Amazon founder Jeff Bezos delivers Princeton University's 2010 Baccalaureate address
Key ideas
In a baccalaureate address, Bezos distinguishes gifts from choices, using his grandfather's lesson and his own decision to leave a good job, and argues choices define a life.
From a machine transcript of the audio. Quotes link to the moment they are said.
- 1
Separate gifts from choices
Bezos recalls calculating, at about ten, how many years his grandmother's smoking had cost her, expecting praise, and she burst into tears. His grandfather then told him that being kind is harder than being clever. Bezos draws his theme from this: talents are handed to you, while decisions can be hard and are yours.
- 2
Be careful about pride in talent
Bezos warns his audience that leaning on their abilities can come at the cost of their decisions. He asks them whether they will take pride in their gifts or in their choices, and lists contrasts such as following dogma or being original, and being a cynic or a builder.
- 3
Weigh the decision against later regret
Bezos says he got the idea for Amazon after seeing web usage growing at 2300 percent a year, and told his wife it probably would not work, since most startups do not. He says a boss he admired called it a good idea but better for someone without a good job, and persuaded him to think for 48 hours. He says he chose the less safe path because trying and failing seemed easier to live with than not trying, and that he is proud of that choice.
- 4
Expect to judge your life by choices
Bezos hazards a prediction that at 80, telling yourself your own life story, the most meaningful version will be the series of choices you made. He closes by urging graduates to build a good story from those choices.
In Jeff’s words
“Cleverness is a gift. Kindness is a choice. Gifts are easy. They're given, after all. Choices can be hard.”
Jeff Bezos·Amazon founder Jeff Bezos delivers Princeton University's 2010 Baccalaureate address·Watch at 11:10(opens the original in a new tab)“I didn't think I'd regret trying and failing, and I suspected I would always be haunted by a decision to not try at all.”
Jeff Bezos·Amazon founder Jeff Bezos delivers Princeton University's 2010 Baccalaureate address·Watch at 15:14(opens the original in a new tab)“In the end, we are our choices. Build yourself a great story.”
Jeff Bezos·Amazon founder Jeff Bezos delivers Princeton University's 2010 Baccalaureate address·Watch at 17:49(opens the original in a new tab)About this entry
- Published
- Aug 27, 2010
- Channel
- Princeton University
- Type
- Video
- Length
- 18:44
- Language
- English
- Added
- Nov 2, 2026
- Source last checked
- Nov 2, 2026
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Draft. Written by us with AI from a machine transcript of the video’s audio (Whisper) and checked against it. Machine transcripts can mishear; each quote links to the moment so you can hear it. Not yet rights-reviewed.
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