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Graduation Quotes

Two of the most popular graduation lines are flagged. “Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself” is a paraphrase of John Dewey, not a quotation. The one about education being what remains after you have forgotten what you learned in school is credited to Einstein and flagged as misattributed.

The page is assembled from the pages on education, success, the future, dreams and learning. It has no graduation speeches in it, but it does have a lot of quotes that get used in them. If you are writing a speech, use the sourced entries; the label will tell you which is which.

Random quote on Graduation

Most quoted on graduation:

The only way that you achieve what you want and to fulfill your dreams and become great is by demanding that sort of attention. You have to make it happen.

Marilyn Manson The Long Hard Road Out of Hell (1998)

The motive-force for the success of ASEAN lies in our firm belief in peace and in working together for the prosperity of all in the region.

Mahathir Mohamad

I haven't any strength, I haven't any character, I'm a born tool. I haven't any destiny. All I have is dreams. And now other people run them.

Ursula K. Le Guin The Lathe of Heaven (1971)

I tried to pass for nothing
But my dreams gave me away

Conor Oberst Cassadaga (2007)

101 Dealing with failure is easy: Work hard to improve. Success is also easy to handle: You've solved the wrong problem. Work hard to improve.

Alan Perlis

She said I was afraid of success, which may in fact be true, because I have a feeling that fufilling my potential would really cut into my sittin' around time.

Maria Bamford Comedy Central Presents Maria Bamford (2001)

[Success as panacea and trap:] The less a man is willing to give up a sex object, the more he’ll be trapped into becoming a success object.

Warren Farrell Why Men Are the Way They Are (1988)

Let the author beware of popularity, otherwise he will be defeated by success. (p144)

Clarice Lispector Um Sopro de Vida (1978)

We are full of dreams [...] We long for the unattainable. We believe in the nonsense of fables. There is no pure love; there is lust and there is need.

David Gemmell

No education is ever wasted and everything you learn is helpful in acting.

Irene Dunne If You Want Success (Screenland Interview) (1961)

You can't lose your nerve for the big failure because you need exactly the same nerve for the big success.

Regina E. Dugan Fast Company interview (2011)

I lived my youth in dreams of others.

Suman Pokhrel

I often see my lost lover in dreams.

Tsangyang Gyatso, 6th Dalai Lama

The 3 Requisites for Success - Ruthless, Relentless, Remorseless (The 3 R's)

John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher Memories (1919)

What are dreams but an internal wilderness and what is desire but a wildness of the soul? (p182)

Louise Erdrich The Blue Jay's Dance: A Birth Year (1996)

Zimbabwe’s education system was originally designed to last 20 years but has now been in use for over 40 years, making it outdated.

Fay Chung

“Consistency is the ultimate hack to success in life”

Ayra Starr

We will not put an end to extreme poverty if we do not give priority to education especially, girls' education

Aṣa

We have the duty to shape the image we want for our continent — in our leadership, our dreams, our creativity, and how we teach our history.

Jeannette Kagame

I completed all my education here in Ethiopia, and I have NEVER lived anywhere else but Ethiopia.

Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu

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