比尔·盖茨哈佛大学毕业典礼上的演讲(二)

第一篇：比尔·盖茨哈佛大学毕业典礼上的演讲(二)

比尔·盖茨哈佛大学毕业典礼上的演讲(二).txt36母爱是一缕阳光，让你的心灵即便在寒冷的冬天也能感受到温暖如春；母爱是一泓清泉，让你的情感即使蒙上岁月的风尘仍然清澈澄净。比尔·盖茨哈佛大学毕业典礼上的演讲

（二）2007-8-3 8:24

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演讲正文：

President Bok, former President Rudenstine, incoming President Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers, members of the faculty, parents, and especially, the graduates:

尊敬的Bok校长，Rudenstine前校长，即将上任的Faust校长，哈佛集团的各位成员，监管理事会的各位理事，各位老师，各位家长，各位同学：

I've been waiting more than 30 years to say this: “Dad, I always told you I'd come back and get my degree.”

有一句话我等了三十年，现在终于可以说了：“老爸，我总是跟你说，我会回来拿到我的学位的！”

I want to thank Harvard for this timely honor.I'll be changing my job next year „ and it will be nice to finally have a college degree on my resume.我要感谢哈佛大学在这个时候给我这个荣誉。明年，我就要换工作了（注：指从微软公司退休）„„我终于可以在简历上写我有一个本科学位，这真是不错啊。

I applaud the graduates today for taking a much more direct route to your degrees.For my part, I'm just happy that the Crimson has called me “Harvard's most successful dropout.” I guess that makes me valedictorian of my own special class „ I did the best of everyone who failed.我为今天在座的各位同学感到高兴，你们拿到学位可比我简单多了。哈佛的校报称我是“哈佛大学历史上最成功的辍学生”。我想这大概使我有资格代表我这一类学生发言„„在所有的失败者里，我做得最好。

But I also want to be recognized as the guy who got Steve Ballmer to drop out of business school.I'm a bad influence.That's why I was invited to speak at your graduation.If I had spoken at your orientation, fewer of you might be here today.但是，我还要提醒大家，我使得Steve Ballmer（注：微软总经理）也从哈佛商学院退学了。因此，我是个有着恶劣影响力的人。这就是为什么我被邀请来在你们的毕业典礼上演讲。如果我在你们入学欢迎仪式上演讲，那么能够坚持到今天在这里毕业的人也许会少得多吧。

Harvard was just a phenomenal experience for me.Academic life was fascinating.I used to sit in on lots of classes I hadn't even signed up for.And dorm life was terrific.I lived up at Radcliffe, in Currier House.There were always lots of people in my dorm room late at night discussing things, because everyone knew I didn't worry about getting up in the morning.That's how I came to be the leader of the anti-social group.We clung to each other as a way of validating our rejection of all those social people.对我来说，哈佛的求学经历是一段非凡的经历。校园生活很有趣，我常去旁听我没选修的课。哈佛的课外生活也很棒，我在Radcliffe过着逍遥自在的日子。每天我的寝室里总有很多人一直待到半夜，讨论着各种事情。因为每个人都知道我从不考虑第二天早起。这使得我变成了校园里那些不安分学生的头头，我们互相粘在一起，做出一种拒绝所有正常学生的姿态。

Radcliffe was a great place to live.There were more women up there, and most of the guys were science-math types.That combination offered me the best odds, if you know what I mean.This is where I learned the sad lesson that improving your odds doesn't guarantee success.Radcliffe是个过日子的好地方。那里的女生比男生多，而且大多数男生都是理工科的。这种状况为我创造了最好的机会，如果你们明白我的意思。可惜的是，我正是在这里学到了人生中悲伤的一课：机会大，并不等于你就会成功。

One of my biggest memories of Harvard came in January 1975, when I made a call from Currier House to a company in Albuquerque that had begun making the world's first personal computers.I offered to sell them software.我在哈佛最难忘的回忆之一，发生在1975年1月。那时，我从宿舍楼里给位于Albuquerque的一家公司打了一个电话，那家公司已经在着手制造世界上第一台个人电脑。我提出想向他们出售软件。

I worried that they would realize I was just a student in a dorm and hang up on me.Instead they said: “We're not quite ready, come see us in a month,” which was a good thing, because we hadn't written the software yet.From that moment, I worked day and night on this little extra credit project that marked the end of my college education and the beginning of a remarkable journey with Microsoft.我很担心，他们会发觉我是一个住在宿舍的学生，从而挂断电话。但是他们却说：“我们还没准备好，一个月后你再来找我们吧。”这是个好消息，因为那时 软件还根本没有写出来呢。就是从那个时候起，我日以继夜地在这个小小的课外项目上工作，这导致了我学生生活的结束，以及通往微软公司的不平凡的旅程的开 始。

What I remember above all about Harvard was being in the midst of so much energy and intelligence.It could be exhilarating, intimidating, sometimes even discouraging, but always challenging.It was an amazing privilege – and though I left early, I was transformed by my years at Harvard, the friendships I made, and the ideas I worked on.不管怎样，我对哈佛的回忆主要都与充沛的精力和智力活动有关。哈佛的生活令人愉快，也令人感到有压力，有时甚至会感到泄气，但永远充满了挑战性。生 活在哈佛是一种吸引人的特殊待遇„„虽然我离开得比较早，但是我在这里的经历、在这里结识的朋友、在这里发展起来的一些想法，永远地改变了我。

But taking a serious look back „ I do have one big regret.但是，如果现在严肃地回忆起来，我确实有一个真正的遗憾。

I left Harvard with no real awareness of the awful inequities in the world – the appalling disparities of health, and wealth, and opportunity that condemn millions of people to lives of despair.我离开哈佛的时候，根本没有意识到这个世界是多么的不平等。人类在健康、财富和机遇上的不平等大得可怕，它们使得无数的人们被迫生活在绝望之中。

I learned a lot here at Harvard about new ideas in economics and politics.I got great exposure to the advances being made in the sciences.我在哈佛学到了很多经济学和政治学的新思想。我也了解了很多科学上的新进展。

But humanity's greatest advances are not in its discoveries – but in how those discoveries are applied to reduce inequity.Whether through democracy, strong public education, quality health care, or broad economic opportunity – reducing inequity is the highest human achievement.但是，人类最大的进步并不来自于这些发现，而是来自于那些有助于减少人类不平等的发现。不管通过何种手段——民主制度、健全的公共教育体系、高质量的医疗保健、还是广泛的经济机会——减少不平等始终是人类最大的成就。

I left campus knowing little about the millions of young people cheated out of educational opportunities here in this country.And I knew nothing about the millions of people living in unspeakable poverty and disease in developing countries.我离开校园的时候，根本不知道在这个国家里，有几百万的年轻人无法获得接受教育的机会。我也不知道，发展中国家里有无数的人们生活在无法形容的贫穷和疾病之中。

It took me decades to find out.我花了几十年才明白了这些事情。

You graduates came to Harvard at a different time.You know more about the world's inequities than the classes that came before.In your years here, I hope you've had a chance to think about how – in this age of accelerating technology – we can finally take on these inequities, and we can solve them.在座的各位同学，你们是在与我不同的时代来到哈佛的。你们比以前的学生，更多地了解世界是怎样的不平等。在你们的哈佛求学过程中，我希望你们已经思考过一个问题，那就是在这个新技术加速发展的时代，我们怎样最终应对这种不平等，以及我们怎样来解决这个问题。

Imagine, just for the sake of discussion, that you had a few hours a week and a few dollars a month to donate to a cause – and you wanted to spend that time and money where it would have the greatest impact in saving and improving lives.Where would you spend it?

