Graduating Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old graduating quotes, graduating sayings, and graduating proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.

The man who graduates today and stops learning tomorrow is uneducated the day after. Newton D. Baker
We don't stop going to school when we graduate. Carol Burnett
When you graduate from college, they tell you to follow your dreams. Does anyone say you have to wake up first? Bill Cosby
Life is my college. May I graduate well, and earn some honors! Louisa May Alcott
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
Every year, many, many stupid people graduate from college. And if they can do it, so can you. John Green
Graduating college in four years is like leaving a party at 10:30 unknown
The day you graduate is not the end of your school career, but, it is the beginning of a new life full of adventure and excitement. unknown
The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet. Aristotle
Time is not measured by the passing of years but by what one does, what one feels, and what one achieves. Jawaharlal Nehru
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. Eleanor Roosevelt
To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe. Anatole France
You are educated. 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. Tom Brokaw
God will not look you over for medals degrees or diplomas, but for scars. Elbert Hubbard
The fireworks begin today. Each diploma is a lighted match. Each one of you is a fuse. Edward Koch
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
All real education is the architecture of the soul. William Bennett
You're not going to get very far in life based on what you already know. You're going to advance in life by what you're going to learn after you leave here. Charlie Munger
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined. Henry David Thoreau
Education is the best provision for old age. Aristotle
The important thing is the educational experience itself how to survive it. Donald Barthelme
One half who graduate from college never read another book. G. M. Trevelyan
I'm going to graduate on time, no matter how long it takes. Joe Theismann
Successful graduates from the school of life thrive on failed attempts. Kamil Ali
People who enroll themselves in the schools of pride, eventually graduate with and high degree of fall. Failure employs prides scholars. Get rusticated now! Israelmore Ayivor
Wherever you go, go with all your heart. Confucius
There is a good reason they call these ceremonies commencement exercises. Graduation is not the end; it's the beginning. Orrin Hatch
All that stands between the graduate and the top of the ladder is the ladder unknown
Don't live down to expectations. Go out there and do something remarkable. Wendy Wasserstein
Your schooling may be over, but remember that your education still continues. Anonymous
The trouble with learning from experience is that you never graduate. Doug Larson
I think sleeping was my problem in school. If school had started at 4:00 in the afternoon, I'd be a college graduate today. George Foreman
If you feel that you have both feet planted on level ground, then the university has failed you. Robert Goheen
Just about a month from now I'm set adrift, with a diploma for a sail and lots of nerve for oars. Richard Halliburton
It's so important to understand your good attendance ups your chances of graduating. Tyra Banks
Students graduating with high debt encounter difficulties in qualifying for home and automobile loans. Hank Johnson
You are graduating from college. That means that this is the first day of the last day of your life. No, that's wrong. This is the last day of the first day of school. Nope, that's worse. This is a day. Andy Samberg
For many, graduation marks the end of formal student life - the end of long spring breaks and of thinking that a 10 A.M. class is far too early. Alexa Von Tobel
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. Jodie Foster
The best thing about graduating from the university was that I finally had time to sit on a log and read a good book. Edward Abbey
If knowledge is power and power is knowledge, then how so many idiots be graduating from college? Coolio
The cost of college education today is so high that many young people are giving up their dream of going to college, while many others are graduating deeply in debt. Bernie Sanders
Not graduating high school on time leads to fewer chances of attending college and obtaining good paying jobs, and creates instead higher chances of incarceration and unemployment. Al Sharpton
Congratulations! You made it! It's time to celebrate all the hard work that led to this joyful occasion. The road to graduation is a long, steep climb, so take a moment at the summit to be proud of your accomplishments. Sheryl Sandberg
You did it, even when you didn't feel like studying - you did it. Congratulations! Kate Summers
Graduation is a time of completion, of finishing, of an ending, however, it is also a time of celebration of achievement and a beginning for you. Catherine Pulsifer
Use your achievement that we are celebrating tonight to launch yourselves … maybe into other education opportunities, personal goals or career job prospects. This is just the beginning. You have the guts and you have the dedication and you have the skill, obviously, to achieve what you achieved today. Francine St. Amand
Now the first suggestion is to aim high, but be aware that even before you have reached your ultimate professional destination, if you always strive for excellence, you can and should have a substantial impact on the world in which you live. Sandra Day O’Connor
My dear, terrified graduates, you are about to enter the most uncertain and thrilling period of your lives. Lin-Manuel Miranda
Your education is a dress rehearsal for a life that is yours to lead. Nora Ephron
A graduation ceremony is an event where the commencement speaker tells thousands of students dressed in identical caps and gowns that 'individuality' is the key to success. Robert Orben
There are serious questions over the mix of qualifications being obtained. In total 23% of all graduating students want to work in media or marketing. I should think the true demand for such graduates is a tenth of that. Yet there are desperate shortages of pharmacists, dentists, chefs, plumbers and the like. We are producing thousands of graduates with unrealistic expectations and irrelevant qualifications. Luke Johnson
Behind every kid who completes four years of college there stand two parents who are also graduating—magna cum bankrupt. Robert Orben
You're leaving college now, and going out into real life. And you have to realize that real life is not like college. Real life is like high school. Meryl Streep
Summing up, it is clear the future holds great opportunities. It also holds pitfalls. The trick will be to avoid the pitfalls, seize the opportunities, and get back home by six o'clock. Woody Allen
Graduation day—the high point of college. The commencement speech—the low point of graduation day. Robert Novak
As you take leave of your school, as you graduate into a new life of the mind, may each of you ask yourself this: What am I doing to increase the sum of hope of the world? What am I doing to teach someone else what I have learned? Arthur Burns
Here's to the graduate. Although your life in school is now complete, the school of life is just beginning! Jennifer Rahel Conover
We want students and graduates to recognize that America's colleges have not been built up, have not been developed, merely to advance the private economic interest of its graduates. They have a greater purpose in mind. No college graduate can go out from any college today without being a man of his Nation and a man of his time, without pursuing in his own life, not only his private interest, but the welfare of his country. John F. Kennedy
Graduation is not a signal that one is prepared to practice for a career lifetime. It's simply a license to hit the turf running and to keep learning. Betsy Plank
A hundred years ago, it was inconceivable for a woman to *be* a college graduate! I think, perhaps, you should look back to see how far we've come! Jocelyn Carr
No one wants to think at graduation! It's graduation, the time when we celebrate being done with thinking. Haley Dunphy
It’s a day for celebrating, that moment y’all been waiting / Hats up in the air, it’s time for graduation / Diplomas and you planned, long summer vacation / Let’s toast to graduating, let’s toast to graduating. Byron Jones
6 Years ago / The best thing occurred / I got in a school that I had never heard / It all seemed so real / I honestly could feel / My life turning like a steering wheel / And I know we all have these feelings in life / Where you feel like you just don't know where you're going / Thank God / He takes you where you're meant to be going / And now we're here, right here / Graduating right here / Thank God, Thank God / Were graduating. Lily Antonini
At times like this it’s very hard / to know just what to say / for friends would like to comfort you / and take your grief away. / But may it reassure you / to keep within your mind / the thought held dear in memory / of school days left behind. / Lazy days are over, / no classes left to skip, / for if you miss a day of work / your foreman cracks the whip. / Our sympathies are with you / on Graduation Day / for it’s time to face reality; / you’ve played….it’s time to pay! / Yes, laugh lines turn to wrinkles / as the world grinds you down. / It’s sad to see, I’m here to tell, / when you pack your cap and gown. / Outside the ivy covered walls / life’s woes are cruel to see… / so maybe you should think about / A Post Graduate Degree!!! Don Stephens