closing speech example

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

9 Closing a Speech: End with Power and Let Them Know It is Time to Clap

Open Your Speech With a Bang Close It With a Slam-Dunk Westside Toastmasters

“Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending,” according to poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The first few words of your speech make the audience want to listen and the last few sentences help them decide what they feel about you and your topic. In this chapter, I will explain the function of a conclusion, the format of a conclusion, and I will give you numerous examples of ways to end your speech. Most of this chapter is dedicated to showing you good examples of different types of speech closings. Let’s get started by talking about the purpose of the closing.

A Strong Closing Does Many Things

• Summarizes the points. By restating your points your audience is more likely to remember them.
• Tells the audience when to clap. Let’s face it, it is so awkward when you are done with your speech, and no one claps. Being clear the end is near, relieves the audience of the pressure of wondering if they are clapping at the right time.
• Provides resolution. Your speech should give the audience a sense of resolve or a sense of being challenged.

The Formula for Closing Most Speeches

• Transition statement to ending.
• Review the main points–repeat the thesis.
• If it is a persuasive speech, tell the audience what you want them to do or think.
• Provide a closing statement.

Restate the Thesis

Tell them what you are going to say, say it, tell them what you have said. This speech pattern is useful in most types of speeches because it helps the speaker to remember your key points. As you build your closing, make sure you restate the thesis. A good rule of thumb is to write it in such a way that if the audience were asked to restate the main points, their answer would match closely with your thesis.

EXAMPLE Watch as Stella Young gives her thesis and then restates her thesis at the end of the speech as she wraps up. The thesis of the talk in the introduction: We’ve been sold the lie that disability is a Bad Thing, capital B, capital T. It’s a bad thing, and to live with a disability makes you exceptional. It’s not a bad thing, and it doesn’t make you exceptional. Restates the thesis of the talk at the closing: Disability doesn’t make you exceptional but questioning what you think you know about it does.

Stella Young, I’m not your inspiration, thank you very much. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtPGrLoU5Uk

This next example is from a student’s speech. It is easy to pull out one sentence that clearly summarizes the main points of her speech. Following her summary, she winds the speech down into a thoughtful conclusion and ends with three powerful words.

Now is the time to separate the war on drugs from the war on addiction. T oday you’ve heard the problems, impacts, and solutions of criminalizing addictions. Bruce Callis is 50 years old now. And he is still struggling with his addiction. while you all are sitting out there listening to this, I’m living with it. Bruce Callis is my father and for my entire life, I have watched our misguided system destroy him. The irony here is that we live in a society where we are told to recycle. We recycle paper, aluminum, and electronics. But why don’t we ever consider recycling them most precision think on Earth– the human life. Student Tunnette Powell, Winner of the 2012 Interstate Oratorical Association Contest.

Closing Phrases

After you restate your thesis, you should carefully deliver your closing phrases.  Your closing should provide a resolution to your speech and/or it should challenge the audience. Frantically Speaking writer Hrideep Barot suggests  “a conclusion is like tying a bow or ribbon to a box of your key ideas that your audience will be taking along with them.”

A speech closing is not just about the words you say, but it is also the way you say it. Change the pace near the end of your speech. Let your tone alone should signal the end is near. It is about deliberate voice control, don’t let your voice weakly away.

In the next section, I will cover these ways to end your speech:

End with powerful words End with a quote End with a graphic End with parallel construction End on a positive note End with a challenge End with a question End with inspiration End with well-wishing End with humor End with a call to action End with a feeling of resolve End with a prop

The best way to teach you about advanced closings is to show not tell. For this section, I will briefly explain each type of closing and then provide a video. Each video is queued so you can play the video and watch the closing statement.  I included a transcript under each video if you want to follow along.  It will be most beneficial for you to watch the clip and not just read the text. By watching, you will have a chance to hear the subtle changes in the speaker’s voice as they deliver their closing statements.

End with Powerful Words

As you design your closing, look at the last three to five words and examine them to see if they are strong words. Oftentimes, you can rearrange a sentence to end with a powerful word. (I have the video cued to play just the closing)

Watch this clip for how BJ Miller ends with a powerful thought and a powerful word. 

Parts of me died early on, and that’s something we can all say one way or another. I got to redesign my life around this fact, and I tell you it has been a liberation to realize you can always find a shock of beauty or meaning in what life you have left, like that snowball lasting for a perfect moment, all the while melting away. If we love such moments ferociously, then maybe we can learn to live well — not in spite of death, but because of it. Let death be what takes us, not lack of imagination. BJ Miller, What Really Matters at the End of Life

End by Circling Back to the Opening

Another type of ending is to circle back to what you said in the beginning. You can revisit a quote, share the end to an illustration that was begun in the beginning, or you can put away a prop you got out in the beginning.

Watch this clip for how Zubing Zhang begins and ends with the same quote to circle back around to the main idea. 

She starts by telling a story of bungee jumping off the world’s highest platform and how she saw a sign with a quote that says, “Life begins at the edge of your comfort zone.” After telling her own story about pushing her emotional limits, she circles back around at the end by saying, “As the words said high on the bungee platform, “Life begins at the edge of your comfort zone.”

Yubing Zhang, Life Begins at the End of Your Comfort Zone. 

End With Quote

If you end your speech with a quote, attend to the following.

• Always say the author of the quote before the quote for example, “I want to leave you with a leadership quote ‘What you do has far greater impact than what you say,’ Steven Covey.” The problem with this ending is that “Stephen Covey” are the last two words of the speech and that is boring. Consider instead this ending. “I think Robin Sharma said it best ‘Leadership is not about a title or a designation. It’s about impact, influence, and inspiration.'” In this arrangement, the last three words are powerful–influence and inspiration.
• Provided context for the quote before or after. Make sure the quote is meaningful and not just an easy way to end.

Watch this clip for how Sir Ken Robinson ends with a quote. Notice how he says the author and then the quote.

Also, notice how he then ties his speech to the quote with a final few sentences and ends with the powerful word–“revolution” and how he uses a strong vocal emphasis as he says his last word. (I have the video cued to play just the closing)

There’s a wonderful quote from Benjamin Franklin. “There are three sorts of people in the world: Those who are immovable, people who don’t get it, or don’t want to do anything about it; there are people who are movable, people who see the need for change and are prepared to listen to it; and there are people who move, people who make things happen.” And if we can encourage more people, that will be a movement. And if the movement is strong enough, that’s, in the best sense of the word, a revolution. And that’s what we need.

Sir Ken Robinson, How to Escape Education’s Death Valley. 

End with a Graphic

You might want to use a visual to make your final point. Bringing in a picture, graphic, or object, reengages the audience to pay attention to your final ideas.

Watch this clip for how Barry Schartz uses the magic words “so to conclude” and then he creatively uses a picture of a fishbowl to narrow in on his point. Notice how his final word is spoken with urgency as he says “disaster.” (I have the video cued to play just the closing)

 So, to conclude. (He shows a picture of fish in a fishbowl) He says, “You can be anything you want to be — no limits.” You’re supposed to read this cartoon and, being a sophisticated person, say, “Ah! What does this fish know? Nothing is possible in this fishbowl.” Impoverished imagination, a myopic view of the world –that’s the way I read it at first. The more I thought about it, however, the more I came to the view that this fish knows something. Because the truth of the matter is, if you shatter the fishbowl so that everything is possible, you don’t have freedom. You have paralysis. If you shatter this fishbowl so that everything is possible, you decrease satisfaction. You increase paralysis, and you decrease satisfaction. Everybody needs a fishbowl. This one is almost certainly too limited –perhaps even for the fish, certainly for us. But the absence of some metaphorical fishbowl is a recipe for misery and, I suspect, disaster. Barry Schwartz, The Paradox of Choice

End with Parallel Construction

Parallel construction is a series of repeated phrases. It can be a powerful tool to use in a persuasive speech as it creates a feeling of importance.

Watch this clip for how Malala Yousafzai ends with a series of parallel statements to build momentum. Notice how her pace perfectly matches her words and you feel her strength when she ends with “education first.” (I have the video cued to play just the closing)

Dear brothers and sisters, we must not forget that millions of people are suffering from poverty, injustice, and ignorance. We must not forget that millions of children are out of schools. We must not forget that our sisters and brothers are waiting for a bright peaceful future. So let us wage a global struggle against illiteracy, poverty, and terrorism, and let us pick up our books and pens. They are our most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one pen, and one book can change the world. Education is the only solution. Education First.

Malala Yousafzai,  United Nations Youth Assembly

End on a Positive Note

Audiences are constantly evaluating a speaker to determine their attitude and motivation. As you consider your speech closing, ask yourself what type of impression do you want to leave?  Do you want to leave them with depression or hope? Sadness or promise? Most of the time, audiences will receive messages that end positively better than speeches that end negatively.

In this speech sample, Hans Rosling showed the audience some hard statistics and he even pointed fingers at the audience as part of the problem. To help them hear his main point, he wisely ends on a positive note.

Watch this clip for how Hans Rosling ends this thought-provoking talk on a positive note. (I have the video cued to play just the closing)

Now, when thinking about where all this leaves us, I have just one little humble advice for you, besides everything else, look at the data. Look at the facts about the world and you will see where we are today and how we can move forwards with all these billions on our wonderful planet. The challenge of extreme poverty has been greatly reduced and it’s for the first time in history within our power to end it for good. The challenge of population growth is, in fact, already being solved, the number of children has stopped growing.  And for the challenge for climate change, we can still avoid the worst, but that requires the richest, as soon as possible, find a way to use their set their use of resources and energy at a level that, step by step, can be shared by 10 billion or 11 billion by the end of this century. I’ve never called myself an optimist, but I do say I’m a possibilist and I also say the world is much better than many of you think.

Hans Rosling, Facts about the Population.

End with a Challenge

Leave the audience with a doable personal challenge. Help them mentally make sense of all the information that you shared by helping them know how to file it away and how to use it.

Watch this clip for how Melissa Butler ends with a challenge. (I have the video cued to play just the closing)

So, I challenge each of you, when you go home today, look at yourself in the mirror, see all of you, look at all of your greatness that you embody, accept it, and love it. And finally, when you leave the house tomorrow, try to extend that same love and acceptance to someone who doesn’t look like you . Melissa Butler, Why You Think You’re Ugly. 

Watch this clip as Darren LaCroix literally falls face down to anchor the point that when we fall, we “fall forward.” (I have the video cued to play just the closing)

Darren LaCroix talks about taking risks and falling down and getting back up, he literally and purposefully falls down during his speech and ends this way: What’s your next step… take it. I didn’t want to look back at my life and say you know I never did try that comedy thing, but I died debt-free. All of us are headed toward that goal we are going to teach a point where we get stuck and our feet are like in cement and we can’t move but we’re so afraid of that ouch but we forget that if we lean forward and take a risk–(He falls face down) and we fall on our face. When we get up, notice, you still made progress. So please, with me, go ahead and fall. But fall forward. Darren LaCroiz, Winning Speech delivered at National Speech Association

End with a Question

Asking a question at the end is one way to reengage the audience. It helps them think about what your topic might mean for them.

Watch this clip for how David Eagleman reminds us about why his topic is important and then ends with a question. Notice how he pauses before his final question and how he changes the pace of his speech for the final sentence. (I have the video cued to play just the closing)

So I think there’s really no end to the possibilities on the horizon for human expansion. Just imagine an astronaut being able to feel the overall health of the International Space Station, or, for that matter, having you feel the invisible states of your own health, like your blood sugar and the state of your microbiome, or having 360-degree vision or seeing in infrared or ultraviolet. So the key is this: As we move into the future, we’re going to increasingly be able to choose our own peripheral devices. We no longer have to wait for Mother Nature’s sensory gifts on her timescales, but instead, like any good parent, she’s given us the tools that we need to go out and define our own trajectory. So the question now is, how do you want to go out and experience your universe?

David Eagleman, Can We Create New Senses for Humans? 

Watch this clip for how Lera Boroditsky ends with a personal note and a  powerful final question. (I have the video cued to play just the closing)

I want to leave you with this final thought. I’ve told you about how speakers of different languages think differently, but of course, that’s not about how people elsewhere think. It’s about how you think. It’s how the language that you speak shapes the way that you think. And that gives you the opportunity to ask, “Why do I think the way that I do?” “How could I think differently?” And also,  “What thoughts do I wish to create?” Lera Boroditsky, How Language Shapes the Way We Think

End with Inspiration

“Inspiring your audience is all about helping them see their own vision, not yours.”

You may want to end your speech with inspiring and encouraging words. Pick words that resonate with most of your audience and deliver them in such a way that your audience feels your lift in emotion.

Watch this clip for how Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ends with an inspiring final note and a powerful last few words “regain a kind of paradise” (I have the video cued to play just the closing)

Stories matter. Many stories matter. Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign, but stories can also be used to empower and humanize. Stories can break the dignity of a people, but stories can also repair that broken dignity.

I would like to end with this thought:   That when we reject the single-story,   when we realize that there is never a single story   about any place,   we regain a kind of paradise.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie,  The Danger of a Single Story  

Watch this clip for how Dan Pink ends with an inspiring final note. (I have the video cued to play just the closing) Let me wrap up. There is a mismatch between what science knows and what business does. Here is what science knows. One: Those 20th century rewards, those motivators we think are a natural part of business, do work, but only in a surprisingly narrow band of circumstances. Two: Those if-then rewards often destroy creativity. Three: The secret to high performance isn’t rewards and punishments, but that unseen intrinsic drive– the drive to do things for their own sake. The drive to do things cause they matter.

And here’s the best part. We already know this. The science confirms what we know in our hearts. So, if we repair this mismatch between what science  knows and what business does, if we bring our motivation, notions of motivation into the 21st century, if we get past this lazy, dangerous, ideology of carrots and sticks, we can strengthen our businesses, we can solve a lot of those candle problems, and maybe, maybe — we can change the world. I rest my case. Dan Pink, The Puzzle of Motivation

End with Well Wishing

There are several types of closings where the speaker wished the audience well.

The Benediction Close: M ay God bless and keep you…. The Presidential Close: God bless you and may God bless the USA The Congratulatory Close: I congratulate you on your accomplishment and wish you continued success. 

End with Humor

You can end on a fun lighthearted note. It is important to always run your humor by a variety of people to make sure you are funny, and your humor is appropriate.

Watch this clip for how Andrew Dunham uses humor throughout his speech and ends with a funny one-liner. (I have the video cued to play just the closing)

I wish you all the best as we begin this journey on our paths and I sincerely hope and pray that your time and success have proven to be as memorable and spiritually rewarding as mine. If not, there’s always summer school.

Andrew Dunham, Valedictorian Comes Out As Autistic During Speech

End with a Call to Action

If you are delivering a persuasive speech, let the audience know exactly what you want them to do.

End with a Feeling of Resolve

Paul Harvey made famous the line “And now you know…the rest of the story.” Your closing should allow us to know the rest of the story or to know how a situation was resolved.

Watch this clip for how Lucy Hone ends this tough but inspiring talk with a feeling of resolve (I have the video cued to play just the closing)

https://youtu.be/9-5SMpg7Q0k?t=913 If you ever find yourself in a situation where you think there’s no way I’m coming back from this, I urge you to lean into these strategies and think again. I won’t pretend that thinking this way is easy and it doesn’t remove all the pain. But if I’ve learned anything over the last five years, it is that thinking this way really does help. More than anything it has shown me that  it is possible  to live and grieve at the same time. And for that I will be always grateful. Lucy Hone, The Three Secrets of Resilient People

End with a Prop

Nancy Duarte says you should give your audience, SOMETHING THEY  will ALWAYS REMEMBER–S.T.A.R. One way to do that is with an action or statement that will have the audience talking about it for a long time. President Obama did it with a mic drop.

Memorize Your Conclusion

End on time.

Do not diminish the effect of a great speech with a bloated, aimless conclusion. Dan Rothwell.

“Times about up.”

Don’t end with any references to time. It is like a giant stop sign saying, “stop listening.”  Don’t highlight that you ran over time or that it is almost time for lunch. You want them to think about your speech, not the clock.

“Any Questions?”

You want them to feel a sense of closure for your speech.  End with something powerful and let them applaud.  After the applause, you can offer to answer questions. Similarly, projecting your last slide with the words, “Any Questions” is a weak ending.

“Let Me Add This Point I Missed”

If you forget something in the body of your speech, it is usually best to leave it out.  Most of the time you are the only one who will miss it.

“Thank You to the Team”

There is a time to thank the organizers and those who helped you but it is not at the end of your speech. Your focus should be on your audience and what they need and what they need to hear is your idea.  Send a thank you letter to the team if you want them to feel your appreciation.

“I’m Sorry”

“Sorry again for the technology issue,” “I apologize for going over time, ” “I regret I have no answer to this.” These are all negative phrases.  Keep to your topic that is what they need to hear and stay focused.

“I’ll Close with this Video”

No, you should close with talking about the big idea.

If you don’t have a plan at the end, you will ramble. “Steer clear of meandering endings they kill a story,” according to the Moth Storytelling website. “Your last line should be clear in your head before you start. Yes, bring the audience along with you as you contemplate what transpires in your story, but remember, you are driving the story, and must know the final destination. Keep your hands on the wheel!”

To Thank or Not to Thank, That is the Question

There is a debate amongst speech professionals, speech teachers, and speech coaches about whether or not you should thank the audience. Here are their main arguments.

Why You Should Not Say Thank You

• You want to end with powerful words. “Thank you” are not strong words.
• The recency effect suggests they will remember the last words you spoke. You want them to remember more than just “thank you.”
• It is not a very creative way to end.
• It can be a sign of a lazy speaker, “I have no idea how to end this, I’ve run out of good things to say so I’ll say ‘Thank you’ so you will clap now.”

Why You Should Say Thank You

• It has come to be the expected ending in many settings. Violating their expectations can cause them to have a negative reaction.
• It clearly signals you are finished so the audience knows when to clap. The relieves the pressure from both you and the audience.
• It expresses gratitude.

