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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:

A slave dreams of freedom, a free man dreams of wealth, the wealthy dream of power, and the powerful dream of freedom.

Andrzej Majewski Aphorisms. Magnum in Parvo (2000)

I've always had numinous dreams, and a lot of them feature a Dionysian character I named The Boy in the Tree.

Elizabeth Hand Apocalypse Descending (2002)

Reward excellent failures. Punish mediocre successes.

Tom Peters The Little Big Things: 163 Ways To Pursue Excellence (2010)

The faith that education would destroy intolerance is false. It may be partly true, but people find that intolerance is fun.

Richard Summerbell

Hold on to your dreams, Kiall. They are more important than you realise.

David Gemmell

There will be no development without education, no progress without culture.

Alberto Assa

The first myth of management is that it exists. The second myth of management is that success equals skill.

Robert Heller Robert Heller cited in : Jonathon Green (1984)

Don't believe your own b.s. It's real easy to confuse funding with success.

Steve Blank

Success is when you see something, and you say, 'I want to do that,' and then you do it. It's being happy with what you do and doing what you love every day.

Alessia Cara Alessia Cara in 2016: 'I'm here to make music (2016)

Man's mettle is tested both in adversity and in success. Twice is this true of the soul of a nation.

Soong Mei-ling Address to the U.S. House of Representatives (1943)

Education is infinite. You must constantly seek additional knowledge to keep it up-to-date.

Ananda Mahidol

Abstinence-only education is not practical. It is ideological.

Judith Levine Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children from Sex (2002)

Education breeds confidence, which breeds hope, which ultimately brings peace. For Rwanda, peace is the goal.

Jeannette Kagame

Higher education helps create the kind of citizenry that is central to a democracy’s ability to function and perhaps even to survive.

Robert Rubin

Could it be education or contraception. Girls and boys we'll always be fine.

Butera Knowless

I’d say never give up on your dreams. Destiny strikes you when you are least prepared, but as long as you are prepared your dream will come true.

Carina Lau

Success doesn't just happen. It is as a result of years of learning and training.

Lucy Quist

Unwise or unlucky wizards learned fast enough how much one paid for one’s mistakes. One sometimes paid more dearly for one’s successes.

Jay Lake The Decaying Mansions of Memory (2011)

The role of the government will remain a facilitating one, as the success of Namibia’s economic ambitions depends on collaborative efforts across sectors.

Selma Ashipala-Musavyi

It's amazing to close off a season like that and celebrate a bit of success. It feels really special to get that award.

Kayla Reyneke

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