第一篇:William Deresiewicz在斯坦福大学的演讲.docx
我的题目提出的问题,当然,是一个传统地面向人文科学的专业所提出的问题:学习文学、艺术或哲学能有什么实效价值(practical value)?你肯定纳闷,我为什么在以科技堡垒而闻名的斯坦福提出这个问题呢?大学学位给人带来众多机会,这还有什么需要质疑的吗?
但 那不是我提出的问题。这里的“做(do)”并不是指工作(job),“那(that)”并不是指你的专业(major)。]我们不仅仅是我们的工作,教育 的全部也不仅仅是一门主修专业。(We are more than our jobs, and education is more than a major.)教育也不仅仅是上大学,甚至也不仅是从幼儿园到研究生院的正规学校教育。我说的“你要做什么”的意思是你要过什么样的生活(what kind of life are you going to lead?)?我所说的“那”指的是你得到的正规或非正规的任何训练,那些把你送到这里来的东西,你在学校的剩余时间里将要做的任何事。
我们不妨先来讨论你是如何考入斯坦福的吧。
你 能进入这所大学说明你在某些技能(skills)上非常出色。你的父母在你很小的时候就鼓励你追求卓越(excel)。他们送你到好学校,老师的鼓励和同 伴的榜样激励你更努力地学习。除了在所有课程上都出类拔萃之外,你还注重修养的提高,充满热情地培养了一些特殊兴趣。你用几个暑假在本地大学里预习大学课 程,或参加专门技能的夏令营或训练营。你学习刻苦、精力集中、全力以赴。所以,你在数学、钢琴、曲棍球等众多方面都很出色。
掌握 这些技能当然没有错,全力以赴成为最优秀的人也没有错。错误之处在于这个体系遗漏的地方:即任何别的东西(everything else)。我并不是说因为选择钻研数学,你在充分发展话语表达能力的潜力方面就失败了;也不是说除了集中精力学习地质学之外,你还应该研究政治学;也不 是说你在学习钢琴时还应该学吹笛子。毕竟,专业化的本质就是要专业性。可是,专业化的问题在于它把你的注意力限制在一个点上,你所已知的和你想探知的东西 都限界于此(it narrows your attention to the point where all you know about and all you want to know about)。真的,你能知道的一切就只是你的专业了。
专 业化(specialization)的问题是它让你成为专家(specialist),切断你与世界上其他任何东西的联系,不仅如此,还切断你与自身其 他潜能的联系(It cuts you off, not only from everything else in the world, but also from everything else in yourself.)。当然,作为大一新生,你的专业才刚刚开始。在你走向所 渴望的成功之路的过程中,进入斯坦福是你踏上的众多阶梯中的一个。再读三年大学,三五年法学院或医学院或博士,然后再干若干年住院实习生或博士后或助理教 授。总而言之,进入越来越狭窄的专业化轨道。你可能从政治学专业的学生变成了律师或者公司代理人,再变成专门研究消费品领域的税收问题的公司代理人。你从 生物化学专业的学生变成了博士,再变成心脏病学家,再变成专门做心脏瓣膜移植的心脏病医生。
再次,做这些事没有任何错。只不过,在你越来越深入地进入这个轨道后,再记得你最初的样子(remember who you once were)就益发困难了。你 开始怀念那个曾经谈钢琴和打曲棍球的人,思考那个曾经和朋友热烈讨论人生和政治以及在课堂内容的人在做什么。那个活泼能干的19岁年轻人已经变成了只想一 件事的40岁中年人。(The 19-year-old who could do so many things, and was interested in so many things, has become a 40-year-old who thinks about only one thing.)难怪年长的人这么乏味无趣。(That's why older people are so boring.)“哎,我爸爸曾经是非常聪明的人,但他现在除了谈论钱和肝脏外再无其他。”(“Hey, my dad's a smart guy, but all he talks about is money and livers.”)
