On Sunday, the Intramuralist will publish our annual wish to this year’s grads. Today, no less, let us borrow from the wise and witty words of others, beginning with that high school English teacher who spoke so poignantly years ago…
“The great and curious truth of the human experience is that selflessness is the best thing you can do for yourself.” — David McCullough, Jr.
“There is a good reason they call these ceremonies ‘commencement exercises.’ Graduation is not the end; it’s the beginning.” — Orrin Hatch
“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” — Arthur Ashe
“It doesn’t matter that your dream came true if you spent your whole life sleeping.” — Jerry Zucker
“Keep in mind that neither success nor failure is ever final.” — Roger Babson
“There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.” — Beverly Sills
“You’ll find out that nothing that comes easy is worth a dime. As a matter of fact, I never saw a football player make a tackle with a smile on his face. Never.” — Woody Hayes
“Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there.” — Will Rogers
“If you can’t do the little things right, you will never do the big things right.” — Adm. William McRaven
“The best helping hand that you will ever receive is the one at the end of your own arm.” — Fred Dehner
“Things turn out best for the people who make the best out of the way things turn out.” — Art Linkletter
“The man who will use his skill and constructive imagination to see how much he can give for a dollar, instead of how little he can give for a dollar, is bound to succeed.” — Henry Ford
“You can’t live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.” — John Wooden
“Love the poor. Do you know the poor of your place, of your city? Find them. Maybe they are right in your own family.” — Mother Teresa
“You will never see a U-haul behind a hearse. You can’t take it with you.” — Denzel Washington
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” — Maya Angelou
“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” — Mark Twain
“Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.” — Winston Churchill
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” — Mahatma Ghandi
“The trouble with learning from experience is that you never graduate.” — Doug Larson
“Always have a purpose in life that is beyond position and money.” — Colin Powell
“To those of you who received honors, awards and distinctions, I say well done. And to the C students, I say you too may one day be president of the United States.” — George W. Bush
“Don’t ever confuse the two, your life and your work. The second is only part of the first.” — Anna Quindlen
“What we are is God’s gift to us. What we become is our gift to God.” — Eleanor Powell
“From my point of view, which is that of a storyteller, I see your life as already artful, waiting, just waiting and ready for you to make it art.” — Toni Morrison
“Your life is your story, and the adventure ahead of you is the journey to fulfill your own purpose and potential.” —Kerry Washington
“When you leave here, don’t forget why you came.” — Adlai Stevenson
So much behind… even more ahead…
Respectfully…
AR