Lessons from a ‘third-grade dropout’ inspire hope, go viral

(NewsNation) — “The wisest man I ever met in my life never made it past the third grade,” Dr. Rick Rigsby says during a commencement speech video that went viral.

The best-selling author from Prosper, Texas became an internet sensation when his speech on hope was viewed by over 300 million people worldwide. 

Rigsby discussed his inspiration for “Lessons from a Third Grade Dropout” during an appearance on “Morning in America”.

“It’s my dad,” he said. “You know, when you’re growing up, you’re just listening to your parents and hoping that they’ll stop talking. And then you go through some trials, you get a few miles on the odometer. And you realize, gosh, that country mama of mine from Oklahoma, pretty wise, that third-grade dropout, daddy, pretty wise.”

Rigsby has four degrees and is an internationally acclaimed motivational speaker. 

“My brother is a presidential-appointed judge in Washington, D.C. and we’re not the smartest ones in our family,” he said. “My dad, a third-grade dropout, challenging us to go beyond just appearance to make an impact.”

Rigsby said his father taught him lots of lessons, “like how you do anything is how you do everything. It’s never wrong to do the right thing. Kind deeds are never lost. You’d rather be an hour early than a minute late.”

But the greatest lesson he perpetuated, according to Rigsby, was about hope.

His father’s teachings have guided him through troubling times in life. But when Rigsby lost his first wife to cancer, he said he had lost hope.

“And my father said, ‘You can’t lose something God gave you son. You haven’t lost hope. You’ve lost perspective. Now, son, just stand,'” he said.

Rigsby now travels all over the world and encourages people to keep standing.

“I get inspired every day to keep going, to keep standing, to make sure that this day is a masterpiece to do everything that I can to be a blessing to other people,” he said. “I get inspired every single day.”

In sharing words of encouragement, Rigsby says:

“We all know all of the events that really drape, a cloudy sky over our existence today. We’re well aware of that. I know many of you that are tuning in right now have no hope. You have no reason for which to help. I want to share something with you that didn’t come out of a book but came out of the mouth of a third-grade dropout. And I believe that and I’ve seen it in here it is. As long as your heart is beating, you still have hope you might not see it. You may not sense it. You may not feel it. But as long as your heart is beating, there is still hope.”

Watch the full interview with Dr. Rick Rigsby in the video player at the top of the page.