Thank you.
Well, thank you very much.Hello, everybody.
What a great introduction, what a wonderful
thing.
What a great, great welcome I'm getting here,
so thank you very much.I mean, I haven't heard
applause like that since I announced that
I was going to stop acting.But anyway, it
is really terrific to see here so many graduate
students and undergraduate students graduating
here today.
I heard that there are 4,500 graduating here
today, undergraduate students, so this is
fantastic.
There are 2,200 men, 2,300 women and five
have listed yourselves as undecided.So this
is really a great, great bunch of people here,
I love it.But seriously, President Sample,
trustees, faculty, family, friends and graduates,
it is a tremendous privilege to stand before
you this morning.There's nothing that I enjoy
more than celebrating great achievements.
And I don't just mean your parents celebrating
never having to pay another tuition bill,
that's not what I'm talking about.I'm talking
about just celebrating the great accomplishments.
So let me congratulate the Trojan class of
2009 on your graduation from one of the finest
universities in the world.Let's give our graduates
a tremendous round of applause.
What a special day, what a great accomplishment!Now,
this an equally special day, of course, for
the parents, for the grandparents, siblings
and other family members whose support made
all of this today possible.And let's not forget,
of course, the professors, those dedicated
individuals who taught you, who came up with
exciting ways to share their vast wisdom,
knowledge and experience with you.And I must
also say thank you to President Sample for
honoring me with this fantastic degree.
Thank you very much.
Wow, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Doctor of Humane
Letters!
I love it.But, of course, I noticed that it
wasn't a doctorate in film or in cinema or
in acting.
I wonder why?
But anyway, that's OK.
I take whatever I can get.But maybe now since
I'm the doctor, I can go back up to Sacramento
and maybe now the Legislature will finally
listen to me.But anyway, I stand before you
today not just as Dr. Schwarzenegger or as
Governor Schwarzenegger, or as The Terminator,
or as Conan the Barbarian, but also as a proud
new member of this Trojan family.Now, some
of you may know that my daughter just completed
her freshman year right here.
One of the most exciting things for me has
been to learn about the great traditions that
make this university so wonderful and so special.My
daughter told me all about, for instance,
the Victory Bell.
She sat me down and she told me it weighs
295 pounds and how the winner of the annual
football game between USC and UCLA takes this
bell and gets to paint it in the school colors.And
I stopped her in the middle of talking, I
said, "Wait a minute, Katherine, back up a
little bit.
UCLA has a football team?"Now, of course,
my daughter's journey here at USC is just
beginning, and yours is ending.
I know that you're a little bit stressed out
right now as you start this exciting new chapter
in your lives.
Some people say it is scary to leave the comfort
of the university and to go out into the cold,
hard world.But I have to tell you something;
I think this is a bunch of nonsense because
after all, this is America.
This is the greatest country on earth, with
the greatest opportunities.It is one thing
if you were born in Afghanistan or in Swat
Valley in Pakistan where you'd be forced to
join the Taliban or be killed.
Now, then I would say yes, that is a little
bit scary.But this, this is going to be a
piece of cake for you, trust me.
You live in America and you're prepared for
the future with this tremendous education
you have gotten here at one of the greatest
universities in the world.
This is going to be exciting, it's a great
adventure and this is a new phase in your
life.
This is going to be awesome.Now, of course,
this journey is not going to be without any
setbacks, failures or disappointments.
That's just the way life is.
But you're ready and you are able, and you
would not be here today with your degrees
and with your honors if you wouldn't be ready.
SCHWARZENEGGER'S SIX RULES OF SUCCESS So now,
of course, to help you along the way, I thought
that the best gift I could give you today
is to give you a few of my own personal ideas
on how to be successful.
And parents, I just want you to know, maybe
you should close your ears, you should plug
your ears, because maybe there are a few things
that you maybe won't like in what I have to
say.But anyway, I can explain how I became
successful and who I am today by going through
what I call Dr. Schwarzenegger's Six Rules
of Success.Now, of course, people ask me all
the time, they say to me: "What is the secret
to success?"And I give them always the short
version.
I say, "Number one, come to America.
Number two, work your butt off.
And number three, marry a Kennedy."
But anyway, those are the short rules.And
now today, I'm going to give you the six rules
of success.But before I start, I just wanted
to say these are my rules.
And I think that they can apply to anyone,
but that is for you to decide, because not
everyone is the same.
There are some people that just like to kick
back and coast through life and others want
to be very intense and want to be number one
and want to be successful.
And that's like me.I always wanted to be very
intense, I always wanted to be number one.
I took it very seriously, my career.
