To make a commencement requires a mental effort.

En Ma Fin Est Ma Commencement - In my end is my beginning.

— Philippa Gregory

The closing period of the fifteenth century witnessed the slow but sure increase of the churches of the Brethren. Although far from being unmolested,…

— Ezra Hall Gillett

The whole point of a commencement speech is to say something encouraging.

— Pamela Druckerman

I never expected to join the ranks of commencement speakers, especially at my alma mater. I had a tough time there, left eagerly, and…

— Stephanie Ruhle

Delight is the secret. Learn of pure delight and thou shalt learn of God. What then was the commencement of the whole matter? Existence…

— Sri Aurobindo

The year 1826 was remarkable for the commencement of one of those fearful droughts to which we have reason to believe the climate of…

— Charles Sturt

The commencement speech is not, I think, a wholly satisfactory manifestation of our culture.

— John Kenneth Galbraith

“The most perfect life develops as a circle, and terminates in its beginning, making it impossible to say, This is the commencement, that the…

— Lew Wallace

There is no such thing as failure. Failure is just life trying to move us in another direction.

— Oprah Winfrey

If you think that happiness means total peace, you will never be happy. Peace comes from the acceptance of the part of you that…

— Joss Whedon

There happen to be whole large parts of adult American life that nobody talks about in commencement speeches. One such part involves boredom, routine,…

— David Foster Wallace

It is clear the future holds great opportunities. It also holds pitfalls. The trick will be to avoid the pitfalls, seize the opportunities, and…

— Woody Allen

It was a myth that's often perpetuated at commencement that holds that only hope and promise lie beyond the halls of academe. Don't worry,…

— Paul Tsongas

The stunning part was that one time Neil McElroy the Secretary of Defense who was the father of one of our classmates spoke and…

— Madeleine Albright

Nothing is as easy to make as a promise this winter to do something next summer; this is how commencement speakers are caught.

— Sydney J. Harris