--- ---  # 'Believe in Something Larger Than Yourself.' Read Barbara Bush's Remarks on Life, Family and Love in Her Wellesley Commencement Speech by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Updated: Jan 24, 2024 11:35 AM UTCPublished: Apr 18, 2018 1:05 AM UTC  Former First Lady Barbara Bush is interviewed for 'The Presidents' Gatekeepers' project about the White House Chiefs of Staff at the Bush Library, Oct. 24, 2011 in College Station, Texas. Former First Lady Barbara Bush is interviewed for 'The Presidents' Gatekeepers' project about the White House Chiefs of Staff at the Bush Library, Oct. 24, 2011 in College Station, Texas.David Hume Kennerly—Getty Images by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Updated: Jan 24, 2024 11:35 AM UTCPublished: Apr 18, 2018 1:05 AM UTC Former First Lady [Barbara Bush died at the age of 92](http://time.com/5242261/barbara-bush-dies/) on Tuesday. Remembered by her family for her [immense strength](http://time.com/5244192/barbara-bush-death-george-w-bush/) and tenacity, Bush lived a full life, spanning tragedies and numerous victories. She joined [her husband, George H.W. Bush](http://time.com/4640852/barbara-bush-george-hw-love-story/) at White House while he was President and later got to see her son, George W. Bush, take the same office. In 1990, Barbara Bush delivered the commencement speech at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. Addressing the graduating class, Bush stressed the importance of family and cherishing connections with other people. “At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, winning one more verdict, or not closing one more deal,” she said. “You will regret time not spent with a husband, a child, a friend or a parent.” To Bush, finding joy in life was vital as well. She even quoted a line made famous by the movie _Ferris Bueller’s Day Off_: “Life moves pretty fast and if you don’t stop and look around once in a while you are going to miss it.” Read her [full speech](https://www.wellesley.edu/events/commencement/archives/1990commencement/commencementaddress) below. --- > “” --- Read Barbara Bush's Wellesley Speech on Life, Love ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5244232/barbara-bush-death-wellesley-commencement-speech/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5244232/barbara-bush-death-wellesley-commencement-speech/"},"headline":"'Believe in Something Larger Than Yourself.' Read Barbara Bush's Remarks on Life, Family and Love in Her Wellesley Commencement Speech","datePublished":"2018-04-18T01:05:24.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-24T11:35:09.000Z","description":"Complete with a Ferris Bueller quote","url":"https://time.com/5244232/barbara-bush-death-wellesley-commencement-speech/","keywords":["Barbara Bush","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5dd6f37e0a27785d/69892dec929fad6049bf04a8/barbara-bush-death-tributes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5dd6f37e0a27785d/69892dec929fad6049bf04a8/barbara-bush-death-tributes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Former First Lady Barbara Bush Passes Away","caption":"Former First Lady Barbara Bush at the Bush Library","creditText":"David Hume Kennerly—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"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/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/barbara-bush/","name":"Barbara Bush"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5244232/barbara-bush-death-wellesley-commencement-speech/","name":"'Believe in Something Larger Than Yourself.' Read Barbara Bush's Remarks on Life, Family and Love in Her Wellesley Commencement Speech"}}]}] ```