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.

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

Bobby Scott

More Graduation Quotes

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

Christina Aguilera

“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'm not retiring. I am graduating. Today is my graduation day. Retirement means that you'll just go ahead and live on your laurels and surf all day in Oceanside. It ain't going to happen.”

Junior Seau

“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

“Earlier today, Arnold Schwarzenegger criticized the California school system, calling it disastrous. Arnold says California's schools are so bad that its graduates are willing to vote for me.”

Conan O'Brien

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

Henny Youngman

“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

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

Carol Burnett

“I was a lesbian for a semester at Wesleyan - it was a graduation requirement.”

Ayelet Waldman

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

Fred Allen

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

Marian Wright Edelman

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

Erma Bombeck

“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

“From kindergarten to graduation, I went to public schools, and I know that they are a key to being sure that every child has a chance to succeed and to rise in the world.”

Dick Cheney

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