screw it up sometimes.” —Taylor Swift
• “And here you are living despite it all.” —Rupi Kaur
• “If you don’t have any shadows you’re not in the light.” —Lady Gaga
• “Keep your eyes on the finish line and not on the turmoil around you.” —Rihanna
• “For every winner, there doesn't have to be a loser. In fact, most success stories are less about competition and more about collaboration.” —Michelle Yeoh
• “Time is the most valuable resource on the planet.” —Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
• “Please don’t be afraid, don’t worry yourself. The end and beginning, beginning and end are connected.” —BTS’s Suga
• “Trust your gut, keep throwing darts at the dartboard. Don’t listen to the critics – and you will figure it out.” —Will Ferrell
• “Building your community is how you change the world.” —LeBron James
• “Never let anyone put you in a box or tell you what you can do. Make sure you paint your own picture and go your own path, and continue to think outside the box.” —Magic Johnson
• “If everything was perfect, you would never learn and you would never grow.” —Beyoncé
• “Embrace your uniqueness for it is what makes you truly beautiful.” —Dove Cameron
• “I’ve always done whatever I want and been exactly who I am.” —Billie Eilish
• “Don’t try so hard to fit in, and certainly don’t try so hard to be different, just try hard to be you.” —Zendaya
• “If you were born with the weakness to fall you were born with the strength to rise.” —Rupi Kaur
• “You have to believe in yourself when no one else does.” —Serena Williams
• “You can be everything. You can be the infinite amount of things that people are.” —Kesha
• “Do one thing every day that scares you.” —Eleanor Roosevelt
• “Keep smiling, because life is a beautiful thing and there’s so much to smile about.” —Marilyn Monroe

Want more from   Teen Vogue ? Check this out: Taylor Swift’s Grad Speech: “You Will Screw It Up”

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The 13 Best Lines from Graduation Speeches

Have you ever been moved by inspirational graduation speeches? Maybe a graduation you attended or a speech you watched online inspired you, challenged your perceptions, or made you feel ready to go do something important…

Inspirational graduation speeches often make us laugh, bring up emotions (dare we say make us cry?), and make us feel like we can make a difference. When one of these tidbits of graduation advice strikes the right chord in your brain and heart, you may just carry it with you forever.

Many famous bits of graduation advice have become so famous that they are ubiquitous in our culture. Two great examples from famous graduation speeches are:

• "If I could give you one piece of advice, this is it: Wear Sunscreen." A piece of graduation advice commonly attributed to the author Kurt Vonnegut and the director Baz Luhrmann. Many sources agree that neither said it, but rather, a columnist for the Chicago Tribune named Mary Schmich.
• "I find the harder I work, the luckier I get." A quote from Thomas Jefferson so often quoted in graduation speeches that one could buy a t-shirt with the quote printed on it.

Whether you are attending a graduation ceremony or prepping to speak at one as you embark on your next journey in life , keeping these captivating words from famous and inspirational graduation speeches can feed your motivation. They will help you navigate your path. Let them serve as a source of empowerment as you move forward toward your goals and stay focused on your unwavering belief in yourself.

Countdown to the Most Inspirational Graduation Speeches Of All Time

“If you think you are too small to be effective, you have never been in bed with a mosquito.”

“Check your ego at the door and start checking your gut instead.”

“The unfortunate yet truly exciting thing about your life is that there is no core curriculum. The entire place is an elective.”

“If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of payments.”

“You get to make your own luck. 80% of success in your career will come from just showing up. The world is run by those who show up…not those who wait to be asked.”

“Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there.”

“Have the wisdom to recognize the best in others while always demanding the best from yourself.”

“If your uniform isn't dirty, you haven't been in the game.”

“Don’t let your fears overwhelm your desire… you will never know what you’re capable of unless you try.”

“Follow your passion, stay true to yourself, never follow someone else’s path, unless you’re in the woods and you’re lost and you see a path… then by all means you should follow that.”