I will leave it up to you to decide what works for you. As for me, I plan on trying to find more creative ways to end other than just saying “thank you.”

Maximizing the Primacy Recency Effect

If I were to read you a list of thirty things on my grocery list and then asked you to list all that you can remember, chances are you would remember the first times on the list and the last items on the list ( and any ones you found interesting from the middle). When people engage in listening, they tend to remember the first and last things they hear, it is called the primacy-recency effect. T his is just one more reason that your introduction and conclusion should be so well planned out. It is those first words and last words that the audience is going to remember. 

The primacy recency effect influences, not only what people pay attention to in a speech, but also which speech we pay the most attention to in a series of speeches. For example, if there is a lineup of six speakers, the first and last speakers tend to get the most attention.

As a speaker, you can use this information to your advantage by volunteering to go first or last. If you are giving a long presentation, you can break it up by allowing the audience to move around or talk to a neighbor. When you come back from break, you have re-engaged that primacy effect and moved them back to a high state of attention.

Do You Have Everything You Need for a Strong Closing?

• Have I signaled my speech is coming to an end with my words or my voice?
• Have I restated my main points?
• If I am persuading my audience, do they know what I want them to do or think?
• Have I written the last three to five words in such a way that I end with powerful words?
• Have I memorized my closing?

Getting Off the Platform is Part of Your Closing

Plan on making a strong exit. Whether you are stepping off a stage or simply going to your seat, you should consider that the audience is watching you.

I have had students who finished their speech and then walked over to the trashcan and in a large, exaggerated movement, they threw their notecards in the trash. In our minds, we threw their message away with those cards. I’ve seen speakers, sit in their chairs and then announce, “I can’t believe my hands were shaking so much.” I’ve sat there and thought, “I didn’t notice.” I then realized that the comments they made influenced my perception of them and my perception of their topic.

You said your last word and the audience is applauding, now what? Look at your audience and smile and nod in appreciation before walking off the stage. If you will be answering questions, wait until after the applause stops to begin your question and answering period.

When practicing your speech, it is a good idea to start from your chair, walk up to a spot and then give your speech, and then walk back to your chair and sit down. Your “speech” impression begins and ends from your chair.

Key Takeaways

Remember This!

• A speech closing should include a review of the main points and a purposeful closing sentence.
• Persuasive speech endings should tell the audience specifically what they should do or think about.
• The recency effect suggests that people remember the most recent things they have heard which is one reason the closing is so important.
• Chance the pace of your speech and the tone of your voice to signal the end of the speech.

Please share your feedback, suggestions, corrections, and ideas.

I want to hear from you. 

Do you have an activity to include? Did you notice a typo that I should correct? Are you planning to use this as a resource and do you want me to know about it? Do you want to tell me something that really helped you?

Click here to share your feedback. 

Adichie, C.N. (2009). The danger of a single story. [Video]. YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg Standard YouTube License.

Anderson, C. (2016). TED talks: The official TED guide to public speaking. Mariner Books.

Barot, H.  Fifteen powerful speech ending lines (and tips to create your own). Frantically Speaking. https://franticallyspeaking.com/15-powerful-speech-ending-lines-and-tips-to-create-your-own/

Boroditsky, L. (2017). How language shapes the way we think.  https://www.ted.com/talks/lera_boroditsky_how_language_shapes_the_way_we_think  Standard Youtube License. 

Butler, M. (2018). Why you think you’re ugly. [Video]. YouTube  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imCBztvKgus  Standard YouTube License. 

Dunham. A. (2019). Valedictorian comes out as autistic during speech. [Video]. YouTube  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtPGrLoU5Uk  Standard Youtube License. 

Eagleman, D. (2015). Can we create new senses for humans?[Video]. YouTube  https://youtu.be/4c1lqFXHvqI  Standard YouTube License. 

Hone, L. (2019).  The three secrets of resilient people. [Video]. YouTube  https://youtu.be/NWH8N-BvhAw  Standard YouTube License. 

Jeff, P. (2009). Ten ways to end your speech with a bang. http://sixminutes.dlugan.com/10-ways-to-end-your-speech

Jobs, S. (2005). You’ve got to find what you love. https://news.stanford.edu/2005/06/14/jobs-061505/

Khanna, P. (2016). Let the head of TED show you how to end your speech with power. https://www.fastcompany.com/3059459/let-the-head-of-ted-show-you-how-to-end-your-speech-with-p

Karia, A. (2013). How to open and close a TED talk (or any other speech or presentation). https://akashkaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/HowtoOpenandCloseaTEDTalk.pdf

LaCroix, D. (2001). World champion of public speaking. [Video]. YouTube  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUDCzbmLV-0  Standard YouTube License. 

Mandela, N. (2011). Speech from the dock in the Rivonia trial.[Video]. YouTube https://www.nelsonmandela.org/news/entry/i-am-prepared-to-die  Standard YouTube License. 

Mandela, N. (1994). Presidential Inaugural Speech. [Video]. YouTube  https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/nelsonmandelainauguralspeech.htm  Standard YouTube License. 

Miller, B.J. (2015). What really matters at the end of life. [Video]. YouTube  https://www.ted.com/talks/bj_miller_what_really_matters_at_the_end_of_life?language=en  Standard YouTube License. 

Moth. (2021). Storytelling tips and tricks: How to tell a successful story. https://themoth.org/share-your-story/storytelling-tips-tricks 

Obama, B. (2016). White House correspondents dinner. [Video]. YouTube  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxFkEj7KPC0  Standard YouTube License. 

Pink, D. (2009). The puzzle of motivation. [Video]. YouTube  https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_the_puzzle_of_motivation  Standard YouTube License. 

Rothwell, D. (2014). Practically Speaking. Oxford University Press.Robinson, K. (2013). How to escape education’s death valley. [Video]. YouTube  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wX78iKhInsc  Standard YouTube License. 

Rosling, H. (2014). Don’t Panic-Hans Rosling showing the facts about population.[Video]. YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FACK2knC08E  Standard YouTube License. 

Schwartz, B. (2005). The paradox of choice. [Video]. YouTube  https://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schwartz_the_paradox_of_choice  Standard YouTube License. 

Toastmasters International. (2016). Concluding your Speech. https://www.toastmasters.org/Resources/Concluding-Your-Speech

Young, S. (2014). I’m not your inspiration, thank you very much. [Video]. YouTube  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtPGrLoU5Uk  Standard YouTube License. 

Yousafzai, M. (2013). Malala Yousafzai addresses United Nations Youth Assembly. [Video]. YouTube https://youtu.be/3rNhZu3ttIU  Standard YouTube License. 

Zhang, Y. (2015). Life begins at the end of your comfort zone. [Video]. YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmN4xOGkxGo  Standard YouTube License. 

Media Attributions

• Audience clapping © Alex Motoc is licensed under a CC BY (Attribution) license
• jose-aragones-81QkOoPGahY-unsplash © Jose Aragones is licensed under a CC BY (Attribution) license

Advanced Public Speaking Copyright © 2021 by Lynn Meade is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book

Graduation Speech: Complete Guide & Inspiring Graduation Speech Examples

Ready to toss your caps in the air and bid farewell to the hallowed halls of academia? 

Not so fast…There’s one final thing left to learn about: graduation speeches!

Sure, they might seem like just another routine part of commencement, but graduation speeches are much more than just a formality. 

From tear-jerking tales to laugh-out-loud lessons, the best graduation speeches can be vehicles to share wisdom, life lessons, and unforgettable memories. 

Maybe you’re feeling uncertain about how to craft a graduation speech that people actually want to hear… Or wondering what can turn a good one into a great one…Or, simply looking for inspiration on memorable graduation speech examples. 

Read on to explore all of the above and more in this comprehensive guide on graduation speeches. 

• What is a graduation speech?
• What is the purpose of a graduation speech?

What makes a great graduation speech?

• Steps to Write a Student Graduation Speech [7 Steps]
• Inspiring Graduation Speech Examples [8 Examples]

What is a graduation speech? 

First things first: Let’s define what a graduation speech is exactly. 

A graduation speech is more than just a ceremonial tradition —it’s a speech that combines a heartfelt send-off, a final farewell, and a celebration of achievement all rolled into one.

These speeches are typically delivered by a selected speaker, such as a notable figure, a faculty member, or a student representative, at the commencement, or graduation ceremony.

But what exactly is the purpose behind these speeches, and why do we place such importance on them?

A graduation speech serves as a symbolic bridge between the academic journey and the adventures that lie ahead. It’s a chance for speakers to reflect on the accomplishments, challenges, and growth experienced by graduates throughout their academic careers. And most importantly, it’s an opportunity to share some wisdom, inspiration, and encouragement as graduates embark on their next chapter.

What is the purpose of a graduation speech? 

The purpose of a graduation speech varies depending on the context and the goals of the speaker. But generally, it serves several key purposes:

Let’s break it down:

• Celebrate: Graduation is a big deal, right? So, the speech is a way to celebrate all the hard work and sweat equity that graduates have contributed towards their student experience. And its graduation is a huge achievement worth celebrating!
• Inspire and Motivate: Many graduates feel nervous and apprehensive about what comes next after graduation. As happy as they may be to finally be graduating, many students feel a sense of confusion and discouragement about the future. Graduation speeches are meant to motivate and encourage the graduating class as they wrap up their student experience. It’s all about making them feel inspired as they look towards their future.
• Reflect: Remember all those fun times you had in school? Even the monotonous and routine hustle of being in school will become times you can look back on, joke about, and reminisce on for the rest of your life. Graduation speeches offer a chance to look back on the graduating class memories and once-in-a-lifetime experience.
• Bringing Everyone Together: Graduation is a time for friends, family, and teachers to come together and cheer the graduating class on. The speech helps everyone feel connected and proud of what’s been achieved.
• Closure: Graduation speeches offer closure to the academic journey, providing a symbolic farewell and a sense of completion to graduates as they bid farewell to their alma mater. 
• Legacy: Graduation speeches leave a lasting legacy for graduates, offering timeless wisdom, inspiration, and guidance that they can carry with them as they embark on their future endeavors. They serve as a reminder of the values, lessons, and aspirations that define the graduate experience and shape the path forward.

Overall, the purpose of a graduation speech is to leave a lasting impact on the audience, imparting valuable insights, encouragement, and inspiration that resonate long after the ceremony has ended.

Great graduation speeches captivate audiences by weaving together universal themes, inspiring messages, and deep reflection to create a memorable and inspiring experience.

So what makes a graduation speech great ? While every speech is unique in itself, there are some common elements that all great speeches have.

Here are some key elements that contribute to a great graduation speech:

• Authenticity: A great graduation speech is authentic and genuine, reflecting the speaker’s personality, values, and experiences. 
• Personal Touch: Incorporating personal anecdotes, stories, and reflections adds depth and emotional resonance to a graduation speech. Sharing personal experiences allows the speaker to connect with the audience and make the speech more engaging.
• Inspiring Message: A great graduation speech delivers an inspiring and uplifting message that motivates graduates to embrace their potential, pursue their passions, and make a difference in the world. The message should be positive, empowering, and filled with hope for the future.
• Relevance: A great graduation speech is relevant to the occasion and the audience, addressing the unique challenges, triumphs, and experiences shared by graduates. It acknowledges the journey they’ve been on and offers guidance as they embark on the next chapter of their lives.
• Clear Structure: A well-structured graduation speech flows smoothly from one point to the next, with a clear beginning, middle, and end.
• Engaging Delivery: A great graduation speech is delivered with passion, energy, and enthusiasm, capturing the attention and interest of the audience from start to finish. 
• Humor and Wit: Incorporating humor and wit into a graduation speech can lighten the mood, break the ice, and make the speech more enjoyable for the audience. Humorous anecdotes, clever wordplay, and well-timed jokes can add charm to the speech, making it more entertaining.
• Universal Themes: A great graduation speech explores universal truths that resonate with all graduates, regardless of their background or experiences. It touches on timeless values such as perseverance, resilience, gratitude, and the power of human connection, inspiring graduates to embrace these principles as they navigate life’s challenges.

By incorporating these elements into your own graduation speech, you can create memorable, inspiring, and impactful words that leave a lasting impression on everyone in attendance.

Steps to Write a Student Graduation Speech

Feeling overwhelmed at the thought of writing a graduation speech? That’s normal! 

Even for famous and/or notable figures, writing a commencement or graduation speech can be a nerve-wracking experience.

And while writing a commencement speech may seem like a daunting task, breaking it down into basic steps can make the process more manageable and enjoyable.

Here’s a simple guide to help you craft a memorable and inspiring graduation speech:

Step 1: Understand Your Audience

Before you begin writing your speech, take some time to understand your audience. That is, the graduating class, faculty and staff, and family and friends of everyone involved in the ceremony. 

Consider the demographics of the graduates, their interests, experiences, and the significance of the occasion.

Tailoring your speech to resonate with the audience will make it more relatable and impactful.

Step 2: Choose a Theme or Message

Every great speech has a central theme or message that ties everything together. 

Think about what you want to convey to the graduates—whether it’s words of wisdom, encouragement, or reflections on their journey.

Choose a theme that resonates with the occasion and reflects your personal values and experiences.

Step 3: Brainstorm Ideas and Stories

Once you have a theme in mind, brainstorm ideas, stories, and anecdotes that support your message.

Reflect on your own experiences, lessons learned, and moments of inspiration that you can share with the graduates.

Consider incorporating personal stories, quotes, or examples that illustrate your points and make them more memorable.

Step 4: Create an Outline

Organize your ideas into a clear and coherent outline for your speech.

Start with an introduction that grabs the audience’s attention and introduces your theme. Then, outline the main points you want to cover in the body of the speech. Use supporting stories and examples to illustrate each point.

Finally, conclude your speech with powerful closing remarks that reinforces your message and leaves a lasting impression.

Step 5: Write the Speech

With your outline as a guide, start writing your speech , focusing on clarity, conciseness, and authenticity.

Write in a conversational tone, as if you’re speaking directly to the graduates, and use concise language.

Be sure to include transitions between sections to help the speech flow smoothly and keep the audience engaged.

Step 6: Edit and Revise

Once you’ve written a draft of your speech, take time to edit and revise it for clarity, coherence, and impact.

Cut out any unnecessary or repetitive information, and refine your language to make it more concise and compelling.

Pay attention to pacing, tone, and rhythm, and make sure your speech is well-balanced and engaging from start to finish.

Step 7: Practice, Practice, Practice

Finally, practice delivering your speech aloud multiple times to ensure smooth delivery and confident presentation.

Pay attention to your pacing, timing, hand gestures , and body language, and make adjustments as needed. 

Practicing your speech will help you feel more comfortable and confident on the day of the graduation ceremony.

Here are some tips to help you write a memorable speech:

• Share Your Journey: Reflect on your time in school, highlighting challenges you overcame, lessons you learned, and accomplishments you achieved.
• Inspire with Stories: Share inspiring anecdotes or life lessons that have shaped you and can resonate with your peers.
• Express Gratitude: Thank teachers, family, and friends for their support and guidance throughout your academic journey.
• Offer Encouragement: Provide motivation and encouragement to your fellow graduates as they embark on their future endeavors.

By following these basic steps and tips, you can write a graduation speech that is memorable and impactful, leaving a lasting impression on graduates and audience members for years to come.

8 Inspiring Graduation Speech Examples

If you’re looking to get inspired or need some examples to work from, check out some of the most memorable graduation speeches delivered by today’s notable figures. 

These speeches showcase how some of the world’s most influential people have delivered impactful messages of change, hard work, success, and life lessons to graduating classes throughout the years.

By incorporating personal stories, motivational quotes, and heartfelt advice, these examples showcase the profound impact a well-crafted speech can have on any audience.

While we’ve only featured eight graduation speech examples here, please note that there are countless other inspiring speeches that you can learn from throughout history. A quick online search will help guide you in the direction of more examples if you don’t find what you’re looking for in this list. 

#1 – Steve Jobs’ Stanford University Graduation Speech (2005)

Jobs’s speech is a classic for a reason. He challenged graduates to “stay hungry, stay foolish,” and to never lose sight of their dreams. 

#2 – Oprah Winfrey’s Harvard University Graduation Speech (2013)

Oprah Winfrey reflects on her own journey to success, emphasizing the importance of finding purpose, serving others, and remaining true to oneself in the face of adversity.

#3 –  Chadwick Boseman’s Howard University Graduation Speech (2018)

The late Chadwick Boseman, shortly before his passing, delivered an inspiring speech about the power of purpose and never giving up on your dreams.

#4 – J.K. Rowling’s Harvard University Graduation Speech (2008)

J.K. Rowling shares insights on the benefits of failure and the importance of imagination, empathy, and resilience in overcoming life’s challenges and achieving success.

#5 – Michelle Obama’s CCNY Graduation Speech (2016)

Michelle Obama reflects on the power of education and the importance of resilience, determination, and hope in overcoming obstacles and achieving one’s dreams.

#6 – David Foster Wallace’s Kenyon College Graduation Speech (2005)

David Foster Wallace’s speech, titled “This is Water,” is a profound meditation on mindfulness and empathy. Wallace delivers a thought-provoking speech about the value of mindfulness, empathy, and perspective in leading a meaningful and fulfilling life.

#7 – Satya Nadella’s University of Chicago Graduation Speech (2018)

The CEO of Microsoft spoke about the future of technology and the need for human-centered innovation. Nadella shares insights on the role of empathy, curiosity, and continuous learning in driving innovation and success in today’s rapidly changing world.

#8 – Ken Burns’ Stanford University Graduation Speech (2016)

The documentarian urged graduates to be curious, to challenge themselves, and to fight for what they believe in.

Learn From Graduation Speech Examples From Notable Figures

As we’ve seen from speeches like the ones listed above, throughout history, famous individuals have delivered impactful speeches that resonate with audiences and offer valuable lessons for graduates.

So how do these notable figures inspire through their speeches?