还有另外一个问题。
或许你从来没有想过当心脏病医生,只是碰巧发生了而已。随大流最容易,这就是体制的力量。(It's easy, the way the system works, to simply go with the flow.)我不是说这个工作容易,而是说做出这种选择很容易。或者,这些根本就不是自己做出的选择。你 来到斯坦福这样的名牌大学是因为聪明的孩子都这样(because that's what smart kids do.)。你考入医学院是因为它的地位高,人人都羡慕。你选择心脏病学是因为当心脏病医生的待遇很好。你做那些事能给你带来好处,让你的父母感到骄傲,令 你的老师感到高兴,也让朋友们羡慕。从你上高中开始,甚至初中开始,你的唯一目标就是进入最好的大学,所以现在你会很自然地从“进入下个阶段”的角度看待 人生(you naturally think about your life in terms of “getting into” whatever's next)。“进入”就是能力的证明,“进入”就是胜利。先进入斯坦福,然后是约翰霍普金斯医学院,再进入旧金山大学做实习医生等。或者进入密歇根法学 院,或高盛集团(GoldmanSachs)或麦肯锡公司(McKinsey)或别的什么地方。你迈出了这一步,下一步似乎就必然在等着你。
也许你确实想当心脏病学家。十岁时就梦想成为医生,即使你根本不知道医生意味着什么。你在上学期间全身心都在朝着这个目标前进。你拒绝了上大学预修历史课(AP history)时的美妙体验的诱惑,也无视你在医学院第四年的儿科学轮流值班时照看孩子的可怕感受。
但不管是什么,要么因为你随大流,要么因为你早就选定了道路,20年后某天醒来,你或许会纳闷到底发生了什么:你怎么变成现在这个样子,这一切意味着什么。不 是它是什么,不在于它是否“大画面”(big picture)而是它对你意味着什么。你为什么做它,到底为了什么。这听起来像老生常谈,但这个被称为中年危机(midlife crisis)的“有一天醒来”(“waking up one day”)一直就发生在每个人身上。
不过,还有另外一种情况,或许中年危机并不会发生在你身上。
让 我通过告诉你们一个同伴的故事来解释我的意思吧,即她没有遭遇的情况。几年前,我在哈佛参加了一次小组讨论会,谈到这些问题。后来参加这次讨论的一个学生 给我联系,这个哈佛学生正在写有关哈佛的毕业论文,讨论哈佛是如何给学生灌输她所说的“自我效能”(self-efficacy),一种相信自己能做一切 的意识。自我效能或更熟悉的说法“自我尊重”(self-esteem)。她说在考试中得了优秀的有些学生会说“我得优秀是因为试题很简单。” 但另外一些学生,那种具有自我效能感或自我尊重的学生,考试得了优秀会说“我得优秀是因为我聪明。”
再次,认为得了优秀是因为自己聪明的想法并没有任何错,不过,哈佛学生没有认识到的是他们没有第三种选择(a third alternative)。当我指出这一点时,她十分震惊。我指出,真 正的自尊意味着最初根本就不在乎成绩是否优秀。真正的自尊意味着对此问题的足够认识:尽管你在成长过程中的一切都在教导你要相信自己,但你所达到的登记,还有那些奖励、成绩、奖品、录取通知书等所有这一切,都不能来定义你是谁(defines who you are)。
她 还说,这个年轻的女孩子说哈佛学生把他们的自我效能带到了世界上,如她所说的“创新”(innovative)。但当我问她“创新”意味着什么时,她能够 想到的唯一例子不过是“世界大公司五百强的首席执行官”(“being CEO of a Fortune 500”)。我告诉她这不是创新,这只是成功(that's just successful),而且是根据非常狭隘的成功定义而认定的成功而已。真 正的创新意味着运用你的想象力,发挥你的潜力,创造新的可能性。(True innovation means using your imagination, exercising the capacity to envision new possibilities.)
但这里我并不是在谈论技术创新,不是发明新机器或者制造一种新药,我谈论的是另外一种创新,是创 造你自己的生活(inventing your own life)。不是走现成的道路而是创造一条属于自己的道路。(Not following a path, but making your own path.)我谈论的想象力是道德想象力(moral imagination;眠按:这个是心理学专业名词)。“道德”在这里无关对错,而是与选择有关。道德想象力意味着创造自己新生的能力(envision new ways to live your life)。
它意味着不随波 逐流(going with the flow),不是下一步要“进入”什么名牌大学或研究生院。而是要弄清楚自己到底想要什么,而不是父母、同伴、学校、或社会想要什么。即确认你自己的价值 观(own values),思考迈向自己所定义的成功的道路,而不仅仅是接受别人给你的生活(simply accepting the life that you've been handed),不仅仅是接受别人给你的选择。当今走进星巴克咖啡馆,服务员可能让你在牛奶咖啡(latte)、加糖咖啡(macchiato)、特制咖 啡(espresso)等几样东西之间做出选择。但你可以做出另外的选择,你可以转身走出去。当你进入大学,人家给你众多选择,或法律或医学或投资银行和 咨询以及其他,但你同样也可以做其他事,做从前根本没有人想过的事(something that no one has thought of before)。
让我再举一个反面的例子。