“I’ve seen a generation eager, impatient even, to step into the rushing waters of history and change its course.”

“Life has no remote. Get up and change it yourself.”

[This next one doesn’t get a ranking, and we’re not even sure it’s from a graduation speech, but we figured no blog would be complete without advice from a frog:

“And once you get that map out, you won’t be able to refold it no matter how smart you are. So forget the map, roll down the windows, pull over, and picnic with a pig whenever you can. And if you can help it, never fly as cargo.”

Without further adieu. Drum roll, please. Here is our top graduation speech. One that surpassed U.S. Presidents, Nobel Prize winners, and influential philosophers - even Oprah!

The best line came from none other than Ireland’s pride and joy, the rock legend Bono. This just shows that you can make a difference in people’s lives, no matter which career you choose.

“This is the time for bold measures, and this is the country, and you are the generation… That degree of yours is a blunt instrument – go forth and build something with it.”

Graduation is a milestone filled with excitement, hope, and nostalgia. Amidst the celebrations, inspirational graduation speeches often provide nuggets of wisdom that resonate with us long after the ceremony ends. Sometimes, a single memorable line can strike a chord, inspiring us as we embark on the excitement yet uncertainty that comes with this next chapter of our lives.

Our hope is that these 13 graduation speeches have served to motivate, entertain, and guide you. From humorous insights to profound advice, these quotes are perfect for anyone looking to reflect on their journey and find inspiration. Now, go out and build something, change history, picnic with a pig, and always wear sunscreen.

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No More Pencils, No More Books - Just 9 Ways to Celebrate the Last Days of School!

As the days get longer and warmer, every student starts counting down the days until summer vacation. The final few weeks of the school year can drag on as you desperately try to cling to your waning motivation to power through those last few assignments, labs, and finals. When you finally make it to the end, it calls for a massive celebration to mark putting another academic year in the books! Here are 9 of the best ways to celebrate the last days of school.

12 Graduation Quotes To Lead You Into The Next Chapter

Every spring, graduates of colleges and universities around the US are awarded their degrees at commencement ceremonies. “Pomp and Circumstance” will be played, mortarboard caps will be thrown, and a commencement address will be given by a notable figure. The goal of a commencement address is to give advice that can be taken into the “real world” after graduation. It’s an opportunity to reflect on what values are truly meaningful, the importance of education, and how to make a difference. Graduate or not, we can all stand to learn from the words of writers, politicians, musicians, and others. These 12 quotes from some of the most impactful or notable commencement addresses will inspire you, challenge you, and give you a new sense of purpose.

The really important kind of freedom involves attention, and awareness, and discipline, and effort, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them, over and over, in myriad petty little unsexy ways, every day. —David Foster Wallace, 2005 Kenyon College commencement

In one of the most famous commencement addresses of all time, “This is Water,” writer David Foster Wallace encouraged graduates to rethink their ideas about freedom. The word myriad [ mir -ee- uh d ] means “of an indefinitely great number; innumerable.” Myriad comes from the Greek for “ten thousand,” and can be used in English to mean the same, but DFW didn’t have this meaning in mind here.

I don’t know what your future is, but if you are willing to take the harder way, the more complicated one, the one with more failures at first than successes, the one that has ultimately proven to have more meaning, more victory, more glory then you will not regret it. —Chadwick Boseman, 2018 Howard University commencement

The actor Chadwick Boseman died tragically at a young age from colon cancer. Knowing this makes his words to graduates at his alma mater, Howard, even more poignant. He shares his ideas about how one can achieve glory , “very great praise, honor, or distinction bestowed by common consent; renown.” While today glory has a very positive connotation, this wasn’t always the case. In its earliest uses, glory was used more in the sense of vainglory , “excessive elation or pride over one’s own achievements.”

