Inspiring Graduation Quotes to Ignite Your Future

"Success is not the absence of failure; it’s the persistence through failure."

- Aisha Tyler

"Life is too important to be taken seriously."

- Oscar Wilde

"The future depends on what you do today."

- Mahatma Gandhi

"I scorched the earth with my talent and I let my light shine."

- André Leon Talley

"The secret to success is to know something nobody else knows."

- Aristotle Onassis

"Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm."

- Winston Churchill

"There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure."

- Colin Powell

"I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart: I am, I am, I am."

- Sylvia Plath

"The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams."

- Oprah Winfrey

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."

- Winston Churchill

"Your time is now. Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can."

- Arthur Ashe

"You are capable of more than you know. Choose a goal that seems right for you and strive to be the best, however hard the path."

- E.O. Wilson

"The future is not in the hands of fate, but in ours."

- Jules Jusserand

"Be the best of whatever you are."

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Forever is composed of nows."

- Emily Dickinson

"The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do."

- Steve Jobs

"To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly."

- Henri Bergson

"You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us. And the world will live as one."

- John Lennon

"A #2 pencil and a dream can take you anywhere."

- Joyce Meyer

"Passion first and everything will fall into place."

- Holly Holm

"You’re off to great places. Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So ... get on your way."

- Dr. Seuss

"The beginning is always today."

- Mary Shelley

"You don’t become what you want, you become what you believe."

- Oprah Winfrey

"You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think."

- A.A. Milne

"Celebrate endings — for they precede new beginnings."

- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

"There are no goodbyes for us. Wherever you are, you will always be in my heart."

- Mahatma Gandhi

"The harder the battle, the sweeter the victory."

- Les Brown

"A star is a rock that never gave up on its dream to rise."

- Matshona Dhliwayo

"Success is loving life and daring to live it."

- Maya Angelou

"Through discipline comes freedom."

- Aristotle

"Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out."

- Robert Collier

"What could we accomplish if we knew we could not fail?"

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great."

- John D. Rockefeller

"Nothing is impossible. The word itself says, ‘I’m possible!’"

- Audrey Hepburn

"Be so good they can’t ignore you."

- Steve Martin

"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone."

- Neale Donald Walsch

"It always seems impossible until it’s done."

- Nelson Mandela

"Accept no one’s definition of your life. Define yourself."

- Harvey Fierstein

"Today’s accomplishments were yesterday’s impossibilities."

- Robert H. Schuller

"Your education has prepared you for what lies ahead."

- Conan O’Brien

"The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible."

- Arthur C. Clarke

"It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great."

- Jimmy Dugan

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

- Lao Tzu

"Believe you can and you’re halfway there."

- Theodore Roosevelt

"Persistence is the most powerful force on earth, it can move mountains."

- Albert Einstein

"Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope and confidence."

- Helen Keller

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

- Ferris Bueller

"I look to the future because that is where I’m going to spend the rest of my life."

- George Burns

"Try not to have a good time ... This is supposed to be educational."

- Lucy Van Pelt

"All dreams are within reach. All you have to do is keep moving towards them."

- Viola Davis

"That’s a great motto for all of us — find somebody to be successful for. Raise their hopes. Rise to their needs."

- Barack Obama

"Look back on the journey that brought you here. What moments challenged you most? When were you asked to step outside of your familiar territory in order to rise to the occasion of your potential? I want you to remember those moments because they will embolden you."

- Kerry Washington

"Just because you don’t know what you want yet, it doesn’t mean that there’s nothing to want."

- Emily Henry

"You’ll be on your way up! You’ll be seeing great sights! You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights."

- Dr. Seuss

"Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a better person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in."

- Martin Luther King

"Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You."

- Dr. Seuss

"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go..."

- Dr. Seuss

"A great accomplishment shouldn’t be the end of the road, just the starting point for the next leap forward."

- Harvey Mackay

"If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."

- Henry David Thoreau

"It is you, the young and fearless at heart, the most diverse and educated generation in our history, who the nation is waiting to follow."

- Barack Obama

"It’s opener, out there, in the wide, open air."

- Dr. Seuss

"Congratulations! Today is your day. You’re off to Great Places! You’re off and away!"

- Dr. Seuss

"It is our failure to become of perceived ideal that ultimately defines us and makes us unique."

- Conan O’Brien

"Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in."

- Bill Bradley

"There are two types of people who will tell you that you cannot make a difference in this world: those who are afraid to try and those who are afraid you will succeed."

