Every item on this page was chosen by a Woman’s Day editor. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy.
Take it from these famous speakers to impart words of wisdom upon the class of 2022.
Whether it’s high school or college, school can sometimes feel like a drag (especially in a seemingly never-ending pandemic). Of course, having a syllabus telling you exactly what to do and everything you can expect during your school career is a luxury most students take for granted. Reaching the end of that syllabus, and graduating into a world where there’s no game plan laid out, can be equally exhilarating and terrifying. As the graduating class of 2022 prepare to leave behind their syllabi and schoolbooks to enter the next chapter of their lives, these inspirational graduation quotes will help them navigate the road ahead.
From Fortune 500 CEOs to Grammy-winning performers to lauded philosophers, we’ve rounded up some of the best words of wisdom and meaningful nuggets of knowledge that will enlighten and empower new graduates as they embark upon the next journey. Share these inspiring, motivational, and funny graduation quotes with your favorite graduate during a graduation party speech, or write them in a graduation card to give along with cash or a unique graduation gift. However you choose to share these 100 quotes for graduation, get ready to see the graduate’s face beam with pride as you celebrate their greatest accomplishment to date. Congratulations, class of 2022! You did it!

“There is no passion to be found in playing small, in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.”
“You get in life what you have the courage to ask for.”
“There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.”
“Whatever you choose for a career path, remember the struggles along the way are only meant to shape you for your purpose.”
“Yes, there will be pitfalls, mountains and glass ceilings, but you’re going to get across it.”
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
“There are no regrets in life — just lessons.”
“Wherever you go, go with all your heart.”
“It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.”
“There may be days when you’ll say to yourself, ‘I can’t. I literally can’t even.’ But you can! You can even!”
“Don’t be afraid. Be focused. Be determined. Be hopeful. Be empowered.”
“Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”
“When we show up, act boldly, and practice the best ways to be wrong, we fail forward. No matter where we end up, we’ve grown from where we began.”
“Fortune does favor the bold, and I promise that you will never know what you’re capable of unless you try.”
“I am here to tell you that whatever you think your dream is now, it will probably change. And that’s okay.”
“Surrender to the cards you’re dealt. It’s from that surrender that you get your power. Losing can be the best motivator to get you even bigger wins.”
“Accept responsibility for your life. Know that it is you who will get you where you want to go, no one else.”
“If you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. If you don’t step forward, you’re always in the same place.”
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
“Your time is limited, don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”
“Your life is your story, and the adventure ahead of you is the journey to fulfill your own purpose and potential.”
“Success doesn’t just land on your lap. You have to work, work, work, work, and work some more.”
“Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.”
“Fight for what makes you optimistic about the world. Find it, insist on it, dig into it, go after it.”
“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
“There’s nothing and no one that can stop you from changing the world. I see you. You’re unstoppable.”
“All of our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.”
“He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.”
“Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.”
“Nothing can dim the light that shines from within.”
“Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.”
“Be bold, be courageous, be your best.”
“Decide to ground yourself in values that last, like honesty, hard work, responsibility, fairness, generosity, respect for others.”
“Your certification is in your degree. You may think of it as the ticket to the good life. Let me ask you to think of an alternative. Think of it as your ticket to change the world.”
“What starts here changes the world if you’re committed to getting back up and beginning again, the exact same number of times that you fall, trip, and get pushed down.”
“It is time to chase every dream, accept every challenge, strive for greatness, honor every promise, and recommit to your community.”
“You succeeded because of the aid and the love of others, bettering your lives without a doubt, but you have succeeded mostly because you and you alone chose to do so.”
“It has been my observation that most people get ahead during the time that others waste.”
“No matter what happens in life, be good to people. Being good to people is a wonderful legacy to leave behind.”
“Success is a moving goal post. You celebrate in those moments and then look at what’s next . . . and how can I do it better than I did before.”
“For while we have our eyes on the future, history has its eyes on us.”
“Work hard, know your sh*t, show your sh*t, and then feel entitled. Listen to no one except the two smartest and kindest adults you know, and that doesn’t always mean your parents. If you do that, you will be fine.”
“Venture outside your comfort zone. To stop growing is to stop living.”
“Savor the taste of your triumphs today, don’t just swallow them all whole without digesting what is actually happening here. Look down over what you conquered and appreciate what God has brought you through.”
“Do all the other things, the ambitious things — travel, get rich, get famous, innovate, lead, fall in love, make and lose fortunes…but as you do, to the extent that you can, err in the direction of kindness.”
“Make a choice: Continue living your life feeling muddled in this abyss of self-misunderstanding, or you find your identity independent of it.”
“There is nothing more beautiful than finding your course as you believe you bob aimlessly in the current. Wouldn’t you know that your path was there all along, waiting for you to knock, waiting for you to become. This path does not belong to your parents, your teachers, your leaders, or your lovers. Your path is your character defining itself more and more everyday like a photograph coming into focus.”
