The 10 Most-Watched Graduation Speeches on YouTube Are Totally Inspiring (and Hilarious)

The task of crafting a commencement speech comes with enormous pressure to deliver something inspiring, uplifting, and unique all at the same time. Most students only have one high school graduation and one undergraduate college graduation, and commencement speakers are responsible for helping to make it special. Most speakers do a decent job, and every once in a while, they totally hit it out of the park.

Such is the case for the following 10 most-watched commencement speeches on YouTube, delivered by everyone from random high school kids to celebs like J.K. Rowling and Conan O'Brien. They're worth a watch no matter which stage of life you're in, with wisdom like the following quote from Steve Jobs's commencement speech for Harvard in 2005:

"Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking — and don't settle."

No matter where you are in your life, take Jobs's advice: don't settle. Keep reading for more pearls of wisdom and humorous reflections.

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Steve Jobs's Stanford Commencement Address (2005)

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Valedictorian Carl Aquino, West Hall High School (2010)

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Jim Carrey's Commencement Address, Maharishi University of Management (2014)

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Admiral William H. McRaven's Commencement Address, University of Texas at Austin (2014)

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Ryan Burtons, Senior Class President of La Plata High School (2015)

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Conan O'Brien's Dartmouth College Commencement Address (2011)

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East Jessamine High School Graduation Speech (2008)

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Wellesley High School Graduation, "You Are Not Special" (2012)

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Tim Minchin, University of Western Australia Commencement Address (2013)