Learn English Oprah Winfrey Its a story of who you want to be with BIG Subtitles

oh my goodness

[Music]

Wow the president Foust my fellow honor

ons Karl that was so beautiful thank you

so much

and James Rothenberg Stephanie Wilson

Harvard faculty with a special bow to my

friend dr. Henry Louis Gates all of you

alumni with a special bow to the class

of 88 115 million dollars and to you

members of the Harvard class of 2013

hello I thank you for allowing me to be

a part of the conclusion of this chapter

of your lives and the commencement of

your next chapter to say that I’m

honored doesn’t even begin to quantify

the depth of gratitude that really

accompanies an honorary Doctorate from

Harvard not too many little girls from

rural Mississippi have made it all the

way here to Cambridge and I can tell you

that I consider today as I sat on the

stage this morning getting teary for you

all and then teary for myself I consider

today a defining milestone in a very

long and and a blessed journey my one

hope today is is to is that I can be a

source of some inspiration I’m going to

address my remarks to anybody who’s ever

felt inferior or felt disadvantaged felt

screwed by life this is a speech for the

quad

[Laughter]

actually I will I was so honored I

wanted to do something really special

for you I wanted to be able to have you

look under your seats and there would be

free free a master and doctoral degrees

but I see I see you got that covered

already I will be honest with you I felt

a lot of pressure over the past few

weeks to come up with something that I

could share with you that you hadn’t

heard before because after all y’all

went to Harvard I did not but then I

realize that you don’t have to

necessarily go to Harvard to have a

driven obsessive type-a personality but

it helps and while I may not have

graduated from here I admit that my

personality is about as Harvard as they

come you know my my television career

began unexpectedly as you heard this

morning I was in the Miss

fire-prevention contest that was when I

was 16 years old in Nashville Tennessee

and you had the requirement of having to

have red hair in order to win up until

the year that I entered so they were

during the question and answer period

because I knew I wasn’t going to win and

the swimsuit competition

so during the question and answer period

the question came why young lady what

would you like to be when you grow up

and by the time they got to me all the

good answers were gone so I had seen

Barbara Walters on The Today Show that

morning so I answered I would like to be

a journalist I would like to tell other

people’s stories in a way that makes a

difference in their lives and the world

and as those words were coming out of my

mouth I went

pretty good I would like to be a

journalist I want to make a difference

well I was on television by the time I

was 19 years old and in 1986 I launched

my own television show with a relentless

determination to succeed at first I was

nervous about the competition and then I

became my own competition raising the

bar every year pushing pushing pushing

myself as hard as I knew sound familiar

to anybody here eventually we did make

it to the top and we stayed there for 25

years The Oprah Winfrey Show was number

one in our time sought for 21 years and

I have to tell you I became pretty

comfortable with that level of success

but a few years ago I decided as you

will at some point that it was time to

recalculate find new territory break new

ground so I ended the show and launched

own the Oprah Winfrey Network the

initials just worked out for me so one

year later after launching on nearly

every media outlet had proclaimed that

my new venture was a flop not just a

flop but a big bold flop they call it I

can still remember the day I opened up

USA Today and read the headline Oprah

not quite standing on her own I mean

really USA Today now that’s the nice

newspaper

it really was this time last year the

worst period in my professional life I

was stressed and I was frustrated and

quite frankly I was I was actually I was

embarrassed it was right around that

time the president first called and

asked me to speak here and I thought you

want me to speak to Harvard graduates

what I what could I possibly say to

Harvard graduates some of the most

successful graduates in the world in the

very moment when I had stopped

succeeding so I got off the phone with

president vows and I went to the shower

it was either that or a bag of Oreos so

I chose the shower and I was in the

shower a long time and as I was in the

shower the words of an old hymn came to

me you may not know it it’s bye-bye when

the morning comes and I started thinking

about when the morning might come

because at the time I thought I was

stuck in a hole and the words came to me

trouble trouble don’t last always from

met him this too shall pass and I

thought as I got out of the shower I am

gonna turn this thing around and I will

be better for it

and when I do I’m gonna go to Harvard

and I’m gonna speak the truth of it so