为了讨论的方便，请想象一下，假如你每个星期可以捐献一些时间、每个月可以捐献一些钱——你希望这些时间和金钱，可以用到对拯救生命和改善人类生活有最大作用的地方。你会选择什么地方？

For Melinda and for me, the challenge is the same: how can we do the most good for the greatest number with the resources we have.对Melinda（注：盖茨的妻子）和我来说，这也是我们面临的问题：我们如何能将我们拥有的资源发挥出最大的作用。

第二篇：比尔·盖茨哈佛大学毕业典礼上的演讲(二)

比尔·盖茨哈佛大学毕业典礼上的演讲

（二）2007-8-3 8:2

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演讲正文：

President Bok, former President Rudenstine, incoming President Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers, members of the faculty, parents, and especially, the graduates:

尊敬的Bok校长，Rudenstine前校长，即将上任的Faust校长，哈佛集团的各位成员，监管理事会的各位理事，各位老师，各位家长，各位同学：

I've been waiting more than 30 years to say this: “Dad, I always told you I'd come back and get my degree.”

有一句话我等了三十年，现在终于可以说了：“老爸，我总是跟你说，我会回来拿到我的学位的！”

I want to thank Harvard for this timely honor.I'll be changing my job next year „ and it will be nice to finally have a college degree on my resume.我要感谢哈佛大学在这个时候给我这个荣誉。明年，我就要换工作了（注：指从微软公司退休）„„我终于可以在简历上写我有一个本科学位，这真是不错啊。

I applaud the graduates today for taking a much more direct route to your degrees.For my part, I'm just happy that the Crimson has called me “Harvard's most successful dropout.” I guess that makes me valedictorian of my own special class „ I did the best of everyone who failed.我为今天在座的各位同学感到高兴，你们拿到学位可比我简单多了。哈佛的校报称我是“哈佛大学历史上最成功的辍学生”。我想这大概使我有资格代表我这一类学生发言„„在所有的失败者里，我做得最好。

But I also want to be recognized as the guy who got Steve Ballmer to drop out of business school.I'm a bad influence.That's why I was invited to speak at your graduation.If I had spoken at your orientation, fewer of you might be here today.但是，我还要提醒大家，我使得Steve Ballmer（注：微软总经理）也从哈佛商学院退学了。因此，我是个有着恶劣影响力的人。这就是为什么我被邀请来在你们的毕业典礼上演讲。如果我在你们入学欢迎仪式上演讲，那么能够坚持到今天在这里毕业的人也许会少得多

吧。

Harvard was just a phenomenal experience for me.Academic life was fascinating.I used to sit in on lots of classes I hadn't even signed up for.And dorm life was terrific.I lived up at Radcliffe, in Currier House.There were always lots of people in my dorm room late at night discussing things, because everyone knew I didn't worry about getting up in the morning.That's how I came to be the leader of the anti-social group.We clung to each other as a way of validating our rejection of all those social people.对我来说，哈佛的求学经历是一段非凡的经历。校园生活很有趣，我常去旁听我没选修的课。哈佛的课外生活也很棒，我在Radcliffe过着逍遥自在的日子。每天我的寝室里总有很多人一直待到半夜，讨论着各种事情。因为每个人都知道我从不考虑第二天早起。这使得我变成了校园里那些不安分学生的头头，我们互相粘在一起，做出一种拒绝所有正常学生的姿态。

Radcliffe was a great place to live.There were more women up there, and most of the guys were science-math types.That combination offered me the best odds, if you know what I mean.This is where I learned the sad lesson that improving your odds doesn't guarantee success.Radcliffe是个过日子的好地方。那里的女生比男生多，而且大多数男生都是理工科的。这种状况为我创造了最好的机会，如果你们明白我的意思。可惜的是，我正是在这里学到了人生中悲伤的一课：机会大，并不等于你就会成功。

One of my biggest memories of Harvard came in January 1975, when I made a call from Currier House to a company in Albuquerque that had begun making the world's first personal computers.I offered to sell them software.我在哈佛最难忘的回忆之一，发生在1975年1月。那时，我从宿舍楼里给位于Albuquerque的一家公司打了一个电话，那家公司已经在着手制造世界上第一台个人电脑。我提出想向他们出售软件。

I worried that they would realize I was just a student in a dorm and hang up on me.Instead they said: “We're not quite ready, come see us in a month,” which was a good thing, because we hadn't written the software yet.From that moment, I worked day and night on this little extra credit project that marked the end of my college education and the beginning of a remarkable journey with Microsoft.我很担心，他们会发觉我是一个住在宿舍的学生，从而挂断电话。但是他们却说：“我们还没准备好，一个月后你再来找我们吧。”这是个好消息，因为那时 软件还根本没有写出来呢。就是从那个时候起，我日以继夜地在这个小小的课外项目上工作，这导致了我学生生活的结束，以及通往微软公司的不平凡的旅程的开 始。

What I remember above all about Harvard was being in the midst of so much energy and intelligence.It could be exhilarating, intimidating, sometimes even discouraging, but always challenging.It was an amazing privilege – and though I left early, I was transformed by my years at Harvard, the friendships I made, and the ideas I worked on.不管怎样，我对哈佛的回忆主要都与充沛的精力和智力活动有关。哈佛的生活令人愉快，也令人感到有压力，有时甚至会感到泄气，但永远充满了挑战性。生 活在哈佛是一种吸引人的特殊待遇„„虽然我离开得比较早，但是我在这里的经历、在这里结识的朋友、在这里发展起来的一些想法，永远地改变了我。

But taking a serious look back „ I do have one big regret.但是，如果现在严肃地回忆起来，我确实有一个真正的遗憾。

