ZEITGUIDE is all about the big ideas percolating in our culture — so naturally we love commencement speeches. Every spring, leaders from industry, politics, and the arts embark on a season of sharing what they’re thinking about the future.

So what advice and insights are they sharing with new college graduates? Here’s a quick distillation:

Two words: We couldn’t help but love Robert De Niro’s speech to budding artists at NYU’s Tisch School. He got right to the point: “You’re f — -ked.”

Despite the cheeky introduction, De Niro followed with sincere advice for all creative minds in all industries: “You discovered a talent, developed an ambition, and recognized your passion,” he said. “When you feel that you can’t fight it, you just go for it. When it comes to the arts, passion should always trump common sense.”

Three words: President of Ariel Investments Mellody Hobsonsummed up her own theme for USC grads in three words: “Just. Add. Bravery.” Stepping out of one’s comfort zone happens in lots of bite-sized ways, but one that Hobson emphasized was seeking out diversity. “When you have the courage to expand your world, you expand the entire world because tolerance scales. Person by person, we can end stereotypes and remove barriers to opportunity,” she said. “Although this change begins with awareness, it doesn’t end there. We need action. And the way to move from awareness to action is to . . . just add bravery.”

What’s good for the individual is also good for the organization, as we were reminded by this New York Sunday Times Sunday Review piece about how detrimental it is when managers hire people like themselves and call it “cultural fit.”

Staying á la mode: Designer Kenneth Cole, speaking to students at Emory University, talked about keeping pace with today’s economy. Social media, the sharing economy, startups — the rulebook is being rewritten daily. “The world is changing today at such an unfathomable speed,” Cole said. “Some associate asked me, ‘Where do you think we’ll be in five years?’ and I said, ‘That’s an irrelevant question.’”

Staying relevant requires a lifelong approach to learning, he said. “What you will need to succeed, I assure you, you haven’t learned yet,” Cole said. “And learning is even more important than earning.”

The greenest generation?: Science educator Bill Nye, speaking at Rutgers University, emphasized tackling climate change with a balance of horror and optimism. “We are now deep in the most serious environmental crisis in human history. I believe you all can avoid this looming disaster. The oncoming trouble is climate change: It is going to affect you all in the same way the Second World War consumed people of my parents’ generation. They rose to the challenge, and so will you.”

Today’s graduates will be charged with making a “radical transition” to a greener economy, including switching to renewable energy and “decarbonizing” industry.

Get in the game: Apple CEO Tim Cook went the inspirational route in his speech to George Washington University. “The sidelines are not where you want to live your life. The world needs you in the arena. No matter what you do next, the world needs your energy, your passion, your impatience for progress.”

Cook has, himself, gotten more politically engaged and outspoken himself, particularly on personal data privacy, gay rights, anddiscriminatory religious freedom laws. “Tune out those critics and cynics,” Cook added. “History rarely yields to one person, but think, and never forget, what happens when it does. That can be you. That should be you. That must be you.”