5 Great Graduation Speech Quotes

发布时间：2012-09-02 

文章出自：www.rd.com

原文链接：点击查看

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

Steve Jobs: Stanford University, 2005

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can onlyconnect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dotswill somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something— your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has neverlet 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 isbeyond human beings. Man’s reason and spirit have often solved theseemingly 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 andexperience what it means to be human without wealth. What it feelslike to be human without domination over others, without recklessarrogance, 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 (noauthor does, I can tell you), you could nevertheless createit.”

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 my21-year-old self that personal happiness lies in knowing that lifeis not a check-list of acquisition or achievement. Yourqualifications, your CV, are not your life, though you will meetmany people of my age and older who confuse the two. Life isdifficult, and complicated, and beyond anyone’s total control, andthe humility to know that will enable you to survive itsvicissitudes.”

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 todo with your life, be passionate. The world doesn’t need any moregray. On the other hand, we can’t get enough color. Mediocrity isnobody’s goal and perfection shouldn’t be either. We’ll never beperfect. But remember these three P’s: Passion + Persistence =Possibility.”

Read Bon Jovi’s entire speech.

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