Thanks to the movie The Social Network, we know that millennial billionaire and tech wunderkind Mark Zuckerberg amassed his fortune after birthing Facebook in his dorm room and consequently dropping out of the prestigious Harvard University. Yet Harvard was seemingly willing to overlook this minor transgression and awarded Zuckerberg an honorary degree, recognizing who is probably the most popular former student to have walked through their hallowed halls.
Graduation day was a big one for the Facebook honcho, as not only did he make his parents’ dream come true and receive a degree, he also shared some nuggets of wisdom to the graduating class of 2017, his fellow millennials. Here are some quotable quotes from Zuck’s graduation speech when you need a little inspiration, from one millennial to another.
On love:
“My best memory from Harvard is meeting Priscilla. I had just launched this prank website Facemash, and the ad board wanted to ‘see me.’ Everyone thought I was going to get kicked out. My parents drove up here to help me pack my stuff. My friends threw me a going-away party. Who does that? As luck would have it, Priscilla was at that party with her friends. And we met in line for the bathroom in the Pfoho Belltower, and in what must seem like one of the all-time most romantic lines, I turned to her and said: ‘I’m getting kicked out in three days, so we need to go on a date quickly.
‘”
On ideas and following your dreams:
“Ideas don’t come out fully formed. They only become clear as you work on them. You just have to get started. If I had to know everything about connecting people before I got started, I never would have built Facebook.”
“It’s really good to be idealistic. But be prepared to be misunderstood. Anyone working on a big vision is going to get called crazy, even if you end up right.”
And on failure, because nobody, not even Mark, is perfect:
“Let’s face it, you accomplished something I never could. If I get through this speech today, it’ll be the first time I actually finish something here at Harvard.”
Thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments!