• Emphasizing Change: Notable figures often highlight the importance of embracing change and adapting to new beginnings in their speeches.
• Hard Work and Success: Through personal anecdotes, they stress the significance of hard work and determination in achieving success.
• Life Lessons: Graduation speeches by renowned figures are filled with insightful life lessons that guide and motivate graduates on their journey ahead.
• Words of Encouragement: Notable graduation speeches give encouragement, confidence, and hope to the audience as they move ahead.

Throughout this guide, we’ve explored how these speeches are more than just a routine part of commencement—they’re opportunities to share wisdom, life lessons, and unforgettable memories.

Whether you were feeling uncertain about crafting a speech that resonates or curious about the secrets behind turning a good speech into a great one, we’ve covered it all.

As you step onto the stage to deliver your graduation speech, remember the power you hold. Inspire, uplift, and connect us all! 

Here’s to making your mark and leaving a lasting impression as you embark on the next chapter of your journey!

Whether you’re giving a graduation speech or a TEDx talk, this free guide will help expand your reach.

Check out more great articles from the Thought-Leader Blog covering TEDx Talks, success mindsets, and everything else in between

How to Get a TED Talk

How to prepare a ted talk, how to market yourself effectively, how to become a keynote speaker, how to speak professionally.

Speech Writing

Farewell Speech

Farewell Speech - Writing Tips & Examples

People also read

The 10 Key Steps for Perfect Speech Writing

Understanding the Speech Format - Detailed Guide & Examples

How to Start A Speech - 13 Interesting Ideas & Examples

20+ Outstanding Speech Examples for Your Help

Common Types of Speeches that Every Speechwriter Should Know

Good Impromptu Speech Topics for Students

Entertaining Speech Topics for Your Next Debate

How to Write a Special Occasion Speech: Types, Tips, and Examples

Introduction Speech - A Step-by-Step Guide & Examples

How to Write the Best Acceptance Speech for Your Audience?

Presentation Speech - An Ultimate Writing Guide

Commemorative Speech - Writing Guide, Outline & Examples

How to Write an Extemporaneous Speech? A Step-by-Step Guide

Crafting the Perfect Graduation Speech: A Guide with Examples

Farewell speeches can be tricky to write. You might worry about saying the right things and making a good impression. 

Don't worry; we're here to help. 

In this blog, we'll show you how to create a touching farewell speech step by step. Whether you're new to this or have some experience, we've got you covered. You'll learn how to speak from the heart and leave a lasting memory with your audience.

• 1. Occasions for Giving a Farewell Speech
• 2. How to Start a Farewell Speech?
• 3. How to Write a Farewell Speech?
• 4. Farewell Speech At Work
• 5. Farewell Speech Examples 
• 6. Writing Tips for a Farewell Speech

Occasions for Giving a Farewell Speech

Farewell speeches are a type of speech that are delivered when someone is parting from a group, organization, or event.

They can be for retirement, leaving a job, or stepping down from a leadership role. Students often give farewell speeches during high school or college graduations. 

These speeches mark the end of an important chapter in their lives. Students may also give farewell speeches when leaving clubs, sports teams, or student councils.

These speeches allow people to express gratitude, share memories, and inspire their peers. 

So, it's important to carefully keep in mind the context for the farewell speech before you start writing one.

How to Start a Farewell Speech?

If you want to leave an impression on the audience, the key is to write a brilliant speech. A good speech can not be written without a plan. No matter if you are writing a casual speech or a very formal address, planning is essential. 

Before you jump to the writing process of a farewell speech, learn how to make a start. Only good planning will let you execute the ideas successfully and effectively. 

To make a start, follow the steps given below:

Step 1 - Identify the Audience 

Think about your audience. Who will be listening to your speech? Is it colleagues, friends, fellow classmates, family, or a mix of these? 

Consider what they might expect from your speech and what kind of tone and message would resonate with them. Your speech should be relatable to your audience.

Step 2 - Brainstorm Relevant Ideas 

Now that you know your audience, make a list of the key points you want to include in your speech. 

These could be memories, achievements, lessons learned, or well-wishes. Brainstorming these ideas will give you a clear direction for your speech.

Step 3 - Gather Stories and Anecdotes

Collect stories and anecdotes that relate to your key points. Shared stories and experiences can add a personal touch to your speech and make it more engaging. 

These stories should support your main message and create a connection with your audience.

Step 4 - Create an Outline 

Although farewell speeches are informal and more personal, they still require a particular outline. 

So, before you dive into writing, create a rough outline for your speech. 

This can be a simple bullet point list of the main sections of your speech, including the opening, body, and conclusion. Outlining helps you organize your thoughts and create a format for your speech. 

How to Write a Farewell Speech?

If the planning of your goodbye speech is intense and structured, the execution of the ideas will become easier. Once all the prewriting steps are taken effectively, follow the writing steps provided below:

Step 1 - Create an Interesting Opening 

When you write a farewell address, you have the opportunity to be creative and personal. Begin with an attention-grabbing opening to captivate your audience. 

Dull beginnings can lose your audience's interest quickly. You can kickstart your speech with humor, a casual statement, a meaningful quote, or a relatable anecdote. 

After the hook, share your feelings about leaving the place or position. Greet your audience and briefly state the purpose of the event.

Struggling to come up with a good way to start your speech? Check out these creative ways to start a speech and grab your audience’s attention!

Step 2 - Create a Strong Body 

The body of your speech contains the heart of your message. Here, you'll share ideas, stories, events, and key points. Be sure to provide relevant information. While crafting the body of your speech:

• Be Personal: Make your farewell speech relatable by using personal anecdotes and a conversational tone. Engage your audience with your words and emotions.
• Keep It Concise: Lengthy speeches can lose their impact. Keep it concise and straightforward. Focus on events and moments involving others, avoiding excessive self-focus. Steer clear of repeating or over-explaining.

Step 3 - Provide Closure 

Conclude your farewell speech by summarizing the main points and expressing gratitude. You can also extend well wishes or share a relevant quote. This closing part wraps up your speech on a thoughtful note.

Step 4 - Review and Practice

Before delivering your speech, review it thoroughly. Read your speech aloud to check the tone and flow. Practice your delivery to ensure it comes across as genuine and not overly scripted.

Farewell speeches are given in various settings and to diverse audiences.

Farewell Speech At Work

Saying goodbye at work, be it in a retirement speech or when leaving colleagues, marks a significant moment in your career. Let's look at two common work occasions for giving a farewell speech:

Farewell Speech for Boss

This speech is given when your manager is leaving the company or moving to a new position. It includes an introduction, appreciation for their leadership, personal anecdotes, well wishes, and a warm farewell.

Here’s a sample speech for biding your boss goodbye:

Farewell Speech For Boss

Farewell Speech for Colleagues

Farewell speeches for colleagues are given when a team member is leaving the organization, transferring to a different department, or relocating.

Here’s an example of how you can create a speech for your co-worker:

Farewell Speech For Colleague

Farewell Speech Examples 

As discussed, farewell speeches are given on many occasions. Some of the most popular farewell speeches have to be American presidential speeches. These speeches reflect on the tenure, express gratitude to the nation, and offer guidance for the future.

Here is a segment from Harry Truman’s presidential farewell speech , 1953:

Here are some farewell speech examples for students and teachers: 

Farewell Speech For Teachers

Are you a teacher by profession who is leaving the job or position from a certain school? Then you might be asked to deliver a farewell speech. The example provided below will help you write an impactful speech.

Sample Farewell Speech for Teachers

Farewell Speech for Students

Students often find writing farewell speeches daunting. Whether it is a graduation speech or just a goodbye speech in a classroom, students have no idea what to say.

If you need to give a farewell address at school, here are some samples:

Sample Farewell Speech for Students

Farewell Speech by Students Leaving School

Farewell Speech in English

Farewell Speech for Seniors

Need more sample speeches? Explore these speech examples of multiple types of speeches to get inspiration!

Farewell Speech for Friends

Saying goodbye to friends or family members is the hardest but delivering a speech to them is the easiest. 

As it is an informal type of speech, people can start from anywhere and say anything. But if you are not sure how to say goodbye to friends, take help from the example below. 

Sample Farewell Speech for Friends

Writing Tips for a Farewell Speech

While there are no strict rules for speechwriting, some tips can make your address memorable.

• Share Personal Experiences - Share your stories and incidents to make your goodbye address memorable. Through your personal experiences, state how things and actions of others influenced you and your life
• Show Gratitude - Showing gratitude is the right attitude. Thank people and their gestures with an open heart.
• Keep it Short - Avoid dragging your speech and share interesting information only. 
• Use Simple Words - Avoid using bombastic vocabulary. You are not there to impress anyone but just to be grateful for the efforts. 
• Be Original - Copying the addresses of others is not the right choice. Be unique and original and write your content for the speech. 

Now that you've gained insights into crafting a meaningful farewell speech, you can create a memorable and heartfelt address. 

However, if you're feeling lost and need assistance in crafting a farewell speech, let our legit essay writing service help. Our team of experts boasts years of experience in delivering high-quality speeches. 

Just buy speech from our writers and they will undoubtedly exceed your expectations!

Write Essay Within 60 Seconds!

Dr. Barbara is a highly experienced writer and author who holds a Ph.D. degree in public health from an Ivy League school. She has worked in the medical field for many years, conducting extensive research on various health topics. Her writing has been featured in several top-tier publications.

Paper Due? Why Suffer? That’s our Job!

Keep reading

How to End an Email Professionally (With Examples)

How you end an email can leave a lasting impression on the reader, whether it’s a potential employer or a current colleague.

This article provides specific examples of how to close your emails in various situations, from applying for a job to accepting a job offer.

How to End an Email

Ending an email in a professional or casual manner can greatly impact the impression you leave on the recipient. It’s an important part of your email that should not be overlooked.

Professional Email Closing Examples

Choosing the right words to end a professional email can communicate respect and leave a positive impression. Here are some examples:

• Best regards,
• Kind regards,
• With appreciation,
• Respectfully,

Casual Email Closing Examples

For less formal emails, such as those to friends or family, a casual sign-off can be more appropriate. Here are a few casual ways to end an email:

• Best wishes,
• See you soon,

Tips for Closing Emails Professionally

Ending an email professionally is crucial for making a good impression and maintaining a professional tone. Here are some tips to ensure your email closings are effective.

Remember Your Closing Line

Your closing line should match the tone of your email and the relationship you have with the recipient. Make it polite, concise, and relevant to your interaction.

Share Your Contact Information

Including your contact information as part of your email sign-off is a professional practice. It makes it easy for recipients to reach out to you through alternative means if needed.

Avoid Unprofessional Sign-Offs

Using an unprofessional sign-off can undermine the professionalism of your email. It’s important to choose words that reflect respect and professionalism. Avoid these common mistakes:

• Yours truly (in most business contexts),

Examples of How to End an Email

Here are some examples to help you end your emails appropriately for different situations.

1. When Applying for a Job

It’s important to project professionalism and enthusiasm when applying for a job. Below is a brief example:

2. After a Phone Screening

Sending a follow-up email after a phone screening shows your interest and professionalism. Here’s a short example:

3. When Responding to a Meeting Request

Responding to a meeting request requires clear communication and politeness. View an example below:

4. After Completing an Interview

A thank-you email after an interview reinforces your interest in the position and leaves a positive impression. Here’s what it can look like:

5. When Accepting a Job Offer

Accepting a job offer through email should succinctly acknowledge the offer and express your gratitude. Here is a simple example:

Final Thoughts

Ending an email in the right way is crucial. It can affect how your message is received and what the reader thinks of you afterward. Using the examples and tips provided, you can make sure your email closings are both suitable and professional.

Slava Velikiy, CEO of Rontar and GainRep, has over 20 years of experience in entrepreneurship, project management, and software development. Passionate about innovation and solving real-world problems, he shares his insights on entrepreneurship, leadership, and technology.

Similar Posts

10 Other Ways to Say “Please Let Me Know if You Are Interested”

How to Address Multiple Doctors in an Email (With Examples)

10 Formal Synonyms for “Hope to See You Soon”

10 Formal Ways to Say “How Can I Help You?”

10 Synonyms for “Positive Impact”

10 Other Ways to Say “Thanks for the Reminder”

Extensive Example and Closing Remarks

• First Online: 07 May 2024

Cite this chapter

• Lantz Miller 2  

This final chapter attempts to tie morality with rationality—although they appear to insist of independence from one another. Common between them is normativity. The essay has contended that rationality is primarily (as witnessed when seen in the context) normative. That fact would mean that they arise in practical, not speculative, philosophy. To help put these assertions in a concrete background, consider the moral situation referred to in previous chapters: human reproduction. Can both rationality and morality have something to say that distinguishes one from the other, or do they coincide substantially? The answer, I believe, indicates the two indeed fall under practical philosophy, but still are of quite different ontology and even origin in the universe.

A world without children Would not be a world. —Ancient wisdom

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

• Available as PDF
• Read on any device
• Instant download
• Own it forever
• Available as EPUB and PDF
• Durable hardcover edition
• Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Again, the behavior intended here are not specifically those involved in morality; although the behavioral types may overlap. Also, insofar as knowledge-gaining or belief-forming can be considered behavior, then rationality in its precepts can be deemed a behavioral project.

I am indebted to Carol Gould for first suggesting this reason.

This stipulated principle is much like that discussed by Nozick ( 1993 ) as the rationality of acknowledging the rationality of others in your community. “Sometimes it will be rational to accept something because others in your society do” (129). I concede that some readers will object that such conformity is in itself rational. I need not support or criticize this point here or defend stipulated Principle B as rational. The purpose of these four stipulated principles is merely illustrative of how some such set of principles of rationality would be useful for determining whether any given reason for an action is indeed rational.

Kant propounds a link in saying a rational agent is moral. But to maintain some kind of link, one need not concur with his linking.

I am not embracing Nietzsche’s program here but only using it as a parallel. He challenged humanity to grow beyond morality per se and replace it with a more profound embodiment of action. By parallel, rationality one day, upon humans’ sufficient advancent, may be shed.

Anscombe, G. E. N. (1989). Why Have Children? Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophy Association, 63 , 48–53.

Article   Google Scholar  

Baker, S. M., Brawley, O. W., & Marks, L. S. (2005). Effects of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male, 1932 to 1972: A Closure Comes to the Tuskegee Study. Urology, 65 (6), 1259–1262.

Benatar, D. (2006). Better Never to Have Been . Oxford University Press.

Book   Google Scholar  

Boehm, C. (1999). “Hierarchy in the Forest” The Evolution of Egalitarian Behavior . Cambridge University Press.

Miller, L. (1994). Governmental Committee and SNM Panel Address Government Radiation Experiments. Journal of Nuclear Medicine, 35 (7), 13N–20N.

Google Scholar  

Nozick, R. (1993). The Nature of Rationality . Princeton University Press.

Overall, C. (2012). Why Have Children? The Ethical Debate . MIT Press.

Shiffrin, S. (1999). Wrongful Life, Procreative Responsibility, and the Significance of Harm. Legal Theory, 5 (2), 117–148.

Weinberg, R. (2016). The Risk of a Lifetime: How, When, and Why Procreation May Be Permissible . Oxford University Press.

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Department of Philosophy, Ashoka University, Sonepat, India

Lantz Miller

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lantz Miller .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Miller, L. (2024). Extensive Example and Closing Remarks. In: The Rationality Project. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-39920-6_10

Download citation

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-39920-6_10

Published : 07 May 2024

Publisher Name : Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

Print ISBN : 978-3-031-39919-0

Online ISBN : 978-3-031-39920-6

eBook Packages : Religion and Philosophy Philosophy and Religion (R0)

Share this chapter

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Publish with us

Policies and ethics

• Find a journal
• Track your research

• Search Search Please fill out this field.
• Career Planning
• Finding a Job

How to End a Letter (With Closing Examples)

The Best Options to End a Letter

Letter closing examples, more letter closing examples, letter closings to avoid, how to capitalize a closing, how to format a letter ending, what to include in your signature, signature examples, frequently asked questions (faqs).

AntonioGuillem /  iStock / Getty Images Plus

How you end a letter is important. It’s your last chance to make a good first impression on your reader. Choose the wrong closing, and you might damage the goodwill you built up in the rest of your communication.

What’s the best way to end a letter or email message? Your closing needs to leave the reader with positive feelings about you and the letter you have written.

In closing your letter, it is important to use an appropriately respectful and professional word or phrase.

Most formal letter closing options are fairly standard, but there are degrees of warmth and familiarity if you're using a less formal closing. Your relationship with the person to whom you're writing will shape which closing you choose:

• If you don’t know the individual to whom you’re writing, stick with a professional formal closing.
• If you’re writing to a colleague, business connection, or someone else you know well, it’s fine to close your letter less formally.

Above all, your closing should be appropriate. Choose the right letter closing, and your reader likely won’t remember how you ended your letter. Ideally, your message will resonate instead of your word choice.

Key Takeaways

• When you don’t know the individual to whom you’re writing, use a professional formal closing.
• If you're writing to someone you know well, it’s fine to close your letter less formally.
• Some closings are not appropriate for business correspondence, so avoid being too informal.

Review the best way to end a letter with formal, business, or personal letter closings, sample signatures, letter examples, and writing tips.

The Balance

The following are letter closings that are appropriate for business and employment-related letters.

Sincerely, Sincerely Yours, Regards, Yours Truly, and Yours Sincerely 

These are the simplest and most useful letter closings to use in a formal business setting. These are appropriate in almost all instances and are excellent ways to close a cover letter or a job inquiry . “Sincerely” is a classic way to end a letter or email. If you're not sure about options, it's a good one to choose.

Best Regards, Cordially, and Yours Respectfully

These letter closings fill the need for something slightly more personal. They are appropriate once you have some knowledge of the person to whom you are writing. You may have corresponded via email a few times, had a face-to-face or phone interview, or met at a networking event.

