Managing Life Changes

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Celebrities, Inspiration, Inspirational Quotes

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9 Inspirational Graduation Quotes

Ashley Lateef

Graduation speeches offer inspiration to everyone, even those who are not receiving a diploma. Whether or not you’re a graduate, we hope these inspirational quotes from famous commencement speeches will bring you encouragement and motivation.

A silhouetted figure being pulled up to the sky by a large amount of balloons.

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“Work hard, be kind, and amazing things will happen.”

— Conan O’ Brien (Dartmouth College, 2011)

Close up of green leaves.

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“The ‘uh-oh’ moments are worth cherishing just as much as ‘ah-ha’ moments: Mistakes, failures, embarrassments and disappointments are a necessary component of growing wise.”

— Sonia Sotomayor (University of Rhode Island, 2016)

Art depicting colorful hands reaching up

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“The world is such a gloriously multifaceted, diverse place that there are people in the world who will like you, the real you, as you are.”

— Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Wellesley College, 2015)

A stack of various textbooks with a diploma resting on one of them and a graduation cap on top.

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“This is your time and it feels normal to you but really there is no normal. There’s only change, and resistance to it and then more change.”

— Meryl Streep (Barnard College, 2010)

A bright orange dart on the bullseye of a dartboard.

5 ^{of 9}

“Trust your gut, keep throwing darts at the dartboard. Don’t listen to the critics and you will figure it out.”

— Will Ferrell (University of Southern California, 2017)

A pixel rendering of a silhouetted figure looking up into the night sky.

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“We do not need magic to transform our world, we carry everything we need inside ourselves already, we have the power to imagine better.”

— J.K. Rowling (Harvard University, 2008)

A group of diverse students in front of a chalkboard holding colorful communication bubbles.

7 ^{of 9}

“Engage and inspire, whether on an individual level or loudly within your communities. Talk about your accomplishments. It’s very important. Be humble, but not too humble. Don’t be invisible.”

— Pharrell Williams (New York University, 2017)

Graduates in cap and gown attending their commencement.

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“You can go slow. Allow your dreams and goals to change, but live an intentional life.”

— Kumail Nanjiani (Grinnell College, 2017)

A swimming expert diving underwater as sunlight pours through.

9 ^{of 9}

“When life sucks you under, you can kick against the bottom, find the surface and breathe again.”

— Sheryl Sandberg (University of California, Berkeley, 2016)

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