- Ray Goforth

"All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them."

- Walt Disney

"Becoming isn’t about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self. The journey doesn’t end."

- Michelle Obama

"I am a firm believer that you don’t achieve greatness on your own. There is always someone there to lend a hand."

- Greg Louganis

"Your talent determines what you can do. Your motivation determines how much you are willing to do. Your attitude determines how well you do it."

- Lou Holtz

"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars."

- Norman Vincent Peale

"Life loves to be taken by the lapel and be told, ‘I am with you kid. Let’s go!’"

- Maya Angelou

"Set your course by the stars, not by the lights of every passing ship."

- Omar N. Bradley

"Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude."

- Thomas Jefferson

"I never dreamed about success. I worked for it."

- Estée Lauder

"'For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

- Jeremiah 29:11

"Nothing can dim the light that shines from within."

- Maya Angelou

"You change the world by being yourself."

- Yoko Ono

"Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground."

- Theodore Roosevelt

"You get whatever accomplishment you are willing to declare."

- Georgia O’Keeffe

"What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Let us make our future now, and let us make our dreams tomorrow’s reality."

- Malala Yousafzai

"If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced."

- Vincent Van Gogh

"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."

- Mahatma Gandhi

"Success is getting what you want, happiness is wanting what you get."

- Ingrid Bergman

"A bright future beckons. The onus is on us, through hard work, honesty and integrity, to reach for the stars."

- Nelson Mandela

"It is not where you start but how high you aim that matters for success."

- Nelson Mandela

"The love of learning, the sequestered nooks, And all the sweet serenity of books."

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

"If you really want to fly, just harness your power to your passion. Honor your calling. Everybody has one. Trust your heart and success will come to you."

- Oprah Winfrey

"Am I good enough? Yes, I am."

- Michelle Obama

"Life is change, growth is optional. Choose wisely."

- Karen Kaiser Clark

"In the end, it's not the years in your life that count; it's the life in your years."

- Abraham Lincoln

"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."

- Oliver Goldsmith

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."

- Helen Keller

"When you have a dream, you’ve got to grab it and never let go."

- Carol Burnett

"Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible!’"

- Audrey Hepburn

"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose."

- Dr. Seuss

"Don't be afraid. Be focused. Be determined. Be hopeful. Be empowered."

- Michelle Obama

"Your education is a weapon that can change the world."

- Nelson Mandela

"Carpe diem, seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary."

- Dead Poets Society

"Don’t let anyone ever make you feel like you don’t deserve what you want. Go for it."

- 10 Things I Hate About You

"In response to those who say to stop dreaming and face reality, I say keep dreaming and make reality."

- Kristian Kan

"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire."

- W.B. Yeats

"Success is only meaningful and enjoyable if it feels like your own."

- Michelle Obama

"There is no such thing as failure. Failure is just life trying to move us in another direction."

- Oprah Winfrey

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"Believe in yourself, take on your challenges, dig deep within yourself to conquer fears. Never let anyone bring you down. You got this."

- Chantal Sutherland

"Stay hungry. Stay foolish."

- Steven Jobs

"You get in life what you have the courage to ask for."

- Oprah Winfrey

"Remember this: You are awesome. I’m not suggesting you be boastful. No one likes that in men or women. But I am suggesting that believing in yourself is the first necessary step to coming even close to achieving your potential."

- Sheryl Sandberg

"Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school."

- Albert Einstein

"Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try it."

- John F. Kennedy

"The only impossible journey is the one you never begin."

- Anthony Robbins

"Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know that there is something inside you that is greater than any obstacle."

- Christian D. Larson

"The best way to predict your future is to create it."

- Peter Drucker

"Graduation is not the end; it's the beginning."

- Orrin Hatch

"The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future."

- Plato

"So, I say to you, forget about the fast lane. If you really want to fly, just harness your power to your passion. Honor your calling. Everybody has one. Trust your heart and success will come to you."

- Oprah Winfrey

"Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life."

- Steve Jobs

"I learned many great lessons from my father, not the least of which was that you can fail at what you don’t want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love."

- Jim Carrey

"Now the first suggestion is to aim high, but be aware that even before you have reached your ultimate professional destination, if you always strive for excellence, you can and should have a substantial impact on the world in which you live."

- Sandra Day O’Connor

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

- Mark Twain

"Now go, and make interesting mistakes, make amazing mistakes, make glorious and fantastic mistakes. Break rules. Leave the world more interesting for you being here. Make good art."