Warm Regards, Best Wishes, and With Appreciation

These letter closings are also appropriate once you have some connection to the person to whom you are writing. They can effectively tie back to the content of your message, providing a fitting conclusion. For example, if you are sending a thank-you note, it may be appropriate to use "With Appreciation." Only use these if they make sense with the content of your letter.

When you’re ending your letter, be sure to choose a letter closing that is appropriate to the topic of your letter and your relationship with the person to whom you are writing. Here are more examples to choose from:

• All the best,
• Best of luck,
• Best wishes,
• Cordially yours,
• Fond regards,
• In appreciation,
• In sympathy,
• Kind regards,
• Kind thanks,
• Kind wishes,
• Many thanks,
• Respectfully,
• Respectfully yours,
• Sincerely yours,
• Stay safe and well,
• Thanks again,
• Thank you for your assistance in this matter,
• Thank you for your consideration,
• Thank you for your recommendation,
• Thank you for your time,
• Warm regards,
• Warm wishes,
• With appreciation,
• With deepest sympathy,
• With gratitude,
• With sincere thanks,
• With sympathy,
• Your help is greatly appreciated,
• Yours cordially,
• Yours faithfully, 
• Yours sincerely,
• Yours truly,

There are certain closings you should avoid in any business letter or email. Most of these are simply too informal. Casual doesn't work with professional correspondence. Some examples of closings to avoid are listed below:

Some closings (such as “Love” and “XOXO”) imply a level of closeness that is not appropriate for a business letter. Slang or acronyms aren't appropriate either.

Capitalize the first word of your closing. If your closing is more than one word, capitalize the first word and use lowercase for the other words. For example:

• Best regards,

Once you have chosen a word or phrase to use as a send-off, follow it with a comma, some space, and then include your signature.

Printed letter: If you are sending a hard-copy letter, leave four lines of space between the closing and your typed name. Use this space to sign your name in ink. 

Email message: If you’re sending an email , leave one space between the complimentary close and your typed signature. Include your contact information directly below your typed signature.

Beneath your letter closing, include your signature. If this is a physical letter, first sign your name in ink, and then list your typed signature below. If this is an email letter, simply add your typed signature below your send-off.

Make sure to include your contact information in your letter.

If this is a physical letter, your contact information will be at the top of the letter. However, if this is an email, include that information beneath your typed signature. This will allow the recipient to respond to you easily.

Hard-Copy Letter Signature

Handwritten signature (for a printed letter)

Typed signature

Email Message Signature Example

Typed Signature Email Address Phone LinkedIn URL (if you have a profile)

To set up your email signature, go to “settings” in your email account. Follow the steps to add your signature and pre-populate future messages.

How do you start a business letter?

If you are sending a hard-copy version, start your business letter with your name and address, followed by the date, and then the recipient’s name and address. Then, include a salutation and the recipient’s name, e.g., “Dear Ms. Green.”

What are the parts of a business letter?

The parts of a business letter are the sender’s address, the date, the recipient’s address, a salutation, the message body, a closing, and the sender’s signature. If you send the letter by email, you can omit the address and date sections and include your contact information in your email signature.

• Skip to main content
• Keyboard shortcuts for audio player

Biden forgives more than $6 billion in loans for 317,000 Art Institutes students

Student loan borrowers and advocates gather for the People's Rally To Cancel Student Debt During The Supreme Court Hearings On Student Debt Relief on February 28, 2023 in Washington, DC. Jemal Countess/Getty Images for People's Rally hide caption

Student loan borrowers and advocates gather for the People's Rally To Cancel Student Debt During The Supreme Court Hearings On Student Debt Relief on February 28, 2023 in Washington, DC.

President Biden announced on Wednesday that the White House would forgive more than $6.1 billion on student loan debt for 317,000 borrowers who attended The Art Institutes, a private art school system in the U.S. that shuttered last year.

The latest on student debt relief — and how young voters are feeling about it

"This institution falsified data, knowingly misled students, and cheated borrowers into taking on mountains of debt without leading to promising career prospects at the end of their studies," said Biden in a statement.

"We will never stop fighting to deliver relief to borrowers, hold bad actors accountable, and bring the promise of college to more Americans," the President added.

The relief will apply to students who were enrolled in the school system between January 1, 2004 and October 16, 2017, during which the U.S. Department of Education found that The Art Institutes made "pervasive and substantial misrepresentations to prospective students about postgraduation employment rates, salaries, and career services during that time," according to a statement from the DOE.

A $95.5 million settlement in a for-profit college case

The DOE will immediately begin notifying borrowers who are eligible for forgiveness, including those who have not formally applied for borrower defense. Previous payments made for student loans will also be refunded. The total available averages out to about $19,000 per borrower.

This latest round of student loan forgiveness brings the total approved by the Biden Administration to almost $160 billion for nearly 4.6 million borrowers, an average of nearly $35,000 per student.

• student loan debt
• student loans
• student loan
• biden administration

What Would A Good Interview Closing Statement Be?

Table of Contents:

Job seekers can get one-on-one coaching, attend webinars, and attend events from career coach Jamie Birt, who has five years of experience guiding them through the job search process. She is inspired by her goal of assisting others in finding purpose and belonging in their careers.

It’s crucial to leave a job interview on a positive note if you want to improve your chances of getting an offer. Your conclusion can help you stand out from the competition and leave a lasting impression on the hiring manager.

This article explains the importance of closing interview statements, offers a list of 10 effective closing statements, and offers advice on how to make a great first impression.

What is said by interviewers at the conclusion of an interview?

We will be in touch. is one thing a hiring manager might say following an interview. If they tell you this, it may be helpful to know when and how to politely inquire about the hiring manager’s decision-making process.

With the aid of Indeed’s data and insights, the Indeed Editorial Team is made up of a talented and diverse group of writers, researchers, and subject-matter experts who provide helpful advice for navigating your career path.

If you recently had a job interview, you probably felt eager to hear from the interviewer about their hiring decision and any potential next steps. We will be in touch. is one thing a hiring manager might say following an interview. If they do, it may be helpful to understand when and how to politely inquire about the hiring manager’s decision-making timeline.

In this article, we define what it means if an interviewer chooses to conclude your interview with “we will be in touch,” provide a list of some indicators that a job interview went well, and go over what to say when asked about the progress of your application.

How do you end a job interview?

Ask specific, well-thought-out questions about the role and company as a way to wrap up an interview. dot. Specify your suitability for the position once more. dot. Find out if the interviewer requires any extra details or supporting documentation. dot. Respond to any problems. dot. Reiterate how interested you are in the job.

With the aid of Indeed’s data and insights, the Indeed Editorial Team is a diverse and talented group of writers, researchers, and subject-matter experts who provide helpful advice for navigating your career journey.

The overall perception a hiring manager has of you as a candidate can be impacted by how you end a job interview. The hiring manager will have a favorable impression of you and a better understanding of your abilities, qualifications, and enthusiasm for the job if you successfully complete the interview.

In this article, we’ll look at why how you wrap up an interview matters, what you can do to do so, and how to improve your chances of landing the job.

What are some good closing statements?

ShareSincerely. The standard closing for formal letters is usually sincerely (or sincerely yours), and for good reason. dot. Best. dot. Warm regards, dot I’ll be in touch with you soon. dot. Thanks. dot. Do not sign off. Sincerely, Yours. dot. Take precautions.

It would seem straightforward to conclude a letter. Only a few words need to be added; the content has already been planned and written.

You are probably aware that you shouldn’t close a letter to your mom the same way you would a letter to your boss. The ideal phrase to use in each circumstance, though, might not yet be clear. Is there a difference between the words honestly and yours truly, for example?

Each word has nuanced connotations that can affect how your recipient will respond. Look at the following 12 farewell phrases and the instances in which they should be used to understand how to end a letter.

What would a sample closing statement for an interview look like?

“I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you for the interview today. You have provided me with a concise summary of the situation. I believe that the organization would benefit from my experience and achievements. ” Is there anything else you require to confirm that I am the best applicant for this position?” cached.

Job seekers can get one-on-one coaching, attend webinars, and attend events from career coach Jamie Birt, who has five years of experience guiding them through the job search process. The goal of assisting people in discovering purpose and belonging in their careers drives her.

It’s crucial to leave a job interview on a positive note if you want to improve your chances of getting an offer. The closing statement you use can help you stand out from the competition and leave a lasting impression on the hiring manager.

In this article, we go over closing interview statements, why they’re significant, offer a list of 10 effective closing statements to use in interviews, and offer advice on how to make a great first impression.

What constitutes a powerful closing statement?

Direct closing statement Make an offer to address any worries or inquiries they may have that could affect their choice. Example: “I’m grateful that we could meet today. Based on our conversation, I’m sure that my track record of success in sales and my experience would make me a valuable addition to your team.

With the aid of Indeed’s data and insights, the Indeed Editorial Team is a diverse and talented group of writers, researchers, and subject matter experts who provide helpful advice for navigating your career journey.

A strong conclusion can help sway the hiring decision of your potential employer. They should be left with a lasting impression of your strengths as a job candidate from this concluding statement. Use this as your last chance to sell yourself by highlighting your distinct qualifications and abilities that set you apart from the other applicants.

In this article, we’ll give you tips on how to write a strong closing statement for an interview, as well as some powerful statement examples to get you started.

How do you express gratitude to an interviewer?

Write a thank-you email to the person who conducted your interview, and spell their name correctly. Thank the person for their consideration and time. Give a succinct description of your appeal to the company. Let them know that you are still interested in the job. Offer to respond to any queries.

Along with model email templates, advice on what to say and what not to say is provided.

You’ve just finished an interview for a position in which you’re very interested. You are aware that you ought to write your interviewers a thank-you note, but you are stumped. What’s really the best way to follow up? How much information should you include? And should you email everyone you spoke with?

Here are some tips on what to say in your message and what not to say, along with some sample email templates. Additionally, I’ll discuss why it’s important to send a thank-you note, even if it seems unnecessary. Let’s start with the contents of your note.

What would a good closing look like?

These letter closings—Warm regards, best wishes, and With appreciation—are also appropriate when you know or have some connection to the recipient. They can provide a satisfying conclusion to the letter’s main point because they can relate to its content.

It’s critical how you end letters. Your reader will only get one chance to form a positive first impression of you. If you choose the wrong closing, you risk destroying the trust you have gained throughout your communication.

The reader should leave the letter or email with a positive impression of you and what you’ve written, so what’s the best way to end a letter or email?

It’s crucial to end your letter with a suitable expression of respect and professionalism.

When an interview is over, do you say “thank you?”

The answer is that you must do so following a job interview. This may come as unwelcome news, especially if you oppose the somewhat archaic practice that was the subject of a recent, vehement online argument centered on an article by Business Insider executive managing editor Jessica Liebman.

The answer is that you must do so following a job interview.

This may come as unwelcome news, especially if you disagree with the somewhat antiquated practice that was the subject of a recent, vehement online debate sparked by a piece by Business Insider executive managing editor Jessica Liebman. In a blog post for Business Insider, Liebman stated that when she first started hiring, she came up with “a simple rule: We shouldn’t move a candidate to the next stage in the interview process unless they send a thank-you email.”.

Many people disapproved of Liebman’s position, but it is clear from it that job seekers should always err on the side of caution and send a thank-you note because you never know what the hiring manager may view as a deal-breaker.

What are a few effective examples of a conclusion?

After everything is said and done, use a less formal conclusion starter like “After all is said and done,” “As I see things,” “In a Nutshell,” “In Case You Wondered,” or “In Simple Terms.”.

Laptop Icon with Effective Conclusion Starters.

How you close a piece of writing is just as important as the hook you use to draw readers in and the content in between. Your paper’s conclusion should start with a sentence or two alerting readers to the fact that the paper’s content is coming to an end. Review some effective sentence starters for conclusions so you can create your own effective conclusions.

It’s crucial to summarize the most important ideas or points when it’s time to put your work to bed rather than just quitting. Transitional words that signal the beginning of a conclusion serve to guide readers through a document’s body. starters for conclusions should.

How should I end my essay about the interview?

To ensure the effectiveness of your conclusion, be sure to include the following essential elements: End the essay on a positive note. Make sure to convey the significance of your thoughts and the topic. Give the reader a sense of completion. Your main points should be reaffirmed and distilled. Rephrase your thesis statement, then restate it.

With 12 years of experience in career coaching, recruiting, and leadership positions with the aim of assisting others in locating their ideal jobs, Jennifer Herrity is an accomplished career services professional. She assists individuals with their job search through one-on-one career coaching, webinars, workshops, articles, and articles on Indeed’s YouTube website that offer career advice.

The hardest part of writing an essay is frequently thought to be the conclusion. They are, nonetheless, one of the most crucial components of a paper because they offer insight and clarity into the subject.

In this article, we’ll go over how to write a conclusion, describe the various kinds of conclusions, explain what to include and what to leave out when writing one, and offer an outline as well as some good and bad concluding paragraph examples.

How do you craft a potent closing statement?

Don’t just restate what was in your paper; instead, give a succinct summary of its main points. Show your reader how the connections between your points, the evidence you provided, and the examples you used fit together. Bring it all together.

This handout will describe the purposes of conclusions, provide tips for writing effective ones, assist you in assessing the conclusions you’ve written, and offer approaches to steer clear of.

It can be challenging to write an introduction and a conclusion, but it is worthwhile. They can significantly affect how readers perceive your paper.

Your conclusion can act as a bridge to assist your readers in returning to their regular lives, just as your introduction serves as a bridge to take them from their own lives into the “place” of your analysis. With such a conclusion, they will be able to understand why all of your research and data should be important to them after they finish reading the paper.

What would be an example of a conclusion statement?

Although there has been much discussion on the subject, it is obvious that democratic leadership is the best style of management for the contemporary workplace.

With 12 years of experience in leadership, recruiting, and career coaching roles with the goal of assisting others in locating their ideal jobs, Jennifer Herrity is an accomplished career services professional. She assists individuals with their job search through one-on-one career coaching, webinars, workshops, articles, and articles on Indeed’s YouTube website that offer career advice.

Many people believe that writing an essay’s conclusion is its most challenging aspect. However, they’re also one of the most crucial components of a paper because they offer insight and clarity into the subject.

How should you format a summary for an interview?

Instead of focusing on highlighting specific viewpoints or anecdotes, pay attention to clearly stating what was discussed in the interview. The summary should not be a transcript of the interviewee’s actual words; rather, it should be a guide to what can be learned from the interview.

Once the interview is complete, you shut off the recorder and bid your interviewee farewell. But the work isn’t done yet; in fact, the hardest work only just began after the interviews.

You’ll need to summarize and, perhaps, transcribe your recordings in order to make them as useful as possible. Brief, chronological lists of the subjects covered and the narratives told make up summaries. They serve as a quick reference for the interview and can be used to review interviewing techniques and identify questions with gaps in answers. You must transcribe the interviews if you intend to use them as written speech, either in full or in excerpts (the summary will help you choose which parts of the interview to use).

It won’t take much longer to write an interview summary than it did to conduct the interview, but it could take up to six times as long to write a transcript of every word said. This will be necessary for some studies, but in the event that it is not, you might want to think about summarizing the interviews first and then only transcribing the portions that you feel are crucial to your research.

What is an illustration of a closing statement?

Conclusion: We would like you to rule in my client’s favor at the conclusion of the case. We would ask for a not guilty verdict because the state has not met its burden of proof. Thanks a lot.

How do you express gratitude at the conclusion of an interview?

Five Best Ways to Express Appreciation After an Interview Send a Thank-You note. Bear in mind names. After Action. dot Be kind. dot. Be ready to reapply for jobs at all times.

Related Articles:

• What Is An Accenture Closing Interview?
• What Are The Closing Interview Questions For A Call Center?
• What Makes A Good Closing Interview Question
• The Army Recruiting Office’S Closing Time
• What Is A Statement Outfit For An Interview?
• How Would You Describe Your Personal Mission Statement In An Interview?

You may also like

What Police Departments Are Hiring Right Now?

Your Career And What It Says About You

How To Dress For U.K. Sorority Recruitment

Add comment, cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Latest publications

Would You Feel Comfortable Giving The Applicant Access To Private Information?

How To Fail A Cooperative Board Interview

Interview About Your Decision To Pursue A Career In Dentistry

Is A Career As A Realtor Good For You?

• Benefits 898
• Finding a job 3634
• Job news 1596
• Work options 4315

Random post

How Can You Hustle inside your Job Search or Career?

For security reasons, we do not recommend using the “Keep me logged in” option on public devices.

This posting is locked only for district employees, in order to apply, you need to provide a password and click "Submit".

Are you sure?

For security reasons, we do not recommend using the “Keep me logged in” option on public devices. Click Continue to move forward with stay logged in.

Reset your password

Is this your email @ ?

Enter email address to retrieve your username and/or reset your password.

Verify Your Email Address

Email verification link sent.

An Email Verification link was sent to the email address . The verification link will expire in 48 hours. Please click on the link in the email you received to continue and complete the verification process.

If you do not see the email in your inbox after approximately 10-15 minutes, check your SPAM/Junk email folder(s) , thank you.

Instructor in Drama/Theatre Part-Time Pool at Ventura County Community College District

Application Deadline

8/8/2021 11:55 PM Pacific

Date Posted

Number of openings, add'l salary info, length of work year, employment type.

Instructor in Drama/Theatre Part-Time Pool

Ventura County Community College District

Job Type: Part-Time Faculty

Job Number: 2020-01632

Location: Districtwide (Ventura County CA), CA

Department: Districtwide

Description

This is a continuous open pool to fill part-time instructor positions at any of our three colleges (Oxnard, Moorpark, and Ventura) for the Summer 2020 , Fall 2020, and Spring 2021 semesters. If you have applied to previous pools in this discipline, you will need to apply to this pool to continue to be considered.

Under the general direction of a dean, an Instructor (Non-Contract/Temporary) provides comprehensive classroom instruction to students from diverse backgrounds for the purpose of facilitating the attainment of their academic or vocational objectives. In accordance with the provisions of Education Code sections 87482.5, Instructors (Non-Contract/Temporary) may be employed up to 67% of a full-time assignment.