So this was the same when I started with bodybuilding.I
didn't want to just be a bodybuilding champion,
I wanted to be the best bodybuilder of all
times.
The same was in the movies.
I didn't want to just be a movie star; I wanted
to be a great movie star that is the highest
paid movie star and have above-the-title billing.And
so this intensity always paid off for me,
this commitment always paid off for me.
So here are some of the rules.RULE 1: TRUST
YOURSELFThe first rule is: Trust yourself.And
what I mean by that is, so many young people
are getting so much advice from their parents
and from their teachers and from everyone.
But what is most important is that you have
to dig deep down, dig deep down and ask yourselves,
who do you want to be?
Not what, but who.And I'm talking about not
what your parents and teachers want you to
be, but you.
I�m talking about figuring out for yourselves
what makes you happy, no matter how crazy
it may sound to other people.I was lucky growing
up because I did not have television or didn't
have telephones, I didn't have the computers
and the iPods.
And, of course, Twitter was then something
that birds did outside the window.
I didn't have all these distractions and all
this.I spent a lot of time by myself, so I
could figure out and listen to what is inside
my heart and inside my head.And I recognized
very quickly that inside my head and heart
were a burning desire to leave my small village
in Austria -- not that there was something
wrong with Austria, it's a beautiful country.But
I wanted to leave that little place and I
wanted to be part of something big, the United
States of America, a powerful nation, the
place where dreams can come true.I knew when
I came over here I could realize my dreams.
And I decided that the best way for me to
come to America was to become a bodybuilding
champion, because I knew that was my ticket
the instant that I saw a magazine cover of
my idol, Reg Park.
He was Mr. Universe, he was starring in Hercules
movies, he looked strong and powerful, he
was so confident.So when I found out how he
got that way I became obsessed, and I went
home and I said to my family, "I want to be
a bodybuilding champion."Now, you can imagine
how that went over in my home in Austria.
My parents, they couldn't believe it.
They would have been just happy if I would
have become a police officer like my father,
or married someone like Heidi, had a bunch
of kids and ran around like the von Trapp
family in Sound of Music.That's what my family
had in mind for me, but something else burned
inside me.Something burned inside me.
I wanted to be different; I was determined
to be unique.
I was driven to think big and to dream big.
Everyone else thought that I was crazy.
My friends said, "If you want to be a champion
in a sport, why don't you go and become a
bicycle champion or a skiing champion or a
soccer champion?
Those are the Austrian sports."But I didn't
care.
I wanted to be a bodybuilding champion and
use that to come to America, and use that
to go into the movies and make millions of
dollars.So, of course, for extra motivation
I read books on strongmen and on bodybuilding
and looked at magazines.
And one of the things I did was, I decorated
my bedroom wall.Right next to my bed there
was this big wall that I decorated all with
pictures.
I hung up pictures of strongmen and bodybuilders
and wrestlers and boxers and so on.
And I was so excited about this great decoration
that I took my mother to the bedroom and I
showed her.And she shook her head.
She was absolutely in shock and tears started
running down her eyes.
And she called the doctor, she called our
house doctor and she brought him in and she
explained to him, "There's something wrong
here."She looked at the wall with the doctor
and she said, "Where did I go wrong?
I mean, all of Arnold's friends have pictures
on the wall of girls, and Arnold has all these
men.
But it's not just men, they're half naked
and they're oiled up with baby oil.
What is going on here?
Where did I go wrong?"So you can imagine,
the doctor shook his head and he said, "There's
nothing wrong.
At this age you have idols and you go and
have those -- this is just quite normal."So
this is rule number one.
I wanted to become a champion; I was on a
mission.
So rule number one is, of course, trust yourself,
no matter how and what anyone else thinks.RULE
2: BREAK THE RULESRule number two is: Break
the rules.We have so many rules in life about
everything.
I say break the rules.
Not the law, but break the rules.My wife has
a T-shirt that says, "Well-behaved women rarely
make history."
Well, you know, I don't want to burst her
bubble, but the same is true with men.It is
impossible to be a maverick or a true original
if you're too well behaved and don't want
to break the rules.
You have to think outside the box.
That's what I believe.
After all, what is the point of being on this
earth if all you want to do is be liked by
everyone and avoid trouble?The only way that
I ever got anyplace was by breaking some of
the rules.After all, I remember that after
I was finished with my bodybuilding career
I wanted to get into acting and I wanted to
be a star in films.
You can imagine what the agents said when
I went to meet all those agents.
Everyone had the same line, that it can't
be done, the rules are different here.They
said, "Look at your body.
You have this huge monstrous body, overly
developed.