- Neil Gaiman

"Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail."

- Charles Kettering

"Every day is a new opportunity to change your life and be who you want to be."

- Demi Lovato

"You educate a man; you educate a man. You educate a woman; you educate a generation."

- Brigham Young

"Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself."

- John Dewey

"Your life is your adventure. And the adventure ahead of you is a journey to fulfill your own purpose and potential."

- Kerry Washington

"Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world."

- Nelson Mandela

"The only thing you can be the best at is developing yourself."

- Natalie Portman

"Why fit in when you were born to stand out?"

- Dr. Seuss

"Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today."

- Malcolm X

"Real courage is holding on to a still voice in your head that says, ‘I must keep going.’ It’s that voice that says nothing is a failure if it is not final."

- Cory Booker

"Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education."

- Martin Luther King Jr.

"You cannot dream of becoming something you do not know about. You have to learn to dream big. Education exposes you to what the world has to offer, to the possibilities open to you."

- Sonia Sotomayor

"You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. You have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future."

- Steve Jobs

"Kid, you’ll move mountains."

- Dr. Seuss

"To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream, not only plan, but also believe."

- Anatole France

"Graduation is not the end; it’s the beginning."

- Senator Orrin Hatch

"You are educated. Your certification is in your degree. You may think of it as the ticket to the good life. Let me ask you to think of an alternative. Think of it as your ticket to change the world."

- Tom Brokaw

"You do not know about. You have to learn to dream big. Education exposes you to what the world has to offer, to the possibilities open to you."

- Sonia Sotomayor

"It’s your turn to choose and define what success means to you. Now, others will try to define it for you, but yours is the only voice that matters."

- Octavia Spencer

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

- Sun Tzu

"Nothing is impossible. The word itself says 'I'm possible.'"

- Audrey Hepburn

"Keep smiling, because life is a beautiful thing and there’s so much to smile about."

- Marilyn Monroe

"Your time is limited, don't waste it living someone else's life."

- Steve Jobs

"Do all the other things, the ambitious things—travel, get rich, get famous, innovate, lead, fall in love, make and lose fortunes…but as you do, to the extent that you can, err in the direction of kindness."

- George Saunders

"Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today."

- Malcolm X

"The only way to do great work is to love what you do."

- Steve Jobs

"Cynicism has never won a war, or cured a disease, or started a business, or fed a young mind, or sent men into space. Cynicism is a choice. Hope is a better choice."

- Barack Obama

"Don’t be trapped by dogma—which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition."

- Steve Jobs

"Believe you can, and you're halfway there."

- Theodore Roosevelt

"The horizon leans forward, offering you space to place new steps of change."

- Maya Angelou

"I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do."

- Leonardo da Vinci

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined."

- Henry David Thoreau

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"All of our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them."

- Walt Disney

"There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish."

- Michelle Obama

"She believed she could, so she did."

- R. S. Grey

"You have what it takes to be a victorious, independent, fearless woman."

- Tyra Banks

"She turned her can’ts into cans and her dreams into plans."

- Kobi Yamada

"Go make your big beautiful dent, and as you do so come down on the side of boldness. If you err, may it be for too much audacity, and not too little. For you really are enough. You have untold strengths and resources inside. You have your glorious self."

- Sue Monk Kidd

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."

- Nelson Mandela

"Take your risks now. As you grow older, you become more fearful and less flexible … Try to keep your mind open to possibilities and your mouth closed on matters that you don't know about. Limit your 'always' and your 'nevers.' Continue to share your heart with people even if it’s been broken."

- Amy Poehler

"If I must give any of you advice it would be say yes. Say yes, and create your own destiny."

- Maya Rudolph

"Your imagination is your preview of life’s coming attractions."

- Albert Einstein

"You must have some vision for your life. Even if you don't know the plan, you have to have a direction in which you choose to go."

- Oprah

"Take pride in how far you’ve come. Have faith in how far you can go. But don’t forget to enjoy the journey."

- Michael Josephson

"You don’t go to university so you can punch a clock. You go to university so you can be in a position to make a difference."

- Janet Napolitano

"There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind."

- C.S. Lewis

"Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can."

- Arthur Ashe

"If you hear a voice within you say “you cannot paint,” then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced."

- Vincent Van Gogh

"The most important thing in your life is to live your life with integrity and to not give into peer pressure to try to be something that you’re not."

- Ellen DeGeneres

"An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest."