Representative Duties

Provide academic instruction to students through lecture, lab, or performance courses; assess and develop cognitive abilities, communication skills, and higher order thinking skills among students through appropriate assignments and activities in one-on-one, classroom, and distance mediated instructional settings. E

Advise and instruct students regarding programs of study, other institutions of higher education, lifelong learning resources, and effective study skills; refer students to support services, programs, resources, and other professionals as appropriate. E

Observe and evaluate student performance in meeting course objectives and student learning outcomes through assignments, projects, discussions, and examinations; provide feedback in a timely manner to student inquiries in class, online, or during established consultation office hours. E

Plan and organize instruction according to approved course outlines and student learning outcomes to maximize student learning in alignment with department, college, and district goals; implement the student performance objectives as listed on the official course outline of record. E

Maintain current, accurate records of course enrollment, attendance, student academic progress, course curriculum, and student learning outcomes; prepare and submit data and reports related to course and student progress in a timely manner. E

Evaluate and select instructional materials such as textbooks, manuals, software, and tools in collaboration, as appropriate, with discipline faculty; order instructional materials according to campus bookstore procedure to ensure timely delivery. E

Revise and update course content and materials of instruction in accordance with new theory, application, and industry developments within the discipline or area of specialization. E

Update syllabi; collaborate with discipline faculty on a regular basis to assess and revise measurable student performance indicators for each course. E

May participate in curriculum and program development; may provide input into the development of student learning outcomes.

May attend and participate on committees and in department, division, campus, and district meetings.

May participate in articulation and matriculation related activities.

May provide work direction to others.

Perform related duties as assigned.

E = Essential duties

Minimum Qualifications

Candidates must possess the minimum qualifications for the discipline as approved by the California Community Colleges Board of Governors and defined in the Minimum Qualifications for Faculty and Administrators in California Community Colleges handbook. The minimum qualifications for this discipline are as follows:

Master's or Master of Fine Arts in drama/theater arts/performance; OR Bachelor's or Bachelor of Fine Arts in drama/theater arts/performance AND Master's in comparative literature, English, communication studies, speech, literature or humanities;

the equivalent*

possession of an appropriate California Community College Credential.

All coursework must be from a recognized accredited college or university.

*APPLICANTS WHO DO NOT MEET THE ABOVE-STATED MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS MUST COMPLETE THE SUPPLEMENTAL QUESTIONNAIRE FOR EQUIVALENCY IN ORDER TO BE CONSIDERED ON THE BASIS OF POSSESSING EQUIVALENT QUALIFICATIONS (EQUIVALENCY). The Supplemental Questionnaire for Equivalency is available on our website at https://www.vcccd.edu/sites/default/files/departments/human-resources/supplemental_questionnaire_for_equivalency_03.05.15_0.pdf https://get.adobe.com/reader/ When completing the form, be sure to explain in detail how your qualifications are equivalent to the required minimum qualifications.

If the title of your degree as stated on your transcripts does not exactly match one of the degree titles listed in the minimum qualifications, you must complete the Supplemental Questionnaire for Equivalency. Do not assume that you do not need to submit a Supplemental Questionnaire for Equivalency because your degree is similar to a degree stated in the minimum qualifications. DEGREE TITLES THAT ARE NOT AN EXACT MATCH WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED OUTSIDE OF THE EQUIVALENCY PROCESS.

For further details regarding equivalency and the criteria by which equivalency may be granted, please click on the following link: http://www.boarddocs.com/ca/vcccd/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=83LDBP0DD9E5.

Supplemental Information

SALARY RANGE:

Part-time classroom faculty are paid between $ 1,718 and $ 2,919 per semester per .1 load. Placement on the salary schedule is based on education and experience. Faculty may be assigned any combination of lecture, lab or lecture/lab classes. Following is an example of a 3 unit class:

3 hour per week lecture = .2 load

3 hour per week lecture/lab = .15 load

3 hour per week lab = .1333 load (Except for those listed on Appendix F of the VCCCD/AFT Contract calculated at 75% of regular load.)

STARTING SALARY:

Part-time classroom faculty receive between $ 1,718 and $ 2,489 starting pay per semester per 10% load. Part-time faculty salaries are governed by the collective bargaining agreement between the VENTURA COUNTY FEDERATION OF COLLEGE TEACHERS, AFT, LOCAL 1828, AFL-CIO and the VENTURA COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT. To review the contract, go to: http://vcccd-district.production-preview.com/departments/human-resources/collective-bargaining-agreements/american-federation-teachers-local.

Please be aware that we will require verification of all part-time teaching experience for which you wish to receive credit toward placement on the salary schedule. You will have 30 days to provide verification upon receipt of the offer of employment. Verification must come from the human resources department and state the percentage of full-time-equivalent assignment you worked during the specified time period.

For more information about how salaries are determined for part-time faculty assignments, please click on the following link: http://vcccd-district.production-preview.com/sites/default/files/departments/human-resources/part-time_faculty_salary_explanation_fy19_07.01.18_0.pdf https://get.adobe.com/reader/

APPLICATION PROCEDURE:

If you need assistance using the online application system please contact the GovernmentJobs.com applicant support line at (855) 524-5627 between the hours of 6 AM to 5 PM, Pacific Time, Monday through Friday.

All applicants, including previous and current VCCCD employees, must submit the following documents with their application in order to be considered. Please be aware that the hiring committee will NOT have access to materials kept in District personnel files, such as transcripts, and such materials will not be considered unless they are included in your application packet. All required documents must be submitted by the applicant. Failure to submit these materials may result in disqualification.

1. Letter of Application : The letter of application must A) include the date, your name, and the position and locations for which you are applying, B) address your sensitivity to and understanding of the diverse academic, social, economic, cultural, disability, and ethnic backgrounds of community college students, and C) provide the screening committee with an understanding of how you will contribute as a fully participating member of the VCCCD community.

3.Letters of recommendation (recommended, not required): If you choose to submit letters of recommendation, they should be uploaded with your application materials.

4.Supplemental Questionnaire for Equivalency (if applicable): see minimum qualifications above.

5.Complete official or unofficial college/university transcripts: must demonstrate attainment of minimum qualifications. Transcripts must show the degree title and the date the degree was conferred or the degree will not be considered for the purpose of determining if you meet minimum qualifications. Diplomas will not be accepted in lieu of transcripts. If the qualifying degree has yet to be conferred and you expect to have the degree before you begin employment, you must submit transcripts that state the title of the degree you are working toward obtaining and indicate the anticipated completion date in your response to the associated supplemental question provided during the application process. An official copy of your transcripts will be required upon being hired. Instructors will not be allowed to start working until official transcripts have been received.

NOTE: If you have completed coursework at a foreign institution that is not recognized as accredited by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) or the U.S. Department of Education, you must include a full evaluation of the foreign transcript with your application materials if you wish for us to consider the coursework. To search for institutions that are recognized as accredited by CHEA or the U.S. Department of Education, visit http://www.chea.org/4dcgi/chea/search/index.html?MenuKey=main or http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/search.aspx. For a list of VCCCD-recognized organizations providing transcript evaluation services, visit http://www.naces.org/members

SELECTION PROCESS:

A screening committee will review and screen all applications and associated materials. The candidates deemed most qualified for the position will be invited to an interview. When completing the application and the supplemental questions, it is important to outline in detail your education, training (classes, seminars, workshops), and experience. You will be evaluated based upon the information provided.

Individuals with disabilities requiring reasonable accommodation in the selection process must inform the Ventura County Community College District Human Resources Department in writing no later than the filing date stated on the announcement. Those applicants needing such accommodations should document this request including an explanation as to the type and extent of accommodation needed to participate in the selection process.

To apply, please visit https://apptrkr.com/1982699

jeid-e1c9790a2ea2f044aebc1d87bc199bab

Copyright ©2017 Jobelephant.com Inc. All rights reserved.

https://www.jobelephant.com/  

Requirements / Qualifications

Calstrs links.

• CalSTRS Info for New Educators

Session Expiring Warning

For your safety and protection, your session is about to expire. If you wish to continue your session, please click OK .

"Build me straight, O worthy Master! Stanch and strong, a goodly vessel, That shall laugh at all disaster, And with wave and whirlwind wrestle!" The merchant's word Delighted the Master heard; For his heart was in his work, and the heart Giveth grace unto every Art. A quiet smile played round his lips, As the eddies and dimples of the tide Play round the bows of ships, That steadily at anchor ride. And with a voice that was full of glee, He answered, "Erelong we will launch A vessel as goodly, and strong, and stanch, As ever weathered a wintry sea!" And first with nicest skill and art, Perfect and finished in every part, A little model the Master wrought, Which should be to the larger plan What the child is to the man, Its counterpart in miniature; That with a hand more swift and sure The greater labor might be brought To answer to his inward thought. And as he labored, his mind ran o'er The various ships that were built of yore, And above them all, and strangest of all Towered the Great Harry, crank and tall, Whose picture was hanging on the wall, With bows and stern raised high in air, And balconies hanging here and there, And signal lanterns and flags afloat, And eight round towers, like those that frown From some old castle, looking down Upon the drawbridge and the moat. And he said with a smile, "Our ship, I wis, Shall be of another form than this!" It was of another form, indeed; Built for freight, and yet for speed, A beautiful and gallant craft; Broad in the beam, that the stress of the blast, Pressing down upon sail and mast, Might not the sharp bows overwhelm; Broad in the beam, but sloping aft With graceful curve and slow degrees, That she might be docile to the helm, And that the currents of parted seas, Closing behind, with mighty force, Might aid and not impede her course. In the ship-yard stood the Master, With the model of the vessel, That should laugh at all disaster, And with wave and whirlwind wrestle! Covering many a rood of ground, Lay the timber piled around; Timber of chestnut, and elm, and oak, And scattered here and there, with these, The knarred and crooked cedar knees; Brought from regions far away, From Pascagoula's sunny bay, And the banks of the roaring Roanoke! Ah! what a wondrous thing it is To note how many wheels of toil One thought, one word, can set in motion! There's not a ship that sails the ocean, But every climate, every soil, Must bring its tribute, great or small, And help to build the wooden wall! The sun was rising o'er the sea, And long the level shadows lay, As if they, too, the beams would be Of some great, airy argosy. Framed and launched in a single day. That silent architect, the sun, Had hewn and laid them every one, Ere the work of man was yet begun. Beside the Master, when he spoke, A youth, against an anchor leaning, Listened, to catch his slightest meaning. Only the long waves, as they broke In ripples on the pebbly beach, Interrupted the old man's speech. Beautiful they were, in sooth, The old man and the fiery youth! The old man, in whose busy brain Many a ship that sailed the main Was modelled o'er and o'er again;-- The fiery youth, who was to be the heir of his dexterity, The heir of his house, and his daughter's hand, When he had built and launched from land What the elder head had planned. ... Thus with the rising of the sun Was the noble task begun And soon throughout the ship-yard's bounds Were heard the intermingled sounds Of axes and of mallets, plied With vigorous arms on every side; Plied so deftly and so well, That, ere the shadows of evening fell, The keel of oak for a noble ship, Scarfed and bolted, straight and strong Was lying ready, and stretched along The blocks, well placed upon the slip. Happy, thrice happy, every one Who sees his labor well begun, And not perplexed and multiplied, By idly waiting for time and tide! And when the hot, long day was o'er, The young man at the Master's door Sat with the maiden calm and still, And within the porch, a little more Removed beyond the evening chill, The father sat, and told them tales Of wrecks in the great September gales, Of pirates coasting the Spanish Main, And ships that never came back again, The chance and change of a sailor's life, Want and plenty, rest and strife, His roving fancy, like the wind, That nothing can stay and nothing can bind, And the magic charm of foreign lands, With shadows of palms, and shining sands, Where the tumbling surf, O'er the coral reefs of Madagascar, Washes the feet of the swarthy Lascar, As he lies alone and asleep on the turf. And the trembling maiden held her breath At the tales of that awful, pitiless sea, With all its terror and mystery, The dim, dark sea, so like unto Death, That divides and yet unites mankind! And whenever the old man paused, a gleam From the bowl of his pipe would awhile illume The silent group in the twilight gloom, And thoughtful faces, as in a dream; And for a moment one might mark What had been hidden by the dark, That the head of the maiden lay at rest, Tenderly, on the young man's breast! (The Building of the Ship, Longfellow) - what does it mean "frown" as in "And eight round towers, like those that frown / From some old castle"? because afaik it is a facial expression, i do not know how towers can do that. - what is "broad in the beam"? and what does it mean "might not the sharp bows overwhelm"? - how to understand this "As if they, too, the beams would be / Of some great, airy argosy. / Framed and launched in a single day"? and especially: what is "framed and launched"? i think for "launched" it means this ship is ready to use, ready to sail on sea. but what is framed? and "beams would be airy argosy" what does it mean? - "That silent architect, the sun, / Had hewn and laid them every one", the architect is the sun, i get this. and hewn means "to chop down". what is "them" here? from the word "hewn" and "laid" i think it might mean the woods, timbers, but how did the sun hew and lay timbers? - what is to "sail the main" as in "Many a ship that sailed the main"? i especially do not understand the "main" here. - what does "slip" look like? - what is "scarfed and bolted"? - what does it mean "a little more removed beyond the evening chill"?

• Report copyright infringement

You're right that frown is a facial expression. However imagine the towers sloping downwards, like a frowning face, looking sad etc. It's a bit of creative wordplay. "Broad in the beam" means the beams are broad. The beams here would be a wooden beam, part of a ship. Probably the sails I'd imagine. You can use this formulation for things like "He was broad in the shoulders." It's like "He had broad shoulders" but a more interesting way to say it that emphasizes the phrase. "Soft in the head" Aka you're stupid. Kind of a rare formulation though. You can only use it with specific adjective+noun combinations. To understand "Might not the sharp bows overwhelm" you have to look at the whole sentence: "Broad in the beam, that the stress of the blast, Pressing down upon sail and mast, Might not the sharp bows overwhelm" To reword this: "The beams are broad, so that the stress of the (wind/wave's) blast pressing down on the sail and mast doesn't overwhelm the sharp bows." The bow is the front of the ship, so I guess they mean so the waves and wind won't sink the ship. For your next two questions, again we need to look at the whole stanza. "The sun was rising o'er the sea, And long the level shadows lay, As if they, too, the beams would be Of some great, airy argosy. Framed and launched in a single day. That silent architect, the sun, Had hewn and laid them every one, Ere the work of man was yet begun." This entire stanza is a metaphor. It is saying that the long shadows that the sun is casting at sunrise in the morning looked like the long masts and sails of an "argosy". There's a double entendre here, because beams can be both wooden beams but also sun beams. So it then goes on to talk about how the sun is the architect that is building this "ship" of long shadows. The sun completes (framed=build the frame) this ship in a single day, because that's how long the shadows will last, and it starts "ere" (before) humans start working, since it starts right at sunrise. "airy" here means elegant and graceful. An airy argosy is an elegant ship. "sail the main" simply means "sail the main sail" or "open their main sail". A "slip" in the context of boats is just the place on the dock where the boat is parked/tied up. Scarf: join the ends of (two pieces of timber or metal) by bevelling or notching them so that they fit over or into each other. Bolt: bolt two or more things together. The keel is bolted and joined together. "And within the porch, a little more Removed beyond the evening chill, The father sat..." Removed here just means away from, or distant. It's another definition of "removed". So the father was a little bit away from the cold and wind by sitting on the porch. A few other examples: - The king was far removed from the war in his castle. - I've always felt a bit removed from my heritage because my parents left their home country. Hopefully that helps! Let me know if you have any questions.

• 您为什么回答“嗯...”？
• 您的反馈不会向其他用户显示。

There’s lots of boat terms in this! Which is helpful for English, because a bunch of these carry over into normal conversation. I did my best! “Like those that frown from some old castle looking down” —> you’re right, frowning is a facial expression. This poem has lots of “personification,” which is when you give inanimate objects human attributes. Imagine someone frowning at you. They are tall and intimidating, like your father when you were a child, and they have to look down at you. “Frowning down at someone” is an action that is intimidating to receive, and the one frowning down is in a place of superiority. Sometimes, very tall buildings (or towers) can feel this way, intimidating and larger than you, a small human. “Broad in the beam” —> the beam of the ship is how wide it is left to right. Broad means large sideways, wide. It’s a fancy sailing term for “wide, broad.” It’s also used for people who are very strong and wide, like a construction worker or linebacker. “Might not the sharp bows overwhelm” —> the bow of the ship is the front. I don’t know why this is plural, as far as I know a ship only has one bow. But, this it talking about how “the stress of the blast” as in the blasting wind; the ship is broad enough to handle strong winds, without dipping the bow into the water. “Beams would be airy argosy” —> in Shakespeare’s time, there was a prominent country in the Mediterranean called Dubrovnik. They were well known for their big, strong ships that could withstand any sea. Dubrovnik used to be called Ragusa, and Argosy was a distortion of that. The Dubrovnik ships were very recognizable and admired, so eventually any big, wide, merchant ship was called an Argosy. Ships of the time were powered by wind, so even though they’re in the water, ships are often considered “airy” or “windy.” “Framed and launched” —> the curved bottom edge of a ship is called the keel (the breastbone of a bird is also called the keel, btw! Because it looks like a boat keel). The frame of a boat is attached to the keel, like ribs attached to a spine. Framing is an important step in building a ship, and takes a lot of time. Launching a ship also only happens after a long time, so framing and launching in a single day is a big exaggeration, to emphasize “something imagined, that couldn’t actually happen.” “As if they, too, the beams would be/ of some great, airy argosy. Framed and launched in a single day.” —> when the sun is low, rising or setting, shadows get very long. These long shadows can look like the shadows of great trees, or a long ship beams. It’s drawing a similarity between the shadows and beams, as if you could turn the shadows into a boat too. “That silent architect, the sun,/ had hewn and laid them every one” —> the sun is laying the “shadow timbers” from the previous sentence, since the sun creates and affects shadows like men create and affect the timbers and the ships. “Sail the main” —> the main sail is the most important sail on a ship, it gives the most propulsion. When you sail the main, you’re using the main sail, to sail the ship. “Scarfed and bolted” —> because the keel of a large ship like this is so long, you need to put several timbers together to make them longer. A scarf/scarph joint is a strong woodworking joint. It looks like lightning from the side, and is held together with bolts. “Slip” —> a slip, or slipway, is a boat ramp. When a newly built ship is launched, they will grease the bottom and lay it on logs or something that can roll or skid. Then they’ll slide, skid, or “slip” the boat into the water. “A little more removed beyond the evening chill” —> the son and daughter are by the door, in the shadows. The father and his group are farther into the warm room. They’re farther away from the chill of the night, literally “more removed.”