That doesn't fit into the movies.
You don't understand.
This was 20 years ago, the Hercules movies.
Now the little guys are in, Dustin Hoffman,
Woody Allen, Jack Nicholson."
Before he gained weight, of course, that is.But
anyway, those are the guys that were in.
And the agents also complained about my accent.
They said, "No one ever became a star with
an accent like that, especially not with a
German accent.
And yes, I can imagine with your name, Arnold
Schwartzenschnitzel, or whatever the name,
is, on a billboard.
Yeah, that's going to draw a lot of tickets
and sell a lot of tickets.
Yeah, right."So this is the kind of negative
attitude they had.
But I didn't listen to those rules, even though
they were very nice and they said, "Look,
we can get you some bit parts.
We can get you to be playing a wrestler or
a bouncer.
Oh, maybe with your German accent we can get
you to be a Nazi officer in Hogan's Heroes
or something like that."But I didn't listen
to all this.
Those were their rules, not my rules.
I was convinced I could do it if I worked
as hard as I did in bodybuilding, five hours
a day.
And I started getting to work, I started taking
acting classes.
I took English classes, took speech classes,
dialogue classes.
Accent removal classes I even took.I remember
running around saying, "A fine wine grows
on the vine."
You see, because Germans have difficulties
with the F and the W and V, so, "A fine wine
grows on the vine."
I know what some of you are now saying, is
I hope that Arnold got his money back.But
let me tell you something, I had a good time
doing those things and it really helped me.
And finally I broke through.
I broke through and I started getting the
first parts in TV; Streets of San Francisco,
Lucille Ball hired me, I made Pumping Iron,
Stay Hungry.And then I got the big break in
Conan the Barbarian.And there the director
said, "If we wouldn't have Schwarzenegger,
we would have to build one."Now, think about
that.
And then, when I did Terminator, "I'll be
back," became one of the most famous lines
in movie history, all because of my crazy
accent.Now, think about it.
The things that the agents said would be totally
a detriment and would make it impossible for
me to get a job, all of a sudden became an
asset for me, all of those things, my accent,
my body and everything.So it just shows to
you, never listen to that you can't do something.
And, "You have to work your way up, of course,
run for something else first."
I mean, it was the same when I ran for governor,
the same lines, that you have to work your
way up, it can't be done.
And then, of course, I ran for governor and
the rest, of course, is history.They said
you have to start with a small job as mayor
and then as assemblyman and then as lieutenant
governor and then as governor.
And they said that's the way it works in a
political career.I said, "I'm not interested
in a political career.
I want to be a public servant.
I want to fix California's problems and bring
people together and bring the parties together.So,
like I said, I decided to run, I didn't pay
attention to the rules.
And I made it and the rest is history.
Which, of course, brings me to Rule number
three: Don't be afraid to fail.RULE 3: DON'T
BE AFRAID TO FAILAnything I've ever attempted,
I was always willing to fail.
In the movie business, I remember, that you
pick scripts.
Many times you think this is a wining script,
but then, of course, you find out later on,
when you do the movie, that it didn't work
and the movie goes in the toilet.Now, we have
seen my movies; I mean, Red Sonja, Hercules
in New York, Last Action Hero.
Those movies went in the toilet.
But that's OK, because at the same time I
made movies like Terminator and Conan and
True Lies and Predator and Twins that went
through the roof.So you can't always win,
but don't afraid of making decisions.
You can't be paralyzed by fear of failure
or you will never push yourself.You keep pushing
because you believe in yourself and in your
vision and you know that it is the right thing
to do, and success will come.
So don't be afraid to fail, which brings me
to rule 4 which is:RULE 4: DON�T LISTEN
TO THE NAYSAYERS.How many times have you heard
that you can't do this and you can't do that
and it's never been done before?
Just imagine if Bill Gates had quit when people
said it can't be done.I hear this all the
time.
As a matter of fact, I love it when someone
says that no one has ever done this before,
because then when I do it that means that
I'm the first one that has done it.
So pay no attention to the people that say
it can't be done.I remember my mother-in-law,
Eunice Kennedy Shriver, when she started Special
Olympics in 1968 people said that it would
not work.
The experts, the doctors that specialized
in mental disabilities and mental retardation
said, "It can't be done.
You can't bring people out of their institutions.
You can't make them participate in sports,
in jumping and swimming and in running.
They will hurt themselves, they will hurt
each other, they will drown in the pool."Well,
let me tell you something.
Now, 40 years later, Special Olympics is one
of the greatest organizations, in 164 countries,
dedicated to people with mental disabilities
and that are intellectually challenged.And
she did not take no for an answer.