- Benjamin Franklin

"In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love."

- Mother Teresa

"Your life is your story, and the adventure ahead of you is the journey to fulfill your own purpose and potential."

- Kerry Washington

"It is absolutely still possible to make a difference."

- Michelle Obama

"Now go, and make interesting mistakes, make amazing mistakes, make glorious and fantastic mistakes. Break rules. Leave the world more interesting for your being here."

- Neil Gaiman

"Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it."

- Charles Swindoll

"I encourage you to live with life. Be courageous, adventurous. Give us a tomorrow, more than we deserve."

- Maya Angelou

"You and you alone are the only person who can live the life that writes the story that you were meant to tell."

- Kerry Washington

"Be the hardest working person you know. Because if you’re not, someone else will be."

- Ian Brennan

"There is nothing more beautiful than finding your course as you believe you bob aimlessly in the current. Wouldn’t you know that your path was there all along, waiting for you to knock, waiting for you to become. This path does not belong to your parents, your teachers, your leaders, or your lovers. Your path is your character defining itself more and more everyday like a photograph coming into focus."

- Jodie Foster

"Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game."

- Babe Ruth

"Follow your passion. Stay true to yourself. Never follow someone else’s path, unless you’re in the woods and you’re lost and you see a path. By all means, you should follow that."

- Ellen DeGeneres

"My dear terrified graduates, you are about to enter the most uncertain and thrilling period of your lives. The stories you are about to live are the ones you will be telling your children, and grandchildren, and therapists."

- Lin-Manuel Miranda

"If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it."

- William Arthur Ward

"Learn from every mistake because every experience, encounter, and particularly your mistakes are there to teach you and force you into being more who you are. And then figure out what is the next right move. And the key to life is to develop an internal moral, emotional G.P.S. that can tell you which way to go."

- Oprah

"You must always have faith in people. And, most importantly, you must always have faith in yourself."

- Legally Blonde

"It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all—in which case, you fail by default."

- J.K. Rowling

"The most rewarding things in life are often the ones that look like they cannot be done."

- Arnold Palmer

"If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done."

- Thomas Jefferson

"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm."

- Winston Churchill

"It is not our abilities that show what we truly are. It is our choices."

- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

"I've learned it's important not to limit yourself. You can do whatever you really love to do, no matter what it is."

- Ryan Gosling

"Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have you, you will never, ever have enough."

- Oprah

"Real courage is holding on to a still voice in your head that says, ‘I must keep going.’ It’s that voice that says nothing is a failure if it is not final. That voice that says to you, ‘Get out of bed. Keep going. I will not quit.’"

- Cory Booker

"The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary."

- Vince Lombardi

"He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life."

- Muhammad Ali

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

- Ferris Bueller's Day Off

"You are about to start the greatest improvisation of all. With no script. No idea what's going to happen, often with people and places you have never seen before. And you are not in control. So say 'yes.' And if you're lucky, you'll find people who will say 'yes' back."

- Stephen Colbert

"Be willing to embrace wonder, to experience unexpected discovery, and to go in unknown directions. Never become so enamored of your own smarts that you stop signing up for life’s hard classes."

- Melissa Harris-Perry

"Don’t be afraid of fear. Because it sharpens you, it challenges you, it makes you stronger; and when you run away from fear, you also run away from the opportunity to be your best possible self."

- Ed Helms

"Behind you, all your memories. Before you, all your dreams. Around you, all who love you. Within you, all you need."

- Lilli Vaihere

"The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking spaces."

- Will Rogers

"Sometimes you find out what you are supposed to be doing by doing the things you are not supposed to do."

- Oprah Winfrey

"You’re only given a little spark of madness. You mustn’t lose it."

- Robin Williams

"It’s fine to live in the now. But the best thing about now is that there’s another one tomorrow. I’m gonna start makin’ them count."

- The Spectacular Now

"If you focus on what you left behind, you will never be able to see what lies ahead."

- Ratatouille

"Do not let making a living prevent you from making a life."

- John Wooden

"Intelligence without ambition is like a bird without wings."

- Dali

"Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly."

- Robert F. Kennedy

"This above all: To thine own self be true."

- William Shakespeare

"If you can do what you do best and be happy, you are further along in life than most people."

- Leonardo DiCaprio

"Fight for what makes you optimistic about the world. Find it, insist on it, dig into it, go after it."

- Jennifer Garner

"Your inexperience is an asset in that it will make you think in original, unconventional ways. Accept your lack of knowledge and use it as your asset."

