TIM COOK 2015 斯坦福大学毕业典礼演讲中英文[5篇]

第一篇：TIM COOK 2015 斯坦福大学毕业典礼演讲中英文

Hello GW.Thank you very much President Knapp for that kind intro.Alex, trustees, faculty and deans of the university, my fellow honorees, and especially you the class of 2015.Yes.Congratulations to you, to your family, to your friends that are attending today's ceremony.You made it.It's a privilege, a rare privilege of a lifetime to be with you today.And I think thank you enough for making me an honorary Colonial.Before I begin today, they asked me to make a standard announcement.You've heard this before.About silencing your phones.Those of you with an iPhone, just place it in silent mode.If you don't have an iPhone, please pass it to the center aisle.Apple has a world class recycling program.库克和大家开玩笑说：“如果你用的是iPhone，就将它调成静音模式，如果你用的不是iPhone，请将它放到中间走道上，苹果有世界级的手机回收项目。”You know, this is really an amazing place.And for a lot of you, I'm sure that being here in Washington, the very center of our democracy, was a big draw when you were choosing which school to go to.This place has a powerful pull.It was here that Dr.Martin Luther King challenged Americans to make real the promises of democracy, to make justice a reality for all of God's children.库克称：“正是在这里，金挑战所有美国人，让民主的观念深入人心。正是在这里，里根总统号召我们相信自己，相信我们能够做出伟业。大学毕业生应该坚守自己的信念，他还说自己一路奋斗走来，让他愈发觉得，公平是一种权利，而作为毕业生要勇于与不公平做抗争。”And it was here that President Ronald Reagan called on us to believe in ourselves and to believe in our capacity to perform great deeds.I'd like to start this morning by telling you about my first visit here.In the summer of 1977 yes, I'm a little old I was 16 years old and living in Robertsdale, the small town in southern Alabama that I grew up in.At the end of my junior year of high school I'd won an essay contest sponsored by the National Rural Electric Association.I can't remember what the essay was about, what I do remember very clearly is writing it by hand, draft after draft after draft.Typewriters were very expensive and my family could not afford one.I was one of two kids from Baldwin County that was chosen to go to Washington along with hundreds of other kids across the country.Before we left, the Alabama delegation took a trip to our state capitol in Montgomery for a meeting with the governor.The governor's name was George C.Wallace.The same George Wallace who in 1963 stood in the schoolhouse door at the University of Alabama to block African Americans from enrolling.Wallace embraced the evils of segregation.He pitted whites against blacks, the South against the North, the working class against the socalled elites.Meeting my governor was not an honor for me.My heroes in life were Dr.Martin Luther King, and Robert F.Kennedy, who had fought against the very things that Wallace stood for.Keep in mind, that I grew up, or, when I grew up, I grew up in a place where King and Kennedy were not exactly held in high esteem.When I was a kid, the South was still coming to grips with its history.My textbooks even said the Civil War was about states' rights.They barely mentioned slavery.So I had to figure out for myself what was right and true.It was a search.It was a process.It drew on the moral sense that I'd learned from my parents, and in church, and in my own heart, and led me on my own journey of discovery.I found books in the public library that they probably didn't know they had.They all pointed to the fact that Wallace was wrong.That injustices like segregation had no place in our world.That equality is a right.As I said, I was only 16 when I met Governor Wallace, so I shook his hand as we were expected to do.But shaking his hand felt like a betrayal of my own beliefs.It felt wrong.Like I was selling a piece of my soul.16 岁时库克因为获得一次论文大赛的奖项，时任阿拉巴马州州长 George Wallace 亲自接待了库克以及其他获奖的小伙伴。而库克为 Wallace 的“接见”感到耻辱，因为后者曾推进种族隔离，并禁止黑人上大学。他说：”与州长见面不是我的荣誉，握着他的手就像是对我信仰的背叛。”From Montgomery we flew to Washington.It was the first time I had ever been on an airplane.In fact it was the first time that I traveled out of the South.On June 15, 1977, I was one of 900 high schoolers greeted by the new president, President Jimmy Carter, on the south lawn of the White House, right there on the other side of the ellipse.I was one of the lucky ones, who got to shake his hand.Carter saw Baldwin County on my name tag that day and stopped to speak with me.He wanted to know how people were doing after the rash of storms that struck Alabama that year.Carter was kind and compassionate;he held the most powerful job in the world but he had not sacrificed any of his humanity.I felt proud that he was president.And I felt proud that he was from the South.In the space of a week, I had come face to face with two men who guaranteed themselves a place in history.They came from the same region.They were from the same political party.They were both governors of adjoining states.But they looked at the world in very different ways.It was clear to me, that one was right, and one was wrong.Wallace had built his political career by exploiting divisions between us.Carter's message on the other hand, was that we are all bound together, every one of us.Each had made a journey that led them to the values that they lived by, but it wasn't just about their experiences or their circumstances;it had to come from within.My own journey in life was just beginning.I hadn't even applied for college yet at that point.For you graduates, the process of discovering yourself, of inventing yourself, of reinventing yourself is about to begin in earnest.It's about finding your values and committing to live by them.You have to find your North Star.And that means choices.Some are easy.Some are hard.And some will make you question everything.“我们认为一个具有价值观并真心为其付出的公司真的可以改变世界。个人也是一样。这可能是你，也一定是你。毕业生们，你们的价值观十分重要。它们是你的北极星。否则，它就只是一个工作，对于工作来说人生太短了……寻找你的北极星。