As every past generation has had to disenthrall itself from an inheritance of truisms and stereotypes, so in our own time we must move on from the reassuring repetition of stale phrases to a new, difficult, but essential confrontation with reality. For the great enemy of truth is very often not the lie—deliberate, contrived, and dishonest—but the myth—persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. —President John F. Kennedy, 1962 Yale University commencement

disenthrall

President John F. Kennedy spent most of his 1962 commencement speech at Yale talking about his vision of government, but he also took time to give advice to the graduates. He says young people need to disenthrall themselves from old myths and stereotypes. Disenthrall is a verb meaning “to free from bondage; liberate.” Thrall is an old word meaning “a person who is morally or mentally enslaved by some power” or, more simply, “slavery.”

[T]hough it’s crucial to make a living, that shouldn’t be your inspiration or your aspiration. Do it for yourself, your highest self, for your own pride, joy, ego, gratification, expression, love, fulfillment , happiness—whatever you want to call it. —Billy Joel, 1993 Berklee College of Music commencement

fulfillment

Activist and musician Billy Joel, addressing graduates of the prestigious music school Berklee College, gave advice on how to direct creative energies to making the world a better place. He encourages them to do work for their own fulfillment , “the state or act of bringing something to realization.” Fulfillment is often used to describe the feeling one has when one accomplishes something of personal significance.

I want you all to stay true to the most real, most sincere, most authentic parts of yourselves. I want you to ask those basic questions: Who do you want to be? What inspires you? How do you want to give back? —First Lady Michelle Obama, 2015 Tuskegee University commencement

On a similar note as Billy Joel, former First Lady Michelle Obama exhorts students to be authentic , which here means “representing one’s true nature or beliefs; true to oneself.” The word authentic comes from the Greek authentikós , meaning “original, primary, at first hand.”

I hope you are never victims, but I hope you have no power over other people. And when you fail, and are defeated, and in pain, and in the dark, then I hope you will remember that darkness is your country, where you live, where no wars are fought and no wars are won, but where the future is. —Ursula K. Le Guin, 1983 Mills College commencement

Science fiction writer Ursula K. Le Guin was no stranger to imagining new worlds and possibilities. So it makes sense that she talked to graduates about the future , “time that is to be or come hereafter.” While today we use future as a noun and adjective, in the mid-1600s,  future was also used as a verb to mean “to put off to a future day,” as in They future their work because they are lazy.

As you approach your future, there will be ample opportunity to become jaded and cynical, but I urge you to resist cynicism—the world is still a beautiful place and change is possible. —Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, 2011 Harvard University commencement

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is the former president of Liberia and was the first woman to lead an African nation. She spoke at her alma mater, Harvard, about the importance of advocating for change. She notes that many people become jaded as they age, a word that here means “worn out or wearied, as by overwork or overuse.” This sense of jaded comes from the Middle English jade , “a worn-out, broken-down, worthless, or vicious horse.”

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Everything meaningful about this moment, and these four years, will be meaningful inside you, not outside you … As long as you store it inside yourself, it’s not going anywhere—or it’s going everywhere with you. —Margaret Edson, 2008 Smith College commencement

Educator and playwright Margaret Edson told graduates at Smith College that they will carry what is meaningful about their experience with them throughout their lives. Meaningful means “full of meaning, significance, purpose, or value.” Meaningful is formed from a combination of meaning and the suffix -ful , meaning “full of” or “characterized by.” It’s one of many suffixes from Old English that is still present in our language today.