I left Harvard with no real awareness of the awful inequities in the world – the appalling disparities of health, and wealth, and opportunity that condemn millions of people to lives of despair.我离开哈佛的时候，根本没有意识到这个世界是多么的不平等。人类在健康、财富和机遇上的不平等大得可怕，它们使得无数的人们被迫生活在绝望之中。

I learned a lot here at Harvard about new ideas in economics and politics.I got great exposure to the advances being made in the sciences.我在哈佛学到了很多经济学和政治学的新思想。我也了解了很多科学上的新进展。

But humanity's greatest advances are not in its discoveries – but in how those discoveries are applied to reduce inequity.Whether through democracy, strong public education, quality health care, or broad economic opportunity – reducing inequity is the highest human achievement.但是，人类最大的进步并不来自于这些发现，而是来自于那些有助于减少人类不平等的发现。不管通过何种手段——民主制度、健全的公共教育体系、高质量的医疗保健、还是广泛的经济机会——减少不平等始终是人类最大的成就。

I left campus knowing little about the millions of young people cheated out of educational opportunities here in this country.And I knew nothing about the millions of people living in unspeakable poverty and disease in developing countries.我离开校园的时候，根本不知道在这个国家里，有几百万的年轻人无法获得接受教育的机会。我也不知道，发展中国家里有无数的人们生活在无法形容的贫穷和疾病之中。

It took me decades to find out.我花了几十年才明白了这些事情。

You graduates came to Harvard at a different time.You know more about the world's inequities than the classes that came before.In your years here, I hope you've had a chance to think about how – in this age of accelerating technology – we can finally take on these inequities, and we can solve them.在座的各位同学，你们是在与我不同的时代来到哈佛的。你们比以前的学生，更多地了解世界是怎样的不平等。在你们的哈佛求学过程中，我希望你们已经思考过一个问题，那就是在这个新技术加速发展的时代，我们怎样最终应对这种不平等，以及我们怎样来解决这个问题。

Imagine, just for the sake of discussion, that you had a few hours a week and a few dollars a month to donate to a cause – and you wanted to spend that time and money where it would have the greatest impact in saving and improving lives.Where would you spend it?

为了讨论的方便，请想象一下，假如你每个星期可以捐献一些时间、每个月可以捐献一些钱——你希望这些时间和金钱，可以用到对拯救生命和改善人类生活有最大作用的地方。你会选择什么地方？

For Melinda and for me, the challenge is the same: how can we do the most good for the greatest number with the resources we have.对Melinda（注：盖茨的妻子）和我来说，这也是我们面临的问题：我们如何能将我们拥有的资源发挥出最大的作用。

第三篇：比尔·盖茨哈佛大学毕业典礼上的演讲(一)

比尔·盖茨哈佛大学毕业典礼上的演讲

（一）2007-8-3 8:2

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图：哈佛大学代理校长Derek Bok（最右边）介绍毕业典礼主讲人比尔·盖茨出场，一旁观看的则是NBA传奇人物Bill Russell.Bok校长不忘开玩笑的说，“若你在哈佛能多读完两年才出去，那成就不就更惊人了？”盖茨当年读到大三就退学出去创业，成立了微软。

下文是比尔·盖茨今年6月7日在哈佛大学毕业典礼上的演讲的翻译。他在其中谈到了很多事情，包括他的学生时代、他的退学经历、以及他眼中人生最有意义的事情。我觉得内容非常好，完全改变了我对比尔·盖茨的看法，所以花了两个晚上翻译出来，希望让更多的人看到。

愈后，再把冷冻的卵巢解冻（thawed），移回到她的腹腔（abdomen）。我们发现这种推测是非常符合生活逻辑的。这说明，我们的推测是正确的，是和本段的意义相符的。

不过场面话交代完毕，盖茨马上将话题转到对抗贫穷与爱滋，这是盖茨与妻子Melinda通过他们的基金会（Bill&Melinda Gates Foundation）所致力改善的目标之一。

盖茨向哈佛毕业生说，各位有责任改善世界不公平之处。“想想你们目前享受到的，大家就能明白世界对各位的期望是什么。”

第四篇：比尔·盖茨在哈佛大学毕业典礼上的演讲(中英文对照)

比尔·盖茨和夫人梅琳达·盖茨在斯坦福大学2014年毕业典礼上的演讲。整个演讲以“乐观”为主线，强调了他们对科技的乐观态度，以及对世界美好未来的乐观态度。盖茨夫妇轮流讲述了自己的亲身经历和故事，告诉学生应该站在他人的立场上，感同身受那些处境不及自己的人，尽自己所能去帮助那些需要帮助的人，让全世界所有人类同胞都有一样的美好未来。

Stanford University.（斯坦福大学）

BILL GATES: Congratulations, class of 2014!比尔·盖茨：2014届毕业生，祝贺你们顺利毕业(Cheers).（欢呼）

Melinda and I are excited to be here.It would be a thrill for anyone to be invited to speak at a Stanford commencement, but it's especially gratifying for us.Stanford is rapidly becoming the favorite university for members of our family, and it's long been a favorite university for Microsoft and our foundation.我和梅琳达怀着激动的心情与你们欢聚在此共贺毕业。能受邀到斯坦福大学学位授予典礼上做演讲是一件让人激动的事，对我们而言，这尤为荣幸。斯坦福大学正日渐成为我们家庭成员最喜爱的大学。而长久以来，斯坦福也是微软以及比尔与梅琳达基金会最喜爱的一所大学。”

Our formula has been to get the smartest, most creative people working on the most important problems.It turns out that a disproportionate number of those people are at Stanford.(Cheers).我们一直致力于让最聪颖有创造力的人攻克最为重要的问题。结果证明，一大部分这样的人才都来自于斯坦福校园。（欢呼）Right now, we have more than 30 foundation research projects underway here.When we want to learn more about the immune system to help cure the worst diseases, we work with Stanford.When we want to understand the changing landscape of higher education in the United States, so that more low-income students get college degrees, we work with Stanford.This is where genius lives.如今，我们在这里进行着30多个研究项目。当我们想要通过对免疫系统的研究来寻找治愈世界上最可怕疾病的方法，我们需要斯坦福。当我们需要通过对美国高等教育的研究来帮助低收入学生上大学时，我们亦需要斯坦福。这便是人才的摇篮。

There's a flexibility of mind here, an openness to change, an eagerness for what's new.This is where people come to discover the future, and have fun doing it.在这里，有着灵活的思维，对于改变的开放态度以及对新鲜事物的渴求。在这里，人们善于发现新事物，并乐享这份经历。

MELINDA GATES: Now, some people call you all nerds and we hear that you claim that label with pride.(Cheers and Applause).梅琳达•盖茨：当下，一些人用书呆子这样词语称呼你们，而我们听说你们正为这个称呼而倍感骄傲。（欢呼和掌声）