让它指导你在生活和工作，或者说你一生奉献的工作……”Twenty years after my visit to Washington, I met someone who made me question everything.Who upended all of my assumptions in the very best way.That was Steve Jobs.Steve had built a successful company.He had been sent away and he returned to find it in ruins.He didn't know it at the time, but he was about to dedicate the rest of his life to rescuing it, and leading it to heights greater than anyone could ever imagine.Anyone, that is, except for Steve.Most people have forgotten, but in 1997 and early 1998, Apple had been adrift for years.Rudderless.But Steve thought Apple could be great again.And he wanted to know if I'd like to help.His vision for Apple was a company that turned powerful technology into tools that were easy to use, tools that would help people realize their dreams.And change the world for the better.I had studied to be an engineer and earned an M.B.A.I was trained to be pragmatic, a problem solver.Now I found myself sitting before and listening to this very animated 40something guy with visions of changing the world.It was not what I had expected.You see, when it came to my career, in 1998, I was also adrift.Rudderless.I knew who I was in my personal life, and I kept my eye on my North Star, my responsibility to do good for someone else, other than myself.But at work, well I always figured that work was work.Values had their place and, yes, there were things that I wanted to change about the world, but I thought I had to do that on my own time.Not in the office.Steve didn't see it that way.He was an idealist.And in that way he reminded me of how I felt as a teenager.In that first meeting he convinced me if we worked hard and made great products, we too could help change the world.And to my surprise, I was hooked.I took the job and changed my life.It's been 17 years and I have never once looked back.当时他年近40，浑浑噩噩，正如当时的苹果公司。直到乔布斯邀请他去改变世界，让他所有关于未来的假设被颠覆。当时的库克觉得改变世界很好，但是与工作无关，而乔布斯认为这就应该是同一件事。At Apple we believe the work should be more than just about improving your own self.It's about improving the lives of others as well.Our products do amazing things.And just as Steve envisioned, they empower people all over the world.People who are blind, and need information read to them because they can't see the screen.People for whom technology is a lifeline because they are isolated by distance or disability.People who witness injustice and want to expose it, and now they can because they have a camera in their pocket all the time.Our commitment goes beyond the products themselves to how they're made.To our impact on the environment.To the role we play in demanding and promoting equality.And in improving education.We believe that a company that has values and acts on them can really change the world.And an individual can too.That can be you.That must be you.Graduates, your values matter.They are your North Star.And work takes on new meaning when you feel you are pointed in the right direction.Otherwise, it's just a job, and life is too short for that.We need the best and brightest of your generation to lead in government and in business.In the science and in the arts.In journalism and in academia.There is honor in all of these pursuits.And there is opportunity to do work that is infused with moral purpose.You don't have to choose between doing good and doing well.It's a false choice, today more than ever.Your challenge is to find work that pays the rent, puts food on the table, and lets you do what is right and good and just.你们不用从“做对的事情”和“过好的生活”中抉择，这根本不是一个抉择，尤其在今天。工作应该是：让你付起房租，吃饱肚子，然后做正确、正当的好事。无论你从事什么工作，都会有批评者和愤世者打击你，同时也有很多沉默的好心人。仍有人在被迫害，仍有疾病需要治疗，世界需要你的能量、热情，和你躁动的努力。So find your North Star.Let it guide you in life, and work, and in your life's work.Now, I suspect some of you aren't buying this.I won't take it personally.It's no surprise that people are skeptical, especially here in Washington.Where these days you've got plenty of reason to be.And a healthy amount of skepticism is fine.Though too often in this town, it turns to cynicism.To the idea that no matter who's talking or what they're saying, that their motives are questionable, their character is suspect, and if you search hard enough, you can prove that they are lying.Maybe that's just the world we live in.But graduates, this is your world to change.As I said, I am a proud son of the South.It's my home, and I will always love it.But for the last 17 years I've built a life in Silicon Valley;it's a special place.The kind of place where there's no problem that can't be solved.No matter how difficult or complex, that's part of its essential quality.A very sincere sort of optimism.Back in the 90s, Apple ran an advertising campaign we called “Think Different.” It was pretty simple.Every ad was a photograph of one of our heroes.People who had the audacity to challenge and change the way we all live.People like Gandhi and Jackie Robinson, Martha Graham and Albert Einstein, Amelia Earhart and Miles Davis.These people still inspire us.They remind us to live by our deepest values and reach for our highest aspirations.They make us believe that anything is possible.A friend of mine at Apple likes to say the best way to solve a problem is to walk into a room full of Apple engineers and proclaim, “this is impossible.”I can tell you, they will not accept that.And neither should you.So that's the one thing I'd like to bring to you all the way from Cupertino, California.The idea that great progress is possible, whatever line of work you choose.There will always be cynics and critics on the sidelines tearing people down, and just as harmful are those people with good intentions who make no contribution at all.In his letter from the Birmingham jail, Dr.King wrote that our society needed to repent, not merely for the hateful words of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people.在硅谷，人们相信任何问题都能被解决，无论它有多么困难。这是非常真诚的乐观精神。苹果也信奉类似价值观。他说：“我在苹果的一个朋友喜欢这样说：解决问题的最好方式就是走出满是苹果工程师的房间，远离„这不可能‟的论调。取得重大进展是可能的，无论你做出何种选择，总是有冷眼旁观者和批评者，同时好心却无贡献者也对实现目标毫无意义。”The sidelines are not where you want to live your life.The world needs you in the arena.There are problems that need to be solved.Injustices that need to be ended.People that are still being persecuted, diseases still in need of cure.No matter what you do next, the world needs your energy.Your passion.Your impatience with progress.Don't shrink from risk.And tune out those critics and cynics.History rarely yields to one person, but think, and never forget, what happens when it does.That can be you.That should be you.That must be you.Congratulations Class of 2015.I'd like to take one photo of you, because this is the best view in the world.And it's a great one.Thank you very much.

