A lot of moguls have done the Commencement speech thing in recent weeks. Over at The Business Insider, we compiled 10 of the best of recent years.
Here's one of the most inspiring excerpts, from J.K. Rowling:
So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realised, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.
That one, unfortunately, might give you the impression that, if you just do what you love, you're guaranteed to be almost as rich as The Beatles--while many people would be best advised to just do something they like. But Rowling makes an excellent point about the benefit of learning what really matters.
Here are some others:
Apple CEO Steve Jobs: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish."
Google CEO Eric Schmidt: "It's possible to spend your life inside the computer. Life is the people around you."
Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone: "It's not about the money - it's about winning."
Google "business founder" Omid Kordestani: "Think and act like an immigrant."