• What does "That" mean in the following sentence? “The Secret to Results That Last”
• In many English speaking countries, at what age do people call someone a senior citizen? I thin...
• What’s the difference between 1 to 3? 1) Poisons the target 2) Makes the target poisoned 3) Cau...
• My friend called me, and I ended the call. Can I message him and say, "I will call you back later"?
• Does this dialogue sound natural? M: The Golden Week is over, huh. W: Yeah, it went by in a fla...
• "这个项目怎么样？太难了吗？" “今天天气怎么样？太冷了吗？” 都听起来自然吗？
• 这段老师说语言表达存在问题，但是我真的不知道怎么改了，麻烦你帮我检查一下。 自古以来，汉语借词的现象在泰语中占有重要的地位。本研究主要介绍了泰语中潮州话借词的概况，探讨了这些借词的语义变化、借...
• 把门开着 把头抬着 这样的表达在语法上是对的吗
• 苜蓿，三叶草，车轴草 difference
• ⭕️我在学校在学习中文 私は学校で中国語を勉強している 文章の中で在を2回使ってますが、文章と意味はあってますか？ 解説をお願いします。
• “他们对他感到不满”这个“对某人感到不满”还有哪些比较口语的表达方式？
• 你能好好改写一下吗？ 我们学校有很多课外活动小组，每个小组都有一位老师铺导，同学们可以按照自己的兴趣报名参加。今天，我报名参加了合唱队，第一次参加了合唱队的活动。辅导老师说我的声音很好，可是...
• 你能用另一种方式很好地解释一下吗？ 人们常问我，为什么不把钱存在银行里。我是怎样想的呢？我现在身体还不错，没什么大病，我要多尝些没尝过的东西，多去些好玩的地方看看。要是等老得走不动了，牙也掉光...
• 能好好解释一下吗？ 周末怎么过？每个人都不一样。有的人喜欢全家团聚，大家一起做些好吃的饭菜，聊聊一周来的新用；有的人喜欢出去玩儿，爬爬山、钓钓鱼什么的；年轻人都忙着约会；有些做父母的为了培养教...
• Reckon (add an example of how should be used this word pls!) 是什么意思？
• Ambiguous? "“In many ways, it’s the oldest question in advertising: how to get attention,” an ...

这个语言水平的标志表示您有兴趣的语言的水平。如果设置您的语言水平，其他用户会参照您的语言水平来对您的提问进行回答。

使用这个语言回答可能无法被理解

可以提出简单的问题并且理解比较简单的回答内容

可以提出各种一般性的问题并且理解较长的回答

可以理解长而且复杂的回答

比起点赞和贴图更能体现您的感激之情

赠送礼物会让你更容易收到回答！

如果你在赠送礼物之后提问， 你的问题将出现在对方的问题列表的显著位置。

用这个应用程序轻易解决问题！

• 在4500万个登记答案中找到你想要的答案！
• 搜索答案是可享受自动翻译服务！

• "Build me straight, O w...

Closing Statement Template

I’m looking forward to hearing feedback, and don’t hesitate. Web real estate closing statement form template. In this article, we discuss what closing interview statements, explain why they're important, provide a list of 10 strong closing statements to make during an interview and share. Web download this closing statement template design in excel, google sheets format. Web you can use the following advice to build a template for your closing statements.

It illustrates most of the points. Our students do not write closing briefs so the only time. Web how to draft a persuasive closing argument in five easy steps. “thanks for calling and if you have any additional questions, please call us again.”. It was great meeting with you, !

Web in opening and closing statements. The opening statement is also an opportunity to introduce the themes of the case. Web you can use the following advice to build a template for your closing statements. I believe we have, through our. “thanks for calling [company name].

Real Estate Closing Statement Template Google Docs, Word

Seal the deal confidently with template.net's. The opening statement is also an opportunity to introduce the themes of the case. “thanks for calling [company name]. Overwhelmed by the task of writing a persuasive closing argument?.

FREE 7+ Sample Closing Statement Templates in MS Word PDF

Seal the deal confidently with template.net's. It illustrates most of the points. Web § 9.02 example of a closing argument the following example should give you a feeling for the scope and structure of a.

FREE 14+ Closing Statement Forms in PDF MS Word

In this article, we discuss what closing interview statements, explain why they're important, provide a list of 10 strong closing statements to make during an interview and share. Court client closing statement form. Web how.

Wondering how to close an email? Learn how to write mock trial opening and closing statements. Web § 9.02 example of a closing argument the following example should give you a feeling for the scope.

I believe we have, through our. 10 tips for effective opening and closing arguments. Web download this closing statement template design in excel, google sheets format. Web revised on april 13, 2023. Seal the deal.

Closing Statement Template Form Fill Out and Sign Printable PDF

The attorney reiterates the important arguments, summarizes what. The conclusion of a research paper is where you wrap up your ideas and leave the reader with a strong final impression. Overwhelmed by the task of.

Real Estate Closing Statement Real Estate Closing Document

Web you can use the following advice to build a template for your closing statements. The closing statement is the attorney’s final statement to the jury before deliberation begins. “thanks for calling [company name]. I.

Closing Costs to Buy or Sell Property in Park City, Utah [Samples]

“thank you for your time. Here are outlines on how you can properly formulate an opening. Web how to end a phone call: Wondering how to close an email? Our students do not write closing.

Statement Template 102 Free Templates in PDF, Word, Excel Download

The attorney reiterates the important arguments, summarizes what. Jurors in 2021 need a complete presentation. Opening and closing statements are the bookends of your trial, and offer a chance to tell your client’s story,. Web.

Closing Statement 9+ Examples, Format, Pdf Examples

It illustrates most of the points. Seal the deal confidently with template.net's. Web you can use the following advice to build a template for your closing statements. “thank you for your time. He indicated that.

10 tips for effective opening and closing arguments. Web real estate closing statement form template. Here are outlines on how you can properly formulate an opening. Web how to draft a persuasive closing argument in five easy steps. Jurors in 2021 need a complete presentation. Web revised on april 13, 2023. Web you can use the following advice to build a template for your closing statements. The closing statement you make can help you make a lasting impression on the hiring manager and separate you from other candidates. He indicated that he thought the proper place for such awards was in closing briefs. Seal the deal confidently with template.net's. Web map to help them follow along. This blog post features 40 email ending examples. I’m looking forward to hearing feedback, and don’t hesitate. “thank you for your time. Web § 9.02 example of a closing argument the following example should give you a feeling for the scope and structure of a closing argument.

Related Post:

• Personnel Action Form Template
• Interview Questions To Ask Template
• Barbie Mugshot Template
• Board Of Directors List Template
• Cover Letter Template For Journal Submission
• 6x9 Book Template
• Transcript Template Free
• Akira Leave Me Alone Template
• Black And Gold Invitation Template
• T Shirt Design Template Front And Back

Most Popular

Weekly Priorities Template

Yoda Snowflake Template

Medical Necessity Letter Template

Pumpkin Carving Witch Templates

Mario Papercraft Templates

New Jeans Id Card Template

Rescinding Offer Letter Template

Letter Of Instruction Upon Death Template

Safety Handbook Template

Red And Black Powerpoint Template

• Privacy-Policy

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013 ) was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary , politician , and philanthropist , who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black chief executive, and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid through tackling institutionalised racism and fostering racial reconciliation . Politically an African nationalist and democratic socialist , he served as President of the African National Congress (ANC) party from 1991 to 1997. He was the co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize with F.W. de Klerk in 1993.

• 1.1.1 First court statement (1962)
• 1.1.2 I am Prepared to Die (1964)
• 1.4.1 Our March to Freedom is Irreversible (1990)
• 1.4.2 Speech at a Rally in Cuba (1991)
• 1.4.3 Speech at the Zionist Christian Church Easter Conference (1992)
• 1.4.4 Nobel Prize acceptance speech (1993)
• 1.4.5 Victory speech (1994)
• 1.4.6 Inaugural speech (1994)
• 1.4.7 Inaugural celebration address (1994)
• 1.4.8 Speech at the Zionist Christian Church Easter Conference (1994)
• 1.4.9 Long Walk to Freedom (1995)
• 1.4.10 The International Day Of Solidarity With The Palestinian People (1997)
• 1.5.1 The Sacred Warrior (2000)
• 1.5.2 Newsweek interview (2002)
• 1.5.3 Iraq War speech (2003)
• 2 Attributed
• 4 Misattributed
• 5.1 "Mandela and the Kingdom Come", June Jordan
• 5.2 Eulogy by Barack Obama
• 6 External links

Quotes [ edit ]

1960s [ edit ].

• Interview (1961)

• On a 1961 conference held in Ethiopia, as quoted in Rivonia Unmasked (1965) by Strydom Lautz, p. 108; also in ‪Rolihlahla Dalibhunga Nelson Mandela : An Ecological Study‬ (2002), by J. C. Buthelezi, p. 172

First court statement (1962) [ edit ]

• In its proper meaning equality before the law means the right to participate in the making of the laws by which one is governed, a constitution which guarantees democratic rights to all sections of the population, the right to approach the court for protection or relief in the case of the violation of rights guaranteed in the constitution, and the right to take part in the administration of justice as judges, magistrates, attorneys-general, law advisers and similar positions. In the absence of these safeguards the phrase 'equality before the law', in so far as it is intended to apply to us, is meaningless and misleading. All the rights and privileges to which I have referred are monopolized by whites, and we enjoy none of them. The white man makes all the laws, he drags us before his courts and accuses us, and he sits in judgement over us.
• It is fit and proper to raise the question sharply, what is this rigid color-bar in the administration of justice? Why is it that in this courtroom I face a white magistrate, am confronted by a white prosecutor, and escorted into the dock by a white orderly? Can anyone honestly and seriously suggest that in this type of atmosphere the scales of justice are evenly balanced? Why is it that no African in the history of this country has ever had the honor of being tried by his own kith and kin, by his own flesh and blood? I will tell Your Worship why: the real purpose of this rigid color-bar is to ensure that the justice dispensed by the courts should conform to the policy of the country, however much that policy might be in conflict with the norms of justice accepted in judiciaries throughout the civilised world.
• I hate race discrimination most intensely and in all its manifestations. I have fought it all during my life ; I fight it now , and will do so until the end of my days. Even although I now happen to be tried by one whose opinion I hold in high esteem, I detest most violently the set-up that surrounds me here. It makes me feel that I am a black man in a white man's court. This should not be.

I am Prepared to Die (1964) [ edit ]

• I must deal immediately and at some length with the question of violence. Some of the things so far told to the Court are true and some are untrue. I do not, however, deny that I planned sabotage. I did not plan it in a spirit of recklessness, nor because I have any love of violence. I planned it as a result of a calm and sober assessment of the political situation that had arisen after many years of tyranny, exploitation, and oppression of my people by the Whites.
• I have already mentioned that I was one of the persons who helped to form Umkhonto . I, and the others who started the organization, did so for two reasons. Firstly, we believed that as a result of Government policy, violence by the African people had become inevitable, and that unless responsible leadership was given to canalize and control the feelings of our people, there would be outbreaks of terrorism which would produce an intensity of bitterness and hostility between the various races of this country which is not produced even by war. Secondly, we felt that without violence there would be no way open to the African people to succeed in their struggle against the principle of white supremacy. All lawful modes of expressing opposition to this principle had been closed by legislation, and we were placed in a position in which we had either to accept a permanent state of inferiority, or to defy the Government. We chose to defy the law. We first broke the law in a way which avoided any recourse to violence; when this form was legislated against, and then the Government resorted to a show of force to crush opposition to its policies, only then did we decide to answer violence with violence...
• But the violence which we chose to adopt was not terrorism. We who formed Umkhonto were all members of the African National Congress, and had behind us the ANC tradition of non-violence and negotiation as a means of solving political disputes. We believe that South Africa belongs to all the people who live in it, and not to one group, be it black or white. We did not want an interracial war, and tried to avoid it to the last minute. If the Court is in doubt about this, it will be seen that the whole history of our organization bears out what I have said, and what I will subsequently say, when I describe the tactics which Umkhonto decided to adopt.
• During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons will live together in harmony and with equal opportunities . It is an ideal which I hope to live for. But, my lord, if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.
• The ANC has never at any period of its history advocated a revolutionary change in the economic structure of the country, nor has it, to the best of my recollection, ever condemned capitalist society.

1970s [ edit ]

• Nelson Mandela on challenges, Letter to Winnie Mandela (1 February 1975), written on Robben Island. Source: From Nelson Mandela By Himself: The Authorised Book of Quotations © 2010 by Nelson R. Mandela and The Nelson Mandela Foundation
• Nelson Mandela on friendship, From his unpublished autobiographical manuscript written in 1975. Source: From Nelson Mandela By Himself: The Authorised Book of Quotations © 2010 by Nelson R. Mandela and The Nelson Mandela Foundation
• Nelson Mandela on equaliy, From a letter to General Du Preez, Commissioner of Prisons, Written on Robben Island, Cape Town, South Africa (12 July 1976). Source: From Nelson Mandela By Himself: The Authorised Book of Quotations © 2010 by Nelson R. Mandela and The Nelson Mandela Foundation

1980s [ edit ]

• Refusing to bargain for freedom after 21 years in prison, as quoted in TIME (25 February 1985)
• "How to be a good Communist", United States Congressional Serial Set, Edition 13677 , (1986), p. 37
• Quoted in: Kabir, Hajara Muhammad (2010). Northern women development. [Nigeria]. ISBN 978-978-906-469-4 . OCLC 890820657.

1990s [ edit ]

• Speech on the day of his release, Cape Town (11 February 1990)
• Interview with Gavin Evans, Soweto (15 February 1990) recounted in COVID-19 lockdown: Can you do Nelson Mandela's Robben Island prison cell workout? , 7 April 2020
• Speech to a Rally, Durban (25 February 1990); Republished in: J. C. Buthelezi. Rolihlahla Dalibhunga Nelson Mandela: An Ecological Study , (2002), p. 340
• Speech, Madison Park High School, Boston, 23 June 1990; Partly cited in Remembering Nelson Mandela's Visit To Roxbury at wgbhnews.org, December 5, 2013; and partly cited in " Nelson Mandela’s 1990 visit left lasting impression " by Peter Schworm on bostonglobe.com, December 7, 2013
• As quoted in The Sunday Star (29 November 1991), South Africa
• Nelson Mandela on time, From a conversation with Richard Stangel (3 May 1993). Source: From Nelson Mandela By Himself: The Authorised Book of Quotations © 2010 by Nelson R. Mandela and The Nelson Mandela Foundation
• On death, in an interview for the documentary Mandela (1994). Source: From Nelson Mandela By Himself: The Authorised Book of Quotations © 2010 by Nelson R. Mandela and The Nelson Mandela Foundation
• Nelson Mandela on ideology, Robben Island, Cape Town, South Africa (11 February 1994). Source: From Nelson Mandela By Himself: The Authorised Book of Quotations © 2010 by Nelson R. Mandela and The Nelson Mandela Foundation
• Nelson Mandela on freedom of expression , At the international press institute congress (14 February 1994). Source: From Nelson Mandela By Himself: The Authorised Book of Quotations © 2010 by Nelson R. Mandela and The Nelson Mandela Foundation
• Nelson Mandela on character, Foreign Correspondent's Association's Annual Dinner, Johannesburg, South Africa (21 November 1997). Source: From Nelson Mandela By Himself: The Authorised Book of Quotations © 2010 by Nelson R. Mandela and The Nelson Mandela Foundation
• Address at The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People (4 December 1997)
• Nelson Mandela on leadership, Chief Albert Luthuli Centenary celebrations, Kwadukuza, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa (25 April 1998). Source: From Nelson Mandela By Himself: The Authorised Book of Quotations © 2010 by Nelson R. Mandela and The Nelson Mandela Foundation
• India is Gandhi's country of birth; South Africa his country of adoption. He was both an Indian and a South African citizen. Both countries contributed to his intellectual and moral genius, and he shaped the liberatory movements in both colonial theaters. He is the archetypal anticolonial revolutionary. His strategy of noncooperation, his assertion that we can be dominated only if we cooperate with our dominators, and his nonviolent resistance inspired anticolonial and antiracist movements internationally in our century.
• "The Sacred Warrior" , Time , December 31, 1999.

Our March to Freedom is Irreversible (1990) [ edit ]

• Friends, Comrades and fellow South Africans. I greet you all in the name of peace, democracy and freedom for all. I stand here before you not as a prophet but as a humble servant of you, the people. Your tireless and heroic sacrifices have made it possible for me to be here today. I therefore place the remaining years of my life in your hands.
• The majority of South Africans, black and white, recognize that apartheid has no future. It has to be ended by our own decisive mass action in order to build peace and security. The mass campaign of defiance and other actions of our organization and people can only culminate in the establishment of democracy.
• There must be an end to white monopoly on political power, and a fundamental restructuring of our political and economic systems to ensure that the inequalities of apartheid are addressed and our society thoroughly democratized.
• Our march to freedom is irreversible. We must not allow fear to stand in our way. Universal suffrage on a common voters' roll in a united, democratic and non-racial South Africa is the only way to peace and racial harmony.