第二篇：乔布斯斯坦福大学演讲 - 中英文完整版

This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005.Thank you.I’m honored to be with you today for your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world.Truth be told, I never graduated from college, and 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 found out later 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 go to college.This was the start in my life.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 far more 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 that 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 — 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.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 down — that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me.I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly.I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley.But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did.The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit.I had been rejected, but I was still in love.And so I decided to start over.I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me.The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything.It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife.Pixar went on to create the world’s first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world.In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, and I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple’s current renaissance.And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.I’m pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn’t been fired from Apple.It was awful-tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it.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 your 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.My third story is about death.When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these 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 thankfully, 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’s 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, 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.我很荣幸今天能和各位在此参加这所世界上最佳学府之一的毕业典礼。说实话，我大学没毕业，这是我第一次离大学毕业典礼这么近。今天我想给大家讲三个我自己的故事，不讲别的，也不讲大道理，就讲三个故事。

第一个故事讲的是串连生命中的点滴。我在里德学院（Reed College）只读了六个月就退学了，此后便在学校里旁听，又过了18个月，我才最终离开。那么，我为什么退学呢？

这得从我出生前讲起。我的生母是一名年轻的未婚在校研究生，她决定将我送给别人收养。她非常希望收养我的是有大学学历的人，所以把一切都安排好了，我一出生就交给一对律师夫妇收养。没想到我落地的霎那间，那对夫妇临时决定收养一名女孩。就这样，我的养父母—当时他们还在登记册上排队等著呢—当晚半夜三更接到一个电话：“我们这儿有一个没人要的男婴，你们要么？”“当然。”他们回答。但是，我的生母后来发现我的养母不是大学毕业生，我的养父甚至连高中都没有毕业，所以她拒绝在最后的收养文件上签字。不过，没过几个月她就心软了，因为我的养父母许诺日后一定送我上大学。这就是我生命的开始。

17年后，我真的进了大学。当时我很天真，选了一所几乎和斯坦福大学一样昂贵的学校，我那劳动阶级的养父母倾其所有的积蓄为我支付了大学学费。读了六个月后，我却看不出其中的价值。我既不知道自己这一生想干什么，也不知道大学是否能够帮我理出头绪。可是我却正在花光父母一辈子节省下来的钱了。所以，我决定退学，并且坚信日后会证明我这样做是对的。当年做出这个决定时心里直打鼓，但现在回想起来，这还真是我有生以来做出的最好的决定之一。从退学那一刻起，我就可以不再上那些我毫无兴趣的必修课，开始旁听一些看上去有意思的课。

那些日子一点儿都不浪漫。我没有宿舍，只能睡在朋友房间的地板上。我去捡每个五美分的可乐瓶，用换来的钱来买吃的。每个星期天晚上我都要走七英里，到城那头的黑尔－科里施纳印度教寺庙去，吃每周才能享用一次的美餐。我爱死圣餐了。我凭著好奇心和直觉所干的这些事情，有许多后来都证明是无价之宝。我给大家举个例子：

当时，里德学院的书法课大概是全国最好的。校园里所有的公告栏和每个抽屉标签上的字都写得非常漂亮。当时我已经退学，不用正常上课，所以我决定选一门书法课，学学怎么写好字。我学习写带短截线和不带短截线的印刷字体，根据不同字母组合调整其间距，以及怎样把版式调整得好上加好。这门课太棒了，既有历史价值，又有艺术造诣，这一点科学就做不到，而我觉得它妙不可言。

当时我并不指望这在以后的生活中能有什么实用价值。但是，十年之后，我们在设计第一台麦金塔计算机时，它一下子浮现在我眼前。于是，我们把这些东西全都设计进了计算机中。这是第一台有这么漂亮的文字字体的计算机。要不是我当初在大学里偶然选了这么一门课，Mac计算机绝不会有那么多种印刷字体或间距安排合理的字号。要不是 Windows 照搬了Mac，个人电脑可能就不会有这些字体和字号。要不是当初退了学，我也决不会碰巧选了这门书法课，个人电脑也可能不会有现在这些漂亮的字体了。当然，我在大学里不可能从这一点上看到它与将来的关系，十年之后再回头看，两者之间的关系就非常非常清楚了。

重申，你们同样不可能从现在这个点上看到将来；只有回头看时，才会发现它们之间的关系。所以，要相信生命中的点滴迟早会连接到一起。你们必须信赖某些东西——直觉、命运、生命，还有业力，等等。因为相信这些点滴终究会连结在一起，可以给你信心朝自己的理想迈进，就算是引领你远离传统的道路，那会很不同凡响。我的第二个故事是关于爱与失落的。我很幸运，在很小的时候就发现自己喜欢做什么。我在20岁时和沃兹（Woz，苹果公司创始人之一Wozon的昵称——译注）在我父母的车库里办起了苹果公司。我们干得很卖力，十年后，苹果公司就从车库里我们两个人发展成为一个拥有20亿元资产、超过4 000名员工的大企业。在那前一年，我们刚刚推出了我们最好的产品——麦金塔电脑——而我刚满30岁。然后我被解雇了。你怎么会被自己办的公司解雇呢？是这样，随著苹果公司越做越大，我们聘了一位我认为非常有才华的人与我一道管理公司。在开始的一年多里，一切都很顺利。可是，随后我俩对公司前景的看法开始出现分歧，最后我俩反目了。这时，董事会站在了他那一边，所以在30岁那年，我离开了公司，而且这件事闹得满城风雨。我成年后的整个生活重心都没有了，这使我心力交瘁。

一连几个月，我真的不知道应该怎么办。我感到自己给老一代的创业者丢了脸——因为我把交到自己手里的接力棒接丢了。我去见了戴维·帕卡德（David Packard，惠普公司创始人之一——译注）和鲍勃·诺伊斯（Bob Noyce，英特尔公司创建者之一——译注），想为把事情搞得这么糟糕说声道歉。这次失败弄得沸沸扬扬的，我甚至想过逃离硅谷。但是，渐渐地，我开始有了一个想法——我仍然热爱我过去做的一切。在苹果公司发生的这些**丝毫没有改变这一点。我虽然被拒之门外，但我仍然深爱我的事业。于是，我决定从头开始。