BILL GATES: Well, so do we.(Cheers and Applause).比尔盖茨：嗯，我们与你们同在。（欢呼和掌声）

BILL GATES: My normal glasses really aren't all that different.(Laughter).比尔盖茨：我的这副普通眼镜也没多大差异嘛。（笑声）

There are so many remarkable things going on here at this campus, but if Melinda and I had to put into one word what we love most about Stanford, it's the optimism.There's an infectious feeling here that innovation can solve almost every problem.That's the belief that drove me in 1975 to leave a college in the suburbs of Boston and go on an endless leave of absence.(Laughter).在这所校园中，每时每刻都有非凡的事件发生，但如果要我和梅琳达用一个词来表达对斯坦福的挚爱，那便是“乐观”。这是一种极富感染力的乐观精神，那便是，所有的问题在创新之下都能迎刃而解。这便是驱使我在1975年离开波士顿郊区的大学，并永远辍学的一个动力。（笑声）I believed that the magic of computers and software would empower people everywhere and make the world much, much better.当时的我相信计算机和软件的魔力能够赋予全世界人民以力量，并能够让这个世界变得更加美好。

It's been 40 years since then, and 20 years since Melinda and I were married.We are both more optimistic now than ever.But on our journey, our optimism evolved.据那时算起，已有40年之久，我和梅琳达喜结连理也有20年之远了。这些年间，我们都比过去更为乐观开朗，但是在这些人生之旅中，我们的乐观也实现了进化。

We would like to tell you what we learned and talk to you today about how your optimism and ours can do more for more people.When Paul Allen and I started Microsoft, we wanted to bring the power of computers and software to the people, and that was the kind of rhetoric we used.One of the pioneering books in the field had a raised fist on the cover, and it was called “Computer Lib.” 我们今天很想与大家分享我们所学到的一切，并和你们聊聊我们的和你们的乐观精神怎样为更多的人服务。当初和保罗创立微软之时，我们的目标是把计算机和软件的力量普及到普通大众，这便是我们当时的说法。在早期的一本书上的封面有一个上扬的拳头，他们称之为《计算机解放》。

At that time, only big businesses could buy computers.We wanted to offer the same power to regular people and democratize computing.在那个时候，只有大企业才能购置计算机。我们想让这种计算机设备普及到社会大众并让计算机民主化。

By the 1990s, we saw how profoundly personal computers could empower people, but that success created a new dilemma.If rich kids got computers and poor kids didn't, then technology would make inequality worse.That ran counter to our core belief.在上个世纪90年代，我们目睹了个人电脑对人们的巨大效用，但是这种成功同时造成了新的困局。如果富人的孩子拥有计算机而穷人的孩子却不能时，这种科技会加剧不平等。而这与我们的核心理念相抵触。

Technology should benefit everyone.科技应当惠及万众。

So we worked to close the digital divide.I made it a priority at Microsoft, and Melinda and I made it an early priority at our Foundation.Donating personal computers to public libraries to make sure that everyone had access.因此我们应当努力缩小这种差距。我将它定位为微软的首要任务，也是我和梅琳达在建立基金会之初的首要任务。为公众图书馆捐献个人电脑从而确保人人都能有机会使用。The digital divide was a focus of mine in 1997, when I took my first trip to South Africa.I went there on business so I spent most of my time in meetings in downtown Johannesburg.I stayed in the home of one of the richest families in South Africa.当我在1997年首次出访南非时，我便开始关注“数码鸿沟”。因公事出差的我将大部分时间都花费在约翰内斯堡的市区开会中。当时我住在南非最富裕的一户家庭中。It had only been three years since the election of Nelson Mandela marked the end of apartheid.When I sat down for dinner with my hosts, they used a bell to call the butler.After dinner, the women and men separated and the men smoked cigars.I thought, good thing I read Jane Austen, or I wouldn't have known what was going on.(Laughter).那时距离尼尔森•曼德拉上台，并结束种族隔离只有3年。当我同主人共进晚餐时，他们使用铃铛来使唤管家。在晚饭后，男女相互分开而男人们开始抽雪茄。当时我想，幸好我读过简•奥斯汀的书否则我就不知道发生了什么。（笑声）But the next day I went to Soweto, the poor township southwest of Johannesburg, that had been the center of the anti-apartheid movement.It was a short distance from the city into the township, but the entry was sudden, jarring and harsh.但在第二天我去了索韦托，约翰内斯堡西南的一个贫穷小镇，那里曾经是反种族隔离的中心。尽管从约翰内斯堡到索韦托路程不长，但从进入索韦托的那一刻起，一切都令人无比震惊。

I passed into a world completely unlike the one I came from.My visit to Soweto became an early lesson in how naive I was.Microsoft was donating computers and software to a community center there.The kind of thing we did in the United States.我觉得我来到了一个和我所来自的地方截然不同的世界。索韦托之行让我很早便意识到自己竟是如此天真。微软向那里的一个社区中心捐赠计算机和软件。和我们在美国所做的一切相同。

But it became clear to me, very quickly, that this was not the United States.但是我很快明白了，这里并不是美国。

I had seen statistics on poverty, but I had never really seen poverty.The people there lived in corrugated tin shacks with no electricity, no water, no toilets.Most people didn't wear shoes.They walked barefoot along the streets, except there were no streets, just ruts in the mud.我曾经阅览过有关贫穷的调查数据，但是却未曾目睹过贫穷。那里的人们住在用铁皮搭成的简陋棚户里，没有电，没有自来水，也没有厕所。人们几乎不穿鞋，赤脚行走。或者可以说根本没有街道，只是一些坑洼的泥土路。

The community center had no consistent source of power.So they rigged up an extension cord that ran 200 feet from the center to the diesel generator outside.Looking at this setup, I knew the minute the reporters left, the generator would get moved to a more urgent task.And the people who used the community center would go back to worrying about challenges that couldn't be solved by a personal computer.由于社区中心没有持续供电的设施，所以他们安装了一根延长线连接到200英尺以外的柴油发电机上。看过了这些装置，我明白了一旦记者离开后，发电机将会被运用到更紧迫的任务上。使用社区中心的人们也会因此而离开，为电脑所不能解决的问题而担忧。When I gave my prepared remarks to the press, I said Soweto is a milestone.There are major decisions ahead about whether technology will leave the developing world behind.This is to close the gap.当我向媒体道出已准备好的发言时，我谈到索韦托的经历对我而言是一个里程碑，我们所面临的重大决定是科技是否会让发展中国家落后。这也便是要缩小差距。

