'This is Your World To Change,' Tim Cook Advises Grads In a Moving Speech [Video]

By Kamal Nayan - 18 May '15 03:26AM
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Tim Cook recently gave a speech on the occasion of this year's graduating class at George Washington University, encouraging everyone to change the world.

Cook, in his 20-minute-long commencement speech wove together stories from his childhood and meeting Steve Jobs for the first time in 1990. Jobs, he said, "made me question everything, who upended all of my assumptions in the very best way."

Cook said that "great progress is possible" and implored the graduates to find their "north star" and to focus on improving the world. "You don't have to choose between doing good and doing well," he said.

"The sidelines are not where you want to live your life," Cook said. "The world needs you in the arena. There are problems that need to be solved, injustices that need to be ended, people that are still being persecuted, diseases still in need of cure. No matter what you do next, the world needs your energy, your passion, your impatience. Don't shrink from risk."

Other than encouraging everyone to make the world a better place, Cook also took a jibe at non-iPhone smartphone owners.

"Those of you with an iPhone, just place it in silent mode, and those of you who don't have an iPhone, please pass it to the center aisle," he said. "Apple has a world-class recycling program."

Cook ended his speech by taking a photo of the graduating class with his iPhone.

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