虽然当时我并没有意识到，但事实证明，被苹果公司解雇是我一生中碰到的最好的事情。尽管前景未卜，但从头开始的轻松感取代了保持成功的沉重感。这使我进入了一生中最富有创造力的时期之一。在此后的五年里，我创立了NeXT，另一家是皮克斯（Pixar），我还爱上一位了不起的女人，后来成了我的妻子。皮克斯推出了世界上第一部用电脑制作的动画片《玩具总动员》（Toy Story），它现在是全球最成功的动画制作室。在一个特别的机缘下，苹果公司买下了NeXT，我又回到了苹果公司，我们在 NeXT 公司开发的技术成了苹果公司这次重新崛起的核心。我和劳伦（Laurene）也建立了美满的家庭。

我确信，如果不是被苹果公司解雇，这一切决不可能发生。这是一剂苦药，可我认为良药苦口利于病。有时生活会当头给你一棒，但不要灰心。我坚信让我一往无前的唯一力量就是我热爱我所做的一切。你一定得知道自己喜欢什么，选择爱人时如此，选择工作时同样如此。工作将是生活中的一大部分，让自己真正满意的唯一办法，是做自己认为是有意义的工作；做有意义的工作的唯一办法，是热爱自己的工作。你们如果还没有发现自己喜欢什么，那就不断地去寻找，不要半途而废。就像一切要凭著感觉去做的事情一样，一旦找到了自己喜欢的事，感觉就会告诉你。就像任何一种美妙的东西，历久弥新。所以说，要不断地寻找，不要半途而废。我的第三个故事与死亡有关。17岁那年，我读到过这样一段话，大意是：“如果把每一天都当作生命的最后一天，总有一天你会如愿以偿。”我记住了这句话，从那时起，33年过去了，我每天早晨都对著镜子自问：“假如今天是生命的最后一天，我还会去做今天要做的事吗？”如果一连许多天我的回答都是“不”，我知道自己应该有所改变了。

让我能够做出人生重大抉择的最主要办法，是记住生命随时都有可能结束。因为几乎所有的东西——所有对自身之外的希求、所有的尊严、所有对困窘和失败的恐惧——在死亡来临时都将烟消云散，只剩下真正重要的东西。记住自己随时都会死去，这是我所知道的防止患得患失的最好方法。你已经赤裸裸地面对生命了，还有什么理由不跟着自己的感觉走呢。

大约一年前，我被诊断患了癌症。那天早上七点半，我做了一次扫描检查，结果清楚地表明我的胰腺上长了一个肿瘤，可那时我连胰腺是什么还不知道呢！医生告诉我说，几乎可以确诊这是一种无法治愈的恶性肿瘤，我最多还能活3到6个月。医生建议我回去把一切都安排好，其实这是在暗示“准备后事”。也就是说，把今后十年要跟孩子们说的事情在这几个月内嘱咐完；也意味着，把一切都安排妥当，尽可能不给家人留麻烦；更意味着，永别。

那一整天里，我的脑子一直没离开这个诊断。到了晚上，我做了一次组织切片检查，他们把一个内窥镜通过喉咙穿过我的胃进入肠子，用针头在胰腺的瘤子上取了一些细胞组织。当时我用了麻醉剂，陪在一旁的妻子后来告诉我，医生在显微镜里看了细胞之后哭了，原来这是一种少见的可以通过外科手术治愈的恶性肿瘤。我做了手术，谢天谢地，现在已痊愈了。

这是我和死神离得最近的一次，我希望也是今后几十年里最近的一次。有了这次经历之后，现在我可以更加实在地和你们谈论死亡，而不是纯粹纸上谈兵，那就是：谁都不愿意死。就是那些想进天堂的人也不愿意死后再进。然而，死亡是我们共同的归宿，没人能摆脱。我们注定会死，因为死亡很可能是生命最好的一项创造。它推进生命的变迁，旧的不去，新的不来。现在，你们就是新的，但在不久的将来，你们也会逐渐成为老旧，并遭到清除。抱歉，这听上去很戏剧化，不过却千真万确。

你们的光阴有限，所以不要按照别人的意愿去活，这是浪费时间。不要囿于教条，那是在按照别人设想的结果而活。不要让别人观点的聒噪声淹没自己的心声。最主要的是，要有跟着自己感觉和直觉走的勇气。无论如何，感觉和直觉早就知道你到底想成为什么样的人，其他都是次要的。

我年轻时有一本非常好的刊物，叫《全球概览》（The Whole Earth Catalog），这是我那代人的宝书之一，创办人名叫斯图尔特·布兰德（Stewart Brand），就住在离这儿不远的门洛帕克市。他用诗一般的语言为这本刊物注入生命。那是20世纪60年代末，还没有个人电脑和桌面印刷系统，全靠打字机、剪刀和宝丽莱照相机（Polaroid）。它就像一种纸质的 Google，却比Google早问世了35年。这份刊物太完美了，查阅手段齐备、构思不凡。

斯图尔特和他的同事们出了好几期《全球概览》，到最后办不下去时，他们出了最 后一期。那是20世纪70年代中期，我也就是你们现在的年纪。最后一期的封底上是 一张清晨乡间小路的照片，就是那种爱冒险的人等在那儿搭便车的那种小路。照片下面 写道：求知若饥，谦卑若愚。那是他们停刊前的告别辞。

