大学十佳毕业典礼演讲精选
每年的五六月，是美国大学举行毕业典礼的季节。按照惯例，各界名流都会受邀到各大名校去作激动人心的演讲。本文精选了近年来美国最有影响力的十佳毕业典礼演讲，与已经或即将毕业的读者朋友们共勉。
1. Steve Jobs
史蒂芬·乔布斯
CEO of Apple Computers 苹果电脑CEO
Stanford University 斯坦福大学
June 12, 2005 2005年6月12日
Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
记着你总会死去，这是我知道的防止患得患失的最佳办法。赤条条来去无牵挂，还有什么理由不随你的心？！
你的时间是有限的，因此不要把时间浪费在过别人的生活上。不要被教条所困——使自己的生活受限于他人的思想成果。不要让他人的意见淹没了你自己内心的声音。最重要的是，要有勇气跟随你的内心与直觉，它们好歹已经知道你真正想让自己成为什么。其他的，都是次要的。
2. David Foster Wallace
大卫·福斯特·华莱士
Novelist 小说家
Kenyon College 肯尼恩学院
May 21, 2005 2005年5月21日
There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, “Morning, boys. How's the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, “What the hell is water?”
... simple awareness; awareness of what is so real and essential, so hidden in plain sight all around us, all the time, that we have to keep reminding ourselves over and over:
“This is water.”
“This is water.”
It is unimaginably hard to do this, to stay conscious and alive in the adult world day in and day out.
有两条小鱼一起在水里游，碰到一条老鱼迎面游过来。老鱼向他们点点头，并说：“早上好，孩子们。水怎么样？”这两条小鱼继续往前游了一会儿后，其中一条小鱼实在忍不住了，看了一下另一条小鱼，问道：“水到底是什么东西？”
……简单的意识；对我们生活中如此真实、如此必不可少、无处不在、无时不在的事物的意识，需要我们一遍一遍地提醒自己：
“这是水。”
“这是水。”
天天都保持意识清醒而鲜活，在成人世界中做到这点，是不可想象地难。
3. Michael Uslan
迈克尔·奥斯兰
Movie Producer 电影制片人
Indiana University 印第安纳大学
May 06, 2006 2006年5月6日
You must believe in yourself and in your work. When our first Batman movie broke all those box-office records, I received a phone call from that United Artists exec who, years before, had told me I was out of my mind. Now he said, “Michael, I'm just calling to congratulate you on the success of Batman. I always said you were a visionary.” You see the point here — don't believe them when they tell you how bad you are or how terrible your ideas are, but also, don't believe them when they tell you how wonderful you are and how great your ideas are. Just believe in yourself and you'll do just fine. And, oh yes, don't then forget to market yourself and your ideas. Use both sides of your brain.
You must have a high threshold for frustration. Take it from the guy who was turned down by every studio in Hollywood. You must knock on doors until your knuckles bleed. Doors will slam in your face. You must pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and knock again. It's the only way to achieve your goals in life.
你必须相信你自己，对自己的工作充满信心。当我们的第一部电影《蝙蝠侠》创下史无前例的票房纪录时，我接到了艺术家联合会会长的电话，他在数年之前曾说我疯了。如今他说：“迈克尔，我给你打电话祝贺《蝙蝠侠》的成功。我总说你是一位有远见的人。”你看，关键在这里，当他们说你有多差，你的想法有多糟的时候，不要信他们的话，同时，当他们告诉你你有多么了不起，你的想法多美妙时，也不要相信他们。你就只相信你自己，这样你就能做好。还有，那就是，不要忘记推销你自己和你的想法。左右大脑你都得用。
要能经受得住挫败。这是被好莱坞每一家制片厂拒绝过的人的经验。你必须去敲一扇扇的门，直到指关节流血。大门会在你面前砰然关上，你必须重振旗鼓，弹去身上的灰尘，再敲下一扇门。这是实现你人生目标的唯一办法。
4. Woody Hayes
伍迪·海耶斯
College Fooball Coach 大学橄榄球教练
Ohio State University 俄亥俄州立大学
May 14, 1986 1986年5月14日
In football we always said that the other team couldn't beat us. We had to be sure that we didn't beat ourselves. And that’s what people have to do, too — make sure they don't beat themselves.