几年前我写过一篇涉及同类问题的文章。我说,那些在耶鲁和斯 坦福这类名校的孩子往往比较谨慎,去追求一些稳妥的奖励。我得到的最常见的批评是:教育项目“为美国而教”(Teach for America)如何?从名校出来的很多学生毕业后很多参与这个教育项目,因此我的观点是错误的。我一再听到TFA这个术语。“为美国而教”当然是好东 西,但引用这个项目来反驳我的观点恰恰是不得要领,实际上正好证明了我想说的东西。“为美国而教”的问题或者“为美国而教”已经成为体系一部分的问题,是它已经成为另外一个需要“进入”的门槛。
从其内容来看,“为美国而教”完全不同于高盛或者麦肯锡公司或哈佛医学院或者伯克利法学院,但从它在精英期待的体系中的地位来说,完全是一样的。它享有盛名,很难进入,是值得你和父母夸耀的东西,如果写在简历上会很好看(it looks good on your résumé),最重要的是,它代表了清晰标记的道路(a clearly marked path.)。你根本不用自己创造,什么都不用做,只需申请然后按要求做就行了,就像上大学或法学院或麦肯锡公司或别的什么。它是社会参与方面的斯坦福或 哈佛,是另一个栅栏,另一枚奖章。该项目需要能力和勤奋,但不需要一丁点儿的道德想象力。
道德想象力是困 难的,这种困难与你已经习惯的困难完全不同。不仅如此,光有道德想象力还不够。如果你要创造自己的生活(invent your own life),如果你想成为真正的独立思想者(truly autonomous),你还需要勇气:道德勇气(moral courage)。不管别人说什么,有按自己的价值观行动的勇气,不会因为别人不喜欢而试图改变自己的想法。具有道德勇气的个人往往让周围的人感到不舒 服。他们和其他人对世界的看法格格不入,更糟糕的是,让别人对自己已经做出的选择感到不安全或无法做出选择。只要别人也不享受自由,人们就不在乎自己被关 进监狱。可一旦有人越狱,其他人都会跟着跑出去。
在《青年艺术家的肖像》(A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man)中,詹姆斯•乔伊斯(James Joyce)让主人公斯蒂芬•迪达勒斯(Stephen Dedalus)就19世纪末期的爱尔兰的成长环境说出了如下名言“当一个人的灵魂诞生在这个国家时,有一张大网把它罩住,防止它飞翔。你会给我谈论民族 性、语言和宗教。我想冲出这些牢笼。”(“When the soul of a man is born in this country there are nets flung at it to hold it back from flight.You talk to me of nationality, language, religion.I shall try to fly by those nets.”)
今天,我们面临的是其他的网。
其 中之一是我在就这些问题与学生交流时经常听到的一个术语“自我放任”(“self-indulgent”)。“在攻读学位过程中有这么多事要做的时候(so many other things),试图按照自己的感觉生活难道不是自我放任吗?”“毕业后不去找个真正的工作(getting a real job)而去画画难道不是自我放任吗?”
这些是年轻人只要思考一下稍稍出格(a little bit different)的事就不由自主地质问自己的问题。更糟糕的是,他们觉得提出这些问题是理所应当(feel compelled)的。许多学生在毕业前夕的未来探索中跟我说,他们感受到来自同伴那里的压力(the pressure they felt from their peers),需要为创造性的生活或思想生活辩护(to justify a creative or intellectual life)。好像自己已经走火入魔了似的:抛弃确定无疑的东西是疯了,认为思想生活可行是疯了,想象你有权尝试是疯了。(You're made to feel like you're crazy: crazy to forsake the sure thing, crazy to think it could work, crazy to imagine that you even have a right to try.眠按:“羊霸王”比更外界的压力更厉害。)
想象我们现在面临的局面。这是美国社会的贫困——思想、道德和精神贫困的最明显症状,美国最聪明的年轻人竟然认为听从自己的好奇心行动就是自我放任。你 们得到的教导是应该上大学,但你们同时也被告知如果真的想得到教育,那就是“自我放任”。如果你自我教育的话,更糟糕。这是什么道理?进入证券咨询业是不 是自我放任?进入金融业是不是自我放任?像许多人那样进入律师界发财是不是自我放任?搞音乐,写文章就不行,因为它不能给人带来利益(what good does that really do anyone)。但为风险投资公司工作就可以。追求自己的理想和激情是自私的,除非它能让你赚很多钱。那样的话,就一点儿也不自私了。(It's selfish to pursue your passion, unless it's also going to make you a lot of money, in which case it's not selfish at all.)
你看到这些观点是多么荒谬了吗?这就是罩在你们身上的网,就是我说的需要勇气的意思。这是永不停息的过程(a never-ending process)。在 两年前的哈佛事件中,有个学生谈到我说的大学生需要重新思考人生决定的观点,他说“我们已经做出了决定,我们早在中学时就已经决定成为能够进入哈佛的高材 生。”我在想,谁会打算按照他在12岁时做出的决定生活呢?(who wants to live with the decisions that they made when they were 12?)让我换一种说法,谁愿意让一个12岁的孩子决定他们未来一辈子要做什么呢?或者一个19岁的小毛孩儿?