求知若饥，谦卑若愚。我一直如此自我期许。眼下正值诸位大学毕业、开始新生活之际，我同样愿大家：求知若饥，谦卑若愚。

非常感谢各位聆听。

第三篇：苹果公司CEO乔布斯在斯坦福大学毕业典礼上的演讲-中英文

苹果公司CEO乔布斯在斯坦福大学毕业典礼上的演讲

摘要:这是苹果公司CEO乔布斯2005年在斯坦福大学毕业典礼上的演讲，大

学途中退学，创业，被解雇，东山再起，死亡威胁，这些他都一一经历了。经营自己与众不同的人生要从了解别人的经历开始。以下是英文原版以 及翻译的版本：Tag: 英语 演讲

This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered 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.很荣幸和大家一道参加这所世界上最好的一座大学的毕业典礼。我大 学没毕业，说实话，这是我第一次离大学毕业典礼这么近。今天我想给大 家讲三个我自己的故事，不讲别的，也不讲大道理，就讲三个故事。

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?

第一个故事讲的是点与点之间的关系。我在里德学院（Reed College）只读了六个月就退学了，此后便在学校里旁听，又过了大约一年半，我 彻底离开。那么，我为什么退学呢？

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.这得从我出生前讲起。我的生母是一名年轻的未婚在校研究生，她决 定将我送给别人收养。她非常希望收养我的是有大学学历的人，所以把一 切都安排好了，我一出生就交给一对律师夫妇收养。没想到我落地的霎那 间，那对夫妇却决定收养一名女孩。就这样，我的养父母——当时他们还 在登记册上排队等著呢——半夜三更接到一个电话: “我们这儿有一个没

人要的男婴，你们要么？”“当然要”他们回答。但是，我的生母后来发 现我的养母不是大学毕业生，我的养父甚至连中学都没有毕业，所以她拒 绝在最后的收养文件上签字。不过，没过几个月她就心软了，因为我的养 父母许诺日后一定送我上大学。

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.年后，我真的进了大学。当时我很天真，选了一所学费几乎和斯 坦福大学一样昂贵的学校，当工人的养父母倾其所有的积蓄为我支付了大 学学费。读了六个月后，我却看不出上学有什么意义。我既不知道自己这 一生想干什么，也不知道大学是否能够帮我弄明白自己想干什么。这时，我就要花光父母一辈子节省下来的钱了。所以，我决定退学，并且坚信日 后会证明我这样做是对的。当年做出这个决定时心里直打鼓，但现在回想 起来，这还真是我有生以来做出的最好的决定之一。从退学那一刻起，我 就可以不再选那些我毫无兴趣的必修课，开始旁听一些看上去有意思的课。

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:

那些日子一点儿都不浪漫。我没有宿舍，只能睡在朋友房间的地板上。我去退还可乐瓶，用那五分钱的押金来买吃的。每个星期天晚上我都要 走七英里，到城那头的黑尔科里施纳礼拜堂去，吃每周才能享用一次的美 餐。我喜欢这样。我凭借好奇心和直觉所干的这些事情，有许多后来都证 明是无价之宝。我给大家举个例子:

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.当时，里德学院的书法课大概是全国最好的。校园里所有的公告栏和 每个抽屉标签上的字都写得非常漂亮。当时我已经退学，不用正常上课，所以我决定选一门书法课，学学怎么写好字。我学习写带短截线和不带短 截线的印刷字体，根据不同字母组合调整其间距，以及怎样把版式调整得 好上加好。这门课太棒了，既有历史价值，又有艺术造诣，这一点科学就 做不到，而我觉得它妙不可言。

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, its 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.当时我并不指望书法在以后的生活中能有什么实用价值。但是，十年 之后，我们在设计第一台 Macintosh 计算机时，它一下子浮现在我眼前。于是，我们把这些东西全都设计进了计算机中。这是第一台有这么漂亮 的文字版式的计算机。要不是我当初在大学里偶然选了这么一门课，Macintosh 计算机绝不会有那么多种印刷字体或间距安排合理的字号。要 不是 Windows 照搬了 Macintosh，个人电脑可能不会有这些字体和字号。要不是退了学，我决不会碰巧选了这门书法课，个人电脑也可能不会有 现在这些漂亮的版式了。当然，我在大学里不可能从这一点上看到它与将 来的关系。十年之后再回头看，两者之间的关系就非常、非常清楚了。

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.你们同样不可能从现在这个点上看到将来；只有回头看时，才会发现 它们之间的关系。所以，要相信这些点迟早会连接到一起。你们必须信赖 某些东西——直觉、归宿、生命，还有业力，等等。这样做从来没有让我 的希望落空过，而且还彻底改变了我的生活。

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.我的第二个故事是关于好恶与得失。幸运的是，我在很小的时候就发 现自己喜欢做什么。我在 20 岁时和沃兹（Woz，苹果公司创始人之一 Wozon 的昵称——译注）在我父母的车库里办起了苹果公司。我们干得很 卖力，十年后，苹果公司就从车库里我们两个人发展成为一个拥有 20 亿 元资产、4000 名员工的大企业。那时，我们刚刚推出了我们最好的产品 ——Macintosh 电脑——那是在第 9 年，我刚满 30 岁。可后来，我被 解雇了。你怎么会被自己办的公司解雇呢？是这样，随著苹果公司越做越 大，我们聘了一位我认为非常有才华的人与我一道管理公司。在开始的一 年多里，一切都很顺利。可是，随后我俩对公司前景的看法开始出现分歧，最后我俩反目了。这时，董事会站在了他那一边，所以在 30 岁那年，我离开了公司，而且这件事闹得满城风雨。我成年后的整个生活重心都没 有了，这使我心力交瘁。