... you'll find out that nothing that comes easy is worth a dime. As a matter of fact, I never saw a football player make a tackle with a smile on his face. Never.
在橄榄球场上，我们总是说其他队战胜不了我们。我们必须做到不把自己打垮。所有人也都必须这么做，确保自己不要被自己打垮。
……你会发现，来得容易的东西总是一文不值。事实上，我从来没有看到哪位橄榄球运动员是带着微笑完成阻截的。从来没有。
5. Bradley Whitford
布兰德利·惠特福德
Actor 演员
University Wisconsin - Madison 威斯康辛大学麦迪逊分校
May 17, 2006 2006年5月17日
Number One: Fall in love with the process and the results will follow.
Number Two: Do your work.
Number Three: Once you're prepared, throw your preparation in the trash.
Number Four: You are capable of more than you think.
Number Five: Listen.
Number Six: Take action.
You have a choice. You can either be a passive victim of circumstance or you can be the active hero of your own life. Action is the antidote to apathy and cynicism and despair.
第一，爱上过程，结果自然会来。
第二，做你的事。
第三，一旦准备好，就付诸行动。
第四，你能做的，超出了你的想象。
第五，聆听。
第六，采取行动。
你有一个选择。要么你成为环境的被动受害者，要么你主动成为自己生活的英雄。行动可以消除冷漠、玩世不恭与绝望。
6. Jerry Zucker
杰瑞·朱克
Director, movie producer 导演、电影制片人
University of Wisconsin 威斯康辛大学
May 17, 2003 2003年5月17日
It doesn't matter whether your dream came true if you spent your whole life sleeping.
Ask yourself one question: If I didn't have to do it perfectly, what would I try?
Nobody else is paying as much attention to your failures as you are. You're the only one who is obsessed with the importance of your own life. To everyone else, it's just a blip on the radar screen, so just move on.
如果你一生都在睡觉，你的梦想是否实现就无关紧要了。
问你自己一个问题：如果我不是必须做得完美，那我还努力什么呢？
没有人会像你自己那样对自己的失败那么在意。你是唯一一个能追求自己的生活意义的人。对于其他所有人来说，你只是雷达荧光屏上的一个光点。所以，只管前行吧。
7. Earl Bakken
厄尔·巴肯
Businessman 商人
University of Hawaii 夏威夷大学
May 16, 2004 2004年5月16日
By all reckoning, the bumblebee is aerodynamically unsound and shouldn't be able to fly. Yet, the little bee gets those wings going like a turbo-jet and flies to every plant its chubby little body can land on to collect all the nectar it can hold.
Bumblebees are the most persistent creatures. They don't know they can't fly, so they just keep buzzing around.
Never give in to pessimism. Don't know that you can't fly, and you will soar like an eagle. Don't end up regretting what you did not do because you were too lazy or too frightened to soar. Be a bumblebee! And soar to the heavens. You can do it.
无论怎么考量，大黄蜂从空气动力学上讲是不健全、不应该会飞的。但是，这种小蜜蜂却像涡轮喷气飞机一样地展翅飞行，飞到它圆乎乎的身体能够降落的任何植物上去采蜜。
大黄蜂最坚韧的生灵，它们不知道自己不能飞，因此它们只管到处嗡嗡地飞个不停。
千万不要悲观。不知道你不会飞，你会像鹰一样高高飞翔。不要到头来后悔自己因为太懒或太怕高飞而无所作为。做一只大黄蜂。飞到天上去。你能做到的。
8. John Walsh
约翰·沃尔什
Author and art historian 作家和艺术历史学家
Wheaton College 惠顿学院
2000 2000年
Do one thing at a time. Give each experience all your attention. Try to resist being distracted by other sights and sounds, other thoughts and tasks, and when it is, guide your mind back to what you're doing.
I'm not warning against learning many things on many subjects. My warning is against distraction, whether you invite it or just let it happen. In baseball, high-percentage hitters know better: it's “focus” they talk about, and they prize it as much as strength. Psychologists describe skilled rock climbers and tennis players and pianists as going beyond focus, to what they have called a “flow” experience, a sense of absorption with the rock or the ball or the music in which the “me versus it” disappears and there's a kind of oneness with the task that brings a joyful higher awareness, as well as successful performance. I've had these experiences, too little but not too late, and probably you have, too. They are a supreme kind of pleasure. You will have more of them if you do one thing at a time.