But as I read those words, I knew they weren't super relevant.What I didn't say was, by the way, we're not focused on the fact that half a million people on this continent are dying every year from malaria.But we are sure as hell going to bring you computers.但当我说出这些词时，我发现他们并不是如此相关。我没有说的是，“顺便说一下，我们并没有注意到这个大洲上每年都会有50万人死于疟疾的事实。”但我们还是万分确信我们会为他们带来计算机。

Before I went to Soweto, I thought I understood the world's problems but I was blind to many of the most important ones.I was so taken aback by what I saw that I had to ask

myself, did I still believe that innovation could solve the world's toughest problems? I promised myself that before I came back to Africa, I would find out more about what keeps people poor.在我去索韦托之前，我认为自己很理解这个世界存在的问题，可那时我才明白我忽视了最重要的问题，我不停问自己‘你还认为创新能解决世界上最棘手的问题吗？’我向自己保证，在重回非洲之前，会找到更多让人们贫穷的原因。

Over the years, Melinda and I did learn more about the pressing needs of the poor.数年来，我和梅琳达确实发现了穷人们的当务之需。

On a later trip to South Africa, I paid a visit to a hospital for patients with MDR-TB, multi-drug resistant tuberculosis, a disease with a cure rate of under 50%.I remember that hospital as a place of despair.在后来一次到南非的时候，我去了一家住有很多抗药性肺结核患者和耐多药结核病患者的医院，这是一种治愈率不到50%的顽疾。我还记得那个充满绝望的地方。

It was a giant open ward, with a sea of patients shuffling around in pajamas, wearing masks.There was one floor just for children, including some babies lying in bed.They had a little school for kids who were well enough to learn, but many of the children couldn't make it, and the hospital didn't seem to know whether it was worth it to keep the school open.在一个巨大的开放性病房里，住着很多很多病人，他们穿着睡衣，带着口罩，慢慢挪动着。有一层楼是专为孩童开设的，其中包括还在卧床的婴儿们。医院中也为适龄儿童设有小学校，但是大多数孩子都无法战胜病魔踏入学堂，因此医院似乎并不确信是否有必要开设这所学校。

I talked to a patient there in her early 30s.She had been a worker at a TB hospital when she came down with a cough.She went to a doctor and he told her said she had drug-resistant TB.She was later diagnosed with AIDS.She wasn't going to live much longer, but there were plenty of MDR patients waiting to take her bed when she vacated it.This was hell with a waiting list.我同一位30多岁的病人做了交谈，并了解到她曾肺结核医院的一名职工，因为咳嗽而病倒。她看了医生，医生告诉她患上了耐药性结核病，在后来也被诊断患有艾滋。她活不了过久了，但有很多耐多药结核病患者却“觊觎”着她即将空出的床位。这是一个有很多候场病人的地狱。

But seeing this hell didn't reduce my optimism.It channeled it.I got into the car as I left and I told the doctor we were working with I know MDR-TB is hard to cure, but we must do something for these people.And, in fact, this year, we are entering phase three with the new TB drug regime for patients who respond, instead of a 50% cure rate after 18 months for $2,000, we get an 80% cure rate after six months for under $100.(Applause).但是目睹了这个地域并不能减少我的乐观心态，相反，它指导着乐观的前行。在我们离开时，我在车里跟与我们同行的医生说，我虽然知道耐多药结核病是一种顽疾，但我们必须为这些人做一些实事。实际上，在今年，我们进入了新结核药物研发的第三阶段，对于那些病人而言，他们不再需为18个月50%的治愈率而花费2000美元，我们的新药物花费不超100美元便能在6个月后实现80%的治愈率。（掌声）Optimism is often dismissed as false hope.But there is also false hopelessness.That's the attitude that says we can't defeat poverty and disease.We absolutely can.乐观常被视为错误的希望。但是错误的无望也存在于世，那就是我们无法击败贫困和疾病的态度。但我们却能够做到。

MELINDA GATES: Bill called me that day after he visited the TB hospital and normally if one of us is on an international trip, we will go through our agenda for the day and who we met and where we have been.But this call was different.在比尔去过结核病医院后，他曾给我致电。（因为）惯例上当我们其中一个出国的话，我们都会聊聊这天我们遇到的人和我们去过的地方。但是这番电话有些特别。

Bill said to me, Melinda, I have been somewhere that I have never been before.And then he choked up and he couldn't go on.And he finally just said, I will tell you more when I get home.And I knew what he was going through because when you see people with so little hope, it breaks your heart.比尔说，梅琳达，我（今天）去了一个我之前从未去过的地方。然后他哽咽地说不出话了。他最后只是说，等我回来了再详细告诉你。（其实）我知道他经历了什么，因为当你看到濒临绝望的人们，他会让你十分悲痛。

But if you want to do the most, you have to go see the worst, and I've had days like that too.About ten years ago, I traveled with a group of friends to India.And on last day I was there, I had a meeting with a group of prostitutes and I expected to talk to them about the risk of AIDS that they were facing, but what they wanted to talk to me about was stigma.但是如果你想做得更多，你必须要看到最坏的情况，我也经历过那些日子。大概十年前，我和一群朋友去印度旅游。在我临走的那一天，我和一群妓女进行了交谈，我希望跟她们讲她们所面对得艾滋病的风险，但是她们想跟我聊的只是（作为妓女的）耻辱。Many of these women had been abandoned by their husbands.That's why they even went into prostitution.They wanted to be able to feed their children.They were so low in the eyes of society that they could be raped and robbed and beaten by anyone, even the police, and nobody cared.这当中的很多人都是被她们的丈夫所抛弃。这就是为什么她们去卖淫的原因。她们想养活自己的孩子。他们在社会的眼中是如此卑微，以致于她们可以被任何人甚至是警察强奸，抢劫，甚至挨揍，（而）根本没有人会在意（她们）

Talking to them about their lives was so moving to me, but what I remember most was how much they wanted to be touched.They wanted to touch me and to be touched by them.It was if physical contact somehow proved their worth.And so before I left, we linked arms hand in hand and did a photo together.聊起她们的生活让我感触至深。但是我印象最深的就是她们多么想接触他人。她们希望触摸我，也希望让我能去触碰她们也许是通过这种身体上的触碰证明了她们存在的价值。所以当我离开之前，我们肩并肩，手牵手，一起照了相。

Later that same day, I spent some time in India in a home for the dying.I walked into a large hall and I saw rows and rows of cot and every cot was attended to except for one, that was far off in the corner.And so I decided to go over there.之后在那天，我去了印度的一个弥留者的家中。我走进大厅，我看见一排排的床，除了远在角落的一张床，每张床都有人在照顾。所以我决定过去看看。