Speech at a Rally in Cuba (1991) [ edit ]

• We have long wanted to visit your country and express the many feelings that we have about the Cuban revolution, about the role of Cuba in Africa, southern Africa, and the world. The Cuban people hold a special place in the hearts of the people of Africa. The Cuban internationalists have made a contribution to African independence, freedom, and justice, unparalleled for its principled and selfless character.
• We admire the achievements of the Cuban revolution in the sphere of social welfare. We note the transformation from a country of imposed backwardness to universal literacy. We acknowledge your advances in the fields of health, education, and science.
• We too are also inspired by the life and example of Jose Marti , who is not only a Cuban and Latin American hero but justly honoured by all who struggle to be free.
• We also honour the great Che Guevara , whose revolutionary exploits, including on our own continent, were too powerful for any prison censors to hide from us. The life of Che is an inspiration to all human beings who cherish freedom. We will always honour his memory.
• I must say that when we wanted to take up arms we approached numerous Western governments for assistance and we were never able to see any but the most junior ministers. When we visited Cuba we were received by the highest officials and were immediately offered whatever we wanted and needed. That was our earliest experience with Cuban internationalism.
• Long live the Cuban revolution! Long live Comrade Fidel Castro !

Speech at the Zionist Christian Church Easter Conference (1992) [ edit ]

• At his speech in Moria, on 20 April 1992.
• Also quoted in Nelson Mandela: from freedom to the future: tributes and speeches' (2003), edited by ‎Kader Asmal & ‎David Chidester. Jonathan Ball, p. 332

Nobel Prize acceptance speech (1993) [ edit ]

• Together, we join two distinguished South Africans, the late Chief Albert Lutuli and His Grace Archbishop Desmond Tutu , to whose seminal contributions to the peaceful struggle against the evil system of apartheid you paid well-deserved tribute by awarding them the Nobel Peace Prize. It will not be presumptuous of us if we also add, among our predecessors, the name of another outstanding Nobel Peace Prize winner, the late Rev Martin Luther King Jr . He, too, grappled with and died in the effort to make a contribution to the just solution of the same great issues of the day which we have had to face as South Africans. We speak here of the challenge of the dichotomies of war and peace, violence and non-violence, racism and human dignity, oppression and repression and liberty and human rights, poverty and freedom from want.
• We stand here today as nothing more than a representative of the millions of our people who dared to rise up against a social system whose very essence is war, violence, racism, oppression, repression and the impoverishment of an entire people.
• I am also here today as a representative of the millions of people across the globe, the anti-apartheid movement, the governments and organisations that joined with us, not to fight against South Africa as a country or any of its peoples, but to oppose an inhuman system and sue for a speedy end to the apartheid crime against humanity. These countless human beings, both inside and outside our country, had the nobility of spirit to stand in the path of tyranny and injustice, without seeking selfish gain. They recognised that an injury to one is an injury to all and therefore acted together in defense of justice and a common human decency.
• Because of their courage and persistence for many years, we can, today, even set the dates when all humanity will join together to celebrate one of the outstanding human victories of our century. When that moment comes, we shall, together, rejoice in a common victory over racism, apartheid and white minority rule.

Victory speech (1994) [ edit ]

• My fellow South Africans — the people of South Africa: This is indeed a joyous night. Although not yet final, we have received the provisional results of the election, and are delighted by the overwhelming support for the African National Congress. To all those in the African National Congress and the democratic movement who worked so hard these last few days and through these many decades, I thank you and honour you. To the people of South Africa and the world who are watching: this a joyous night for the human spirit. This is your victory too. You helped end apartheid, you stood with us through the transition.
• I watched, along with all of you, as the tens of thousands of our people stood patiently in long queues for many hours. Some sleeping on the open ground overnight waiting to cast this momentous vote.
• This is one of the most important moments in the life of our country. I stand here before you filled with deep pride and joy: — pride in the ordinary, humble people of this country. You have shown such a calm, patient determination to reclaim this country as your own, - and joy that we can loudly proclaim from the rooftops — free at last!
• Tomorrow, the entire ANC leadership and I will be back at our desks. We are rolling up our sleeves to begin tackling the problems our country faces. We ask you all to join us — go back to your jobs in the morning. Let's get South Africa working. For we must, together and without delay, begin to build a better life for all South Africans. This means creating jobs building houses, providing education and bringing peace and security for all.
• The calm and tolerant atmosphere that prevailed during the elections depicts the type of South Africa we can build. It set the tone for the future. We might have our differences, but we are one people with a common destiny in our rich variety of culture, race and tradition. People have voted for the party of their choice and we respect that. This is democracy. I hold out a hand of friendship to the leaders of all parties and their members, and ask all of them to join us in working together to tackle the problems we face as a nation. An ANC government will serve all the people of South Africa, not just ANC members.
• Now is the time for celebration, for South Africans to join together to celebrate the birth of democracy. I raise a glass to you all for working so hard to achieve what can only be called a small miracle. Let our celebrations be in keeping with the mood set in the elections, peaceful, respectful and disciplined, showing we are a people ready to assume the responsibilities of government. I promise that I will do my best to be worthy of the faith and confidence you have placed in me and my organisation, the African National Congress. Let us build the future together, and toast a better life for all South Africans.

Inaugural speech (1994) [ edit ]

• Today we are entering a new era for our country and its people. Today we celebrate not the victory of a party, but a victory for all the people of South Africa. Our country has arrived at a decision. Among all the parties that contested the elections, the overwhelming majority of South Africans have mandated the African National Congress to lead our country into the future. The South Africa we have struggled for, in which all our people, be they African, Coloured, Indian or White, regard themselves as citizens of one nation is at hand.
• Perhaps it was history that ordained that it be here, at the Cape of Good Hope that we should lay the foundation stone of our new nation. For it was here at this Cape, over three centuries ago, that there began the fateful convergence of the peoples of Africa, Europe and Asia on these shores.
• The names of those who were incarcerated on Robben Island is a roll call of resistance fighters and democrats spanning over three centuries. If indeed this is a Cape of Good Hope, that hope owes much to the spirit of that legion of fighters and others of their calibre.
• Ours has been a quest for a constitution freely adopted by the people of South Africa, reflecting their wishes and their aspirations. The struggle for democracy has never been a matter pursued by one race, class, religious community or gender among South Africans. In honouring those who fought to see this day arrive, we honour the best sons and daughters of all our people. We can count amongst them Africans, Coloureds, Whites, Indians, Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Jews — all of them united by a common vision of a better life for the people of this country.
• In 1980s the African National Congress was still setting the pace, being the first major political formation in South Africa to commit itself firmly to a Bill of Rights, which we published in November 1990. These milestones give concrete expression to what South Africa can become. They speak of a constitutional, democratic, political order in which, regardless of colour, gender, religion, political opinion or sexual orientation, the law will provide for the equal protection of all citizens. They project a democracy in which the government, whomever that government may be, will be bound by a higher set of rules, embodied in a constitution, and will not be able govern the country as it pleases.
• Democracy is based on the majority principle. This is especially true in a country such as ours where the vast majority have been systematically denied their rights. At the same time, democracy also requires that the rights of political and other minorities be safeguarded. In the political order we have established there will regular, open and free elections, at all levels of government — central, provincial and municipal. There shall also be a social order which respects completely the culture, language and religious rights of all sections of our society and the fundamental rights of the individual. The task at hand on will not be easy. But you have mandated us to change South Africa from a country in which the majority lived with little hope, to one in which they can live and work with dignity, with a sense of self-esteem and confidence in the future. The cornerstone of building a better life of opportunity, freedom and prosperity is the Reconstruction and Development Programme. This needs unity of purpose. It needs in action. It requires us all to work together to bring an end to division, an end to suspicion and build a nation united in our diversity.
• The people of South Africa have spoken in these elections. They want change! And change is what they will get. Our plan is to create jobs, promote peace and reconciliation, and to guarantee freedom for all South Africans.
• While we are and shall remain fully committed to the spirit of a government of national unity, we are determined to initiate and bring about the change that our mandate from the people demands. We place our vision of a new constitutional order for South Africa on the table not as conquerors, prescribing to the conquered. We speak as fellow citizens to heal the wounds of the past with the intent of constructing a new order based on justice for all. This is the challenge that faces all South Africans today, and it is one to which I am certain we will all rise.

Inaugural celebration address (1994) [ edit ]

• Your Majesties, Your Highnesses, Distinguished Guests, Comrades and Friends. Today, all of us do, by our presence here, and by our celebrations in other parts of our country and the world, confer glory and hope to newborn liberty. Out of the experience of an extraordinary human disaster that lasted too long, must be born a society of which all humanity will be proud.
• Our daily deeds as ordinary South Africans must produce an actual South African reality that will reinforce humanity's belief in justice, strengthen its confidence in the nobility of the human soul and sustain all our hopes for a glorious life for all. All this we owe both to ourselves and to the peoples of the world who are so well represented here today.
• We thank all our distinguished international guests for having come to take possession with the people of our country of what is, after all, a common victory for justice, for peace, for human dignity. We trust that you will continue to stand by us as we tackle the challenges of building peace, prosperity, non-sexism, non-racialism and democracy.
• The time for the healing of the wounds has come. The moment to bridge the chasms that divide us has come. The time to build is upon us.
• We succeeded to take our last steps to freedom in conditions of relative peace. We commit ourselves to the construction of a complete, just and lasting peace. We have triumphed in the effort to implant hope in the breasts of the millions of our people. We enter into a covenant that we shall build the society in which all South Africans, both black and white, will be able to walk tall, without any fear in their hearts, assured of their inalienable right to human dignity — a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world.
• We dedicate this day to all the heroes and heroines in this country and the rest of the world who sacrificed in many ways and surrendered their lives so that we could be free. Their dreams have become reality. Freedom is their reward.
• We are both humbled and elevated by the honour and privilege that you, the people of South Africa, have bestowed on us, as the first President of a united, democratic, non-racial and non-sexist government. We understand it still that there is no easy road to freedom We know it well that none of us acting alone can achieve success. We must therefore act together as a united people, for national reconciliation, for nation building, for the birth of a new world. Let there be justice for all. Let there be peace for all.
• Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world. Let freedom reign! The sun shall never set on so glorious a human achievement! God bless Africa!

Speech at the Zionist Christian Church Easter Conference (1994) [ edit ]

• At his speech in Moria, on 3 April 1994
• African National Congress (ANC Historical Documents Archive). Johannesburg, South Africa.

Long Walk to Freedom (1995) [ edit ]

• When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw .
• No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.
• Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farmworkers can become the president of a great nation. It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another.
• A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination.
• I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.
• In my country we go to prison first and then become President.
• No one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens but its lowest ones.
• There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.
• You may succeed in delaying, but never in preventing the transition of South Africa to a democracy.
• Any man that tries to rob me of my dignity will lose.
• The victory of democracy in South Africa is the common achievement of all humanity.
• The authorities liked to say that we received a balanced diet; it was indeed balanced — between the unpalatable and the inedible.
• Prison itself is a tremendous education in the need for patience and perseverance. It is above all a test of one's commitment.
• I always knew that someday I would once again feel the grass under my feet and walk in the sunshine as a free man.
• I have always believed that exercise is the key not only to physical health but to peace of mind.
• There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires.
• I detest racialism because I regard it as a barbaric thing, whether it comes from a black man or a white man.
• A man does not become a freedom fighter in the hope of winning awards, but when I was notified that I had won the 1993 Nobel peace prize jointly with Mr. F.W. de Klerk, I was deeply moved. The Nobel Peace Prize had a special meaning for me because of its involvement with South Africa... The award was a tribute to all South Africans, and especially to those who fought in the struggle; I would accept it on their behalf.
• I explained to the crowd that my voice was hoarse from a cold and that my physician had advised me not to attend. "I hope that you will not disclose to him that I have violated his instructions," I told them. I congratulated Mr. de Klerk for his strong showing. I thanked all those in the ANC and the democratic movement who had worked so hard for so long. Mrs. Coretta Scott King, the wife of the great freedom fighter Martin Luther King Jr., was on the podium that night, and I looked over to her as I made reference to her husband's immortal words. "This is one of the most important moments in the life of our country. I stand here before you filled with deep pride and joy--pride in the ordinary, humble people of this country. You have shown such a calm, patient determination to reclaim this country as your own, and now the joy that we can loudly proclaim from the rooftops — Free at last! Free at last! I stand before you humbled by your courage, with a heart full of love for all of you."
• It was during those long and lonely years that my hunger for the freedom of my own people became a hunger for the freedom of all people, white and black. I knew as well as I knew anything that the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed. A man who takes away another man's freedom is a prisoner of hatred, he is locked behind the bars of prejudice and narrow-mindedness. I am not truly free if I am taking away someone else's freedom, just as surely as I am not free when my freedom is taken from me. The oppressed and the oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity. When I walked out of prison, that was my mission, to liberate the oppressed and the oppressor both. Some say that has now been achieved. But I know that that is not the case. The truth is that we are not yet free; we have merely achieved the freedom to be free, the right not to be oppressed. We have not taken the final step of our journey, but the first step on a longer and even more difficult road. For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. The true test of our devotion to freedom is just beginning.
• I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can rest only for a moment, for with freedom comes responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not yet ended.
• If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.
• I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say. Part of being optimistic is keeping one's head pointed toward the sun, one's feet moving forward. There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death.

The International Day Of Solidarity With The Palestinian People (1997) [ edit ]

• I have come to join you today to add our own voice to the universal call for Palestinian self-determination and statehood. We would be beneath our own reason for existence as government and as a nation, if the resolution of the problems of the Middle East did not feature prominently on our agenda.
• When in 1977, the United Nations passed the resolution inaugurating the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people, it was asserting the recognition that injustice and gross human rights violations were being perpetrated in Palestine. In the same period, the UN took a strong stand against apartheid; and over the years, an international consensus was built, which helped to bring an end to this iniquitous system.
• We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians; without the resolution of conflicts in East Timor, the Sudan and other parts of the world.
• I wish to take this opportunity to pay tribute to these Palestinian and Israeli leaders. In particular, we pay homage to the memory of Yitshak Rabin who paid the supreme sacrifice in pursuit of peace.

2000s [ edit ]

• During his interview at Larry King Live , (16 May 2000). Available Transcript at CNN.com: President Nelson Mandela One-on-One
• Spoken shortly after Inkatha announced that they would participate in the 1994 elections, as quoted in The Bang-Bang Club : Snapshots from a Hidden War (2000) by Greg Marinovich and Joao Silva, p. 168
• Nelson Mandela on words, Closing address 13th International Aids Conference, Durban, South Africa (14 July 2000). Source: From Nelson Mandela By Himself: The Authorised Book of Quotations © 2010 by Nelson R. Mandela and The Nelson Mandela Foundation
• Nelson Mandela on life, 90th Birthday celebration of Walter Sisulu, Walter Sisulu Hall, Randburg, Johannesburg, South Africa (18 May 2002). Source: From Nelson Mandela By Himself: The Authorised Book of Quotations © 2010 by Nelson R. Mandela and The Nelson Mandela Foundation
• Nelson Mandela on freedom fighters, Upon Receiving the Roosevelt Freedom Award (8 June 2002). Source: From Nelson Mandela By Himself: The Authorised Book of Quotations © 2010 by Nelson R. Mandela and The Nelson Mandela Foundation
• Nelson Mandela on integrity, At the British Red Cross Humanity Lecture, Queen Elizabeth Conference Centre, London, England (10 July 2003). Source: From Nelson Mandela By Himself: The Authorised Book of Quotations © 2010 by Nelson R. Mandela and The Nelson Mandela Foundation
• " Lighting your way to a better future : Speech delivered by Mr N R Mandela at launch of Mindset Network ," July 16, 2003 at db.nelsonmandela.org.  ; Cited in: Nelson Mandela, ‎S. K. Hatang, ‎Sahm Venter (2012) Notes to the Future: Words of Wisdom. p. 101.
• Interview segment on All Things Considered ( NPR ) broadcast (27 April 2004)
• Nelson Mandela on Aids , 46664 Concert, Tromso, Norway (11 Jun 2005). Source: From Nelson Mandela By Himself: The Authorised Book of Quotations © 2010 by Nelson R. Mandela and The Nelson Mandela Foundation
• Nelson Mandela on humour, From an interview with Tim Couzens, Verne Harris and Mac Maharay for Mandela: The Authorized Portrait, 2006 (13 August 2005). Source: From Nelson Mandela By Himself: The Authorised Book of Quotations © 2010 by Nelson R. Mandela and The Nelson Mandela Foundation
• Nelson Mandela on selflessness, Kliptown, Soweto, South Africa (12 July 2008). Source: From Nelson Mandela By Himself: The Authorised Book of Quotations © 2010 by Nelson R. Mandela and The Nelson Mandela Foundation
• Nelson Mandela on determination, From a letter to Makhaya Ntini on his 100th Cricket Test (17 December 2009). Source: From Nelson Mandela By Himself: The Authorised Book of Quotations © 2010 by Nelson R. Mandela and The Nelson Mandela Foundation
• Nelson Mandela in his autobiography, as quoted by Keegan Hamilton in the Grantland blog entry "Remembering Mandela, the Boxer" (December 6, 2013)
• Speech for the "Make Poverty History" campaign . Trafalgar Square, London (3 February 2005).

