0:07
i found that nothing in life
0:12
unless you take risks
0:16
nelson mandela said there is no passion
0:21
in settling for a life that's less
0:24
than the one you're capable of living
0:27
now i'm sure in your experiences in
0:28
school and applying to college and
0:30
picking your major and deciding what you
0:32
want to do with life i'm sure people
0:34
have told you to make sure you have
0:36
something to fall back on make sure you
0:38
got something to fall back on honey
0:41
but i never understood that concept
0:43
having something to fall back on
0:49
i don't want to fall back on anything
0:51
i want to fall forward
0:54
i figure at least this way i'll see what
1:04
so do what you feel passionate about
1:10
don't be afraid to fail there's an old
1:12
iq test was nine dots
1:15
and you had to draw five lines with a
1:18
pencil within these nine dots
1:20
without lifting the pencil
1:22
the only way to do it was to go outside
1:30
think outside the box don't be afraid to
1:48
reggie jackson struck out 2600 times in
1:52
in the history of baseball but you don't
1:54
hear about the strikeouts people
1:56
remember the home runs
2:02
thomas edison conducted 1 000 failed
2:05
experiments did you know that i didn't
2:08
because the one thousand and first was
2:16
every failed experiment is one step
2:22
got to take risks and i'm sure you've
2:24
probably heard that before but i want to
2:26
talk to you about why that's so
2:32
you will fail at some point in your life
2:37
you will embarrass yourself
2:39
you will suck at something there's no
2:43
and i know that's probably not a
2:45
traditional message for a graduation
2:48
i'm telling you embrace it because it's
2:56
in the acting business you fail all the
2:58
time early on in my career
3:00
i auditioned for a part in a broadway
3:04
perfect role for me i thought
3:06
except for the fact that i can't sing
3:24
i walked out of there to prepare for the
3:26
next audition and the next audition and
3:38
but i continued to fail
3:41
and fail but it didn't matter because
3:44
there's an old saying you hang around
3:46
the barber shop long enough sooner or
3:48
later you're gonna get a haircut
3:52
so you will catch a break and i did
3:59
i did a play called fences on broadway
4:02
but here's the kicker
4:04
it was at the court theater
4:07
it was at the same theater
4:09
that i failed that first audition
4:15
the point is every graduate here today
4:17
has the training and the talent to
4:21
but do you have the guts
4:29
you're not even trying
4:33
i'll say it again if you don't fail
4:35
you're not even trying
4:38
to get something you never had you have
4:41
to do something you never did
4:45
imagine you're on your deathbed
4:47
and standing around your deathbed
4:50
are the ghosts representing your
4:52
unfulfilled potential
4:54
the ghost of the ideas you never acted
4:58
the ghost of the talents you didn't use
5:01
and they're standing around your bed
5:12
they say we we came to you because you
5:15
could have brought us to life they say
5:20
and now we have to go to the grave
5:27
how many ghosts are going to be around
5:29
your bed when your time comes
5:42
i just got back from south africa it's a
5:46
but there are places there with terrible
5:48
private poverty that need help
5:51
and africa is just the tip of the
5:53
iceberg the middle east needs your help
5:55
japan needs your help alabama needs your
5:58
help tennessee needs your help louisiana
6:00
needs your help philadelphia needs your
6:06
the world needs a lot and we need it
6:10
we really do we need it from you young
6:12
people i mean i'm not speaking for the
6:14
rest of us up here but i know i'm
6:15
getting a little grayer
6:18
we need it from you the young people
6:20
because remember this
6:22
you got to get out there
6:24
you got to give it everything you got
6:25
whether it's your time
6:28
your your your talent
6:35
what are you going to do with what you
6:37
have i'm not talking about how much you
6:40
some of you are business majors some of
6:42
you are theologians nurses sociologists
6:44
some of you have money some of you have
6:46
patience some of you have kindness some
6:49
of you have loved some of you have the
6:51
gift of long-suffering whatever it is
6:53
whatever your gift is
6:55
what are you going to do
7:00
all right now here's my last point about
7:08
to figure out where you're going
7:12
your life will never be a straight path
7:15
i began at fordham university as a
7:18
i took a course called the
7:21
cardiac morphogenesis i couldn't read it
7:23
i couldn't say it i surely couldn't pass
7:26
so then i decided to go into pre-law
7:28
then journalism and with no academic
7:31
focus my grades took off in their own
7:38
and the university very politely
7:40
suggested that it might be better to
7:46
i was 20 years old i was at my lowest
7:49
and then one day and i remember the
7:51
exact day march 27 1975 i was helping my
7:56
mother in her beauty shop my mother
7:57
owned a beauty shop up in mount vernon
7:59
and there's there was this older woman
8:01
who was considered one of the elders in
8:03
the town and i didn't know her
8:05
personally but i was looking in the
8:07
mirror and every time i looked in the
8:08
mirror i could see her behind me and she
8:12
she just kept looking at me every time i
8:14
looked at her she kept giving me these
8:16
so she finally took the dryer off her
8:19
she said something i'll never forget
8:24
i have a prophecy a spiritual prophecy
8:29
she said you are going to travel the
8:32
and speak to millions of people
8:37
and in the years that follow just as
8:38
that woman prophesies i have traveled
8:41
the world and i have spoken to millions
8:43
of people through my movies
8:45
millions who up until this day
8:49
who up till this day i couldn't see
8:52
while i was talking to them and they
8:53
couldn't see me they could only see the
8:56
they couldn't see the real me
9:00
but i see youth today
9:03
and i'm encouraged by what i see
9:14
because taking risk is not just about
9:18
it's also about knowing what you know
9:20
and what you don't know
9:22
it's about being open to people
9:33
the faith that you have
9:35
that's what's going to define you
9:45
give everything you got
9:47
and when you fall throughout life
