Stephen Colbert hit an unforeseen career roadblock when CBS canceled “The Late Show” in 2025 after 11 years on the air. At least publicly, the late-night host has seemed to take his career pivot in stride, a tack that’s in line with some advice he gave recent college graduates in 2011.
After working on comedy shows like “The Dana Carvey Show” and HBO’s “Exit 57” in the 1990s, Colbert’s career morphed into something unique in 1997 when he landed a role as a bumbling correspondent on “The Daily Show.” After eight years, he left the Comedy Central series in 2005 to star in something of a spiritual spinoff, “The Colbert Report,” playing an exaggerated, conservative version of himself.
The success of the show led to Colbert’s replacing former “Late Show” host David Letterman, and becoming one of the staple chat show presenters in the US alongside Jimmy Fallon, John Oliver, Seth Meyers, and Jimmy Kimmel. “The Late Show” finale paid homage to Colbert’s achievements by including appearances from stars like Paul Rudd (“Only Murders in the Building”) and Bryan Cranston (“Breaking Bad”), and a roast from some of the aforementioned late-night hosts.
In the wake of the show’s cancellation, Colbert pivoted his career to add an even bigger string to his bow: working with Peter Jackson on writing the next chapter of Middle-Earth on the big screen, “The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past.” The writer and host has been vocal about his love for the franchise for years, and even made a cameo in “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” back in 2014. In fact, this next phase of Colbert’s life perfectly symbolizes his advice about dreams.
Quote of the Day by Stephen Colbert
“Dreams can change. If we’d all stuck with our first dream, the world would be overrun with cowboys and princesses. So whatever your dream is right now, if you don’t achieve it, you haven’t failed, and you’re not some loser.”
The quote comes from Stephen Colbert’s commencement speech to graduates at Northwestern University in 2011, which then circulated on YouTube. It’s poignant because Colbert attended Northwestern and graduated in 1986.
He pointed out that there’s no advice on what to do if you have a “stupid” dream. Colbert joked that as a student his goal in life was to live alone in a “barren loft apartment,” sporting a beard and performing Shakespeare. Now, he loves being “a beardless, suburban dad,” which shows how his priorities have changed as he’s grown older.
Deeper meaning of Stephen Colbert’s quote — flexibility and acceptance
Stephen Colbert uses the “cowboys and princesses” line to joke about the stereotypical dreams children have when asked what they’d like to be when they grow up. However the phrasing doesn’t punch down on the concept of outlandish dreams. Instead, he uses it as an example to say that we can all have goals of doing fantastical things in life, but sometimes they’re not achievable for one reason or another.
That doesn’t mean you’re a failure, and sometimes they can lead to bigger and better things in life. Colbert’s own career is a perfect example of that. His goal as a student was very small in comparison to having his own talk show, hosting events like the Emmy awards, and having his own family.
If he didn’t have the capacity to pivot and change what he wanted after “The Late Show” was canceled, he wouldn’t have been able to start writing a “Lords of the Rings” movie with Peter Jackson — something about which he’s incredibly passionate.
So, the moral of the quote is: It helps to be flexible about what you want out of life, because it could lead to even bigger achievements.
More quotes From Stephen Colbert
“I would say laughter is the best medicine. But it’s more than that. It’s an entire regime of antibiotics and steroids. Laughter brings the swelling down on our national psyche, and then applies an antibiotic cream.” — From a 2007 interview with Entertainment Weekly.
“If you don’t give power to the words that people throw at you to hurt you, they don’t hurt you anymore. And you actually have power over those people.” — From a 2011 video for the “It Gets Better” campaign.
“You cannot win improv. And life is an improvisation. You have no idea what’s going to happen next and you are mostly just making things up as you go along.” — From the 2011 Northwestern University commencement speech.
“There is no secret society out there that will tap you on your shoulder one night and show you the way. Because the true secret is: Your life will not be defined by the society we have left you.” — From a 2013 University of Virgina commencement speech.