English Speeches with Audio & Transcripts | Books & Articles
Actor Henry Winkler delivered an inspiring 2026 commencement speech at Emerson College, sharing stories about failure, perseverance, creativity, empathy, and discovering one’s unique gift. From struggling in school to achieving success in Hollywood, Winkler encouraged graduates to trust their instincts, embrace imagination, and use their talents to make a difference in the world.
In his 2026 ASU commencement speech, Harrison Ford reflects on his difficult college years, unexpected acting journey, and eventual discovery of purpose through environmental advocacy. He encourages graduates to pursue meaningful work, embrace leadership, protect nature, and use their generation’s power to create positive change.
My own sense of well-being and purpose in the world. That comes from studying the world feelingly, with empathy in my work. It comes from staying alert and alive and involved in the lives of the people that I love and the people in the wider world who need my help.
I have no idea what is the right amount of space in your head for you to keep for yourself and how much you owe the world. That’s for you to say. I don’t know what to tell you. Nobody does. You have all you need: You have minds of your own.
When I say kindness, I’m not talking about “being nice.” I’m talking about being able to hold your own heartbreak, so we can go on living — go on resisting, go on building, go on healing.
Dame Jacinda Ardern urged Yale College seniors to embrace self-doubt and the humility that accompanies it (and took note of their playful headwear).
The greatest thing you build in your life will be yourself, and trust me on this you are not done yet, I know I’m not. But what you will be building is not just a toolkit. You will be building a person, and you will be doing it for people.
It’s the series of decisions you make when your values conflict: GPA or Family. Creativity or security. Loyalty or personal growth. Love or Money. Your path is guaranteed to be paved with these decisions.
You are ready and able to do beautiful things in this world and after you walk through those doors today, you will only ever have two choices: love or fear. Choose love, and don’t ever let fear turn you against your playful heart.
You are future record-breakers and world travelers… future volunteers and philanthropists… future winners and future leaders. I’m here to tell you… from the other side of graduation… that leaving a familiar world behind and finding new ones is incredibly, deeply, wonderfully exciting.
Over the many years of practicing, I have come to the realization that history is not a fixed thing, a collection of precise dates, facts and events (even cogent commencement quotes) that add up to a quantifiable, certain, confidently known, truth. It is a mysterious and malleable thing.
Thank you and welcome all you soggy people. Napoleon said, and this is Napoleon Bonaparte, not the Napoleon Dynamite. He said, war is when the government tells you who your enemy is, revolution is when you figure it out for yourself. And we know who our enemy is.
Be curious, not cool. Be virtuous and purposeful. Do good things, help others. Do not get frozen in the ice of your own indifference. Don’t confuse success with excellence, those Benjamins are a means not an end. Do not descend too deeply into specialism, educate all of your parts, you will be healthier.
Around the world, the voices of children are getting louder. They are calling for better health – a visit to a doctor; a simple vaccination against diseases; a plate of food and clean water to drink. They are calling for a seat in the classroom, and the loudest voices, are coming from girls. They just want the same opportunities as boys to learn and develop.
Duke Class of 2021: I wish you lives with Desmond’s kind of love: Love for our neighbors—and for people who feel like they’re a world apart. Love for justice—defined by a spirit of mutuality and community. Love for a world where we don’t need to win at someone else’s expense, even if they’re Tar Heels—where we can win together.
The child shall in all circumstances be among the first to receive protection and relief in times of emergency and disaster. The child shall be protected against all forms of neglect, cruelty and exploitation and shall not be admitted to employment before an appropriate minimum age.
Everything I’ve done in my life is a result of persistence. And I challenge all of you to do the same. We’ve all had a New Orleans education. I lived in New Orleans for four years as well. Cultivate what you’ve learned, make something special out of it. And never give up.
Impermanence is the natural state of the universe. Everything changes, all the time. Sometimes those changes are so imperceptible we’re not always conscious of them. But nothing stays the same forever. And this fact of impermanence is something we’re all aware of.
I graduated from the University of Life. All right? I received a degree from the School of Hard Knocks. And our colors were black and blue, baby. I had office hours with the Dean of Bloody Noses. All right? I borrowed my class notes from Professor Knuckle Sandwich and his Teaching Assistant, Ms. Fat Lip Thon Nyun. That’s the kind of school I went to for real, okay?
It’s OK to be scared. In fact, if you weren’t scared, I’d be scared for you. But let me repeat something that the most extraordinary, certainly one of the most extraordinary men I’ve ever known said. “May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears. Let your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.”