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.让我能够做出人生重大抉择的最主要办法是，记住生命随时都有可能 结束。因为几乎所有的东西——所有对自身之外的希求、所有的尊严、所 有对困窘和失败的恐惧——在死亡来临时都将不复存在，只剩下真正重要 的东西。记住自己随时都会死去，这是我所知道的防止患得患失的最好方 法。你已经一无所有了，还有什么理由不跟著自己的感觉走呢？

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 and 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 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, thankfully, I'm fine now.一年前，我被诊断出癌症。我在早上七点半作断层扫描，在胰脏清楚 出现一个肿瘤，我连胰脏是什么都不知道。医生告诉我，那几乎可以确定 是一种不治之症，我大概活不到三到六个月了。医生建议我回家，好好跟 亲人们聚一聚，这是医生对临终病人的标准建议。那代表你得试着在几个 月内把你将来十年想跟小孩讲的话讲完。那代表你得把每件事情搞定，家人才会尽量轻松。那代表你得跟人说再见了。我整天想着那个诊断结果，那天晚上做了一次切片，从喉咙伸入一个内视镜，从胃进肠子，插了根 针进胰脏，取了一些肿瘤细胞出来。我打了镇静剂，不醒人事，但是我老 婆在场。她后来跟我说，当医生们用显微镜看过那些细胞后，他们都哭了，因为那是非常少见的一种胰脏癌，可以用手术治好。所以我接受了手术，康复了。

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's 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's quite true.这是我最接近死亡的时候，我希望那会继续是未来几十年内最接近的 一次。经历此事后，我可以比之前死亡只是抽象概念时要更肯定告诉你们 下面这些：

没有人想死。即使那些想上天堂的人，也想活着上天堂。但是死亡是 我们共有的目的地，没有人逃得过。这是注定的，因为死亡简直就是生命 中最棒的发明，是生命变化的媒介，送走老人们，给新生代留下空间。现 在你们是新生代，但是不久的将来，你们也会逐渐变老，被送出人生的舞 台。抱歉讲得这么戏剧化，但是这是真的。

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.你们的时间有限，所以不要浪费时间活在别人的生活里。不要被信条 所惑——盲从信条就是活在别人思考的结果里。不要让别人的意见淹没了 你内在的心声。最重要的，拥有跟随内心与直觉的勇气，你的内心与直觉 多少已经知道你真正想要成为什么样的人。任何其它事物都是次要的。

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 60s, 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, overflowing with neat tools and great notions.在我年轻时，有本神奇的杂志叫做 《Whole Earth Catalog》，当 年我们很迷这本杂志。那是一位住在离这不远的Menlo Park的Stewart Brand发行的，他把杂志办得很有诗意。那是1960年代末期，个人计算机

跟桌上出版还没发明，所有内容都是打字机、剪刀跟拍立得相机做出来的。杂志内容有点像印在纸上的Google，在Google出现之前35年就有了：理

想化，充满新奇工具与神奇的注记。

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've 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.Stewart跟他的出版团队出了好几期《Whole Earth Catalog》，然 后出了停刊号。当时是1970年代中期，我正是你们现在这个年龄的时候。在停刊号的封底，有张早晨乡间小路的照片，那种你去爬山时会经过的乡 间小路。在照片下有行小字：求知若饥，虚心若愚。那是他们亲笔写下的 告别讯息，我总是以此自许。当你们毕业，展开新生活，我也以此期许你 们。

求知若饥，虚心若愚。

非常谢谢大家。

第四篇：乔布斯斯坦福大学演讲中英文文本整理

乔布斯斯坦福大学演讲

Thank you.I'm honored to be with you today for your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world.Truth be told, I never graduated from college and 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 six months but then stayed around as a drop-in for another eighteen 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 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've got an unexpected baby boy.Do you want him?” They said, “Of course.” My biological mother found out later 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 go to college.This was the start in my life.And seventeen 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 of how college was going to help me figure it out, and here I was, spending all 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 far more 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 five-cent deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the seven 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-calligrapher.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 sans-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 that calligraphy class and personals 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 10 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--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.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 twenty.We worked hard and in ten years, Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4,000 employees.We'd just released our finest creation, the Macintosh, a year earlier, and I'd just turned thirty, 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, and so at thirty, 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 down, that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me.I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly.I was a very public failure and I even thought about running away from the Valley.But something slowly began to dawn on me.I still loved what I did.The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit.I'd been rejected but I was still in love.And so I decided to start over.I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me.The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything.It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods in my life.During the next five years I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife.Pixar went on to create the world's first computer-animated feature film, “Toy Story,” and is now the most successful animation studio in the world.In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT and I returned to Apple and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance, and Lorene and I have a wonderful family together.I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple.It was awful-tasting medicine but I guess the patient needed it.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.My third story is about death.When I was 17 I read a quote that went something like “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself, “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “no” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important thing I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life, because almost everything--all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure--these 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 doctors' code for “prepare to die.” It means to try and tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next ten years to tell them, in just a few months.It means to make sure that 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 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 doctor 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, thankfully, I am 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's 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's 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, 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 Catalogue, which was one of the bibles of my generation.It was created by a fellow named Stuart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch.This was in the late Sixties, 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 thirty-five years before Google came along.It was idealistic, overflowing with neat tools and great notions.Stuart and his team put out several issues of the Whole Earth Catalogue, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue.It was the mid-Seventies 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 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.谢谢大家。很荣幸能和你们，来自世界最好大学之一的毕业生们，一块儿参加毕业典礼。老实说，我大学没有毕业，今天恐怕是我一生中离大学毕业最近的一次了。

