What is your deepest fear

Commencement speakers this year are turning to Nelson Mandela for words of inspiration to share with graduates.

Jemison in her speech to Duquesne University. Johnnetta B. Cole, the former president of Spelman College, cited him to Mount Holyoke. Marianne Williamson. In the website of the Nelson Mandela Foundation posted an article about the misattribution: 5. An urban myth. In conclusion, Marianne Williamson should receive credit for the passage she wrote in The attribution of the words to Nelson Mandela is incorrect.

You could have been whatever you wanted. It was all right there in the palm of your hands, there for the taking, and what did you do?

You settled… for this! Who you are right now is already enough. Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Start Here. Skip to primary navigation Skip to main content. She was an early proponent of offering reparations to black Americans , and she supports programs like universal pre-K and free college. But fundamental to what Williamson is selling is the idea that everything that is wrong and bad in the world comes from individual people, and that our sins will be manifested on our bodies.

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By choosing I Accept , you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. Reddit Pocket Flipboard Email. People like to match famous quotes with also-famous people. A Return to Love argues that we have a responsibility to love ourselves.

She thinks sinful thoughts will manifest on our bodies. Next Up In Culture. Delivered Fridays. Thanks for signing up! Check your inbox for a welcome email. I want to know if you can be faithless and therefore be trustworthy. I want to know if you can see beauty Even when it is not pretty every day, And if you can source your own life From its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, Yours and mine, And still stand on the edge of a lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, "Yes! It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair, Weary and bruised to the bone, And do what needs to be done for the children. It doesn't interest me who you are, how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand In the center of the fire with me And not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you From the inside When all else falls away. I want to know if you can be alone With yourself, And if you truly like the company you keep In the empty moments. Note: For more on the origin and writer of this inspiring poem, click here.