i'm telling you embrace it because it's inevitable
in the acting business you fail all the
time early on in my career
i auditioned for a part in a broadway musical
musical
perfect role for me i thought
but here's the thing
i didn't quit [Music]
[Music]
i didn't fall back
i walked out of there to prepare for the
next audition and the next audition and
the next audition
i prayed
i prayed
but i continued to fail
and fail
and fail but it didn't matter because
you know what
there's an old saying you hang around
the barber shop long enough sooner or
so you will catch a break and i did
catch a break [Music]
[Music]
last year
i did a play called fences on broadway
but here's the kicker
it was at the court theater
it was at the same theater
that i failed that first audition
30 years prior
the point is every graduate here today
has the training and the talent to succeed
succeed
but do you have the guts
if you don't fail
you're not even trying [Music]
[Music]
i'll say it again if you don't fail
you're not even trying
to get something you never had you have
to do something you never did
imagine you're on your deathbed
and standing around your deathbed
are the ghosts representing your
unfulfilled potential
the ghost of the ideas you never acted on
on
the ghost of the talents you didn't use
and they're standing around your bed angry
angry disappointed
disappointed
they say we we came to you because you
and now we have to go to the grave together
together
so i ask you today [Music]
[Music]
how many ghosts are going to be around
your bed when your time comes [Music]
i just got back from south africa it's a
beautiful country
but there are places there with terrible
private poverty that need help
and africa is just the tip of the
iceberg the middle east needs your help
japan needs your help alabama needs your
help tennessee needs your help louisiana
needs your help philadelphia needs your help
the world needs a lot and we need it
from you
we really do we need it from you young
people i mean i'm not speaking for the
rest of us up here but i know i'm
we need it from you the young people
because remember this
you got to get out there
you got to give it everything you got
whether it's your time
your your your talent
your prayers
what are you going to do with what you
have i'm not talking about how much you have
have
some of you are business majors some of
you are theologians nurses sociologists
some of you have money some of you have
patience some of you have kindness some
of you have loved some of you have the
gift of long-suffering whatever it is
whatever your gift is
what are you going to do
with what you have
all right now here's my last point about failure
failure sometimes
sometimes
it's the best way
to figure out where you're going
your life will never be a straight path
i began at fordham university as a
pre-med student
i took a course called the [Music]
[Music]
cardiac morphogenesis i couldn't read it
i couldn't say it i surely couldn't pass it
it
so then i decided to go into pre-law
then journalism and with no academic
focus my grades took off in their own direction
i was a 1.8 gpa
and the university very politely
suggested that it might be better to
i was 20 years old i was at my lowest point
point
and then one day and i remember the
exact day march 27 1975 i was helping my
mother in her beauty shop my mother
owned a beauty shop up in mount vernon
and there's there was this older woman
who was considered one of the elders in
the town and i didn't know her
personally but i was looking in the
mirror and every time i looked in the
mirror i could see her behind me and she
was staring at me
she just kept looking at me every time i
looked at her she kept giving me these
strange looks
so she finally took the dryer off her
head and said
she said something i'll never forget
she said young boy
i have a prophecy a spiritual prophecy
she said you are going to travel the world
world
and speak to millions of people [Music]
[Music]
and in the years that follow just as
that woman prophesies i have traveled
the world and i have spoken to millions
of people through my movies
millions who up until this day
couldn't see me
who up till this day i couldn't see
while i was talking to them and they
couldn't see me they could only see the movie
movie
they couldn't see the real me [Music]
[Music]
but i see youth today [Music]
[Music]
and i'm encouraged by what i see
i'm strengthened
by what i see [Music]
[Music]
because taking risk is not just about
going for a job
it's also about knowing what you know
and what you don't know
it's about being open to people
and to ideas
the chances you take
the people you meet
the people you love
the faith that you have
never be discouraged
never hold back
give everything you got
and when you fall throughout life
remember this
fall forward [Music]
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