今天，我想告诉大家来自我生活的三个故事。不是长篇大论，只是三个故事而已。

第一个故事，如何串连生命中的点滴。

我 在里得大学读了六个月就退学了，但是在十八个月之后--我真正退学之前，我还常去学校。为何我要选择退学呢？这还得从我出生之前说起。我的生母是一个年 轻、未婚的大学毕业生，她决定让别人收养我。她有一个很强烈的信仰，认为我应该被一个大学毕业生家庭收养。于是，一对律师夫妇说好了要领养我，然而最后一 秒钟，他们改变了主意，决定要个女孩儿。然后我的排在收养人名单中的养父母在一个深夜接到电话，“很意外，我们多了一个男婴，你们要吗？”“当然要！”但 是我的生母后来又发现我的养母没有大学毕业，养父连高中都没有毕业。她拒绝在领养书上签字。几个月后，我的养父母保证会让我上大学，她妥协了。

这 是我生命的开端。十七年后，我上大学了，但是我很无知地选了一所差不多和斯坦福一样贵的学校，几乎花掉我那蓝领阶层养父母一生的积蓄。六个月后，我觉得不 值得。我看不出自己以后要做什么，也不晓得大学会怎样帮我指点迷津，而我却在花销父母一生的积蓄。所以我决定退学，并且相信没有做错。一开始非常吓人，但 回忆起来，这却是我一生中作的最好的决定之一。从我退学的那一刻起，我可以停止一切不感兴趣的必修课，开始旁听那些有意思得多的课。

事情并不那么美好。我没有宿舍可住，睡在朋友房间的地上。为了吃饭，我收集五分一个的旧可乐瓶，每个星期天晚上步行七英里到哈尔-克里什纳庙里改善一下一周的伙食。我喜欢这种生活方式。能够遵循自己的好奇和直觉前行后来被证明是多么的珍贵。让我来给你们举个例子吧。

当 时的里得大学提供可能是全国最好的书法指导。校园中每一张海报，抽屉上的每一张标签，都是漂亮的手写体。由于我已退学，不用修那些必修课，我决定选一门书 法课上上。在这门课上，我学会了“serif”和“sans-serif”两种字体、学会了怎样在不同的字母组合中改变字间距、学会了怎样写出好的字来。这是一种科学无法捕捉的微妙，楚楚动人、充满历史底蕴和艺术性，我觉得自己被完全吸引了。

当 时我并不指望书法在以后的生活中能有什么实用价值。但是，十年之后，我们在设计第一台 Macintosh 计算机时，它一下子浮现在我眼前。于是，我们把这些东西全都设计进了计算机中。这是第一台有这么漂亮的文字版式的计算机。要不是我当初在大学里偶然选了这 么一门课，Macintosh 计算机绝不会有那么多种印刷字体或间距安排合理的字号。要不是 Windows 照搬了 Macintosh，个人电脑可能不会有这些字体和字号。要不是退了学，我决不会碰巧选了这门书法课，个人电脑也可能不会有现在这些漂亮的版式了。

当 然，我在大学里不可能从这一点上看到它与将来的关系。十年之后再回头看，两者之间关系就非常、非常清楚了。你们同样不可能从现在这个点上看到将来；只有回 头看时，才会发现它们之间的关系。所以你必须相信，那些点点滴滴，会在你未来的生命里，以某种方式串联起来。你必须相信一些东西--你的勇气、宿命、生 活、因缘，随便什么--因为相信这些点滴能够一路连接会给你带来循从本觉的自信，它使你走离平凡，变得与众不同。

第二个故事是关于爱与失的。

我 很幸运。很早就发现自己喜欢做的事情。我二十岁的时候就和沃茨在父母的车库里开创了苹果公司。我们工作得很努力，十年后，苹果公司成长为拥有四千名员工，价值二十亿的大公司。我们只是推出了最好的创意，Macintosh操作系统，在这之前的一年，也就是我刚过三十岁，我被解雇了。你怎么可能被一个亲手创 立的公司解雇？事情是这样的，在公司成长期间，雇佣了一个我们认为非常聪明，可以和我一起经营公司的人。一年后，我们对公司未来的看法产生分歧，董事会站 在了他的一边。于是，在我三十岁的时候，我出局了，很公开地出局了。我整个成年生活的焦点没了，这很要命。一开始的几个月我真的不知道该干什么。我觉得我 让公司的前一代创建者们失望了，我把传给我的权杖给弄丢了。我与戴维德-帕珂德和鲍勃-诺埃斯见面，试图为这彻头彻尾的失败道歉。我败得如此之惨以至于我 想要逃离这儿。有些东西在呼唤我：我还爱着我从事的行业。这次失败一点儿都没有改变这一点。我被逐了，但我仍爱着。我决定重新开始。

当 时我没有看出来，但事实证明“被苹果开除”是发生在我身上最好的事。成功的重担被重新起步的轻松替代，对任何事情都不再特别看重。这让我感觉如此自由，进 入一生中最有创造力的阶段。接下来的五年，我创立了一个叫NeXT的公司，接着又建立了Pixar，然后与后来成为我妻子的女人相爱。Pixar出品了世 界第一个电脑动画电影：“玩具总动员”，现在它已经是世界最成功的动画制作工作室了。

在一系列的成功运转后，苹果收购了NeXT，我又回到了苹果。我们在NeXT开发的技术在苹果的复兴中起了核心作用，另外劳琳和我组建了一个幸福的家庭。

我 非常确信，如果我没有被苹果炒掉，这些就都不会发生。这个药的味道太糟了，但是我想病人需要它。有些时候，生活会给你迎头一棒。不要丧失信心。我确信唯一 让我一路走下来的是我对自己所做事情的热爱。你必须去找你热爱的东西，对工作如此，对你的爱人也是这样的。工作会占据你生命中很大的一部分，你只有相信自 己做的是伟大的工作，你才能怡然自得。如果你还没有找到，那么就继续找，不要停。全心全意地找，当你找到时，你会知道的。就像任何真诚的关系，随着时间的 流逝，只会越来越紧密。所以继续找，不要停。