“If you can walk away for days, weeks, or years at a time, it is not an ambition, it’s a wish. Wishes feel good and rarely come true. Ambition, on the other, fuels your day and refuses to be ignored. It challenges your sense of self and fulfills your sense of wonder.”
“They tell you: Follow your dreams. Listen to your spirit. Change the world. Make your mark. Find your inner voice and make it sing. Embrace failure. Dream. Dream and dream big. As a matter of fact, dream and don’t stop dreaming until your dream comes true. I think that’s crap. I think a lot of people dream. And while they are busy dreaming, the really happy people, the really successful people, the really interesting, powerful, engaged people? Are busy doing.”
“Happiness comes from living as you need to, as you want to. As your inner voice tells you to. Happiness comes from being who you actually are instead of who you think you are supposed to be.”
“Life is my college. May I graduate well, and earn some honors!”
“Your education is a dress rehearsal for a life that is yours to lead.”
“The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.”
“We may live in an age of instant messaging, instant gratification, and Instagram, but there is no way to short circuit the path to success.”
“The most important thing in your life is to live your life with integrity and to not give into peer pressure to try to be something that you’re not.”
“The only thing you can do in this life is pursue your passions, celebrate your bloopers, and never stop following your fear.”
“Not having the best situation, but seeing the best in your situation is the key to happiness.”
“Learning how to be still, to really be still and let life happen—that stillness becomes a radiance.”
“Real courage is holding on to a still voice in your head that says, ‘I must keep going.’ It’s that voice that says nothing is a failure if it is not final. That voice that says to you, ‘Get out of bed. Keep going. I will not quit.’”
“In response to those who say to stop dreaming and face reality, I say keep dreaming and make reality.”
“You have to dance a little bit before you step out into the world each day, because it changes the way you walk.”
“In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.”
“The only impossible journey is the one you never begin.”
“My dear terrified graduates, you are about to enter the most uncertain and thrilling period of your lives. The stories you are about to live are the ones you will be telling your children, and grandchildren, and therapists.”
“Everybody needs a passion. That’s what keeps life interesting. If you live without passion, you can go through life without leaving any footprints.”
“It’s not about money or connections — it’s the willingness to outwork and outlearn everyone…And if it fails, you learn from what happened and do a better job next time.”
“Follow your fear.”
“You can never be overdressed or overeducated.”
“Learning is the only thing the mind never exhausts, never fears, and never regrets.”
“Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person’s character lies in their own hands.”
“You are about to start the greatest improvisation of all. With no script. No idea what’s going to happen, often with people and places you have never seen before. And you are not in control. So say ‘yes.’ And if you’re lucky, you’ll find people who will say ‘yes’ back.”
“Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.”
“It is better to be a failure at something you love than to be a success at something you hate.”
“The best way to predict the future is to create it.”
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
“Education’s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.”
“If you’re willing to stand for what you believe in . . . you won’t need advice from me, because you will be able to handle whatever comes.”
“From my point of view, which is that of a storyteller, I see your life as already artful, waiting, just waiting and ready for you to make it art.”
“You can’t do it alone. Be open to collaboration. Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you. Spend a lot of time with them and it will change your life.”
“I’m continually trying to make choices that put me out of my own comfort zone. As long as you’re uncomfortable it means you’re growing.”
“There’s something so special about a woman who dominates in a man’s world. It takes a certain grace, strength, intelligence, fearlessness, and the nerve to never take no for an answer.”
“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. You have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.”
“If I must give any of you advice it would be say yes. Say yes, and create your own destiny.”
“When you respect the idea that you are sharing the Earth with other humans, and when you lead with your nice foot forward, you’ll win, every time. It might not be today, it might not be tomorrow, but it comes back to you when you need it.”
“I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
“Being realistic is the most commonly traveled road to mediocrity.”
“I celebrate you as you remember the power of grace and pride, and I challenge you to choose freedom over fear.”
“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.”
“Change takes courage.”
“You can never be the best. The only thing you can be the best at is developing yourself.”
“When someone who loves you hugs you, hug them back with two arms — don’t do the one-arm hug, because when you hug someone with two arms, it allows you to lean on somebody, and we all need someone to lean on.”
“If we’d all stuck with our first dream, the world would be overrun with cowboys and princesses. So whatever your dream is right now, if you don’t achieve it you haven’t failed and you’re not some loser.”
“I decided long ago never to walk in anyone’s shadow; if I fail, or if I succeed at least I did as I believe.”
“Never ever let somebody stop you or shame you from being yourself.”
“Stay hungry. Stay foolish.”
“Keep in mind that neither success nor failure is ever final.”
“When the world tells you to shrink, expand.”
“Life is about creating new opportunities, not waiting for them to come to you.”
“I try to believe like I believed when I was five…when your heart tells you everything you need to know.”

source