Graduation quotes
499 quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
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Browse quotes that often appear alongside graduation — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
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"Don't buy society’s definition of success. Because it’s not working for anyone. It’s not working for women, it's not working for men, it's not working for polar bears, it's not working for the cicadas that are apparently about to emerge and swarm us. It’s only truly working for those who make pharmaceuticals for stress, sleeplessness and high blood pressure."
"There is no such thing as failure. Failure is just life trying to move us in another direction."
"Break rules. Leave the world more interesting for your being here."
"My good friends, we are all waiting. We are waiting, if not for the Messiah, as such, we are waiting for the messianic moment. And the messianic moment is what each and every one of us tries to build, meaning a certain area of humanity that links us to all those who are human and, therefore, desperately trying to fight despair as humanly as possible and - I hope - with some measure of success."
"Success is a lot like a bright, white tuxedo. You feel terrific when you get it, but then you're desperately afraid of getting it dirty, of spoiling it in any way."
"The future is called 'perhaps,' which is the only possible thing to call the future. And the important thing is not to allow that to scare you."
"The secret of unleashing your true power is setting goals that are exciting enough that they truly inspire your creativity and ignite yourpassion."
"The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future life."
"In the world of entrepreneurs, you don't need a college education. You need a proper education."
"Everybody wants you to do good things, but in a small town you pretty much graduate and get married. Mostly you marry, have children and go to their football games."
"Education is the key to unlocking the world, a passport to freedom."
"I've never let my school interfere with my education."
"If I learned one thing, it is that self-doubt is one of the most destructive forces. It makes you defensive instead of open, reactive instead of active. Self-doubt is consuming and cruel. And my hope today is that we can all collectively agree to ban it. . . . Think to the moments of your life when you forgot to doubt yourself. When you were so inspired that you were just living and creating and working. Pay attention to those moments because they're trying to reach you through those lenses of doubt and trying to show you your potential."
"How many cares one loses when one decides not to be something, but to be someone."
"Never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense."
"From my point of view, which is that of a storyteller, I see your life as something artful, waiting, just waiting and ready for you to make it art."
"A truly equal world would be one where women ran half our countries and companies and men ran half our homes."
"For a man to attain to an eminent degree in learning costs him time, watching, hunger, nakedness, dizziness in the head, weakness in the stomach, and other inconveniences."
"College isn't the place to go for ideas."
"Colleges are like old-age homes, except for the fact that more people die in colleges."
