Oprah's Stanford Commencement Speech
So, how do I define success?
Let me tell you, money's pretty nice.
I'm not going to stand up here
and tell you that it's not about money,
'cause money is very nice. I like money.
It's good for buying things.
But having a lot of money
does not automatically make you a successful person.
What you want is money and meaning.
You want your work to be meaningful.
Because meaning is what brings the real richness to your life.
What you really want is to be surrounded
by people you trust and treasure and by people who cherish you.
That's when you're really rich.
So, lesson one, follow your feelings.
If it feels right, move forward.
If it doesn't feel right, don't do it.
Now I want to talk a little bit about failings,
because nobody's journey is seamless or smooth.
We all stumble. We all have setbacks.
If things go wrong, you hit a dead end-as you will-
it's just life's way of saying time to change course.
So, ask every failure-this is what I do
every failure, every crisis, every difficult time-
I say, what is this here to teach me?
And as soon as you get the lesson, you get to move on.
If you really get the lesson,
you pass and you don't have to repeat the class.
If you don't get the lesson,
it shows up wearing another pair of pants-or skirt-
to give you some remedial work.
And what I've found is that difficulties come
when you don't pay attention to life's whisper,
because life always whispers to you first.
And if you ignore the whisper,
sooner or later you'll get a scream.
Whatever you resist persists.
But, if you ask the right question-not why is this happening,
but what is this here to teach me?-
What is this here to teach me?
It puts you in the place and space to get the lesson you need.
My friend Eckhart Tolle,
who's written this wonderful book called A New Earth
that's all about letting the awareness of who you are
stimulate everything that you do,
he puts it like this: He says, don't react against a bad situation;
merge with that situation instead.
And the solution will arise from the challenge.
Because surrendering yourself doesn't mean giving up;
it means acting with responsibility.