If you really want to fly, just harness your power to your passion. Honor your calling. Everyone has one. —Oprah Winfrey, 2008 Stanford commencement

Television host Oprah Winfrey is known for being an inspiration, and her commencement speech at Stanford University in 2008 was certainly inspirational. She urged students to “ harness [their] power to [their] passion.” Harness here is being used figuratively and as a verb to mean “to bring under conditions for effective use; gain control over for a particular end.” Harness comes from the Old Norse *hernest meaning “provisions for an armed force.” The word’s meaning has changed quite a lot since! [checking]

When things are going sweetly and peacefully, please pause a moment, and then say out loud, “If this isn’t nice, what is?” —Kurt Vonnegut, 1999 Agnes Scott College commencement

The writer Kurt Vonnegut wanted graduates to take time to reflect on the goodness in life. He describes this as “when things are going sweetly ,” a word commonly associated with sugar but that can also describe anything “pleasing or agreeable; delightful.” Sweet is an interesting word that is closely related to its ancient Proto-Indo-European original. You can learn more about the history of the word at our entry for sweet .

[F]rom my point of view, which is that of a storyteller, I see your life as already artful , waiting, just waiting and ready for you to make it art. —Toni Morrison, 2004 Wellesley College commencement

Novelist Toni Morrison in her commencement address at Wellesley College told graduates she saw their lives as artful . While this word can mean “slyly crafty or cunning; deceitful; tricky,” it is clear from the context that Morrison meant it in the sense of “done with or characterized by art or skill.” In other words, the graduates have the skills, power, and beauty to create a good life.

[I]f I must give any of you advice it would be Say Yes. Say Yes, And … and create your own destiny . —Maya Rudolph, 2015 Tulane University commencement

Graduation is a time to think about the future and one’s destiny , in the sense of “something that is to happen or has happened to a particular person or thing; lot or fortune.” Destiny is often taken to be something that is “predetermined, usually inevitable or irresistible.” But actor Maya Rudolph takes this word in a different direction, saying graduates should “create [their] own destiny.”

Graduation season is a time to consider our own futures, destinies, passions, and desires. We hope these inspiring words give you something to chew on as you go forth into the “real world.” 

Don't just congratulate a graduate, use one of these words instead.

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21 Best Graduation Speeches That Everyone Should Hear

Read life advice from Ree Drummond, Bill Gates, Oprah, and more!

Although college commencement can be a tear-filled affair, there are a few key moments—like watching your graduate walk across the stage to retrieve that hard-earned diploma—that make it all worth it. After all, the past four (or maybe even 16) years of schooling have all led up to this milestone moment, so it's totally normal for graduates and parents alike to feel overcome with happiness, sadness, fear, or all of the above. And if the prospect of entering adulthood wasn't emotional enough, throw in a great graduation speech and watch as the waterworks wash through the crowd! Ahead of graduation season, we've rounded up the best graduation speeches chock full of funny anecdotes and uplifting quotes . These powerful graduation quotes will not only inspire graduates to take their future in stride but also motivate readers of all ages to persist despite the challenges that lie ahead.

Included in this list is the Pioneer Woman herself—Ree Drummond has witnessed her fair share of milestones with the Drummond kids and to top it off, she delivered an iconic keynote address at Oklahoma State University . Of course, who could forget Oprah Winfrey's speech to the class of 2020? In this heartfelt and emotional address, Winfrey encourages graduates to find their purpose in life and make a difference in the world. Those two are just a taste of what's to come. So, turn on the graduation songs , grab your tissues, and get ready for some solid life advice. Whether you're a recent graduate or just in need of a little pick-me-up, these speeches are sure to leave you feeling inspired and ready to take on whatever life throws your way.

Bill Gates: Northern Arizona University, 2023

Despite famously dropping out of Harvard after two years of study, Bill Gates shared a few pieces of advice he says he could have used at his hypothetical graduation. The Microsoft founder emphasized the importance of being open to career changes and learning to take a break.

"You are not a slacker if you cut yourself some slack. When I was your age, I didn’t believe in vacations. I didn’t believe in weekends. I pushed everyone around me to work very long hours. In the early days of Microsoft, my office overlooked the parking lot—and I would keep track of who was leaving early and staying late. But as I got older—and especially once I became a father—I realized there is more to life than work. Don’t wait as long as I did to learn this lesson. Take time to nurture your relationships, to celebrate your successes, and to recover from your losses."

