5 Great Graduation Speech Quotes

发布时间：2012-09-02 

文章出自：www.rd.com

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It is rare that a single speech can have a profound effect on
your life, but these 5 graduation speeches are inspirational in a
way that the audience is able to make a true connection with the
speaker. One of our favorite commencement speeches comes from Steve
Jobs, who recently passed away on October 5, 2011. He talks about
seeing the opportunities in life’s setbacks, like he did, and the
power of trust.

Steve Jobs: Stanford University, 2005

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only
connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots
will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something
— your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never
let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”

Here are 4 other powerful speeches that we love.

John F. Kennedy: American University, 1963

“Our problems are manmade—therefore, they can be solved by man.
And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is
beyond human beings. Man’s reason and spirit have often solved the
seemingly unsolvable—and we believe they can do it again.”

Watch a video of Kennedy’s entire speech.

Toni Morrison: Wellesley College, 2004

“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.”

Read the full text of Morrison’s address.

J.K. Rowling: Harvard University, 2008

“Given a time machine or a time turner, I would tell my
21-year-old self that personal happiness lies in knowing that life
is not a check-list of acquisition or achievement. Your
qualifications, your CV, are not your life, though you will meet
many people of my age and older who confuse the two. Life is
difficult, and complicated, and beyond anyone’s total control, and
the humility to know that will enable you to survive its
vicissitudes.”

Read the full text of Rowling’s speech.

Jon Bon Jovi: Monmouth University, 2001

“Nothing is as important as passion. No matter what you want to
do with your life, be passionate. The world doesn’t need any more
gray. On the other hand, we can’t get enough color. Mediocrity is
nobody’s goal and perfection shouldn’t be either. We’ll never be
perfect. But remember these three P’s: Passion + Persistence =
Possibility.”

Read Bon Jovi’s entire speech.

Sources: Stateuniversity.com, PrincetonReview.com,
Graduationwisdom.com