Arnold Schwarzenegger
Field: politics
Schwarzenegger delivers USC's 2009 commencement address after receiving an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, mixing humor with his personal story of leaving Austria for America. He frames his advice as 'six rules of success,' drawing on his bodybuilding, acting, and political careers, though the provided text cuts off partway through the rules. He emphasizes trusting oneself, breaking conventional rules, and not fearing failure.
Key moments
- 01 Accepts honorary degree and jokes about his accent and image
- 02 Rule one: trust yourself and discover who you want to be
- 03 Rule two: break the rules and think outside the box
- 04 Rule three: don't be afraid to fail, citing his movie hits and flops
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Arnold Schwarzenegger at USC, 2009
A commencement address built around six rules for success: trust yourself, break rules, risk failure, ignore naysayers, work hard, and give back.
Speech arc
- 01USC welcome
Opening move
- 02Immigrant story
Speech beat
- 03Trust yourself
Speech beat
- 04Break rules
Speech beat
- 05Risk failure
Speech beat
- 06Naysayers
Speech beat
- 07Work hard
Speech beat
- 08Give back
Final charge
Origin: Personal ambition becomes a rulebook
Schwarzenegger turns his path through bodybuilding, film, and politics into a set of direct rules for graduates entering a recession-era world.
America
The immigrant success story supplies the speech's confidence in reinvention.
Mission
A clear personal vision matters before others understand or approve it.
Rules
The address converts biography into memorable, repeatable advice.
Schwarzenegger turns his path through bodybuilding, film, and politics into a set of direct rules for graduates entering a recession-era world.
Defiance: Trust yourself and break some rules
The first rules ask graduates to resist approval-seeking, think beyond conventional paths, and distinguish rule-breaking from law-breaking.
Trust
Self-belief is treated as the starting condition for any unconventional life.
Original
A maverick cannot be produced by perfect obedience to expectation.
Limits
The speech praises breaking stale rules, not abandoning responsibility.
The first rules ask graduates to resist approval-seeking, think beyond conventional paths, and distinguish rule-breaking from law-breaking.
Resistance: Failure and criticism are part of motion
He warns against paralysis, using the naysayer motif to push graduates toward action even when the odds or experts say no.
Failure
Fear of failing is framed as more dangerous than failure itself.
Naysayers
Dismissal from others becomes evidence that the path may be original.
Push
Momentum comes from belief, work, and willingness to look foolish early.
He warns against paralysis, using the naysayer motif to push graduates toward action even when the odds or experts say no.
• Key takeaways •
Self-trust precedes approval
Connects to ambition.
Original paths bend rules
Connects to risk.
Failure is survivable
Connects to resilience.
Work turns belief into proof
Connects to work ethic.
Success owes something back
Connects to service.
Closing charge
The final rules pair relentless effort with public service, ending in USC's fighting-spirit language and confidence that hard times can be met.
Work hard, then give something back
Work
The address makes discipline and stamina non-negotiable.
Service
Success is incomplete unless it returns value to others.
Spirit
Graduates are sent out with optimism rooted in USC identity and resilience.
The final rules pair relentless effort with public service, ending in USC's fighting-spirit language and confidence that hard times can be met.
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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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