- Natalie Portman

"It is often easier to make progress on mega-ambitious dreams. I know that sounds completely nuts. But, since no one else is crazy enough to do it, you have little competition."

- Larry Page

"Success is not about wealth or fame, but about inner happiness and fulfillment."

- Margot Robbie

"When people tell you not to believe in your dreams, and they say 'Why?' say 'Why not?'"

- Billie Jean King

"I’m a greater believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it."

- Thomas Jefferson

"Ignore the naysayers. Really the only option is: head down and focus on the job."

- Chris Pine

"So often in life things that you regard as an impediment turn out to be great good fortune."

- Ruth Bader Ginsburg

"Opportunity dances with those who are already on the dance floor."

- H. Jackson Browne Jr.

"Don't watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going."

- Sam Levenson

"Dream big and dare to fail."

- Norman Vaughan

"Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great."

- John D. Rockefeller

"The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today."

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

"You have to dance a little bit before you step out into the world each day, because it changes the way you walk."

- Sandra Bullock

"Don’t ever confuse the two, your life and your work. The second is only part of the first."

- Anna Quindlen

"Get busy living or get busy dying."

- Stephen King

"Love the life you live. Live the life you love."

- Bob Marley

"Opportunity does not knock, it presents itself when you beat down the door."

- Kyle Chandler

"Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The road to success is always under construction."

- Lily Tomlin

"Whatever you choose, however many roads you travel, I hope that you choose not to be a lady. I hope you will find some way to break the rules and make a little trouble out there. And I also hope that you will choose to make some of that trouble on behalf of women."

- Nora Ephron

"The best protection any woman can have is courage."

- Elizabeth Cady Stanton

"Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all."

- Aristotle

"A woman with a voice is, by definition, a strong woman."

- Melinda Gates

"The question isn’t who’s going to let me; it’s who’s going to stop me."

- Ayn Rand

"Some men see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never were and ask why not."

- George Bernard Shaw

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."

- Aristotle

"I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble."

- Helen Keller

"Education’s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one."

- Malcolm S. Forbes

"If you’re willing to stand for what you believe in . . . you won’t need advice from me, because you will be able to handle whatever comes."

- Whoopi Goldberg

"From my point of view, which is that of a storyteller, I see your life as already artful, waiting, just waiting and ready for you to make it art."

- Toni Morrison

"Education makes a people easy to lead, but difficult to drive: easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."

- Henry Peter Brougham

"Instruction ends in the schoolroom, but education ends only with life."

- Frederick W. Robertson

"The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you."

- B.B. King

"What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to the human soul."

- Joseph Addison

"The highest result of education is tolerance."

- Helen Keller

"The old rules are crumbling and nobody knows what the new rules are. So make up your own rules."

- Neil Gaiman

"The fireworks begin today. Each diploma is a lighted match. Each one of you is a fuse."

- Edward Koch

"The only thing you can do in this life is pursue your passions, celebrate your bloopers and never stop following your fear."

- Grace Helbig

"Every person you meet knows something you don’t; learn from them."

- H Jackson Brown Jr.

"When you leave here, don’t forget why you came."

- Adlai E. Stevenson

"When you take risks, you learn that there will be times when you succeed and there will be times when you fail, and both are equally important."

- Ellen DeGeneres

"The man with the wrong mental attitude."

- Thomas Jefferson

"The secret of success in life is to be ready for your opportunity when it comes."

- Benjamin Disraeli

"Follow your passion, stay true to yourself, never follow someone else's path unless you're in the woods and you're lost and you see a path, then by all means, you should follow that."

- Ellen DeGeneres

"You can never be overdressed or overeducated."

- Oscar Wilde

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."

- Thomas Edison

"If we’d all stuck with our first dream, the world would be overrun with cowboys and princesses. So whatever your dream is right now, if you don’t achieve it you haven’t failed and you’re not some loser."

- Stephen Colbert

"Some life lessons don’t ever change. They need to be highlighted and they need to be remembered throughout our entire lives. But how you embrace them will distinguish you from the pack."

- Brooke Shields

"When you respect the idea that you are sharing the Earth with other humans, and when you lead with your nice foot forward, you’ll win, every time. It might not be today, it might not be tomorrow, but it comes back to you when you need it."

- Kristen Bell

"Nobody else is paying as much attention to your failures as you are . . . to everyone else, it’s just a blip on the radar screen, so just move on."