I’m here today to tell you I have turned

that Network around

and it was all because I wanted to do it

by the time I got to speak to you all so

thank you so much you don’t know what

motivation you were for me thank you I’m

even prouder to share a fundamental

truth that you might not have learned

even as graduates of Harvard unless you

studied the ancient Greek hero with

Professor Nagy professor Naja as we were

coming in this morning said please Miss

Winfrey walk decisively I shall walk

decisively this is what I want to share

it doesn’t matter how far you might rise

at some point you are bound to stumble

because if you’re constantly doing what

we do raising the bar if you are

constantly pushing yourself higher

higher the law of averages not to

mention the myth of Icarus predicts that

you will at some point fall and when you

do I want you to know this remember this

there is no such thing as failure

failure is just life trying to move us

in another direction now when you’re

down there in a hole it looks like

failure so this past year I had to

spoon-feed those words to myself and

when you’re down in the hole when that

moment comes it’s really okay to feel

bad for a little while give yourself

time to mourn what you think you may

have lost but then here’s the key learn

from every mistake because every

experience encounter and particularly

your mistakes are there to cheat you and

force you into being more of who you are

and then figure out what is the next

right move and the key to life is to

develop an internal moral emotional GPS

that can tell you which way to go

because now and forevermore when you

google yourself

your search results will read javed 2013

and in a very competitive world that

really is a calling card because I can

tell you as one who employs a lot of

people when I see Harvard I sit up a

little straighter and say where is he or

she bring them in it’s an impressive

calling card that can lead to even more

impressive bullets in the years ahead

lawyer senator CEO scientists physicists

winners of Nobel and Pulitzer Prizes or

late-night talk show hosts but the

challenge of life I have found is to

build a resume that doesn’t simply tell

a story about what you want to be but

it’s a story about who you want to be

it’s a resume that doesn’t just tell a

story about what you want to accomplish

but why a story that’s not just a

collection of titles and and positions

but a story that’s really about your

purpose because when you inevitably

stumble and find yourself stuck in a

hole that is the story that will get you

out what is your true calling

what is your Dharma what is your purpose

for me that discovery came in 1994 when

I interviewed a little girl who who had

decided to collect pocket change in

order to help other people in need she

raised a thousand dollars all by herself

and I thought what that little

nine-year-old girl with a bucket and a

big heart to do that I wonder what I

could do so I asked for our viewers to

take up their own change collection and

in one month just from pennies and

nickels and dimes we raised more than

three million dollars that we used to

send one student from every state in the

United States to college that was the

beginning of the

Angel Network and so what I did was I

simply asked our viewers do what you can

wherever you are from wherever you sit

in life give me your time or your talent

your money if you have it and they did

extend yourself and kindness to other

human beings wherever you can and

together we built 55 schools in 12

different countries and restored nearly

300 homes that were devastated by

hurricanes Rita and Katrina so the angel

Network I’ve been on the air for a long

time but it was the angel network that

actually focused my internal GPS it

helped me to decide that I wasn’t just

going to be on TV every day but that the

goal of my shows my interviews my

business my philanthropy all of it

whatever ventures I might pursue would

be to make clear that what unites us is

ultimately far more redeeming and

compelling than anything that separates

me because what it become clear to me

and I want you to know it isn’t always

clear in the beginning because as I said

I’ve been on television since I was 19

years old but around 94 I got really

clear so don’t expect the clarity to

come all at once to know your purpose

right away but what became clear to me

was that I was here on earth to use

television and not be used by it to use

television to illuminate the

transcendent power of our better angels

so this angel Network it didn’t just

change the lives of those who were

helped but the lives of those who also

did the helping it remind us that no

matter who we are or what we look like

or what we may believe it is both

possible and more importantly it becomes

powerful to come together in common

purpose and common effort

I saw something on the bill Moore Show

recently that so reminded me of this

point it was an interview with David and

Francine wheeler

they lost their seven-year-old son Ben

in the Sandy Hook tragedy and even

though gun safety legislation to