And the same is when you look at Barack Obama.
I mean, imagine, if he would have listened.
If he would have listened to the naysayers
he would have never run for president.
People said it couldn't be done, that he couldn't
get elected, that he couldn�t beat Hillary
Clinton, that he would never win the general
election.But he followed his own heart, he
didn�t listen to the "You can't," and he
changed the course of American history.So
over and over you see that.
If I would have listened to the naysayers
I would still be in the Austrian Alps yodeling.
I would never have come to America.
I would have never met my wonderful wife Maria
Shriver, I would have never had the wonderful
four kids, I would have never done Terminator,
and I wouldn't be standing here in front of
you today as governor of the greatest state
of the greatest country in the world.So I
never listen that, "You can't."
I always listen to myself and say, "Yes, you
can."RULE 5: WORK YOUR BUTT OFF.And that brings
me to rule number five, which is the most
important rule of all: Work your butt off.
You never want to fail because you didn't
work hard enough.
I never wanted to lose a competition or lose
an election because I didn't work hard enough.
I always believed leaving no stone unturned.Mohammed
Ali, one of my great heroes, had a great line
in the '70s when he was asked, "How many sit-ups
do you do?"
He said, "I don't count my sit-ups.
I only start counting when it starts hurting.
When I feel pain, that's when I start counting,
because that's when it really counts."That's
what makes you a champion.
And that's the way it is with everything.
No pain, no gain.
So many of those lessons that I apply in life
I have learned from sports, let me tell you,
and especially that one.And let me tell you,
it is important to have fun in life, of course.
But when you're out there partying, horsing
around, someone out there at the same time
is working hard.Someone is getting smarter
and someone is winning.
Just remember that.Now, if you want to coast
through life, don't pay attention to any of
those rules.
But if you want to win, there is absolutely
no way around hard, hard work.
None of my rules, by the way, of success,
will work unless you do.I've always figured
out that there 24 hours a day.
You sleep six hours and have 18 hours left.Now,
I know there are some of you out there that
say well, wait a minute, I sleep eight hours
or nine hours.
Well, then, just sleep faster, I would recommend.Because
you only need to sleep six hours and then
you have 18 hours left, and there are a lot
of things you can accomplish.
As a matter of fact, Ed Turner used to say
always, "Early to bed, early to rise, work
like hell and advertise."And, of course, all
of you know already those things, because
otherwise you wouldn't be sitting here today.
Just remember, you can't climb the ladder
of success with your hands in your pockets.RULE
6: IT'S ABOUT GIVING BACKAnd that takes me
to rule number six, which is a very important
rule: it's about giving back.Whatever path
that you take in your lives, you must always
find time to give something back, something
back to your community, give something back
to your state or to your country.My father-in-law,
Sargent Shriver -- who is a great American,
a truly great American who started the Peace
Corps, the Job Corps, Legal Aid to the Poor
-- he said at Yale University to the students
at a commencement speech:"Tear down that mirror.
Tear down that mirror that makes you always
look at yourself, and you will be able to
look beyond that mirror and you will see the
millions of people that need your help."And
let me tell you something, reaching out and
helping people will bring you more satisfaction
than anything else you have ever done.As a
matter of fact today, after having worked
for Special Olympics and having started After
School Programs, I've promoted fitness, and
now with my job as governor, I can tell you,
playing a game of chess with an eight-year-old
kid in an inner city school is far more exciting
for me than walking down another red carpet
or a movie premiere.So let me tell you, as
you prepare to go off into the world, remember
those six rules:Trust yourself, Break some
rules, Don't be afraid to fail, Ignore the
naysayers, Work like hell, and Give something
back.And now let me leave you with one final
thought, and I will be brief, I promise.This
university was conceived in 1880, back when
Los Angeles was just a small frontier town.
One hundred and twenty-five classes of Trojans
have gone before you.
They have sat there, exactly where you sit
today, in good times and in bad, in times
of war and in times of peace, in times of
great promise and in times of great uncertainty.Through
it all, this great country, this great state,
this great university, have stood tall and
persevered.We are in tough times now and there's
a lot of uncertainty in the world.
But there is one thing certain; we'll be back.And
we will back stronger and more prosperous
than ever before, because that is what California
and America have always done.
The ancient Trojans were known for their fighting
spirit, their refusal to give up, their ability
to overcome great odds.So as you graduate
today, never lose that optimism and that fighting
spirit.
Never lose the spirit of Troy.Because remember,
this is America and you are USC Trojans, proud,
strong and ready to soar.Congratulations and
God bless all of you.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
