Learn English Tim Cook This is how you get everything to fall into place with BIG subtitles

hello bluedevils it is great to be back

at dude and it’s an honor to stand

before you both as your commencement

speaker and a graduate iearned my degree

from the Fuqua School in 1988 in

preparing for this speech I reached out

to one of my favorite professors from

back then

Bob Ryan himer taught this great course

in management communications

which included sharpening your public

speaking skills we hadn’t spoken for

decades so I was thrilled when he told

me he remembered a particularly gifted

public speaker who took his class in the

1980s with a bright mind and a charming

personality he said he knew way back

then this person was destined for

greatness you could imagine how this

made me feel professor Ryan hi

had an eye for talent and if I do say so

myself

I think his instincts were right Melinda

Gates has really made her mark in the

world

[Applause]

I’m grateful to Bob and Dean bolding and

all of my professors their teachings

have stayed with me throughout my career

I want to thank President price and the

Duke faculty and my fellow members of

the Board of Trustees for the honor of

speaking with you today and I’d also

like to add my congratulations to this

year’s honorary degree recipients but

most of all congratulations to the class

of 2018

you know no graduate gets to this moment

alone I want to acknowledge your parents

and grandparents and friends that are

here cheering you on just as they have

every step of the way let’s give them

our thanks today especially I remember

my mother who watched me graduate from

Duke I wouldn’t have been there that day

or made it here today without her

support let’s give our special things to

all of the mothers here today on

Mother’s Day

[Applause]

I have wonderful memories here studying

and not studying with people I still

count as friends to this day cheering at

Cameron for every victory cheering even

louder when that victories over Carolina

look back over your shoulder fondly and

say goodbye to act one of your life and

then quickly look forward Act two begins

today it’s your turn to reach out and

take the baton you enter the world at a

time of great challenge our country is

deeply divided and too many Americans

refuse to hear any opinion that differs

from their own our planet is warming

with devastating consequences and

there’s some that even deny its even

happening our schools and communities

suffer from deep inequality we fail to

guarantee every student the right to a

good education and yet we are not

powerless in the face of these problems

you are not powerless to fix them no

generation has ever had more power than

yours and no generation has a chance to

change things faster than yours can the

pace at which progress is possible has

accelerated dramatically aided by

technology every individual has the

tools potential and reach to build a

better world that makes this the best

time in history to be alive whatever you

choose to do with your life wherever

your passion takes you I urge you to

take the power you have been given and

use it for good aspire to leave this

world better than you found it

I didn’t always see life as clearly as I

do today but I’ve learned the greatest

challenge of life

is knowing when to break with

conventional wisdom don’t just accept

the world you inherit today don’t just

accept the status quo Noda challenge has

ever been solved and no lasting

improvement has ever been achieved

unless people dares to try something

different

dare to think different I was lucky to

learn from someone who believed this

deeply someone who knew that changing

the world starts with following a vision

not a path he was my friend and mentor

Steve Jobs

Steve’s vision was the great ideas comes

from a restless refusal to accept things

as they are and those principles still

guide us at Apple today we reject the

notion that global warming is inevitable

that’s why we run Apple on a hundred

percent renewable energy we thank you we

reject the excuse that getting the most

out of technology means trading away

your right to privacy so we choose a

different path collecting as little of

your data as possible being thoughtful

and respectful when it’s in our care

because we know it belongs to you in

every way at every turn the question we

ask ourselves is not what can we do but

what should we do because Steve taught

us that’s how change happens and from

him I learned to never be content with

the way that things are I believe this

mindset comes naturally to young people

and you should never let go of this

restlessness so today’s ceremony isn’t

just about presenting you with a degree

it’s about presenting you with a

question how will you challenge the

status quo

how will you push the world forward 50

years ago today May 13th 1968 Robert

Kennedy was campaigning in Nebraska and

spoke to a group of students who were

wrestling with that same question

those were troubled times too the u.s.

was at war in Vietnam there was violent

unrest in America’s cities and the

country was still reeling from the

assassination of dr. Martin Luther King

a month earlier Kennedy gave the

students a call to action when you look

this country and when you see people’s

lives held back by discrimination and

poverty when you see injustice in

inequality he said you should be the

last people to accept things as they are

let Kennedy’s words echo here today you

should be the last people to accept it

whatever path you’ve chosen be it

medicine or business engineering of the

humanities whatever drives your passion

be the last to accept the notion that

the world you inherent cannot be

improved be the last to accept the

excuse that says that’s just how things

are done here

Duke graduates you should be the last

people to accept it and you should be

the first to change it

the world-class education you’ve

received that you worked so hard for

gives you opportunities that few people

have you are uniquely qualified and

therefore uniquely responsible to build

a better way forward that won’t be easy

it will require great courage but that

courage will not only help you live your

life to the fullest it will empower you

to transform the lives of others last

month I was in Birmingham to mark the

50th anniversary of dr. King’s

assassination and I had the incredible

privilege of spending time with women

and men who marched and worked alongside

him many of them were younger at the

time than you are now they told me when

they defied their parents and joined the

sit-ins and the boycotts when they face

the police dogs and the fire hoses they

were risking everything they had

becoming foot soldiers for justice

without a second thought because they

knew that change had to come because

they believed so deeply in the cause of

justice because they knew even all the

adversity that they had faced they had

the chance to build something better for

the next generation we can all learn

from their example if you hope to change

the world you must find your

fearlessness now if you’re anything like

I was on graduation day maybe you’re not

feeling so fearless maybe you’re

thinking about the job you hoped you had

or wondering where you’re going to live

or how to repay that student loan these

I know are real concerns I had them too

but don’t let those worries stop you

from making a difference fearlessness

means taking the first step even if you

don’t know

where it will take you it means being

driven by a higher purpose rather than

by applause it means knowing that you

reveal your character when you stand

apart more than when you stand with the

crowd

if you step up without fear of failure

if you talk and listen to each other

without fear of rejection if you act

with decency and kindness even when no

one is looking even if it seems small or

inconsequential trust me

the rest will fall into place more

importantly you’ll be able to tackle the

big things when they come your way it’s

in those truly trying moments that the

fearless inspire us fearless like the

students of parkland Florida who refused

to be silent about the epidemic of gun

violence and have rallied millions to

their cause

[Applause]

fearless like the women who say me too

and times up women who cast light into

dark places and move us to a more just

and equal future fearless like those who

fight for the rights of immigrants who

understand that our only hopeful future

is one that embraces all who want to

contribute Duke graduates be fearless be

the last people to accept things as they

are and the first people to stand up and

change them for the better in 1964

Martin Luther King jr. gave a speech at

Paige auditorium to an overflow crowd

students who couldn’t get a seat

listened from outside on the lawn dr.

King warned them that someday we would

all have to atone not only for the words

and actions of the bad people but for

the appalling silence and indifference

of the good people who sit around and

say wait on time

Martin Luther King stood right here at

Duke and said the time is always right

to do right for you graduates that time

is now it will always be now it’s time

to add your brick to the path of

progress it’s time for all of us to move

forward and it’s time for you to lead

the way thank you and congratulations

class of 2018

[Applause]