strengthen background checks had just

been voted down in Congress at the time

that they were doing this interview they

talked about how they refused to be

discouraged Francine said this she said

our hearts are broken but our spirits

are not I’m gonna tell them what it’s

like to find a conversation about change

that is love and I’m going to do that

without fighting them and then her

husband David added this you simply

cannot demonize or vilify someone who

doesn’t agree with you because the

minute you do that your discussion is

over and we cannot do that any longer

the problem is too enormous there has to

be some way that this darkness can be

banished with light in our political

system and in the media we often see the

reflection of a country that is

polarized that is paralyzed and is

self-interests did and yet I know you

know the truth we all know that we are

better than the citizen and the

pessimism that is regurgitated

throughout Washington and the 24-hour

cable news cycle not my channel by the

way

we understand that the vast majority of

people in this country believe in

stronger background checks because they

realize that we can uphold the Second

Amendment and also reduce the violence

that is robbing us of our children they

don’t have to be incompatible

and we understand that most Americans

believe in a clear path to citizenship

for the 12 million undocumented

immigrants who reside in this country

because it’s possible to both enforce

our laws and at the same time embrace

the words on the Statue of Liberty that

have welcomed generations of huddled

masses to our shores we can do both

and we understand I know you do because

you went to Harvard that people from

both parties and no party believe that

indigent mothers and family should have

access to healthy food and a roof over

their heads and a strong public

education because here in the richest

nation on earth we can afford a basic

level of security and opportunity so the

question is what are we going to do

about it

really what are you gonna do about it

maybe you agree with these beliefs maybe

you don’t maybe you care about these

issues or maybe there are other

challenges that you class of 2013 are

passionate about maybe you want to make

a difference by serving in government

maybe you want to launch your own

television show or maybe you simply want

to collect some change your parents

would appreciate that about now the

point is your generation is charged with

this task of breaking through what the

body politic has thus far made

impervious to change each of you has

been blessed with this enormous

opportunity of attending this

prestigious school you now have a chance

to better your life the lives of your

neighbors and also the life of our

country when you do that let me tell you

what I know for sure that’s when your

story gets really good Maya Angelou

always says when you learn teach when

you get give that my friends is what

gives your story purpose and meaning so

you all have the power in your own way

to develop your own angel Network and in

doing so your class will be armed with

more tools of influence and empowerment

than any other generation in history I

did it in an analog world I was blessed

with a platform that at its height

reached nearly 20 million viewers a day

now here in a world of Twitter and

Facebook and YouTube and tumblr you can

reach billions in just seconds you’re

the generation

that rejected predictions about your

detachment in your disengagement by

showing up to vote in record numbers in

2008 and when the pump that’s when the

pundits said they said they talked about

you they said you’d be too disappointed

you’d be too dejected to repeat that

same kind of turnout into 2012 election

and you proved them wrong by showing up

an even greater numbers that’s who you

are

this generation your generation I know

has developed a finely honed radar for

BS can you say BS at Harvard the spin

and phony nests and artificial nastiness

that saturates so much of our national

debate I know you all understand better

than most that real progress requires

authentic an authentic way of being

honesty and above all empathy I have to

say that the single most important

lesson I learned in 25 years talking

every single day to people was that

there is a common denominator in our

human experience most of us I tell you

we don’t want to be divided what we want

the common denominator that I found in

every single interview is we want to be

validated we want to be understood I’ve

done over 35,000 interviews in my career

and as soon as that camera shuts off

everyone always turns to be and

inevitably in their own way asked this

question what’s that okay I heard it

from President Bush I heard it from

President Obama I’ve heard it from

heroes and from housewives I’ve heard it

from victims and perpetrators of crimes

I even heard it from Beyonce and all of

her Beyonce nests

she finishes performer hands me the

microphone and says what’s that okay

friends and family yours enemies

strangers in every argument in every