The patient who was in this room was a woman in her 30s.And I remember her eyes.She had these huge, brown, sorrowful eyes.She was emaciated and on the verge of death.Her intestines were not holding anything and so the workers had they put a pan under her bed, and cut a hole in the bottom of the bed and everything in her was just pouring out into that pan.And I could tell that she had AIDS.Both in the way she looked and the fact that she was off in this corner alone.这位病人是一个30岁左右的妇女。我还记得她的眼睛的样子。她有着大而悲伤的棕色的眼睛。当时的她如此憔悴并且徘徊在死亡的边缘。她的肠道里什么东西也盛不下，所以那里的工作人员就在她的床下放了一个盘子，然后在床的底部开了个洞，这样一切东西就能倾泻到那个盘子中。我看得出她得了艾滋病。不仅可以从她的外表，而且也可以从她独自在这个角落中看出来。

The stigma of AIDS is vicious, especially for women.And the punishment is abandonment.When I arrived at her cot, I suddenly felt completely and totally helpless.I had absolutely nothing I could offer this woman.I knew I couldn't save her.But I didn't want her to be alone.So I knelt down with her and I put my hand out and she reached for my hand and grabbed it and she wouldn't let it go.I didn't speak her language and I couldn't think of what I should say to her.And finally I just said to her, it's going to be okay.It's going to be okay.It's not your fault.得艾滋病令人声名狼藉，特别是对女性。并且得病的惩罚就是被抛弃。当我走进她床边时，我突然感觉彻底的无力和无助感。我无能为力实施帮助。我知道我不能救活她。但是我不想让她独自一人（死去）。所以我跪下来然后伸出手，她摸到我的手然后就抓住，不松开。我不会说她们的语言而且我也不知道我能对她说什么。最后我只是对她说，一切都会好起来的。一切都会好起来的。这不是你的错。

And after I had been with her for sometime, she started pointing to the roof top.She clearly wanted to go up and I realized the sun was going down and what she wanted to do was go up on the roof top and see the sunset.So the workers in this home for the dying were very busy and I said to them, you know, can we take her up on the roof top?

No.No.We have to pass out medicines.So I waited that for that to happen and I asked another worker and they said, No no no, we are too busy.We can't get her up there.And so finally I just scooped this woman up in my arms.在我陪着她待了一会之后，她的手指向了屋顶。很显然她很想上屋顶，而我发现太阳快要落山了，所以她想做的就是等上屋顶并且看日落。那时房子里的工作人员非常忙碌，然后我对他们说，我们能不能把她抬到屋顶上？不行。我们现在必须要分派药物。所以我就等着他们分派药物，然后我又问了另外的工作人员，他们说不行，我们太忙了。我们不能抬她上去。所以，最后我就把她抱在了怀中。

She was nothing more than skin over bones and I took her up on the roof top, and I found one of those plastic chairs that blows over in a light breeze.I put her there, sat her down, put a blanket over her legs and she sat there facing to the west, watching the sunset.The workers knew--I made sure they knew that she was up there so that they would bring her down later that evening after the sun went down and then I had to leave.她不过是骨瘦如柴，我就抱着她上了屋顶。找到了一个在微风的吹拂下响着的破旧不堪塑料凳。我把她放在椅子上，拿一个毛毯盖住她的腿，然后她就坐在那里望向西边，看着日落。工作人员知道她在屋顶上，我确保他们知道并且会在日落以后把她带下来。而不久后我就要离开。

But she never left me.I felt completely and totally inadequate in the face of this woman's death.But sometimes, it's the people that you can't help that inspire you the most.但是她从未离开过我。我感到彻底的无力去面对这位妇女的死亡。但是有时，就正是这些你不能帮助的人群给了你最大的激励。

I knew that those sex workers I had met in the morning could be the woman that I carried upstairs later that evening.Unless we found a way to defy the stigma that hung over their lives.我知道早上我碰到的那些性工作者将来可能就会是那天夜晚我抱上屋顶妇女的样子。除非我们找到一个方法来对抗这个羁绊她们一生的耻辱。

Over the past ten years, our Foundation has helped sex workers build support groups so they could empower one another to speak up and demand safe sex and that their clients use condoms.Their brave efforts have helped to keep HIV prevalence low among sex workers and a lot of studies show that's the big reason why the AIDS epidemic has not exploded in India.过去的十年中，我们的基金已经帮助性工作者建立了支持小组，那样她们可以互相协助，要求安全的性行为，让客户就使用安全套。正是因为性服务者们勇敢的努力保持了性工作者的低HIV感染率，并且很多研究表明这就是为什么印度没有大范围地爆发艾滋病的一个重要原因。

When these sex workers gathered together to help stop AIDS transmission，something unexpected and wonderful happened.The community they formed became a platform for everything.Police and others who raped and robbed them couldn't get away with it anymore.The women set up systems to encourage savings for one another and with those savings, they were able to leave sex work.This was all done by people that society considered the lowest of the low.如果这些性工作者一起帮助阻止艾滋病的传播，就会发生意想不到的好事。她们形成的这个社区成为了一个任何事互相协助的平台。警察和其他任何强奸或者抢劫她们的人都不可能无法无天。妇女们组建起了互相鼓励储蓄财产的系统，这样有了足够的储蓄，她们就可以离开性服务行业。这就是那些在社会上被视作底层中的最下等人做的事情。Optimism, for me, is not a passive expectation that things are going to get better.For me, it's a conviction and a belief that we can make things better.So no matter how much suffering we see, no matter how bad it is, we can help people if we don't lose hope help and if we don't look away.(Applause).对我而言，乐观并非消极地期待事情会变好而是一种相信事情会做的更好的确信和信念。因此不管我们目睹了怎样的痛苦，不管事态如何糟糕，如果我们没有失去希望不转头而去，那么我们便能伸出援手。（掌声）BILL GATES: Melinda and I have described some devastating scenes, but we want to make the strongest case we can for the power of optimism.Even in dire situations, optimism fuels innovation and leads to new approaches that eliminate suffering.But if you never really see the people that are suffering, your optimism can't help them.You will never change their world.And that brings me to what I see is a paradox.比尔盖茨：我和梅琳达描述了几个最为在男性的画面，但是我们还是要尽量强调乐观的力量。即使是在绝境之中，乐观也会加速创新，产生新的避免痛苦的方法。但是如果你从未看过那些痛苦折磨着的人时，你的乐观也将无能为力。你也将不会改变他们的世界。这让我想到了我眼中的一个悖论。

The modern world is an incredible source of innovation and Stanford stands at the center of that, creating new companies, new schools of thought, prize-winning professors, inspired art and literature, miracle drugs, and amazing graduates.Whether you are a scientist with a new discovery, or working in the trenches to understand the needs of the most marginalized, you are advancing amazing breakthroughs in what human beings can do for each other.现代社会拥有无与伦比的创新精神，而斯坦福大学正处在创新的核心。斯坦福孕育了许许多多的新公司，有思想的学校，硕果累累的教授，富有灵感的艺术文化，创新的软件，药品，还有优秀的毕业生。无论你是收获新发现的科学家，还是在深沟中了解社会最边缘人的需求，你都在为人类相互间的协作做出惊人的突破。

