Seven Compelling Commencement Speech Quotes

It’s graduation season, the time of year when profound advice cascades from intellectuals and B-list celebrities.
If the speechwriter has done his/her job, you’ll find in these speeches messages worth sharing. When it’s time for your next employee meeting or leadership development talk, use these quotes from commencement speakers to inspire your writing.
“It’s easier to tear something down than to build something up. It’s easier to poke holes in an idea than it is to think of ways to fill them. And it’s easier to focus on the 100 reasons you shouldn’t do something rather than the one reason you should.”
Wendy Kopp
“Raise people’s aspirations for what they can become and release their energies so they will try to get there.”
David Gergen
“What I regret most in my life are failures of kindness. Those moments when another human being was there, in front of me, suffering, and I responded … sensibly. Reservedly. Mildly.”
George Sanders
“You can be like a thermometer, just reflecting the world around you. Or you can be a thermostat, one of the people that set the temperature.”
Cory Booker
“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.”
Atul Gawande
“The most enduring skill you can bring to the workplace is the ability to learn how to learn.”
Thomas Friedman
“If you are successful, it is because somewhere, sometime, someone gave you an idea that started you in the right direction. Remember that you are indebted to life until you help some less fortunate person, just as you were helped.”
Melinda Gates