Ree Drummond: Oklahoma State University, 2022

Ree hardly needs an introduction, but she knows a thing or two about life as a published author, Food Network host, and most importantly, mother of five.

"Buckle up, you have good times and rough seas ahead. It is just part of life, but enjoy the ride and laugh a lot... Life is about to unfold for you in all its forms. Love, heartache, accomplishments, disappointment, testing of faith... life is beautiful, so I repeat, buckle up and laugh along the way. It makes life fun."

Hamdi Ulukaya: Northeastern University, 2022

You may not know his name, but you might just love Chobani, the hugely successful yogurt brand Hamdi started. He reminded graduates why we are here on earth.

"As we started to grow, we hired everyone that we could. I realized an hour away there was a community of refugees who were having a hard time finding jobs. I said, 'Let's hire them.' I promise you that there is nothing more rewarding than showing up in the world for other people, no matter how hard it may be."

Dr. Marie Lynn Miranda: University of Notre Dame, 2021

As obvious as it sounds, you don't know what you don't know. That's the lesson from this acclaimed Notre Dame professor and environmental researcher.

"As much as I want to highlight the importance of the expertise you have developed, I also want to make the point that you will face situations in the years ahead where you will have no relevant expertise; you will have no evidence base to rely upon; your intellect will not be able to supply a needed answer. In those situations, I would like to suggest that you respond with love."

Oprah Winfrey: Class of 2020 Virtual Speech

Oprah had one of the hardest commencement speeches to give: it was for the class that graduated during the pandemic. She found a profound lesson in the chaos of those early months.

"Look who turns out to be essential! Teachers—your teachers!—healthcare workers of course, the people stocking grocery shelves, the cashiers, those who are caring for your grandparents, those who clean the places where we work and shop and carry out our daily lives. We are all here because they, at great and profound risk, are still providing their essential service. What will your essential service be? What really matters to you? How will you use what matters in service to yourself, your community, and the world?"

Tim Cook: Tulane University, 2019

Tim Cook took a similar approach to his late co-worker Steve Jobs when it came to the theme of his graduation speech.

"There's a saying that if you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life. At Apple, I learned that's a total crock. You'll work harder than you ever thought possible, but the tools will feel light in your hands. As you go out into the world, don't waste time on problems that have been solved... Look for the rough spots, the problems that seem too big, the complexities that other people are content to work around. It's in those places that you will find your purpose. It's there that you can make your greatest contribution."

Ken Burns: Stanford University, 2016

In his 2016 Stanford speech, America's most famous documentary filmmaker asked listeners not to forget the lessons found in our history.

"Be for something. Be curious, not cool. Feed your soul, too. Every day. Remember, insecurity makes liars of us all. Don't confuse success with excellence. Educate all of your parts. You will be healthier. Seek out—and have—mentors. Listen to them. Bite off more than you can chew. Do not get stuck in one place. Visit our national parks. Their sheer majesty may remind you of your own 'atomic insignificance,' as one observer noted, but in the inscrutable ways of nature, you will feel larger, inspirited, just as the egotist in our midst is diminished by his or her self-regard. Insist on heroes. And be one."

Sheryl Sandberg: UC Berkeley, 2016

The former COO of Facebook offered graduates a realistic look at the life ahead and how to move through the hard times. "Some of you have already experienced the kind of tragedy and hardship that leave an indelible mark. The question is not if some of these things will happen to you. They will. Today I want to talk about what happens next. The easy days ahead of you will be easy. It is the hard days—the times that challenge you to your very core—that will determine who you are. You will be defined not just by what you achieve but by how you survive."

Admiral William H. McRaven: University of Texas at Austin, 2014

During Admiral McRaven's speech at his alma mater, he looked to the lessons he learned serving his country. One of which was so simple, yet profoundly impactful.

"If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride, and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another. By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that little things in life matter... And, if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made—that you made—and a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better."

