Life

13 Inspiring Quotes For College Grads

by Chelsey Grasso
A female University graduate poses for an individual portrait after the ceremony.  She is dressed in...
FatCamera/E+/Getty Images

Graduating from college is a very pivotal time in one's life, and for many Americans, it's the first time that they'll step out of the world of academia and into the working world. Before you start freaking out (or thinking you've got everything figured out... because chances are you're thinking one or the other), take the time to read through these college graduation quotes.

The best thing about these quotes is that they provide a new perspective. Once you've read through them all, the way in which you see your life's potential will likely change, and for the better. Up until this point, most of your academic career has been about you. After this point, you have the opportunity to make your life's direction about others, and there really is nothing more joyful and fulfilling than that.

No matter what field you're planning on going into or which direction you see yourself going in, the way you go about living your life can result in a huge array of changes in the world. Make a change for the better. You can be the wealthiest, most esteemed person on the block, but you won't be happy unless you're helping make others successful in the process.

1. "Graduation is only a concept. In real life every day you graduate. Graduation is a process that goes on until the last day of your life. If you can grasp that, you’ll make a difference." — Arie Pencovici

2. "I believe in the principle that I can make a difference in this world. It may be ever so small, but it will count for the greater good." — Gordon B. Hinckley

3. If you feel that you have both feet planted on level ground, then the university has failed you." — Robert Goheen

4. "It is indeed ironic that we spend our school days yearning to graduate and our remaining days waxing nostalgic about our school days." — Isabel Waxman

5. "Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal." — Henry Ford

6. "There are two types of education. One should teach us how to make a living, and the other how to live." — John Adams

7. "Success isn’t a result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire." — Arnold H. Glasow

8. "The things taught in schools and colleges are not an education, but the means of education." — Ralph Waldo Emerson

9. "The best of all things is to learn. Money can be lost or stolen, health and strength may fail, but what you have committed to your mind is yours forever." — Louis L'Amour

10. "The man who will use his skill and constructive imagination to see how much he can give for a dollar, instead of how little he can give for a dollar, is bound to succeed." — Henry Ford

11. "The one real object of education is to have a man in the condition of continually asking questions." — Bishop Mandell Creighton

12. "To those of you who received honors, awards, and distinctions, I say well done. And to the C students, I say you too may one day be president of the United States." — George W. Bush

13. "Use your knowledge and your heart to stand up for those who can’t stand, speak for those who can’t speak." — Julie Andrews

Images: FatCamera/E+/Getty Images; Giphy (2)