Arianna Huffington
Field: letters
Arianna Huffington urges Smith's 2013 graduates to lead a 'third women's revolution' by redefining success beyond money and power to include a third metric based on well-being, wisdom, wonder, and giving back. Drawing on her own collapse from exhaustion, she advocates prioritizing sleep, disconnecting from technology, and cultivating inner wisdom rather than accepting society's broken definition of achievement.
Key moments
- 01 Calling for a third women's revolution to redefine success
- 02 Introducing the 'third metric' beyond money and power
- 03 Warning about sleep deprivation and burnout using her own fainting incident
- 04 Emphasizing well-being, wonder, wisdom, and compassion as core values
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Arianna Huffington at Smith, 2013
A commencement address about redefining success beyond money and power through well-being, wonder, wisdom, giving back, and a third women's revolution.
Speech arc
- 01Smith class
Opening move
- 02Redefine success
Speech beat
- 03Third revolution
Speech beat
- 04Well-being
Speech beat
- 05Wonder
Speech beat
- 06Wisdom
Speech beat
- 07Give back
Speech beat
- 08Lead inward
Final charge
Invitation: Success needs a new definition
Huffington asks graduates to reject the two-part equation of money plus power and build a third metric for a sustainable life.
Audience
The speech is tailored to Smith students as prepared leaders.
Critique
Money and power alone are unstable measures of a life.
Metric
Well-being, wisdom, wonder, and giving back become success criteria.
Huffington asks graduates to reject the two-part equation of money plus power and build a third metric for a sustainable life.
Well-being: Human capital must be replenished
Her sleep and burnout stories make health a strategic necessity rather than a private luxury.
Burnout
Exhaustion damages creativity, judgment, and decision-making.
Sleep
Rest becomes part of serious performance, not its opposite.
Time
A healthier definition of success changes the relationship to urgency.
Her sleep and burnout stories make health a strategic necessity rather than a private luxury.
Inner life: Wonder and wisdom reconnect attention
Huffington points graduates toward awe, disconnection from devices, and a centered place of judgment before action.
Wonder
Everyday astonishment interrupts status anxiety.
Unplug
Regular disconnection from technology restores deeper judgment.
Grace
Wisdom turns struggle into steadier action.
Huffington points graduates toward awe, disconnection from devices, and a centered place of judgment before action.
• Key takeaways •
Success needs a third metric
Connects to well-being.
Rest protects judgment
Connects to wisdom.
Wonder interrupts burnout
Connects to wonder.
Wisdom requires attention
Connects to women leadership.
Leadership starts inward
Connects to service.
Closing charge
The final appeal asks graduates to change systems at the root, give back, and move outward from wisdom, peace, and strength.
Lead the third women's revolution
Service
Happiness is linked to doing good, not mere entertainment.
Systems
Do more than enter broken structures; redefine what they value.
Place
Find a place to stand, then move the world from there.
The final appeal asks graduates to change systems at the root, give back, and move outward from wisdom, peace, and strength.
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Transcript
The previously catalogued transcript link is no longer live and is queued for re-sourcing. A video of the address is available above.
Machine transcript available for archive analysis; it is unverified and may contain transcription errors. Machine transcript source ->
Provenance
BROKEN transcript link (checked 2026-06-26): graduationwisdom.com repurposed into lifestyle blog; speech pages gone. 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 | Transcript URL dead (graduationwisdom.com repurposed into lifestyle blog; speech pages gone); video fallback present
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