- Jerry Zucker

"Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there."

- Will Rogers

"Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be."

- Grandma Moses

"A mind is like a parachute. It doesn't work if it is not open."

- Frank Zappa

"There are multiple sides to all of us. Who we are — and who we might be if we follow our dreams."

- Miley Cyrus

"Things turn out best for people who make the best out of the way things turn out."

- Art Linkletter

"There are no regrets in life. Just lessons."

- Jennifer Aniston

"We may live in an age of instant messaging, instant gratification and Instagram, but there is no way to short circuit the path to success."

- Tory Burch

"What we learn with pleasure we never forget."

- Alfred Mercier

"If they can make penicillin out of moldy bread, they can sure make something out of you."

- Muhammad Ali

"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education."

- Mark Twain

"I am here to tell you that whatever you think your dream is now, it will probably change. And that's okay."

- Conan O'Brien

"Try to learn something about everything and everything about something."

- T. H. Huxley

"There’s something so special about a woman who dominates in a man’s world. It takes a certain grace, strength, intelligence, fearlessness, and the nerve to never take no for an answer."

- Rihanna

"Nobody likes to fail, but failure is an essential part of life and of learning. If your uniform isn’t dirty, you haven’t been in the game."

- Ben Bernanke

"You will never have more energy or enthusiasm, hair, or brain cells than you have today."

- Tom and Ray Magliozzi

"Follow your arrow, wherever it points."

- Kacey Musgraves

"For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone."

- Audrey Hepburn

"I can’t think of any better representation of beauty than someone who is unafraid to be herself."

- Emma Stone

"I will encourage you not to just make a living, but to live to make something."

- Wesley Chan

"Life is an improvisation. You have no idea what's going to happen next, and you are mostly just making things up as you go along."

- Stephen Colbert

"Never grow a wishbone, daughter, where your backbone ought to be."

- Clementine Paddleford

"God will never give you anything you can’t handle, so don’t stress."

- Kelly Clarkson

"Life is my college. May I graduate well, and earn some honors!"

- Louisa May Alcott

"Life is like one big Mardi Gras. But instead of showing your boobs, show people your brain, and if they like what they see, you’ll have more beads than you know what to do with."

- Ellen DeGeneres

"And though she be but little, she is fierce."

- Shakespeare

"The brave may not live forever, but the cautious do not live at all."

- Princess Diaries

"To those of you who received honors, awards, and distinctions, I say well done. And to the C students, I say you too may one day be president of the United States."

- George W. Bush

"I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it."

- Harry S. Truman

"We may not be able to prepare the future for our children, but we can at least prepare our children for the future."

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

"Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person’s character lies in their own hands."

- Anne Frank

"Life affords no greater responsibility, no greater privilege, than the raising of the next generation."

- C. Everett Koop

"A person soon learns how little he knows when a child begins to ask questions."

- Richard L. Evans

"Set out each day believing in your dreams. Know without a doubt that you were made for great things."

- Josh Hinds

"Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else."

- Judy Garland

"You must continue to dream the wild dream that you dreamed when you were young."

- Mike Tomlin

"It is better to be a failure at something you love than to be a success at something you hate."

- George Burns

"You get to consciously decide what has meaning and what doesn’t. You get to decide what to worship."

- David Foster Wallace

"God never said that the journey would be easy, but He did say that the arrival would be worthwhile."

- Max Lucado

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

- Philippians 4:13

"Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity."

- Timothy 4:12

"Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed."

- Proverbs 16:3

"The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."

- Deuteronomy 31:8

"An unschooled man who knows how to meditate upon the Lord has learned far more than the man with the highest education who does not know how to meditate."

- Rev. Charles Stanley

"Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step."

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"The purpose of human life is to improve one’s character traits, by working on oneself every day. That’s why God gives us today—and tomorrow."

- Sara Yoheved Rigler

"The best remedy for those who are frightened, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be alone with the sky, nature and God. For only then can you feel that everything is as it should be and that God wants people to be happy amid nature’s beauty and simplicity."

- Anne Frank

"All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness."

- Dalai Lama

"You start to live when you commit to a cause higher than yourself. You must learn to depend on divine power for the fulfillment of a higher calling."

- Lailah Gifty Akita

"When you find yourself in need of spiritual nourishment, it is in the opportunities to serve others that you will find the abundance you seek."

- Steve Maraboli

"The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes."

- Benjamin Disraeli

"Do not pray for easier lives, pray to be stronger men."