George Saunders: Syracuse University, 2013

Bestselling author and professor George Saunders offered grads a guiding principle to move through life with, no matter what they pursue.

"Travel, get rich, get famous, innovate, lead, fall in love, make and lose fortunes, swim naked in wild jungle rivers (after first having it tested for monkey poop)—but as you do, to the extent that you can, err in the direction of kindness. Do those things that incline you toward the big questions, and avoid the things that would reduce you and make you trivial. That luminous part of you that exists beyond personality—your soul, if you will—is as bright and shining as any that has ever been."

Kerry Washington: George Washington University, 2013

Actress Kerry Washington told graduates to think of this achievement during the difficult or uncomfortable parts of life.

"The lesson is that you're here because you too learned how to answer the call. You don't earn a degree by doing and being and existing in the comfort zone of what you already know. Look back on the journey that brought you here. What moments challenged you most? When were you asked to step outside of your familiar territory in order to rise to the occasion of your potential? I want you to remember those moments, because they will embolden you."

Neil Gaiman: University of the Arts, 2012

Neil wasn't always an acclaimed author of fiction, comic books, graphic novels, nonfiction, and films. His speech may have been given to a group of young artists, but the advice applies to anyone starting out in a turbulent career.

"People who know what they are doing know the rules, and they know what is possible and what is impossible. You do not. And you should not. The rules on what is possible and impossible in the arts were made by people who had not tested the bounds of the possible by going beyond them. And you can. If you don't know it's impossible, it's easier to do. And because nobody's done it before, they haven't made up rules to stop anyone doing that particular thing again."

Aaron Sorkin: Syracuse University, 2012

Aaron has carved an incredible career writing plays, movies, and television shows, but success clearly hasn't impacted his sense of humility.

"Decisions are made by those who show up. Don't ever forget that you're a citizen of this world. Don't ever forget that you're a citizen of this world, and there are things you can do to lift the human spirit, things that are easy, things that are free, things that you can do every day: civility, respect, kindness, character."

Atul Gawande: Williams College, 2012

Being a surgeon means you have to think on your feet when things go wrong, and for Dr. Gawande, that holds an immense life lesson.

"A failure often does not have to be a failure at all. However, you have to be ready for it. Will you admit when things go wrong? Will you take steps to set them right? Because the difference between triumph and defeat, you'll find, isn't about willingness to take risks. It's about mastery of rescue."

Conan O'Brien: Dartmouth College, 2011

This famous late-night host delivered a hilarious graduation speech riddled with stories, each with their own lesson.

"David Letterman wanted to be Johnny Carson and was not, and as a result, my generation of comedians wanted to be David Letterman. And none of us are—my peers and I have all missed that mark in a thousand different ways. But the point is this: It is our failure to become our perceived ideal that ultimately defines us and makes us unique. It's not easy, but if you accept your misfortune and handle it right, your perceived failure can be a catalyst for profound re-invention."

Steve Jobs: Stanford University, 2005

The entrepreneur, inventor, and pioneer of the personal computer revolution had his fair share of ups and downs in life. But one of the things that made him so persistent was his love of technology.

"You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it."

Toni Morrison: Wellesley College, 2004

Toni Morrison disputed the usual platitude that youth is the best time of your life. Instead, she told students that there is nothing more satisfying or gratifying than the true adulthood which stretches out before them. "What is now known is not all that you are capable of knowing. You are your own stories and therefore free to imagine and experience what it means to be human without wealth. What it feels like to be human without domination over others, without reckless arrogance, without fear of others unlike you, without rotating, rehearsing and reinventing the hatreds you learned in the sandbox. And although you don't have complete control over the narrative (no author does, I can tell you), you could nevertheless create it."

Bill Gates: Harvard University, 2007

Who wouldn't take the Microsoft founder's advice?

