I’ve had the privilege of being the commencement speaker at about a dozen colleges and universities throughout my career. Lehigh University was my first, in 1999. That was followed by Villanova University, the University of Oklahoma, Princeton, the University of Virginia, Mercer University, Williams College, Boston University, American University, Trinity College, and the University of Wisconsin. Most recently, I spoke at UMass’s 2025 medical school graduation. It’s always a thrill to address a sea of shining faces…even if those faces are shining because they’re slightly hungover. These young students, so proud of themselves and so excited about the road ahead, always give me such hope for the future.
Every time I’ve been given the honor of providing a commencement address, I take the assignment VERY seriously. I often try to quote a line from Life’s Little Instruction Book by H. Jackson Brown Jr. It proclaims, “No one on his deathbed says, ‘Gee, I wish I had spent more time at the office.’”
Another quote I love to include is from Annie Dillard, who famously wrote, “How we spend our days is of course how we spend our lives.”
In other words, get your priorities straight. In the midst of writing these speeches, I realized I could mine a veritable treasure trove of life lessons from the accomplished people I had met and interviewed through the years. I started reaching out to them with a simple question: “What life lessons would YOU impart to the young people sitting in the folding chairs today?”
That gave me an idea. What if I put all this hard-earned wisdom in one place? So I put out an SOS to successful people from all walks of life. I was overwhelmed by the number of people who wrote back. The result was a book called The Best Advice I Ever Got: Lessons from Extraordinary Lives. I thought I could use it as a reference for future speeches AND it would make a great graduation gift. Even better: I was able to donate the proceeds of the book to an organization called Scholarship America, started by a wonderful optometrist from Fall River, Massachusetts named Dr. Irving Fradkin. (I will tell you about him in another essay, but Google him if you’re curious. I promise you will be inspired and delighted by this magnificent man.)
Here are some of my favorite quotes from that book:
When in doubt, order the hamburger. — Jimmy Kimmel
It doesn’t matter where you start in life but where you finish and, along the way, whether you do something that you love and enjoy doing. — General Colin Powell
All five of our senses exist only in the present. We can’t fully live in the past or the future — or even in Computer Land. Right now, where you are is all there is. — Gloria Steinem
But this year I’ve been thinking: What if I was giving a commencement address to the class of 2025? I think it would be my most challenging one yet. After all, the world is a pretty messed up place, and sometimes the future doesn’t look so bright. But I realized quickly that in good times and in bad, those same simple words of wisdom hold true. And if you need even more inspiration, then look no further than the leaders delivering hard-hitting commencement speeches this year.
The people who shape society’s stories are the most powerful people in society. That’s you, dear graduates. And I wish you courage and love as you go flex your muscles. — Jane Fonda, USC Annenberg
I believe your generation faces a task more profound than perhaps any generation before. I know you feel it and I want to acknowledge that this is not normal. It is not just you being paranoid. It’s true you are being asked not just to navigate a changing world but to fundamentally define who we will become in the face of unprecedented technological, cultural, and political shifts. — Jon M. Chu, USC
The profound lesson I learned through all this was that our values conflict sometimes, and it’s making choices in those moments that help you clarify who you are and what you value in this world. And that’s adulting. — Elizabeth Banks, University of Pennsylvania
Confidence is earned. Arrogance is borrowed. — Al Roker, Siena College
This world needs fixing. Go! — Henry Winkler, Georgetown University
It is your ability to convince yourself you really can make it, because you have to be your own champion. — Jennifer Coolidge, Emerson College
‘What will you do with the power that is you?’ This question helped me believe that where I came from and even my past mistakes didn’t have to determine where I was going. — Jamie Kern Lima (CEO of IT Cosmetics), Columbia University
This new era will need each and every one of you. It will need data scientists, robotics engineers, biologists, physicists, civil engineers, entrepreneurs. — Noubar Afeyan (Co-founder of Moderna), Worcester Polytechnic Institute
You can reinvent yourself. I wish I’d known I could do that. I was lazy in college and got bad grades. But the real problem was that I believed them: I believed that mediocre grades meant I was a mediocre person. And that stuck with me for years. I’m sure most of you have done much better in school than I did, but maybe there are some of you who are feeling a little unsure of yourself. But here’s the thing: You don’t have to tell people that. They don’t know. — Jessica Livingston (Co-founder of Y Combinator) – Bucknell University
