There are so many lofty graduation commencement quotes out there on the web. If you want motivation and inspiration, it’s easy to find. We’ve compiled the most disturbing graduation commencement quotes we could find. Here’s one from me:
“Get disturbed. Now. A few?calm?people?have?shaken up the world, but not many.”?
There’s one more from me at the bottom of this list.
- “Nobody cares how tough your upbringing was. Nobody cares if you suffered some discrimination.” Barack Obama
- “I don’t want you to dream. I want you to do.” Sean “P. Diddy” Combs
- “Try putting your iPhone’s down every once and awhile and look at people’s faces. People’s faces will tell you amazing things, like if they are angry, or nauseous, or asleep.” Amy Poehler
- “Take your risks now, as you grow older you become more fearful and less flexible.” Amy Poehler
- “As you navigate through the rest of your life, be open to collaboration. Other people and other people’s ideas are often better than your own.” Amy Poehler
- “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” Steve Jobs
- ?Even though this is the college where Facebook was born, my hope is that you will try and go out and have more face-to-face conversations with people you disagree with.? Oprah Winfrey at Harvard
- “Make no mistake about it, you are dumb. You’re a group of incredibly, well-educated dumb people. I was there. We all were there. You’re barely functional. There are some screw-ups headed your way. I wish I could tell you that there was a trick to avoiding the screw-ups, but the screw-ups, they’re a-coming for ya. It’s a combination of life being unpredictable, and you being super dumb.? Aaron Sorkin
- ?As you leave these gates and re-enter society, one thing is certain. Everyone out there is going to hate you. Never tell anyone in a roadside diner that you went to Harvard. In those situations, the correct response to, ?Where did you go to school?? is ?School? I never had much in the way of book learnin? and such.? And then get in your BMW and get the hell out of there.? Conan O’Brien
- ?Try never to be the smartest person in the room. And if you are, I suggest you invite smarter people or find a different room.” Michael Dell
- ?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
- “Your generation has made giant strides into public life, but often still says: How can I combine career and family? I say to you from the bottom of my heart that when you ask that question you are setting your sights way too low. First of all, there can be no answer until men are asking the same question. Second, every other modern democracy in the world is way, way ahead of this country in providing a national system of child care, and job patterns adapted to the needs of parents, both men and women. So don’t get guilty. Get mad. Get active. If this is a problem that affects millions of unique women, then the only answer is to organize.” Gloria Steinem
- “You’re young. Maybe there’ll be time for a do-over if you don’t get it right the first time. But there are no guarantees. There will come a time as it has for me when there’s no time for a do-over.” Elizabeth Edwards
- “Ultimately, your life is made up of moments. So don’t miss them by being lost in the past or anticipating the future.” Jessica Lange
- “And now go, and make interesting mistakes, make amazing mistakes, make glorious and fantastic mistakes.” Neil Gaiman
- “I cannot stress enough that the answer to a lot of your life’s questions is often in someone else’s face.” Ira Glass
- “Do stuff you will want to brag about.” Rachel Maddow
- “Oh yeah, some of you will come back home, because you should, because you’re not ready to work for somebody. So thank God your parents will take you out of businesses that don’t need people who don’t know what they’re doing.” Bill Cosby
- “Jim [Lovell] says: ‘There are three types of people. There are people who make things happen, there are people who watch things happen, and there are people who wonder what happened. To be successful, you’ve got to be a person who makes things happen.’? Mark Kelley
- “Get away from the TV. And stay away, like forever. Everything you would see there, you can read online, or watch important short clips on YouTube. You’ll gain an extra two hours a day that most people waste watching TV. You can use that time to learn a heck of a lot of stuff, read some important books, and get a lot accomplished.” Tiffany Willis (me)
Tiffany Willis is the founder and editor-in-chief of Liberal America. An unapologetic member of the Christian Left, she has spent most of her career actively working with ?the least of these? and disadvantaged and oppressed populations. She’s passionate about their struggles. To stay on top of topics she discusses,?like her?Facebook page,?follow her on Twitter, or?connect with her via LinkedIn. She also has?a?grossly neglected personal blog?and a?literary quotes blog that is a labor of love. Find her somewhere and join the discussion.