At the same time, if you ask people across the United States is the future going to be better than the past, most say no.My kids will be worse off than I am.They think innovation won't make the world better for them or their children.9

同时，如果你问全美国的人——未来回避过去更好吗？大部分人会说不，我的孩子不如我优秀。他们认为创新不会让自己或孩子的世界更好。

So who is right? The people who say innovation will create new possibilities and make the world better? Or the people who see a trend toward inequality and a decline in opportunity and don't think innovation will change that? 那么谁是对的？是那些说创新产生新机遇让世界更好的人么？还是那些目睹不平衡的趋势，目睹机遇减少且不指望创新带来改变的人呢？

The pessimists are wrong, in my view.But they are not crazy.If innovation is purely market driven, and we don't focus on the big inequities, then we could have amazing advances and in inventions that leave the world even more divided.We won't improve cure public schools, we won't cure malaria, we won't end poverty.We won't develop the innovations poor farmers need to grow food in a changing climate.在我看来，悲观者是错误的。但是他们并不疯狂。如果创新仅凭市场驱动，我们都不关注不公正现象，那么我们的重大发明将令世界的两极分化更加严重。我们不会改善公立学校，我们不会治愈疟疾，更不会终止贫穷。我们不会研发出让贫困农民在气候变化中也能种出植物的发明。

If our optimism doesn't address the problems that affect so many of our fellow human beings, then our optimism needs more empathy.If empathy channels our optimism, we will see the poverty and the disease and the poor schools.We will answer with our innovations and we will surprise the pessimists.如果我们的乐观无法用来解决那些影响许许多多同胞的问题，那么这种乐观主义还需要融入更多的移情元素。如果我们能在乐观中融入同情，我们就能解决贫困，疾病以及教育匮乏的问题。我们会以创新作答，并震惊那些悲观主义者。

Over the next generation, you, Stanford graduates, will lead a new wave of innovation.Which problems will you decide to solve? If your world is wide, you can create the future we all want.If your world is narrow, you may create the future the pessimists fear.在下一代中，你们，这些斯坦福毕业生，将开启一波创新的新潮。你们会决定解决哪些问题呢？如果你的世界很宽，那么就能创造出我们理想的未来。如果你的世界很狭隘，就会造出悲观者恐惧的未来。

I started learning in Soweto, that if we are going to make our optimism matter to everyone, and empower people everyone, we have to see the lives of those most in need.If we have optimism, without empathy, then it doesn't matter how much we master the secrets of science.正如我在索维托所学到的，如果我们要让自己的乐观影响所有人，并赋予他们力量，我们就要看到他们最紧迫的需求。如果我们的乐观没有融入同情，那么我们掌握多少科学秘密也没有任何用处。

We are not really solving problems.We are just working on puzzles.I think most of you have a broader world view than I had at your age.You can do better at this than I did.If you put your hearts and minds to it, you can surprise the pessimists.We are eager to see it.(Applause).我们都解决不了世界上的难题。我们只是在玩智力游戏罢了。我想，你们中的大多数人比当时的我视野更宽广。你们会比曾经的我做得更出色。如果你们全身心地投身于此，你们便能震惊那些悲观者。我们对之迫不及待。（掌声）MELINDA GATES: So let your heart break.It will change what you do with your optimism.梅琳达•盖茨：让你们的心为之而碎。这会改变你们处理乐观的方式。

On a trip to south Asia, I met a desperately poor Indian woman.She had two children and she begged me to take them home with me.And when I begged her for her forgiveness she said, well then, please, just take one of them.在去南亚的旅行中，我遇见了一位贫困潦倒的印度妇女。育有两子，她后来乞求我让我把这两个孩子带走。当我祈求她原谅时，她说，那好吧，请至少带走一个也可以吧。On another trip to south Los Angeles, I met with a group of the students from a tough neighborhood.A young girl said to me, do you ever feel like we are the kids' whose parents shirked their responsibilities and we are just the leftovers? These women broke my heart.在另一个去洛杉矶南部的旅途中，我遇见了一群来自贫困社区的学生。一个年轻女孩对我说，你是不是觉得我们就是那群父母逃避责任，我们只是留守儿童呢？这些女性让我心碎。

And they still do.And the empathy intensifies if I admit to myself, that could be me.When I talk with the mothers I meet during my travels, there's no difference between what we want for our children.The only difference is our ability to provide it to our children.而她们现在依然让我心碎。当我对自己承认，我也可能会是她们中的一员。我与旅途中的母亲交流时发现，我们想给予孩子的没有什么不同。唯一的不同在于我们将其给予孩子的能力。

So what accounts for that difference? Bill and I talk about this with our own kids around the dinner table.Bill worked incredibly hard and he took risks and he made sacrifices for success.But there's another essential ingredient of success, and that is luck.Absolute and total luck.When were you born? Who are your parents? Where did you grow up? None of us earn these things.These things were given to us.那么差距何在呢？我和比尔曾就此问题与我们的孩子在餐桌上共同讨论。比尔工作非常努力，他冒过风险，为成功做出不少牺牲。但是还有一个成功的重要因素，那便是运气。11

完完全全的运气。你出生何处？你的父母是谁？你在哪里成长？没有任何人赚得这些东西，我们只是被赐予了这些东西而已。

So when we strip away all of our luck and our privilege and we consider where we would be without them, it becomes someone much easier to see someone who is poor and say, that could be me.And that's empathy.Empathy tears down barriers and it opens up whole new frontiers for optimism.所以当我们剥去运气和优待，并思考没有他们我们会将如何时，这个人就更容易看到那些贫困者，并说，这可能就是我。这就是同情心，同情心抹平障碍，为乐观敞开新的大门。

So here is our appeal to you all.As you leave Stanford, take all your genius and your optimism and your empathy, and go change the world in ways that will make millions of people optimistic.You don't have to rush.You have careers to launch and debts to pay and spouses to meet and marry.That's plenty enough for right now.But in the course of your lives, perhaps without any plan on your part, you will see suffering that's going to break your heart.And when it happens, don't turn away from it.That's the moment that change is born.所以这就是我们对你们所有人的呼吁。在你离开斯坦福校园之后，带着你的天分，乐观以及同情心，改变这个世界，让数百万人为之乐观起来。你无须急功近利，你还要开创事业，付清债款，找寻另一半并喜结良缘。现在就这些便足够了，但是在你们的生命之中，可能你们并未计划过，你会目睹那些让你心碎的苦楚。当这些痛苦发生时，不要掩面离开，在这一刻，改变因此而孕育。

