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№ 2013.005 — Hobart and William Smith Colleges — Commencement address
James Carville
Field: politics
James Carville delivers a candid commencement address warning graduates that life after college will be difficult and that failure is an inevitable part of success. He uses the example of Abraham Lincoln's many failures, quotes Thomas Edison and Winnie the Pooh on perseverance, and tells stories about the bond between his city of New Orleans and the Colleges. He closes by urging graduates to thank the mentors who helped them and to mentor others in turn.
Key moments
- 01 Opening jokes about the college name and his own academic record
- 02 Lincoln's repeated failures as proof that success follows failure
- 03 Winnie the Pooh's 'stronger, braver, smarter' encouragement for facing fear
- 04 Story of President Bush Sr. visiting Holland to thank an early ally, urging graduates to remember and thank their mentors
Transcript
The full transcript is hosted by the original publisher. Commencement Archive links to the source rather than republishing copyrighted text.
Read the full transcript at source →Provenance
Imported from NPR commencement archive; cross-referenced with Open Commencement DB
NPR archive last updated in 2015; destination availability has not been exhaustively rechecked | Open Commencement DB transcript; not independently verified against the original recording