Audio from Commencement 2003
Commencement Address by Michael Bloomberg
May 19, 2003
NOTE: The audio excerpts here are provided in two formats: for listening, the audio files are low-quality Quicktime audio. For download, the files are 44 kHz .WAV files stored in .zip format.
EXCERPT 1
"From now on, you are going to have to put your own bread on the table and given today's economic environment I know many of you aren't sure exactly how that's going to happen. Difficult? Sure, but as I said, danger and opportunity. And unlike the graduates of the dotcom era, you don't have the disadvantage of thinking there is something for nothing. You'll be entering the job market with realistic expectations. You're going to have to work and you know it, or you certainly should. And here is something that you may find difficult to believe, but if you accept it, find it comforting. Your career path is not likely to follow a straight line. You will get a job even though many of you may not think so today, and you don't have to assume that your first job will be your last.""
EXCERPT 2
"Since I left graduate school, I've been an employee, an entrepreneur, an employer, and now a mayor. I have been hired, fired, lauded, and vilified, but as far as I'm concerned, even at age 61, the best is yet to come."
EXCERPT 3
"Let me give you some advice. First, to those of you who are lucky enough to have a choice of jobs as you leave Wake Forest. When you select a job, don't worry so much about your salary. Even though you're going to have to pay the bills, your first job should be something that will teach, expand, humble and exhilarate."
EXCERPT 4
"Don't just hold yourself to high professional standards. Hold yourself to high ethical standards. You can see that in the papers everyday as one scandal after another unfolds. Things won't always go smoothly in your career, but acting on principle and integrity will carry you through the tough times. People respect those with a moral compass."
EXCERPT 5
"Even back then after getting fired, I was an optimist. I was like the kid who came home, found his bedroom floor covered in horse manure, and got a big smile on his face because he knew there was a pony in there somewhere."
EXCERPT 6
"I hope you can all have the opportunity to try something new, against conventional wisdom, and to find the courage to go and to do it."
EXCERPT 7
"Let me just tell you a couple of things the critics say about my latest career. Quote, 'Bloomberg should shut up;' quote 'Bloomberg is running a government by dictatorship;' quote 'The mayor is favoring his friends and the polls say he doesn't even have any;' this is the one I really like, quote 'The only explanation for why Mike Bloomberg is working so hard to destroy New York is his secret goal to help the Red Sox finally win the World Series.' That last one came from my mother. She's a die-hard Red Sox fan. But you know what, they'll never lay a glove on me, and they'll never lay a glove on you if you have courage."
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