你能做出的决定是你现在想什么,你需要准备好不断修改自己的决定。
让 我说得更明白一些。我不是在试图说服你们都成为音乐家或者作家。成为医生、律师、科学家、工程师或者经济学家没有什么不好,这些都是可靠的、可敬的选择(valid and admirable choices)。我想说的是你需要思考它,认真地思考(think about it hard)。我请求你们做的,是根据正确的理由做出你的选择。我在敦促你们的,是认识到你的道德自由(moral freedom)并热情拥抱它。
最 重要的是,不要过分谨慎。(Don't play it safe.)去拒否(RESIST)我们社会给予了过高奖赏的那些卑怯的价值观的诱惑:舒服、方便、安全、可预测的、可控制的。这些,同样是罗网。最重要 的是,去拒否失败的恐惧感。是的,你会犯错误。可那是你的错误,不是别人的。你将从错误中缓过来,而且,正是因为这些错误,你更好地认识你自己。由此,你 成为更完整和强大的人(a fuller and a stronger person)。
人们 常说你们年轻人属于“后情感”一代(a “postemotional” generation),我想我未必赞同这个说法,但这个说法值得严肃对待。你们更愿意规避混乱、动荡和强烈的感情(avoid messy and turbulent and powerful feelings),但我想说,不要回避挑战自我(the challenging parts of yourself),不要否认欲望和好奇心(the desires and curiosities)、怀疑和不满(the doubts and dissatisfactions)、快乐和阴郁(the joy and the darkness),它们可能改变你预设的人生轨迹。大学刚开始,成年时代也才刚开始。打开自己,直面各种可能性吧。这个世界的深广远超你现在想象的边 际。这意味着,你自身的深广也将远超你现在的想象。
第二篇:奥普拉在斯坦福大学演讲文本
Thank you, President Hennessy, and to the trustees and the faculty, to all of the parents and grandparents, to you, the Stanford graduates.Thank you for letting me share this amazing day with you.I need to begin by letting everyone in on a little secret.The secret is that Kirby Bumpus, Stanford Class of '08, is my goddaughter.So, I was thrilled when President Hennessy asked me to be your Commencement speaker, because this is the first time I've been allowed on campus since Kirby's been here.You see, Kirby's a very smart girl.She wants people to get to know her on her own terms, she says.Not in terms of who she knows.So, she never wants anyone who's first meeting her to know that I know her and she knows me.So, when she first came to Stanford for new student orientation with her mom, I hear that they arrived and everybody was so welcoming, and somebody came up to Kirby and they said, “Ohmigod, that's Gayle King!” Because a lot of people know Gayle King as my BFF [best friend forever].And so somebody comes up to Kirby, and they say, “Ohmigod, is that Gayle King?” And Kirby's like, “Uh-huh.She's my mom.” And so the person says, “Ohmigod, does it mean, like, you know Oprah Winfrey?” And Kirby says, “Sort of.” I said, “Sort of? You sort of know me?” Well, I have photographic proof.I have pictures which I can e-mail to you all of Kirby riding horsey with me on all fours.So, I more than sort-of know Kirby Bumpus.And I'm so happy to be here, just happy that I finally, after four years, get to see her room.There's really nowhere else I'd rather be, because I'm so proud of Kirby, who graduates today with two degrees, one in human bio and the other in psychology.Love you, Kirby Cakes!That's how well I know her.I can call her Cakes.And so proud of her mother and father, who helped her get through this time, and her brother, Will.I really had nothing to do with her graduating from Stanford, but every time anybody's asked me in the past couple of weeks what I was doing, I would say, “I'm getting ready to go to Stanford.” I just love saying “Stanford.” Because the truth is, I know I would have never gotten my degree at all, 'cause I didn't go to Stanford.I went to Tennessee State University.But I never would have gotten my diploma at all, because I was supposed to graduate back in 1975, but I was short one credit.And I figured, I'm just going to forget it, 'cause, you know, I'm not going to march with my class.Because by that point, I was already on television.I'd been in television since I was 19 and a sophomore.Granted, I was the only television anchor person that had an 11 o'clock curfew doing the 10 o'clock news.Seriously, my dad was like, “Well, that news is over at 10:30.Be home by 11.” But that didn't matter to me, because I was earning a living.I was on my way.So, I thought, I'm going to let this college thing go and I only had one credit short.But, my father, from that time on and for years after, was always on my case, because I did not graduate.He'd say, “Oprah Gail”—that's my middle name—“I don't know what you're gonna do without that degree.” And I'd say, “But, Dad, I have my own television show.” And he'd say, “Well, I still don't know what you're going to do without that degree.” And I'd say, “But, Dad, now I'm a talk show host.” He'd say, “I don't know how you're going to get another job without that degree.” So, in 1987, Tennessee State University invited me back to speak at their commencement.By then, I had my own show, was nationally syndicated.I'd made a movie, had been nominated for an Oscar and founded my company, Harpo.But I told them, I cannot come and give a speech unless I can earn one more credit, because my dad's still saying I'm not going to get anywhere without that degree.So, I finished my coursework, I turned in my final paper and I got the degree.And my dad was very proud.And I know that, if anything happens, that one credit will be my salvation.But I also know why my dad was insisting on that diploma, because, as B.B.King put it, “The beautiful thing about learning is that nobody can take that away from you.” And learning is really in the broadest sense what I want to talk about today, because your education, of course, isn't ending here.In many ways, it's only just begun.The world has so many lessons to teach you.I consider the world, this Earth, to be like a school and our life the classrooms.And sometimes here in this Planet Earth school the lessons often come dressed up as detours or roadblocks.And sometimes as full-blown crises.And the secret I've learned to getting ahead is being open to the lessons, lessons from the grandest university of all, that is, the universe itself.It's being able to walk through life eager and open to self-improvement and that which is going to best help you evolve, 'cause that's really why we're here, to evolve as human beings.To grow into more of ourselves, always moving to the next level of understanding, the next level of compassion and growth.I think about one of the greatest compliments I've ever received: I interviewed with a reporter when I was first starting out in Chicago.And then many years later, I saw the same reporter.And she said to me, “You know what? You really haven't changed.You've just become more of yourself.” And that is really what we're all trying to do, become more of ourselves.And I believe that there's a lesson in almost everything