Ideas change everything

What matters more than your talents

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Jeff Bezos |

Princeton University

• May 2010

In this Princeton University graduation address, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos makes the case that our character is reflected not in the gifts we're endowed with at birth, but by the choices we make over the course of a lifetime.

Want to use TED Talks in your organization?

Want to use TED Talks in your organization?

In this Princeton University graduation address, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos makes the case that our character is reflected not in the gifts we're endowed with at birth, but by the choices we make over the course of a lifetime.

Want to use TED Talks in your organization?

This video is a TED "Best of the Web" pick, featuring a remarkable idea available on the internet from an independent creator. This idea didn’t come from TED, but TED is thrilled to spread it. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

About the speaker

Online commerce pioneer

See speaker profile

As founder and CEO of Amazon.com, Jeff Bezos defined online shopping and rewrote the rules of commerce, ushering in a new era in business. Time magazine named him Man of the Year in 1999.

About Best of the Web

Best of the Web, like the rest of TED.com, involves compelling people and ideas. But unlike TED Talks, these videos don't come from TED or our partner conferences: they're curated from around the internet, drawing on freely available videos from creators with an idea worth spreading.

This video is a TED "Best of the Web" pick, featuring a remarkable idea available on the internet from an independent creator. This idea didn’t come from TED, but TED is thrilled to spread it. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.