Graduation Quotes

Graduation is an ending that feels like a beginning. These quotes capture the excitement, uncertainty, and wide-open possibility of stepping into whatever comes next — perfect for cards, speeches, or quiet moments of reflection.

“In this outward and physical ceremony we attest once again to the inner and spiritual strength of our Nation. As my high school teacher, Miss Julia Coleman, used to say: 'We must adjust to changing times and still hold to unchanging principles.'”

Jimmy Carter

More Graduation Quotes

“Being considerate of others will take your children further in life than any college degree.”

Marian Wright Edelman

“I always wanted to have my own album released before I graduated from high school.”

Christina Aguilera

“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

“Everybody wants you to do good things, but in a small town you pretty much graduate and get married. Mostly you marry, have children and go to their football games.”

Faith Hill

“This man used to go to school with his dog. Then they were separated. His dog graduated!”

Henny Youngman

“I learned law so well, the day I graduated I sued the college, won the case, and got my tuition back.”

Fred Allen

“Knowledge is invariably a matter of degree: you cannot put your finger upon even the simplest datum and say this we know.”

T. S. Eliot

“Never go to your high school reunion pregnant or they will think that is all you have done since you graduated.”

Erma Bombeck

“In this outward and physical ceremony we attest once again to the inner and spiritual strength of our Nation. As my high school teacher, Miss Julia Coleman, used to say: 'We must adjust to changing times and still hold to unchanging principles.'”

Jimmy Carter

“I first became interested in women and religion when I was one of the few women doing graduate work in Religious Studies at Yale University in the late 1960's.”

Carol P. Christ

“I was the first boy in the Kennedy family to graduate from college.”

Mark Kennedy

“We don't stop going to school when we graduate.”

Carol Burnett

“I got all my work done to graduate in two months and then they were like, I'm sorry, you have to take driver's ed. I just kind of went, Oh, forget it.”

Fiona Apple

“For a man to attain to an eminent degree in learning costs him time, watching, hunger, nakedness, dizziness in the head, weakness in the stomach, and other inconveniences.”

Miguel de Cervantes

“It is virtually impossible to compete in today's global economy without a college degree.”

Bobby Scott

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