Graduation Speeches Offer Lasting Life Lessons

One of the last things standing between graduating college seniors and the rest of their lives is the graduation speech. For 15-ish minutes, speakers will (hopefully) regale their eager young audiences with words of wisdom and motivate them to fulfill their vast potential as they prepare to take their places in the world.

No one has to tell these graduates that they face unprecedented challenges. But some do. John C. Cushman III, chairman of the board of Cushman 7 Wakefield, told graduates of the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California, “I want to express my sympathy for the hand you've been dealt. Who ran up global debt imbalances and the U.S. federal debt to the tune of 100 percent of [gross domestic product]? We did. Who has to pay it off with interest? You do. Who gets the greatest retirement benefits in history? The Baby Boomers. Who has to pick up the check? You and your classmates.”

But others tread lightly on reality checks to offer motivation and advice. “Do you have the guts to fail?” Denzel Washington asked University of Pennsylvania students last month. “If you don’t fail, you’re not even trying.”

Students may appreciate these command performances on their behalf, but why should they be the only ones to benefit? These esteemed speakers offer life lessons and hard-earned knowledge that can jump-start those who may have become staid in their lives, jobs, and thinking.

Here is a sampling of distinguished speakers from this year’s Graduation Speech Class of 2011:

“As you navigate through the rest of your life, be open to collaboration. Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you, spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life. No one is here today because they did it on their own…You’re all here today because someone gave you strength. Helped you. Held you in the palm of their hand. God, Allah, Buddha, Gaga—whomever you pray to.” –Amy Poehler at Harvard University

“As you think about your career, whatever you do, don't worry about mapping it all out. Just don't play it safe. Don't be the person who quits a startup company, or a band, before giving it a chance to make it big. And don't be afraid to start over or change direction. The more risks you take, the happier you will be… But I can also assure you this: No matter what job you have, no matter who your employer is, the harder you work, the luckier you will get.” – Michael Bloomberg, New York City Mayor at George Washington University

"Opportunity can be manufactured. Yes, you can wait around for the right set of circumstances to fall into place and then leap into action, but you can also create those sets of circumstances on your own. In so doing, you manufacture your opportunities." –Twitter co-founder Biz Stone at Babson College

“"The opportunities that you'll create and seize may not yet be evident. They may not yet exist. But you will change the world for the better. Of this, I am sure. The question is: How will you do it? There's no formula. No road map. No sure-fire steps to follow. But there is a North Star to guide your way. And that North Star is your sense of purpose, your commitment to make a difference with your life in the lives of others." –Procter & Gamble President and CEO Bob McDonald at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

“Fortune favors the bold and I promise that you will never know what you’re capable of unless you try.” –COO of Facebook Sheryl Sandburg at Barnard College

"What do you want to get done? It's an awesome time in history to be authoring our own futures in real time. Provoke. Inspire. Don't just get involved, but inspire others to be involved. That's playing offense. The most important piece of advice I can give you on the path to happiness is not just be yourself, but be your weird self. It takes too much energy to be anything but your weird self. We spend too much of our lives trying to live up to the expectations of others. We buy things we don't really want with money we don't really have to impress people we don't really care about. Forget that. Forget what other people think." –Entrepreneur Chris Sacca at the Carlson School of Management, the University of Minnesota.

“I hope you have such wonderful times in your life.” –Jack Nicholson