- John F. Kennedy

"Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value."

- Albert Einstein

"You don’t raise heroes, you raise sons. And if you treat them like sons, they’ll turn out to be heroes, even if it’s just in your own eyes."

- Walter M. Schirra, Sr.

"Men are what their mothers made them."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"There are two lasting bequests we can give our children. One is roots. The other is wings."

- Hodding Carter, Jr.

"If I have a monument in this world, it is my son."

- Maya Angelou

"A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do."

- Bob Dylan

"There is only one success: to be able to spend your life in your own way."

- Christopher Morley

"Give me a stock clerk with a goal, and I will give you a man who will make history. Give me a man without a goal, and I will give you a stock clerk."

- James Cash Penney

"The best way to predict the future is to create it."

- Peter Drucker

"A father is a man who expects his son to be as good a man as he meant to be."

- Frank A. Clark

"A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them."

- John C. Maxwell

"Your families are extremely proud of you. You can’t imagine the sense of relief they are experiencing. This would be a most opportune time to ask for money."

- Gary Bolding

"There may be days when you’ll say to yourself, ‘I can’t. I literally can’t even.’ But you can! You can even!"

- Katie Couric

"If you think you are too small to be effective, you have never been in the dark with a mosquito."

- Betty Reese

"When all else fails, there’s always delusion."

- Conan O’Brien

"People don’t turn down money. It’s what separates us from the animals."

- Jerry Seinfeld

"A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him."

- David Brinkley

"Let us never be betrayed into saying we have finished our education; because that would mean we had stopped growing."

- Julia H. Gulliver

"I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work."

- Thomas Edison

"Summer vacation does kind of set up an adulthood of disappointment. That first job, you’re like, ‘I have to go to work in July? What is this, Russia?’"

- Jim Gaffigan

"Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today. It is already tomorrow in Australia."

- Charles Schulz

"A man who has never gone to school may steal from a freight car, but if he has a university education, he may steal the whole railroad."

- Theodore Roosevelt

"Nothing is impossible. The word itself says ‘I’m possible!’"

- Audrey Hepburn

"Wherever you go, go with all your heart."

- Confucius

"Follow your fear."

- Tina Fey

"If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door."

- Milton Berle

"Believe and act is if it were impossible to fail."

- Charles Kettering

"Spread joy. Chase your wildest dreams."

- Patch Adams

"I go to seek a Great Perhaps."

- Francois Rabelais

"Creativity is intelligence having fun."

- Albert Einstein

"You can’t climb the ladder of success with your hands in your pockets."

- Arnold Schwarzenegger

"Education is the key to unlocking the world, a passport to freedom."

- Oprah Winfrey

"Now that you’ve graduated, just remember: Bosses don’t usually accept notes from your mother."

- Melanie White

"There are few things more liberating in this life than having your worst fear realized."

- Conan O’Brien

"But real leadership comes from the quiet nudging of an inner voice. It comes from realizing that the time has come to move beyond waiting to doing."

- Madeleine Albright

"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young."

- Henry Ford

"When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us."

- Alexander Graham Bell

"Graduation is only a concept. In real life every day you graduate. Graduation is a process that goes on until the last day of your life. If you can grasp that, you’ll make a difference."

- Arie Pencovici

"Knowledge is not power. The implementation of knowledge is power."

- Larry Winget

"Learning is the only thing the mind never exhausts, never fears, and never regrets."

- Leonardo da Vinci

"You can never plan the future by the past."

- Edmund Burke

"By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest."

- Confucius

"Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment."

- Jim Rohn

"Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny."

- Lao-Tze

"Life is an improvisation. You have no idea what’s going to happen next and you are mostly just making things up as you go along."

- Stephen Colbert

"If you aren’t fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm."

- Vince Lombardi

"In the business world, everyone is paid in two coins: cash and experience. Take experience first; the cash will come later."

- Harold Geneen

"Keep in mind that neither success nor failure is ever final."

- Roger Babson

"The important thing is this: to be able to give up in any given moment all that we are for what we can become."

- DeSeaux

"Nothing is going to be handed to you. You have to make things happen."

- Florence Griffith-Joyner

"Graduation day is tough for adults. They go to the ceremony as parents. They come home as contemporaries. After 22 years of child-raising, they are unemployed."

- Erma Bombeck

"You’re still here? It’s over. Go home. Go."

- Ferris Bueller

"Never follow anyone else’s path. Unless you’re in the woods and you’re lost and you see a path; then, by all means, you should follow that path."

