Polish physicist Marie Curie made history as the first woman to win a Nobel Prize in 1903 and then again as the only woman to ever win a second Nobel in 1911 (first in physics, then in chemistry). She earned these honors for her groundbreaking work in discovering two new elements: radium and polonium. Though she received much acclaim for her research, Curie also suffered many hardships in her life, including the death of her beloved husband and research partner, Pierre Curie, as well as long-term physical ailments from her work with radioactive materials. Through it all, Curie remained hopeful and optimistic. In her 1937 biography she wrote, “Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained.”

Napoleon Hill’s greatest success, his motivational book “Think and Grow Rich,” is often cited as the publication that ignited the self-help industry. Though the details of Hill’s career are often debated, the undisputed reality was that he persisted with his writing through the ups and downs of a career that spanned the Great Depression and World War II. In his 87 years, he wrote 11 books, many of which have been translated and republished countless times. In his books, his words live on to remind us that failure is only the end of the story if we give up, and great success lies in persevering beyond even the most discouraging setbacks.  

South African leader Nelson Mandela spent half a century fighting against the oppressive system of apartheid that segregated Black and white South Africans — a fight that led to his arrest in 1962 and a 27-year imprisonment. After his release from prison in 1990, Mandela spent the next four years participating in peace talks and negotiations to bring apartheid to an end, and in 1994 was elected as the first Black president of a revolutionized nation. Mandela never faltered in his belief in a more equal and just future for South Africa, and that belief propelled him to act despite the risk. With this quote, from his 1994 memoir “Long Walk to Freedom,” he points out that courage and fear aren’t opposites; rather, true courage is taking action even when you’re scared. “The brave man,” Mandela wrote, “is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” 

In June 2005, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs gave the commencement speech at Stanford University. As he spoke about his own remarkable success, he also contemplated mortality, even saying death was possibly the “single best invention of life” because of the change it enables. He urged the graduating students to make the most of the finite time they have. He encouraged them to follow their own instincts and passions, and to discover, then live for, what is truly important. Jobs practiced what he preached: He said he had spent most of his life treating each day as if it could be his last. 

In 1990, cartoonist Bill Watterson gave an insightful, philosophy-laden address to graduates at Kenyon College. He insisted that despite the pressures of social convention, we are allowed to create our own purpose, and that by reading and studying, we gain the “Swiss Army knife of mental tools” to ask truthful and meaningful questions about life. That Watterson gave such a profound speech came as no surprise to fans of his comic strip, “Calvin and Hobbes.” The comic follows the adventures of 6-year-old Calvin and his stuffed tiger, Hobbes, whom everyone apart from Calvin sees as an inanimate toy. It often addresses philosophical questions while commenting on the nature of art, academia, and reality. His two central characters are, after all, named after the 16th-century theologian John Calvin and the 17th-century philosopher Thomas Hobbes.