--- description: "Imagine the possibilities when we remove imbalance from the ether," Pharrell said at New York University's commencement title: Read Pharrell Williams' Graduation Speech at NYU image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Education](/tag/education/) ## Education Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Pharrell Williams at NYU Graduation: 'Imagine the Possibilities When We Remove Imbalance' by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 17, 2017 7:49 PM CUT by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 17, 2017 7:49 PM CUT _Pharrell Williams gave the graduation remarks at New York University on Wednesday. See his prepared remarks below._ --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4782808/pharrell-williams-nyu-new-york-university-commencement-speech/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4782808/pharrell-williams-nyu-new-york-university-commencement-speech/"},"headline":"Pharrell Williams at NYU Graduation: 'Imagine the Possibilities When We Remove Imbalance'","datePublished":"2017-05-17T19:49:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:58:37.488Z","description":"\"Be humble, but not too humble\"","url":"https://time.com/4782808/pharrell-williams-nyu-new-york-university-commencement-speech/","keywords":["Education","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/education/","name":"Education"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4782808/pharrell-williams-nyu-new-york-university-commencement-speech/","name":"Pharrell Williams at NYU Graduation: 'Imagine the Possibilities When We Remove Imbalance'"}}]}] ```