- Ellen Degeneres

"If at first you don’t succeed, then skydiving definitely isn’t for you."

- Steven Wright

"All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific."

- Jane Wagner

"You can’t be that kid standing at the top of the water slide overthinking it. You have to go down the chute."

- Tina Fey

"You’re only given a little spark of madness, you mustn’t lose it."

- Robin Williams

"Be bold, be courageous, be your best."

- Gabrielle Giffords

"Do not take life too seriously — you will never get out of it alive."

- Elbert Hubbard

"You don’t have to be famous. You just have to make your mother and father proud of you, and you already have."

- Meryl Streep

"It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are."

- E.E. Cummings

"A mind is like a parachute. It doesn’t work if you don’t open it."

- Frank Zappa

"We know what we are, but know not what we may be."

- Shakespeare

"Don’t wait. The time will never be just right."

- Napoleon Hill

"Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor."

- Truman Capote

"There is no script. Live your life. Soak it all in."

- Dick Costolo

"If at first you don’t succeed, find out if the loser gets anything."

- William Lyon Phelps

"Adults are always asking little kids what they want to be when they grow up because they’re looking for ideas."

- Paula Poundstone

"The only thing that ever sat its way to success was a hen."

- Sarah Brown

"To those of you who received honors, awards and distinctions, I say well done. And to the C students, I say you too may one day be president of the United States."

- George W. Bush

"People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well neither does bathing; that’s why we recommend it daily."

- Zig Ziglar

"Always borrow money from a pessimist. He won’t expect it back."

- Oscar Wilde

"The elevator to success is out of order. You’ll have to use the stairs . . . one step at a time."

- Joe Girard

"Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful."

- Albert Pujols

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind."

"The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet."

"Don't wait for the perfect moment. Take the moment and make it perfect."

"Never let it be said that to dream is a waste of one’s time, for dreams are our realities in waiting. In dreams, we plant the seeds of our future."

"‘For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

"You will screw it up sometimes."

"Don't be afraid to fail; be afraid not to try."

"Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help."

"Believe in yourself, and all that you are. Know that there is something inside you that is greater than any obstacle."

"Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow your righteous laws."

"I hope your dreams take you to the corners of your smiles, to the highest of your hopes, to the windows of your opportunities, and to the most special places your heart has ever known."

"Graduation is not the end, it's the beginning of a new chapter in your life."

"Dream big, work hard, stay focused, and surround yourself with good people."

"Your education is a gift that nobody can take away from you."

"Life is a journey, and your graduation is just the first step towards a bright future."

"Don't be afraid to take risks and embrace new opportunities."

"If at first you don’t succeed, do it like your mother told you."

"The future belongs to those who believe in themselves and follow their dreams."

"School’s out for summer / School’s out forever."

"The tassel is worth the hassle."

"I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance / Never settle for the path of least resistance."

"The harder you work for something, the greater you'll feel when you achieve it."

- Unknown

"Your graduation is a stepping stone to a future full of possibilities."

"Chase your dreams, burst out at the seams. Never stop trying, never stop learning. Live life to the fullest, give it nothing but your best."

"Don't let anyone dull your sparkle. Embrace your uniqueness and shine bright."

"As we go on, we remember / All the times we had together / And as our lives change / Come whatever / We will still be friends forever."

"Embrace uncertainty, take risks, and let your curiosity lead you to new discoveries."

"I am unwritten / Can’t read my mind / I’m undefined / I’m just beginning / The pen’s in my hand / Ending unplanned."

"Ain’t about how fast I get there / Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side / It’s the climb."

"It’s something unpredictable, but in the end, it’s right / I hope you had the time of your life."

"You just gotta ignite the light and let it shine / Just own the night, like the Fourth of July."

"Believe in yourself, work hard, and success will follow."

"All the dreams I prayed you’d be, are all the things you are. You were once my little girl, and now my shining star."

"And I’ll be gone, gone tonight / The ground beneath my feet is open wide."

"Life is a journey, and your graduation is just the beginning of a new adventure."

"I’ll spread my wings and I’ll learn how to fly / I’ll do what it takes ‘til I touch the sky / And I’ll make a wish, take a chance, make a change and breakaway."

"Tonight / We are young /So, let’s set the world on fire / We can burn brighter than the sun."

"Your education is a dress rehearsal for a life that is yours to lead."

"She is clothed in strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future."

"The tassel’s worth the hassle."