Congratulations and good luck to the class of 2014!最后，向2014届毕业生表示祝贺，并祝你们好运！

第五篇：比尔、盖茨斯坦福大学123演讲

乐观不是等待事情变好

比尔·盖茨在斯坦福大学123届毕业典礼演讲

恭喜你们，2014届毕业生!能受邀到斯坦福大学做演讲，每个人都会感到兴奋，对我来说尤其如此。斯坦福大学是我的家庭成员和微软员工们最喜欢的大学。我们在这里收获了最聪明、最有创造力的同仁，而他们只是斯坦福毕业生中的一小部分。

现在，我们在这里进行着30多个研究项目。当我们想更深入地了解免疫系统，以治愈更多病人时，我们与斯坦福合作;并我们想了解高等教育的发展和变革时，我们与斯坦福合作。这里是天才的居住地。这里有灵动的心，正敞开怀抱迎接改变，渴望着所有创新之物。人们在这里探索未来，乐在其中。这个校园有那么多了不起的东西，但如果一定要用一个词来概括我们最喜欢斯坦福大学的地方，那便是“乐观主义”。

(盖茨夫人)一些人叫你们书呆子，我们听说你们正为此而感到骄傲。(盖茨)“我们也是(书呆子)。” 乐观是一种极具传染性的情绪，它让每个人坚信创新几乎可以解决所有的问题。这种信念驱使我在1975年辍学，并随着时间的不断流逝而与日剧增。到现在40年过去了，我们结婚也20年了。现在我们也比过往任何时候都乐观。所以今天我想谈谈：我们为什么需要乐观精神。

胸有成竹之前，去看看这个世界先 当我开始写微软的第一行代码时，我希望将计算机和软件的力量最大化。在当时，只有大企业可以购买电脑。

到了90年代，个人电脑开始深刻地影响人们的日常生活，却在同时造成了一个新的困境：只有富家子弟能得到计算机。技术正使不平等现象恶化，这违背了我们的核心信念——科技应当使所有人受益。因此，我们开始致力于缩小数字鸿沟。我们给公共图书馆捐赠个人电脑，以确保每个人都有机会使用。

1997年，我到南非访问，住在当地最富有的家庭之一。当我和这个家的主人坐下来准备吃饭的时候，他们敲了一下钟，叫来管家。晚餐后，男人和女人分开，男人们开始抽雪茄。当时，我脑海里闪过一个念头，“还好我读过简〃奥斯汀，不然我可搞不清眼前这一切是怎么回事。” 第二天，我去了索韦托，约翰内斯堡市西南部的一个乡镇，这里一直是反种族隔离运动的中心。我们给那里的社区中心捐赠了一批电脑和软件，就像我们在美国所做的事情一样，但很快，我们发现，这里并不是美国。从城市到乡镇的距离非常短，但城乡之间却是却那么地不和谐。我感觉自己仿佛到了另一个世界。我见过贫困数据统计，但我从未真正目睹过贫困。那里的人民生活在瓦楞铁皮棚，没

有电，没有水，没有厕所。大多数人没有穿鞋，他们光着脚走在街上。那里的街道空空如也，泥泞中透出隐约的车辙。

社区中心没有固定的稳定电源，靠一条连到大约200英尺外的中央柴油发电机的延长线，勉强维持电力供应。当我和随行的记者准备离开时，发电机的任务便结束了，社区中心里的人也将回家继续担心自己的生计，而这并不是一台个人电脑就能解决的难题。我把事先准备好的讲稿递给记者，上面写道，“索韦托是一个里程碑，在有关技术是否会使发展中国家越来越落后的议题上，答案越来越明确——它们正在缩小差距，而非扩大。”

然而我没有说的是，“顺便说一下，我们并没有关注到这片土地上每年有50万人民死于疟疾的事实，我们只负责把电脑送给他们。”

在此之前，我以为我明白世界上所有的问题，但事实上，我却在这件事情上当了“睁眼瞎”，我不得不问自己，“难道我还相信，创新能够解决世界上最棘手的问题吗?”我们不能为了救助，而把最重要的事情却给忽略了。我们必须找到贫困者的当务之急，和当下之需。

见证痛苦，才能让乐观兑现 当然，这种自我怀疑并没有持续太久。很快我就意识到，即使在严峻的情况下，乐观也可以推动创新，并催生新的工具，以消除痛苦。但是，如果你从来没有看到真正痛苦的人，你的乐观便不能帮助他们——你将永远不会改变他们的世界。多年来，我和我的太太都致力于了解贫困人士们最迫切的需求。在后来的南非之行，我拜访了一家医院，那里满是患结核病的患者，简直是一个巨大的戴着口罩的海洋，上面飘着一大张地狱候选名单。但与第一次索韦托之行不同，后来再深入“地狱”让我更想做些事情。我从医院出来，上了车，告诉与我们合作的医生：“我知道结核病是难以治愈的，但我们应该能够做一些事情。” 有人习惯把乐观指称为“错误的希望”，但想一下，“错误的无望”是否同样存在?有人说，我们不能战胜贫困和疾病，但我并不这么认为。今年，我们的抗结核药物研究正在进入第三阶段，经过努力，这种病的治愈率已从50%提升到了80-90%。

乐观不是等待事情变好，而是相信自己能够做得更好 现代社会有无与伦比的创新精神，而斯坦福大学正处在创新的核心。斯坦福孕育了许许多多的新公司，各行各业的教授，创新的软件和药品。这里的人们对未来充满渴望。然而，如果你在美国街头问问人们，“未来会比过去更好吗?”大多数人会回答，“不，我的孩子未必会比我过得更好。”他们认为创新不能改善这个世界。这些悲观论调是错误的，他们的想法一点都不“疯狂”。如果我们不注重创新，那么我们就不可能有惊人的发明，我们不会改善公立学校，不会治愈疟疾，不会结束贫困，不会帮助贫困农民应付不断变化的气候。

乐观不是消极地期待事情变好，而是一种信念，相信自己可以做的更好。任何时候，乐观都能加速创新，避免或减轻痛苦。我们需要同理心，它能引导我们的乐观，带我们走近贫穷和疾病，找到一个个充满创意的回答，给悲观主义者们一个又一个惊喜。

当我在你们这个年龄时，我的世界观并没有像你们中的大多数人所拥有的更广阔。接下来，你们将引领新的创新浪潮，并把它应用到你的世界。如果你的世界很宽广，你可以创建我们都希望的未来，如果你的世界是狭窄的，你可能迎来一个悲观恐惧的未来。毋庸置疑的是，你们会比我做得更好。