that you do and every experience, and getting the lesson is how you move forward.It's how you enrich your spirit.And, trust me, I know that inner wisdom is more precious than wealth.The more you spend it, the more you gain.So, today, I just want to share a few lessons—meaning three—that I've learned in my journey so far.And aren't you glad? Don't you hate it when somebody says, “I'm going to share a few,” and it's 10 lessons later? And, you're like, “Listen, this is my graduation.This is not about you.” So, it's only going to be three.The three lessons that have had the greatest impact on my life have to do with feelings, with failure and with finding happiness.A year after I left college, I was given the opportunity to co-anchor the 6 o'clock news in Baltimore, because the whole goal in the media at the time I was coming up was you try to move to larger markets.And Baltimore was a much larger market than Nashville.So, getting the 6 o'clock news co-anchor job at 22 was such a big deal.It felt like the biggest deal in the world at the time.And I was so proud, because I was finally going to have my chance to be like Barbara Walters, which is who I had been trying to emulate since the start of my TV career.So, I was 22 years old, making $22,000 a year.And it's where I met my best friend, Gayle, who was an intern at the same TV station.And once we became friends, we'd say, “Ohmigod, I can't believe it!You're making $22,000 and you're only 22.Imagine when you're 40 and you're making $40,000!” When I turned 40, I was so glad that didn't happen.So, here I am, 22, making $22,000 a year and, yet, it didn't feel right.It didn't feel right.The first sign, as President Hennessy was saying, was when they tried to change my name.The news director said to me at the time, “Nobody's going to remember Oprah.So, we want to change your name.We've come up with a name we think that people will remember and people will like.It's a friendly name: Suzie.” Hi, Suzie.Very friendly.You can't be angry with Suzie.Remember Suzie.But my name wasn't Suzie.And, you know, I'd grown up not really loving my name, because when you're looking for your little name on the lunch boxes and the license plate tags, you're never going to find Oprah.So, I grew up not loving the name, but once I was asked to change it, I thought, well, it is my name and do I look like a Suzie to you? So, I thought, no, it doesn't feel right.I'm not going to change my name.And if people remember it or not, that's OK.And then they said they didn't like the way I looked.This was in 1976, when your boss could call you in and say, “I don't like the way you look.” Now that would be called a lawsuit, but back then they could just say, “I don't like the way you look.” Which, in case some of you in the back, if you can't tell, is nothing like Barbara Walters.So, they sent me to a salon where they gave me a perm, and after a few days all my hair fell out and I had to shave my head.And then they really didn't like the way I looked.Because now I am black and bald and sitting on TV.Not a pretty picture.But even worse than being bald, I really hated, hated, hated being sent to report on other people's tragedies as a part of my daily duty, knowing that I was just expected to observe, when everything in my instinct told me that I should be doing something, I should be lending a hand.So, as President Hennessy said, I'd cover a fire and then I'd go back and I'd try to give the victims blankets.And I wouldn't be able to sleep at night because of all the things I was covering during the day.And, meanwhile, I was trying to sit gracefully like Barbara and make myself talk like Barbara.And I thought, well, I could make a pretty goofy Barbara.And if I could figure out how to be myself, I could be a pretty good Oprah.I was trying to sound elegant like Barbara.And sometimes I didn't read my copy, because something inside me said, this should be spontaneous.So, I wanted to get the news as I was giving it to the people.So, sometimes, I wouldn't read my copy and it would be, like, six people on a pileup on I-40.Oh, my goodness.And sometimes I wouldn't read the copy—because I wanted to be spontaneous—and I'd come across a list of words I didn't know and I'd mispronounce.And one day I was reading copy and I called Canada “ca nada.” And I decided, this Barbara thing's not going too well.I should try being myself.But at the same time, my dad was saying, “Oprah Gail, this is an opportunity of a lifetime.You better keep that job.” And my boss was saying, “This is the nightly news.You're an anchor, not a social worker.Just do your job.” So, I was juggling these messages of expectation and obligation and feeling really miserable with myself.I'd go home at night and fill up my journals, 'cause I've kept a journal since I was 15—so I now have volumes of journals.So, I'd go home at night and fill up my journals about how miserable I was and frustrated.Then I'd eat my anxiety.That's where I learned that habit.And after eight months, I lost that job.They said I was too emotional.I was too much.But since they didn't want to pay out the contract, they put me on a talk show in Baltimore.And the moment I sat down on that show, the moment I did, I felt like I'd come home.I realized that TV could be more than just a playground, but a platform for service, for helping other people lift their lives.And the moment I sat down, doing that talk show, it felt like breathing.It felt right.And that's where everything that followed for me began.And I got that lesson.When you're doing the work you're meant to do, it feels right and every day is a bonus, regardless of what you're getting paid.It's true.And how do you know when you're doing something right? How do you know that? It feels so.What I know now is that feelings are really your GPS system for life.When you're supposed to do something or not supposed to do something, your emotional guidance system lets you know.The trick is to learn to check your ego at the door and start checking your gut instead.Every right decision I've made—every right decision I've ever made—has come from my gut.And every wrong decision I've ever made was a result of me not listening to the greater voice of myself.If it doesn't feel right, don't do