The Sacred Warrior (2000) [ edit ]

• The Gandhian influence dominated freedom struggles on the African continent right up to the 1960s because of the power it generated and the unity it forged among the apparently powerless. Nonviolence was the official stance of all major African coalitions, and the South African A.N.C. remained implacably opposed to violence for most of its existence.
• Gandhi remained committed to nonviolence; I followed the Gandhian strategy for as long as I could, but then there came a point in our struggle when the brute force of the oppressor could no longer be countered through passive resistance alone. We founded Umkhonto we Sizwe and added a military dimension to our struggle. Even then, we chose sabotage because it did not involve the loss of life, and it offered the best hope for future race relations. Militant action became part of the African agenda officially supported by the Organization of African Unity (O.A.U.) following my address to the Pan-African Freedom Movement of East and Central Africa (PAFMECA) in 1962, in which I stated, "Force is the only language the imperialists can hear, and no country became free without some sort of violence."
• Gandhi himself never ruled out violence absolutely and unreservedly. He conceded the necessity of arms in certain situations. He said, "Where choice is set between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence... I prefer to use arms in defense of honor rather than remain the vile witness of dishonor ..."
• Gandhi arrived in South Africa in 1893 at the age of 23. Within a week he collided head on with racism. His immediate response was to flee the country that so degraded people of color, but then his inner resilience overpowered him with a sense of mission, and he stayed to redeem the dignity of the racially exploited, to pave the way for the liberation of the colonized the world over and to develop a blueprint for a new social order. He left 21 years later, a near maha atma (great soul). There is no doubt in my mind that by the time he was violently removed from our world, he had transited into that state. He was no ordinary leader. There are those who believe he was divinely inspired, and it is difficult not to believe with them. He dared to exhort nonviolence in a time when the violence of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had exploded on us; he exhorted morality when science, technology and the capitalist order had made it redundant; he replaced self-interest with group interest without minimizing the importance of self. In fact, the interdependence of the social and the personal is at the heart of his philosophy. He seeks the simultaneous and interactive development of the moral person and the moral society.
• His philosophy of Satyagraha is both a personal and a social struggle to realize the Truth, which he identifies as God, the Absolute Morality. He seeks this Truth, not in isolation, self-centeredly, but with the people. He said, "I want to find God, and because I want to find God, I have to find God along with other people. I don't believe I can find God alone. If I did, I would be running to the Himalayas to find God in some cave there. But since I believe that nobody can find God alone, I have to work with people. I have to take them with me. Alone I can't come to Him. "
• The sight of wounded and whipped Zulus, mercilessly abandoned by their British persecutors, so appalled him that he turned full circle from his admiration for all things British to celebrating the indigenous and ethnic. He resuscitated the culture of the colonized and the fullness of Indian resistance against the British; he revived Indian handicrafts and made these into an economic weapon against the colonizer in his call for swadeshi — the use of one's own and the boycott of the oppressor's products, which deprive the people of their skills and their capital.
• A great measure of world poverty today and African poverty in particular is due to the continuing dependence on foreign markets for manufactured goods, which undermines domestic production and dams up domestic skills, apart from piling up unmanageable foreign debts. Gandhi's insistence on self-sufficiency is a basic economic principle that, if followed today, could contribute significantly to alleviating Third World poverty and stimulating development.
• Gandhi rejects the Adam Smith notion of human nature as motivated by self-interest and brute needs and returns us to our spiritual dimension with its impulses for nonviolence, justice and equality. He exposes the fallacy of the claim that everyone can be rich and successful provided they work hard. He points to the millions who work themselves to the bone and still remain hungry.
• He stepped down from his comfortable life to join the masses on their level to seek equality with them. "I can't hope to bring about economic equality... I have to reduce myself to the level of the poorest of the poor." From his understanding of wealth and poverty came his understanding of labor and capital, which led him to the solution of trusteeship based on the belief that there is no private ownership of capital; it is given in trust for redistribution and equalization. Similarly, while recognizing differential aptitudes and talents, he holds that these are gifts from God to be used for the collective good. He seeks an economic order, alternative to the capitalist and communist, and finds this in sarvodaya based on nonviolence ( ahimsa ). He rejects Darwin 's survival of the fittest, Adam Smith 's laissez-faire and Karl Marx 's thesis of a natural antagonism between capital and labor, and focuses on the interdependence between the two. He believes in the human capacity to change and wages Satyagraha against the oppressor, not to destroy him but to transform him, that he cease his oppression and join the oppressed in the pursuit of Truth. We in South Africa brought about our new democracy relatively peacefully on the foundations of such thinking, regardless of whether we were directly influenced by Gandhi or not.
• As we find ourselves in jobless economies, societies in which small minorities consume while the masses starve, we find ourselves forced to rethink the rationale of our current globalization and to ponder the Gandhian alternative. At a time when Freud was liberating sex, Gandhi was reining it in; when Marx was pitting worker against capitalist, Gandhi was reconciling them; when the dominant European thought had dropped God and soul out of the social reckoning, he was centralizing society in God and soul; at a time when the colonized had ceased to think and control, he dared to think and control; and when the ideologies of the colonized had virtually disappeared, he revived them and empowered them with a potency that liberated and redeemed.

Newsweek interview (2002) [ edit ]

• If I am asked, by credible organizations, to mediate, I will consider that very seriously. But a situation of this nature does not need an individual, it needs an organization like the United Nations to mediate. We must understand the seriousness of this situation. The United States has made serious mistakes in the conduct of its foreign affairs, which have had unfortunate repercussions long after the decisions were taken.
• You will notice that France, Germany, Russia, China are against this decision. It is clearly a decision that is motivated by George W. Bush's desire to please the arms and oil industries in the United States of America. If you look at those factors, you'll see that an individual like myself, a man who has lost power and influence, can never be a suitable mediator.
• Neither Bush nor Tony Blair has provided any evidence that such weapons exist. But what we know is that Israel has weapons of mass destruction. Nobody talks about that. Why should there be one standard for one country, especially because it is black, and another one for another country, Israel, that is white. … Many people say quietly, but they don't have the courage to stand up and say publicly, that when there were white secretary generals you didn't find this question of the United States and Britain going out of the United Nations. But now that you've had black secretary generals like Boutros Boutros Ghali , like Kofi Annan , they do not respect the United Nations. They have contempt for it. This is not my view, but that is what is being said by many people.
• There is one compromise and one only, and that is the United Nations. If the United States and Britain go to the United Nations and the United Nations says we have concrete evidence of the existence of these weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and we feel that we must do something about it, we would all support it. … There is no doubt that the United States now feels that they are the only superpower in the world and they can do what they like. And of course we must consider the men and the women around the president. Gen. Colin Powell commanded the United States army in peacetime and in wartime during the Gulf war. He knows the disastrous effect of international tension and war, when innocent people are going to die, young men are going to die. He knows and he showed this after September 11 last year. He went around briefing the allies of the United States of America and asking for their support for the war in Afghanistan. Dick Cheney, Rumsfeld, they are people who are unfortunately misleading the president. Because my impression of the president is that this is a man with whom you can do business. But it is the men who around him who are dinosaurs, who do not want him to belong to the modern age.
• On why he continues to be active in social and political issues.

Iraq War speech (2003) [ edit ]

• It's a tragedy what is happening, what Bush is doing. All Bush wants is Iraqi oil. There is no doubt that the U.S. is behaving badly. Why are they not seeking to confiscate weapons of mass destruction from their ally Israel? This is just an excuse to get Iraq’s oil.
• Bush is now undermining the United Nations. He is acting outside it, not withstanding the fact that the United Nations was the idea of President Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. Both Bush, as well as Tony Blair, are undermining an idea which was sponsored by their predecessors. They do not care. Is it because the secretary-general of the United Nations [Ghanaian Kofi Annan] is now a black man? They never did that when secretary-generals were white.
• If there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America. They don't care for human beings.
• What I am condemning is that one power, with a president [George W. Bush] who has no foresight, who cannot think properly, is now wanting to plunge the world into a holocaust. Here's one of Nelson Mandela's most famous quotes: "I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear." It's such a powerful statement, and it really captures the essence of Mandela's courage and resilience. He truly was an inspirational figure.

Attributed [ edit ]

• Suzanne Belling, "Mandela bears message of peace in first visit to Israel", jweekly.com , 22 October 1999

Disputed [ edit ]

• This appears at Mathaba.net

Misattributed [ edit ]

• These statements have been misattributed to Mandela, as being in his inaugural speech of 10 May 1994 but this is not the case. Rather, they originate with author Marianne Williamson .
• Sometimes misattributed to Mandela, this is in fact an a statement of unknown provenance (usually attributed to an anonymous "lecturer in the university in South Africa") spread throughout Internet from around 2017. Later misattributed to Mandela by Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam at a press conference .

Quotes about Mandela [ edit ]

• Anonymous political slogan, and the title of a song, "Free Nelson Mandela" (1984) by Special AKA supporting Mandela's release from prison.
• Joyce Banda Speaking at his funeral (12/15/2013)
• Roelof Frederik ‘Pik’ Botha "Ex-South African foreign minister reflects on his relationship with Mandela" , Fox News (December 7, 2013)
• Jeremy Clarkson , in The World According to Clarkson (2005), p. 239
• Imraan Coovadia , in "Mandela and Tolstoy" (9 December 2013)
• Dalai Lama, quoted from François Gautier - Les mots du dernier Dalaï-lama (2018, Flammarion)
• 1992 interview in Conversations with Angela Davis Edited by Sharon Lynette Jones (2021)
• Denis Goldberg , in interview segments on All Things Considered ( NPR ) broadcast (27 April 2004)
• Nadine Gordimer interview (2012)
• 1964 writing, in The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Sean Jacobs in "To so many Africans, Fidel Castro is a hero. Here’s why" The Guardian (30 November 2016)
• Bessel van der Kolk The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma (2014)
• Mengistu Haile Mariam , as quoted in Riccardo Orizio, Talk of the Devil: Encounters with Seven Dictators , (Walker and Company, 2003), pp. 148
• Evelyn Mase , Mandela's first wife, as quoted by David James Smith, (2010), in Young Mandela . London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 59; as something she said to journalist Fred Bridgland after Mandela's release being compared to the second coming of Christ.
• Quoted in Why Nelson Mandela Can Model Our Way Forward , by Bebe Nicholson , Medium.com (9 November 2020)
• President Barack Obama on a three day visit in Africa, as quoted in "Barack Obama hails Nelson Mandela as an 'inspiration' during a speech in South Africa's capital" in The Independent (29 June 2013)
• Michelle Obama Interview (2018)
• Columnist William Saunderson-Meyer in the Jaundiced Eye column in The Witness : "Reality check on Mandela years" (26 July 2008)
• Columnist William Saunderson-Meyer, in "Zuma’s dangerous moral diffidence" in The Witness (3 October 2009)
• Archbishop Desmond Tutu on Mandela's inauguration as President, Mandela: An Audio History (Part 5)

"Mandela and the Kingdom Come", June Jordan [ edit ]

In Affirmative Acts (1998)

• He walked like a man who does not take the earth for granted. He took one step after another with obvious care and delight. Right next to him, Winnie Mandela stayed close, attuned and alert, and radiant.
• this miracle was no kind of rerun! This Nelson Mandela a.k.a. terrorist a.k.a. communist a.k.a. felon who had vowed to resist violence with violence, to acknowledge respect with respect, and to confront the catastrophe of time with total rebellion against the waste and the weakening that time entails, this same Mandela was returning to near-universal tribute and acclaim: "His freedom," a white man on the radio declared, "is the moment the world has been waiting for."
• He had borne the unimaginable and so he had become the unimaginable among us: A brilliant, steady lover who will neither fawn nor forgive nor forget. This was the man South Africa had hoped to eradicate. This was the life and the dignity that apartheid means to efface. This was the leader that stone and whips and censorship and stone and night after night of no respite and no remnant caress and stone, and the de facto annulment of marriage, the ridicule of desire, the torture of principled conviction, night after night after night of stone and rock and lifting an ax to the rock and smashing the rock for the stone after stone, this was the leader the lover-in-exile that nothing (not even age) could diminish or destroy.
• last week Mr. Nelson Mandela was still locked away, a prisoner of racist white men, and I was not sure about the swift and certain demise of apartheid but this morning I am sure. It's over. His victory is big news. Enemies of his freedom have died or they will die or they must welcome him. This not about the falling of the Berlin Wall. This is white Western hegemony acceding apart to the non-European future of the planet. You cannot rule somebody who would rather die than kneel. You cannot intimidate somebody seeking his freedom or your death. His victory is big news. This is an African Black man who says, "I stand here before you not as a prophet, but as a humble servant of you, the people." Mandela is not a man of the cloth. The African National Congress is not the Church. Umkhonto we Sizwe, the military wing of the ANC that Mandela founded in 1960, signified and continues to signify armed struggle, here and now, for the kingdom to come, here and now. He personifies a secular revolt against here and now violations of human rights. He calls on no authority beyond the authority of the pain and the degradation of living in Black South Africa. Mandela's rhetoric avoids religious or other abstract allusions. He remains specific. He speaks a language appropriate to a task-force committee meeting of actual men and women.
• Mandela bodies forth a humanist, democratic vision in which all human life occupies the first and last position of concern. Human beings create tyrannous conditions: Human beings must overthrow these tyrannies. His practical, pragmatic vocabulary does not accommodate delusion or despair. His summoning forth of "a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities" resonates as common sense. There is a man lifting his daughter high above his own head so that she can see the leader who believes she has the power to be free.

Eulogy by Barack Obama [ edit ]

• It is hard to eulogize any man — to capture in words not just the facts and the dates that make a life, but the essential truth of a person — their private joys and sorrows ; the quiet moments and unique qualities that illuminate someone’s soul . How much harder to do so for a giant of history , who moved a nation toward justice , and in the process moved billions around the world .
• Born during World War I , far from the corridors of power, a boy raised herding cattle and tutored by the elders of his Thembu tribe, Madiba would emerge as the last great liberator of the 20th century . Like Gandhi , he would lead a resistance movement — a movement that at its start had little prospect for success. Like Dr. King , he would give potent voice to the claims of the oppressed and the moral necessity of racial justice. He would endure a brutal imprisonment that began in the time of Kennedy and Khrushchev , and reached the final days of the Cold War. Emerging from prison, without the force of arms, he would — like Abraham Lincoln — hold his country together when it threatened to break apart. And like America’s Founding Fathers, he would erect a constitutional order to preserve freedom for future generations — a commitment to democracy and rule of law ratified not only by his election, but by his willingness to step down from power after only one term.
• He was not a bust made of marble; he was a man of flesh and blood — a son and a husband, a father and a friend. And that’s why we learned so much from him, and that’s why we can learn from him still. For nothing he achieved was inevitable. In the arc of his life, we see a man who earned his place in history through struggle and shrewdness, and persistence and faith. He tells us what is possible not just in the pages of history books, but in our own lives as well.
• Mandela taught us the power of action, but he also taught us the power of ideas; the importance of reason and arguments; the need to study not only those who you agree with, but also those who you don’t agree with. He understood that ideas cannot be contained by prison walls, or extinguished by a sniper’s bullet. He turned his trial into an indictment of apartheid because of his eloquence and his passion, but also because of his training as an advocate. He used decades in prison to sharpen his arguments, but also to spread his thirst for knowledge to others in the movement. And he learned the language and the customs of his oppressor so that one day he might better convey to them how their own freedom depend upon his.
• Mandela demonstrated that action and ideas are not enough. No matter how right, they must be chiseled into law and institutions. He was practical, testing his beliefs against the hard surface of circumstance and history. On core principles he was unyielding, which is why he could rebuff offers of unconditional release, reminding the Apartheid regime that “prisoners cannot enter into contracts.” But as he showed in painstaking negotiations to transfer power and draft new laws, he was not afraid to compromise for the sake of a larger goal. And because he was not only a leader of a movement but a skillful politician, the Constitution that emerged was worthy of this multiracial democracy, true to his vision of laws that protect minority as well as majority rights, and the precious freedoms of every South African.
• It took a man like Madiba to free not just the prisoner, but the jailer as well to show that you must trust others so that they may trust you; to teach that reconciliation is not a matter of ignoring a cruel past, but a means of confronting it with inclusion and generosity and truth. He changed laws, but he also changed hearts.
• The questions we face today — how to promote equality and justice; how to uphold freedom and human rights; how to end conflict and sectarian war — these things do not have easy answers. But there were no easy answers in front of that child born in World War I. Nelson Mandela reminds us that it always seems impossible until it is done. South Africa shows that is true. South Africa shows we can change, that we can choose a world defined not by our differences, but by our common hopes. We can choose a world defined not by conflict, but by peace and justice and opportunity.
• We will never see the likes of Nelson Mandela again. But let me say to the young people of Africa and the young people around the world — you, too, can make his life’s work your own. Over 30 years ago, while still a student, I learned of Nelson Mandela and the struggles taking place in this beautiful land, and it stirred something in me. It woke me up to my responsibilities to others and to myself, and it set me on an improbable journey that finds me here today. And while I will always fall short of Madiba’s example, he makes me want to be a better man. He speaks to what’s best inside us. After this great liberator is laid to rest, and when we have returned to our cities and villages and rejoined our daily routines, let us search for his strength. Let us search for his largeness of spirit somewhere inside of ourselves. And when the night grows dark, when injustice weighs heavy on our hearts, when our best-laid plans seem beyond our reach, let us think of Madiba and the words that brought him comfort within the four walls of his cell: “It matters not how strait the gate, how charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.” What a magnificent soul it was. We will miss him deeply.
• Never again should the pigmentation of one man make subjugate another*

External links [ edit ]

• Nelson Mandela – Biography at Nobelprize.org
• ANC profile of Mandela
• Mandela: An Audio History
• Time 100 profile
• Complete speech from the Live 8 concert
• Nelson Mandela Foundation - 46664
• Nelson Mandela Children's Fund
• Nelson Mandela at Writespirit.Net
• Nelson Mandela Quotes Video
• Quotes By Nelson Mandela

• Political activists
• Presidents of South Africa
• Nobel Peace Prize laureates
• 1918 births
• 2013 deaths
• Activists from South Africa
• Revolutionaries
• Liberal socialists
• African and Black nationalists
• Anti-apartheid activists
• Socialists from Africa
• Lawyers from South Africa
• Autobiographers
• Philanthropists
• Left-wing nationalists
• Christian socialists
• Anti-imperialists
• Nobel laureates from South Africa
• Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
• Lenin Peace Prize recipients
• Xhosa people
• Pages using ISBN magic links

Navigation menu