20 Great Graduation Quotes

Whether it’s for a graduation speech, a note in the yearbook, a heartfelt card, or just a way to get perspective, great quotes are a must-have during graduation time. Luckily, many eloquent writers and speakers had a lot to say on the themes in your grads life right now: transitions, milestones, achievements, success, and education. Here’s a list of great quotes for your and your grad to choose from:

1. “This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.” William Shakespeare
2. “I never let my schooling interfere with my education.” Samuel Clemens
3. "You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. You are the guy who'll decide where to go." Dr. Seuss
4. "Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." Ralph Waldo Emerson
5. "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." Nelson Mandela
6. "Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.” Benjamin Franklin
7. "Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else." Judy Garland
8. "Wherever you go, go with all your heart." Confucius
9. "The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows." Sydney J. Harris
10. "The best helping hand that you will ever receive is the one at the end of your own arm." Fred Dehner
11. "Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal."
12. Henry Ford "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." William Butler Yeats
13. "Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for changes." Johann Wolfgang van Goethe
14. "Do not worry if you have built castles in the air. They are where they should be. Now put the foundations under them." Henry David Thoreau
15. "We did not change as we grew older; we just became more clearly ourselves" Lynn Hall
16. "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?" Marianne Williamson
17. To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting. e.e. cummings
18. The important thing is not to stop questioning. Albert Einstein
19. There are no shortcuts to any place worth going. Beverly Sills
20. "Occasionally in life there are those moments of unutterable fulfillment which cannot be completely explained by those symbols called words. Their meanings can only be articulated by the inaudible language of the heart." Martin Luther King, Jr.