it.That's the lesson.And that lesson alone will save you, my friends, a lot of grief.Even doubt means don't.This is what I've learned.There are many times when you don't know what to do.When you don't know what to do, get still, get very still, until you do know what to do.And when you do get still and let your internal motivation be the driver, not only will your personal life improve, but you will gain a competitive edge in the working world as well.Because, as Daniel Pink writes in his best-seller, A Whole New Mind, we're entering a whole new age.And he calls it the Conceptual Age, where traits that set people apart today are going to come from our hearts—right brain—as well as our heads.It's no longer just the logical, linear, rules-based thinking that matters, he says.It's also empathy and joyfulness and purpose, inner traits that have transcendent worth.These qualities bloom when we're doing what we love, when we're involving the wholeness of ourselves in our work, both our expertise and our emotion.So, I say to you, forget about the fast lane.If you really want to fly, just harness your power to your passion.Honor your calling.Everybody has one.Trust your heart and success will come to you.So, how do I define success? Let me tell you, money's pretty nice.I'm not going to stand up here and tell you that it's not about money, 'cause money is very nice.I like money.It's good for buying things.But having a lot of money does not automatically make you a successful person.What you want is money and meaning.You want your work to be meaningful.Because meaning is what brings the real richness to your life.What you really want is to be surrounded by people you trust and treasure and by people who cherish you.That's when you're really rich.So, lesson one, follow your feelings.If it feels right, move forward.If it doesn't feel right, don't do it.Now I want to talk a little bit about failings, because nobody's journey is seamless or smooth.We all stumble.We all have setbacks.If things go wrong, you hit a dead end—as you will—it's just life's way of saying time to change course.So, ask every failure—this is what I do with every failure, every crisis, every difficult time—I say, what is this here to teach me? And as soon as you get the lesson, you get to move on.If you really get the lesson, you pass and you don't have to repeat the class.If you don't get the lesson, it shows up wearing another pair of pants—or skirt—to give you some remedial work.And what I've found is that difficulties come when you don't pay attention to life's whisper, because life always whispers to you first.And if you ignore the whisper, sooner or later you'll get a scream.Whatever you resist persists.But, if you ask the right question—not why is this happening, but what is this here to teach me?—it puts you in the place and space to get the lesson you need.My friend Eckhart Tolle, who's written this wonderful book called A New Earth that's all about letting the awareness of who you are stimulate everything that you do, he puts it like this: He says, don't react against a bad situation;merge with that situation instead.And the solution will arise from the challenge.Because surrendering yourself doesn't mean giving up;it means acting with responsibility.Many of you know that, as President Hennessy said, I started this school in Africa.And I founded the school, where I'm trying to give South African girls a shot at a future like yours—Stanford.And I spent five years making sure that school would be as beautiful as the students.I wanted every girl to feel her worth reflected in her surroundings.So, I checked every blueprint, I picked every pillow.I was looking at the grout in between the bricks.I knew every thread count of the sheets.I chose every girl from the villages, from nine provinces.And yet, last fall, I was faced with a crisis I had never anticipated.I was told that one of the dorm matrons was suspected of sexual abuse.That was, as you can imagine, devastating news.First, I cried—actually, I sobbed—for about half an hour.And then I said, let's get to it;that's all you get, a half an hour.You need to focus on the now, what you need to do now.So, I contacted a child trauma specialist.I put together a team of investigators.I made sure the girls had counseling and support.And Gayle and I got on a plane and flew to South Africa.And the whole time I kept asking that question: What is this here to teach me? And, as difficult as that experience has been, I got a lot of lessons.I understand now the mistakes I made, because I had been paying attention to all of the wrong things.I'd built that school from the outside in, when what really mattered was the inside out.So, it's a lesson that applies to all of our lives as a whole.What matters most is what's inside.What matters most is the sense of integrity, of quality and beauty.I got that lesson.And what I know is that the girls came away with something, too.They have emerged from this more resilient and knowing that their voices have power.And their resilience and spirit have given me more than I could ever give to them, which leads me to my final lesson—the one about finding happiness—which we could talk about all day, but I know you have other wacky things to do.Not a small topic this is, finding happiness.But in some ways I think it's the simplest of all.Gwendolyn Brooks wrote a poem for her children.It's called “Speech to the Young : Speech to the Progress-Toward.” And she says at the end, “Live not for battles won./ Live not for the-end-of-the-song./ Live in the along.” She's saying, like Eckhart Tolle, that you have to live for the present.You have to be in the moment.Whatever has happened to you in your past has no power over this present moment, because life is now.But I think she's also saying, be a part of something.Don't live for yourself alone.This is what I know for sure: In order to be truly happy, you must live along with and you have to stand for something larger than yourself.Because life is a reciprocal exchange.To move forward you have to give back.And to me, that is the greatest lesson of life.To be happy, you have to give something back.I know you know that, because that's a lesson that's woven into the very fabric of this