encounter every exchange I will tell you

they all want to know one thing was that

okay

did you hear me do you see me did what I

say mean anything to you and even though

this is the college where Facebook was

born my hope is that you would try to go

out and have more face-to-face

conversations with people you may

disagree with

that you’ll have the courage to look

them in the eye and hear their point of

view and help make sure that the speed

and distance and anonymity of our world

doesn’t cause us to lose our ability to

stand in somebody else’s shoes and

recognize all that we share as a people

this is imperative for you as an

individual and for our success as a

nation there has to be some way that

this darkness can be banished with light

says the man whose little boy was

massacred on just an ordinary Friday in

December so whether you call it soul or

spirit or higher self intelligence there

is I know this there’s a light inside

each of you all of us that illuminates

your very human being miss if you let it

and as a young girl from rural

Mississippi I learned long ago that

being myself was much easier than

pretending to be Barbara Walters

although when I first started because I

had Barbara in my head I would try to

sit like Barbara talk like Bob removed

like Barbara and then one night I was on

the news reading the news and I called

Canada Canada and that was the end of me

being Barbara I cracked myself up on TV

couldn’t stop laughing and my real

personality came through and I figured

out oh gee I can be a much better Oprah

than I could be a pretend Barbara I know

that

I know that you all might have a little

anxiety now and hesitation about leaving

the comfort of college and putting those

Harvard credentials to the test but no

matter what challenges or setbacks or

disappointments you may encounter along

the way

you will find true success and happiness

if you have only one goal there really

is only one and that is this to fulfill

the highest most truthful expression of

yourself as a human being you want to

max out your humanity by using your

energy to lift yourself up your family

and the people around you

theologian Howard Thurman said it best

he said don’t ask yourself what the

world needs ask yourself what makes you

come alive and then go do that because

what the world needs is people who have

come alive the world needs people like

Michael stalls and Berg from Fort

Lauderdale when Michael was just 8 years

old

Michael nearly died from a bacterial

infection that cost him both of his

hands and both of his feet and in an

instant this vibrant little boy became a

quadruple amputee and his life was

changed forever

but in losing who he once was Michael

discovered who he wanted to be he

refused to sit in that wheelchair all

day and feel sorry for himself so with

prosthetics he learned to walk and run

and play again he joined his middle

school lacrosse team and last month when

he learned that so many victims of the

Boston Marathon bombing would become new

amputees Michael decided to banish that

darkness with light

Michael and his brother Harris created

Mikey’s run comm to raise 1 million

dollars for other amputees by the time

Harris runs the 2014 Boston Marathon

more than a thousand miles away from

here these two young

Brothers are bringing people together to

support this Boston community the way

their community came together to support

Michael and when this thirteen year old

man was asked about his fellow amputees

he said this first they will be sad

they’re losing something they will never

get back and that’s scary

I was scared but they’ll be okay they

just don’t know that yet we might not

always know it we might not always see

it or hear it on the news or even feel

it in our daily lives but I have faith

that no matter what class of twenty

thousand thirteen you will be okay and

you will make sure our country is okay

I have faith because of that nine year

old girl who went out and collected the

change

I have faith because of David and

Francine wheeler I have faith because of

Michael and Harris Stoltenberg and I

have faith because of you the network of

angels sitting here today one of them

Khadija Williams who came to Harvard

four years ago Khadija had attended 12

schools in 12 years living out of

garbage bags amongst pimps and

prostitutes and drug dealers homeless

going into department stores Walmart in

the morning to bathe herself so that she

wouldn’t smell in front of her

classmates and today she graduates as a

member of the Harvard class of 2013

from time to time you may stumble fall

you will for sure count on this no doubt

you will have questions and you will

have doubts about your path but I know

this if you’re willing to listen to be

guided by that still small voice that is

the GPS within yourself to find out what

makes you come alive you will be more

than okay you will be happy you will be

successful

and you will make a difference in the

world

congratulations class of 2013

congratulations to your family and

friends good luck and thank you for

listening is that okay

you