As Graduation season comes to a close, read quotes from Commencement Addresses given by bestselling author, JK Rowling, and President Barack Obama.
Below is an excerpt from the speech that JK Rowling gave to the 2008 graduating class of Harvard University:
“The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift, for all that it is painfully won, and it has been worth more than any qualification I ever earned.”
Click here to watch a video of Rowling’s Commencement Address.
The following is a quote from President Obama’s speech, delivered last week at Morehouse College’s commencement ceremonies:
“Dr. King was just 15 years old when he enrolled here at Morehouse. He was an unknown, undersized, unassuming young freshman who lived at home with his parents. And I think it’s fair to say he wasn’t the coolest kid on campus — for the suits he wore, his classmates called him “Tweed.” But his education at Morehouse helped to forge the intellect, the discipline, the compassion, the soul force that would transform America. It was here that he was introduced to the writings of Gandhi and Thoreau, and the theory of civil disobedience. It was here that professors encouraged him to look past the world as it was and fight for the world as it should be. And it was here, at Morehouse, as Dr. King later wrote, where “I realized that nobody…was afraid.”
Click here to read the President’s full Commencement Address.
To read more about and watch videos of other graduation speeches, visit the Policymic article: “Graduation 2013: 8 Best Graduation Speeches of All Time”.