graduation

Read. Read all the time. Read as a matter of principle, as a matter of self-respect. Read as a nourishing staple of life._ (Wellesly High School commencement speech, __ou Are Not Special_, 6-12)

Be careful who you call crazy. Some of us think it's a compliment.

I imagined the lies the valedictorian was telling them right now. About the exciting future that lies ahead. I wish she'd tell them the truth: Half of you have gone as far in life as you're ever going to. Look around. It's all downhill from here. The rest of us will go a bit further, a steady job, a trip to Hawaii, or a move to Phoenix, Arizona, but out of fifteen hundred how many will do anything truly worthwhile, write a play, paint a painting that will hang in a gallery, find a cure for herpes? Two of us, maybe three? And how many will find true love? About the same. And enlightenment? Maybe one. The rest of us will make compromises, find excuses, someone or something to blame, and hold that over our hearts like a pendant on a chain.

The memory of sacred moment is unforgettable.

Why should she dress in a cap and gown and sweat in the sun, when her mother was not there to pose in pictures with her and cheer when her name was called? In her mind, she only saw pictures they would never take, arms around each other, her mother gaining little wrinkles around her eyes from smiling so much.

Let your only graduation be in the grave.

Your need for acceptance can make you invisible in this world. Don't let anything stand in the way of the light that shines through this form. Risk being seen in all of your glory.

The road may be rough, the journey may be tough and the experience may be bitter, but they are stepping stones to our future thrones.

Just because you don't know what you want yet, it doesn't mean that there's nothing to want.

The world is waiting for us to graduate from ourselves.

Now is the time to make sure we have the strings of all the balloons we want to keep before they all float away.

I snicker, but the idea is momentarily appealing. Part of me is scared of leaving school. Part of me wants to go desperately. Tension of opposites.

This is a day of celebration!Today, we are divorcing the pastand marrying the present.Dance,and you will find Godin every room.Today, we are divorcing resentmentand marrying forgiveness.Sing,and God will find you in every tune.Today, we are divorcing indifferenceand marrying love.Drink, and play that tambourine against your thighs.We have so much celebrating to do!

pg. 231-232: They'd given me a minivan. They could have picked any car and they picked a minivan. A minivan. O God of the Vehicular Justice, why dost thou mock me? Minivan, you albatross around my neck! You mark of Cain! You wretched beast high ceilings and few horsepower!

Congratulations!Today is your dayYou're off to great placesYou're off and awayYou've got brains in your headYou've got feet in your shoesYou can steer yourself anyDirection you chooseYou're on your ownAnd you know what you knowAnd you are the guyWho'll decide where you goOut there things can happenAnd frequently doTo people as brainyAnd footsy as youAnd will you succeed?Yes you will indeed!(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed)You're off to great placesToday is your dayYour mountain is waitingGo, get on your way!

Character is a course, finish it.

I will miss younot because you taught me,not because you helped me on all steps of education;but only becauseyou made me a leader to lead as an perfect Electrical Engineer.

I made my name_. What does this mean? It means that a man has successfully graduated through the process of inner self-development