Inspirational Quotes From 2016 Commencement Speakers

By Lydia Belanger • May 24, 2016

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Like a college graduation, 2016 is in many ways a turning point. This year brings the culmination of a two-term Obama presidency as well as a general election in the fall. Tech companies are maturing as new ideas and trends come to the forefront. Civil rights movements have achieved major milestones but there is still work to be done. A man has just returned from a year in space, and his experience will inform future missions beyond Earth’s orbit.

Newly minted graduates must make difficult decisions and navigate problems their parents and grandparents never anticipated. But they have more opportunities to do great things than any class or generation in history. To help new grads rise to their challenges and responsibilities, these accomplished leaders donned regalia and reflected on what it takes to realize one’s full potential in the world today (this post will be updated).

1. Sheryl Sandberg

Title/Company: Lean In Commencement:

Lesson: Be resilient in the face of adversity.
Quote: “When the challenges come, I hope you remember that anchored deep within you is the ability to learn and grow. You are not born with a fixed amount of resilience. Like a muscle, you can build it up, draw on it when you need it. In that process you will figure out who you really are — and you just might become the very best version of yourself.” (Read the full transcript of Sandberg’s speech here.)

2. Beth Brooke-Marciniak

Title/Company: EY Commencement: Lesson: Quote:

3. Steve Harvey

Title/Company: Commencement: Lesson: Quote:

4. Barack Obama

Title/Company: Commencement: Lesson: Quote: “

5. Michelle Obama

Title/Company: Commencement: Lesson:

Quote: “Remember that decades from now, someone will be standing here where I’m standing today and they will be telling that new class of graduates about all of you. So we’re counting on you to live lives worthy of retelling, lives that will inspire our next generation to keep walking that path to righteousness and doing the work to fulfill that dream.”

6. Scott Kelly

Title/Company: Commencement: Lesson: Quote:

7. Wayne Chang

Title/Company: Commencement: Lesson: Quote:

8. Lin-Manuel Miranda

Title/Company: In the Heights Hamilton Commencement: Lesson: Quote:

9. Samantha Power

Title/Company: Commencement:

Lesson: Approach issues first hand — not through a screen.
Quote: “From the Facebook and Twitter feeds we monitor, to the algorithms that determine the results of our web searches based on our previous browsing history and location, our major sources of information are increasingly engineered to reflect back to us the world as we already see it. They give us the comfort of our opinions without the discomfort of thought. So you have to find a way to break out of your echo chambers.”

10. Peter Thiel

Title/Company: Commencement: Lesson: Quote: here

11. John Lewis

Title/Company: Commencement:

Lesson: Stand up to injustice.
Quote: “You have a moral obligation, a mission and a mandate to do what you can to help make our own country, to help make the world a better place. You can do it. You must do it. You have a mission. You have an obligation to find a way to get in the way.”