It is rare that a single speech can have a profound effect on your life, but these 5 graduation speeches are inspirational in a way that the audience is able to make a true connection with the speaker. One of our favorite commencement speeches comes from Steve Jobs, who recently passed away on October 5, 2011. He talks about seeing the opportunities in life’s setbacks, like he did, and the power of trust.
Steve Jobs: Stanford University, 2005
“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”
Here are 4 other powerful speeches that we love.
John F. Kennedy: American University, 1963
“Our problems are manmade—therefore, they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings. Man’s reason and spirit have often solved the seemingly unsolvable—and we believe they can do it again.”
Watch a video of Kennedy’s entire speech.
Toni Morrison: Wellesley College, 2004
“You are your own stories and therefore free to imagine and experience what it means to be human without wealth. What it feels like to be human without domination over others, without reckless arrogance, without fear of others unlike you, without rotating, rehearsing and reinventing the hatreds you learned in the sandbox. And although you don’t have complete control over the narrative (no author does, I can tell you), you could nevertheless create it.”
Read the full text of Morrison’s address.
J.K. Rowling: Harvard University, 2008
“Given a time machine or a time turner, I would tell my 21-year-old self that personal happiness lies in knowing that life is not a check-list of acquisition or achievement. Your qualifications, your CV, are not your life, though you will meet many people of my age and older who confuse the two. Life is difficult, and complicated, and beyond anyone’s total control, and the humility to know that will enable you to survive its vicissitudes.”
Read the full text of Rowling’s speech.
Jon Bon Jovi: Monmouth University, 2001
“Nothing is as important as passion. No matter what you want to do with your life, be passionate. The world doesn’t need any more gray. On the other hand, we can’t get enough color. Mediocrity is nobody’s goal and perfection shouldn’t be either. We’ll never be perfect. But remember these three P’s: Passion + Persistence = Possibility.”
Read Bon Jovi’s entire speech.
Sources: Stateuniversity.com, PrincetonReview.com, Graduationwisdom.com