一次做一件事情。全力关注你每一次的经历。决不要被别的声色之物和其他想法、任务分心。一旦分心了，引导你的注意力重新回到你做的事情上。
我不是在反对学习多个学科的众多知识。我所警告的是分心与干扰，无论是你主动招惹的，还是让它发生的。在棒球场上，得分高的击球员对此有更深体会：他们谈的是“专注”，他们把它看得跟力量一样重要。在心理学家的描述中，高技能的攀岩者、网球运动员、钢琴家已经超越了专注，达到了他们所称的经验之“流”，那是一种跟岩石、网球或音乐融为一体的感觉，“我与它”已然消失，跟任务合二为一，给人以更高水平的愉悦体验，而不仅仅是成功地完成了任务。我有这种体验，虽然很少，但来得还不算迟，或许你也有这种体验。这是一种最高形式的快乐。如果你一次专注于一件事情，你就会有更多这样的体验。
9. David L. Calhoun
大卫·卡尔霍恩
Businessman 商人
Virginia Tech 弗吉尼亚理工大学
May 13, 2005 2005年5月13日
I worked for a guy named Jack Welch for twenty years at GE. He was, and is, a great mentor as much as a great leader. If I had to isolate the subject he spoke most passionately to me about, over all those years, it is that SELF CONFIDENCE is the most important, the indispensable characteristic of success, the common characteristic shared by great leaders whose talents may have varied widely in most other respects.
So, how do you get it? What is the secret to developing your own brand of self-confidence?
First, you must resolve to grow intellectually, morally, technically, and professionally every day through your entire work and family life. You need to ask yourself every day: Am I really up to speed or falling behind? Am I still learning? Or am I just doing the same stuff on a different day or as Otis Redding sings, “Sitting on the dock of the bay... watching the tide roll away?”
The lust for learning is age-independent.
Another important way to build your confidence is to seek out the toughest jobs, the most daunting scientific, engineering or management challenges.
我在通用公司为一个名叫杰克·韦尔奇的家伙工作了20年。他既是一位伟大的领导者，也是一位伟大的导师，过去是，现在也是。如果我必须找出那些年里他充满激情地对我说的最主要的话，那就是：自信是最重要的，它是成功必不可少的，是所有在其他多数方面才能也许大相径庭的伟大领导者的共同特征。
如何获得自信？培养你特有的自信的秘诀是什么？
首先，你必须下决心每天都通过你的工作和家庭生活去获得智力、道德、技术与专业上的提高。你需要每天问自己：我是在加速前进还是在后退？我还在学习吗？我是在每天重复做同样的事情或就像奥蒂斯·瑞汀所唱的那样，“坐在海湾的码头上，看潮起潮落”？
对学习的渴望是不受年龄限制的。
培养自信的另一个重要途径是寻找最难做的工作，最棘手的科学、工程或管理方面的难题。
10. Marc S. Lewis
马克·刘易斯
Clinical psychology professor 临床心理学教授
University of Texas at Austin 得克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校
May 19, 2000 2000年5月19日
There are times when you are going to do well, and times when you're going to fail. But neither the doing well, nor the failure is the measure of success. The measure of success is what you think about what you've done. Let me put that another way: The way to be happy is to like yourself and the way to like yourself is to do only things that make you proud.
There's that old joke, not very funny, that goes, “No matter where you go, there you are.” That's true. The person who you're with most in life is yourself and if you don't like yourself you're always with somebody you don't like.
有时候你会干得很漂亮，有时候你会失败，但二者都不是衡量成功的标准。衡量成功的标准是你自己对你的所为怎么看。让我换一句话说：让自己幸福的办法是喜欢你自己，喜欢自己的办法是只做让你自己感到骄傲的事情。
有一个老笑话，不是很好笑，它是这么说的：“无论你走到哪里，你都在那里。”这是真的。你一生中跟你在一起最多的人是你自己，如果你不喜欢你自己，那你就会总是跟你不喜欢的人在一起。
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