university.It's a lesson that Jane and Leland Stanford got and one they've bequeathed to you.Because all of you know the story of how this great school came to be, how the Stanfords lost their only child to typhoid at the age of 15.They had every right and they had every reason to turn their backs against the world at that time, but instead, they channeled their grief and their pain into an act of grace.Within a year of their son's death, they had made the founding grant for this great school, pledging to do for other people's children what they were not able to do for their own boy.The lesson here is clear, and that is, if you're hurting, you need to help somebody ease their hurt.If you're in pain, help somebody else's pain.And when you're in a mess, you get yourself out of the mess helping somebody out of theirs.And in the process, you get to become a member of what I call the greatest fellowship of all, the sorority of compassion and the fraternity of service.The Stanfords had suffered the worst thing any mom and dad can ever endure, yet they understood that helping others is the way we help ourselves.And this wisdom is increasingly supported by scientific and sociological research.It's no longer just woo-woo soft-skills talk.There's actually a helper's high, a spiritual surge you gain from serving others.So, if you want to feel good, you have to go out and do some good.But when you do good, I hope you strive for more than just the good feeling that service provides, because I know this for sure, that doing good actually makes you better.So, whatever field you choose, if you operate from the paradigm of service, I know your life will have more value and you will be happy.I was always happy doing my talk show, but that happiness reached a depth of fulfillment, of joy, that I really can't describe to you or measure when I stopped just being on TV and looking at TV as a job and decided to use television, to use it and not have it use me, to use it as a platform to serve my viewers.That alone changed the trajectory of my success.So, I know this—that whether you're an actor, you offer your talent in the way that most inspires art.If you're an anatomist, you look at your gift as knowledge and service to healing.Whether you've been called, as so many of you here today getting doctorates and other degrees, to the professions of business, law, engineering, humanities, science, medicine, if you choose to offer your skills and talent in service, when you choose the paradigm of service, looking at life through that paradigm, it turns everything you do from a job into a gift.And I know you haven't spent all this time at Stanford just to go out and get a job.You've been enriched in countless ways.There's no better way to make your mark on the world and to share that abundance with others.My constant prayer for myself is to be used in service for the greater good.So, let me end with one of my favorite quotes from Martin Luther King.Dr.King said, “Not everybody can be famous.” And I don't know, but everybody today seems to want to be famous.But fame is a trip.People follow you to the bathroom, listen to you pee.It's just—try to pee quietly.It doesn't matter, they come out and say, “Ohmigod, it's you.You peed.” That's the fame trip, so I don't know if you want that.So, Dr.King said, “Not everybody can be famous.But everybody can be great, because greatness is determined by service.” Those of you who are history scholars may know the rest of that passage.He said, “You don't have to have a college degree to serve.You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve.You don't have to know about Plato or Aristotle to serve.You don't have to know Einstein's theory of relativity to serve.You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve.You only need a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love.” In a few moments, you'll all be officially Stanford's '08.You have the heart and the smarts to go with it.And it's up to you to decide, really, where will you now use those gifts? You've got the diploma, so go out and get the lessons, 'cause I know great things are sure to come.You know, I've always believed that everything is better when you share it, so before I go, I wanted to share a graduation gift with you.Underneath your seats you'll find two of my favorite books.Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth is my current book club selection.Our New Earth webcast has been downloaded 30 million times with that book.And Daniel Pink's A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future has reassured me I'm in the right direction.I really wanted to give you cars but I just couldn't pull that off!Congratulations, '08!Thank you.Thank you
第三篇:乔布斯在斯坦福大学演讲全文
乔布斯在斯坦福大学演讲全文:'You've got to find what you love,' 来源: 蒋文轩的日志
'You've got to find what you love,' Jobs says
This is a prepared text of the Commencement address delivered by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, on June 12, 2005.I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world.I never graduated from college.Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation.Today I want to tell you three stories from my life.That's it.No big deal.Just three stories.The first story is about connecting the dots.I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit.So why did I drop out? It started before I was born.My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption.She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife.Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl.So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: “We have an unexpected baby boy;do you want him?” They said: “Of course.” My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school.She refused to sign the final adoption papers.She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.And 17 years later I did go to college.But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition.After six months, I couldn't see the value in it.I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out.And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life.So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK.It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made.The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.It wasn't all romantic.I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple.I loved it.And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on.Let me give you one example: Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country.Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed.Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this.I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great.It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life.But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me.And we designed it all into the Mac.It was the first computer with beautiful typography.If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts.And since Windows just copied the Mac, it's likely that no personal computer would have them.If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do.Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college.But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward;you can only connect them looking backwards.So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.My second story is about love and loss.I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life.Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20.We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees.We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30.And then I got fired.How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well.But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out.When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him.So at 30 I was out.And very publicly out.What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.I really didn't know what to do for a few months.I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs downthese things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.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.About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer.I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas.I didn't even know what a pancreas was.The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months.My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die.It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months.It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family.It means to say your goodbyes.I lived with that diagnosis all day.Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor.I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery.I had the surgery and I'm fine now.This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades.Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept: No one wants to die.Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there.And yet death is the destination we all share.No one has ever escaped it.And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life.It is Life's change agent.It clears out the old to make way for the new.Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away.Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.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.When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation.It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch.This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras.It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue.It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age.On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous.Beneath it were the words: “Stay Hungry.Stay Foolish.” It was their farewell message as they signed off.Stay Hungry.Stay Foolish.And I have always wished that for myself.And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.Stay Hungry.Stay Foolish.Thank you all very much
第四篇:比尔盖茨在斯坦福大学的演讲
比尔盖茨在斯坦福大学的演讲
主讲人介绍:比尔·盖茨是微软公司主席和首席软件架构师。微软公司在个人计算和商业计算软件、服务和互联网技术方面都是全球范围内的领导者。在2002年6月截止的上个财年,微软公司的收入达283.7亿美元,在78个国家和地区开展业务,全球的员工总数超过50,000人。
内容:比尔·盖茨于2008年02月20日在斯坦福大学发表了一次演讲,主题是“软件、创新、创业和回馈”。
比尔·盖茨(Bill Gates)2008年02月19日 在斯坦福大学发表了一次演讲,主题是“软件、创新、创业和回馈”。
盖茨首先谈了软件在下一个数字十年可以做哪些事情。同第一个数字十年相比,第二个数字十年将带来更大的变化,这主要得益于此前打下的坚实基础。到目前为止,全球已经拥有超过10亿台PC,手机用户达到几十亿人,宽带互联网用户也达到几亿人。中国的宽带用户人数已经超越美国,而且美国无力再反超。美国只有PC和软件市场还大于中国。
互联网让世界变得更小。PC最初主要用于编辑文档,现在用于收发电子邮件和内容,而未来一切都将数字化。PC的普及将给每一个行业带来影响,甚至包括教育行业。
考虑到软件所能发挥的巨大作用,我们对未来应当有更大的“野心”。随着互联网的普及,全世界的人越来越紧密的连接在一起,软件为他们提供了更好的工具,创新将加速这一过程。
存储容量将呈几何级数增长,晶体管也是如此。但是,处理器主频将会遭遇瓶颈,过去几年不断提升的局面不复存在。
消费者最需要的数字产品包括:可以占据家中每面墙的低价显示屏;可以识别人的动作和身份的摄像头,而且价钱不贵;键盘和鼠标将被其它交互技术所取代,例如Wii控制器和iPod触摸屏等等;TellMe软件被移植到手机平台,可以更加准确地识别语音;延长笔记本的待机时间;计算机不仅位于桌面,还可以位于桌内,桌面就是一个显示屏。
电视将变得更加个性化,更加具有互动性。孩子可以观看体育比赛,而其它人可以观看HD DVD高清晰电影。广告将更具针对性,而观看则更具互动性。我们已经习惯于有限的电视体验,被迫观看哪些乏味的电视节目,这种情况未来将会发生变化。
对于一家公司来说,研发是最好的投资之一。微软在研发方面的投入高达60亿美元以上,而且分布在全球各地。
第五篇:乔布斯在斯坦福大学演讲经典语句
You've got to find what you love the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios No big deal connecting the dots.trust that it would all work out OK much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life you can't connect the dots looking forward.You can only connect them looking backwards, so you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.You have to trust in something--your gut, destiny, life, karma,whatever--because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well-worn path, and that will make all the difference What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating I'd been rejected but I was still in love Sometimes life's going to hit you in the head with a brick.Don't lose faith.I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did.You've got to find what you love, and that is as true for work as it is for your lovers.Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work, and the only way to do great work is to love what you do.If you haven't found it yet, keep looking, and don't settle.As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it, and like any great relationship it just gets better and better as the years roll on.So keep looking.Don't settle.If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right You are already naked.There is no reason not to follow your heart.death is the destination we all share.No one has ever escaped it 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, heart and intuition if you were so adventurous.Beneath were the words, "Stay hungry, stay foolish