"In line with the promise of this age, I want to exhort each of the graduates here to take on an issue—a complex problem, a deep inequity, and become a specialist on it. If you make it the focus of your career, that would be phenomenal. But you don't have to do that to make an impact... don't let complexity stop you. Be activists. Take on big inequities. I feel sure it will be one of the great experiences of your lives."

Nora Ephron: Wellesley College, 1996

When Nora Ephron wasn't reporting, she was writing some of our most beloved romantic comedies. She reassured grads that they will always continue to change and grow.

"What are you going to do? Everything is my guess. It will be a little messy but embrace the mess. It will be complicated but rejoice in the complications. It will not be anything like what you think it's going to be like, but surprises are good for you. And don't be frightened. You can always change your mind. I know. I've had four careers and three husbands. And this is something else I want to tell you, one of the hundreds of things I didn't know when I was sitting here so many years ago: you are not going to be you, fixed and immutable you, forever."

Barbara Kingsolver: DePauw University, 1994

The sentiment of Barbara Kingsolver's speech resonates today just as much as it did in 1994.

"I'm going to go out on a limb here and give you one little piece of advice and that is like the idea of a future. Believe you have it in you to make the world look better rather than worse seven generations from now. Figure out what that could look like. And then if you're lucky, you'll find a way to live inside that hope, running down its hallways, touching the walls on both sides."

Micaela Bahn is a freelance editorial assistant and recent graduate from Carleton College, where she majored in English literature. She loves running, photography, and cooking the best new recipes.

Nitya Rao is the editorial assistant at The Pioneer Woman, covering stories ranging from food, fashion, beauty, lifestyle, news, and more. 

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8/4/2024 By University Frames

11 Inspiring Graduation Quotes to Include in Your Graduation Speech

Graduation is a significant milestone that reflects years of hard work, commitment, and personal development. It signifies a crucial transition from one stage of life to another, opening doors for new possibilities and challenges.

Graduation ceremonies, often highlighted by motivating speeches, inspire and encourage graduates while celebrating their achievements.

These ceremonies provide an opportunity to reflect on school memories and experiences, symbolizing a farewell and marking the conclusion of the academic journey.

They offer enduring wisdom and guidance, reminding graduates of the values and lessons acquired. Ultimately, a graduation speech aims to make a meaningful impact, delivering insights and encouragement for the future.

This blog explores some inspiring graduation quotes to include in your speech and how to use them effectively to make your address memorable and impactful for the audience.

How to Use Inspirational Quotes to Make a Memorable Graduation Speech

Graduation is a time for celebration and reflection. As a speaker, you can inspire and motivate your audience by incorporating inspirational quotes.

Nevertheless, use quotes that emphasize important insights, offer different perspectives, or add humour to make your speech more memorable.

Here are some tips for using quotes effectively:

• Choose quotes that align with your message and resonate with your audience.
• Use quotes from diverse sources, including books, songs, movies, or personal experiences.
• Quotes should be short and on point so that you create a lasting impact.
• Select quotes that can add humour and lighten the mood.
• Use quotes to highlight key points or provide new insights.

11 Inspiring Graduation Quotes for Your Graduation Speech

“ Love what you do is The only way to do great work. - Steve Jobs

“ If you want something you've never had, you must be willing to do something you've never done. - Thomas Jefferson

“ Success is not final; failure is not fatal: the courage to continue that count. - Winston Churchill

“ A bright future beckons. The onus is on us, through hard work, honesty, and integrity, to reach for the stars. -Nelson Mandela

“ Opportunity does not knock, it presents itself when you beat down the door. -Kyle Chandler

“ Your imagination is your preview of life's coming attractions. -Albert Einstein

“ The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do. -Steve Jobs

“ Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive: easy to govern, but impossible to enslave. -Henry Peter Brougham

“ There are no regrets in life. Just lessons. -Jennifer Aniston

“ We must believe that we're gifted with something and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained. -Marie Curie

“ Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm. -Winston Churchill

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