我的第三个故事关于死亡。

我 十七岁的时候读到过一句话“如果你把每一天都当作最后一天过，有一天你会发现你是正确的”。这句话给我留下了深刻的印象。从那以后，过去的三十三年，每天 早上我都会对着镜子问自己：“如果今天是我的最后一天，我会不会做我想做的事情呢？”当答案持续否定一些次数后，我知道我需要改变一些东西了。提醒自己就 要死了是我遇见的最大的帮助，帮我作了生命中的大决定。因为几乎任何事——所有的荣耀、骄傲、对难堪和失败的恐惧——在死亡面前都会消隐，留下真正重要的 东西。提醒自己就要死亡是我知道的最好的方法，用来避开担心失去某些东西的陷阱。你已经赤裸裸了，没有理由不听从于自己的心愿。

大 约一年前，我被诊断出患了癌症。我早上七点半作了扫描，清楚地显示在我的胰腺有一个肿瘤。我当时都不知道胰腺是什么东西。医生们告诉我这几乎是无法治愈 的，还有三到六个月的时间。我的医生建议我回家，整理一切。在医生的辞典中，这就是“准备死亡”的意思。就是意味着把要对你小孩说十年的话在几个月内说 完；意味着把所有东西搞定，尽量让你的家庭活得轻松一点；意味着你要说“永别”了。

我 整日都想着那诊断书的事情。后来有天晚上我做了一个活切片检查，他们将一个内窥镜伸进我的喉咙，穿过胃，到达肠道，用一根针在我的胰腺肿瘤上取了几个细 胞。我当时是被麻醉的，但是我的妻子告诉我，那些医生在显微镜下看到细胞的时候开始尖叫，因为发现这竟然是一种非常罕见的可用手术治愈的胰腺癌症。我做了 手术，现在，我痊愈了。

这 是我最接近死亡的时候，我也希望是我未来几十年里最接近死亡的一次。这次死里逃生让我比以往只知道死亡是一个有用而纯粹书面概念的时候更确信地告诉你们，没有人愿意死，即使那些想上天堂的人们也不愿意通过死亡来达到他们的目的。但是死亡是每个人共同的终点，没有人能够逃脱。也应该如此，因为死亡很可能是生 命最好的发明。它去陈让新。现在，你们就是“新”。但是有一天，不用太久，你们有会慢慢变老然后死去。抱歉，这很戏剧性，但却是真的。你们的时间是有限 的，不要浪费在重复别人的生活上。不要被教条束缚，那意味着会和别人思考的结果一块儿生活。不要被其他人的喧嚣观点掩盖自己内心真正的声音。你的直觉和内 心知道你想要变成什么样子。所有其他东西都是次要的。

我 年轻的时候，有一份叫做“完整地球目录”的好杂志，是我们这一代人的圣经之一。它是一个叫斯纠华特-布兰得，住在离这不远的曼罗公园的家伙创立的。他用诗 一般的触觉将这份杂志带到世界。那是六十年代后期，个人电脑出现之前，所以这份杂志全是用打字机、剪刀和偏光镜制作的。有点像软皮包装的Google，不 过却早了三十五年。它理想主义，全文充斥着灵巧的工具和伟大的想法。斯纠华特和他的小组出版了几期“完整地球目录”，在完成使命之前，他们出版了最后一 期。那是七十年代中期，我和你们差不多大。最后一期的封底是一张清晨乡村小路的照片，如果你有冒险精神，可以自己找到这条路。下面有一句话，“求知若渴，虚心若谷”。这是他们的告别语，“求知若渴，虚心若谷”。我常以此勉励自己。现在，在你们即将踏上新旅程的时候，我也希望你们能这样。

求知若渴，虚心若谷。

第五篇：比尔盖茨夫妇斯坦福大学2014年毕业典礼演讲

Stanford Stanford University 斯坦福大学

Bill and Melinda Gates 比尔盖茨夫妇 Bill：Congratulations, class of 2014!祝贺2014届毕业生！

Melinda and I are excited to be here.我和梅琳达很高兴能来到这里。

It would be a thrill for anyone to be invited to speak at a Stanford commencement, but it’s especially gratifying for us.能受邀到斯坦福做毕业演讲对于任何人来说都是一件令人激动的事情, 我们尤是如此。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.斯坦福正迅速成为我们家人最喜欢的一所大学，它也一直是微软以及我们基金会最偏爱的一所大学。

Our formula has been to get the smartest, most creative people working on the most important problems.我们喜欢招募最聪明最有创造性的人去解决最重要的问题。

It turns out that a disproportionate number of thost people are at Stanford.事实证明，我们这里很大一部分人都来自于斯坦福。

Right now, we have more than 30 foundation research projects underway here.现在这里有30多个基金会研究项目正在进行。

When we want to learn more about the immune system to help cure the worst diseases we work with Stanford.当我们想更深入理解免疫系统帮助治疗最严重的疾病时，我们找到斯坦福一同合作。

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.当我们想了解美国高等教育现状的改变趋势,帮助更多低收入家庭的学生获得大学学位时，我们找到斯坦福一同合作。This is where genius lives.斯坦福是一个盛产天才的地方。

There’s a flexibility of mind here, and openness to change, an eagerness for what’s new.这里的思想充满了灵活性，开放性和创新性。

This is where people come to discover the future, and have fun doing it.斯坦福是促进人类探索未来并乐在其中的地方。

Melinda: Now, some people call you all nerds and we hear that you claim that label with pride.有些人把你们称作“书呆子”，听说你们很喜欢这个称谓。

Bill: Well, so do we.我们也喜欢。

夫妇同时戴眼镜

My normal glasses really aren’t all that different.Laughing。台下大笑。我平时用的眼睛其实也没有多大不同。

There are so many remarkable things going on here at this campus, but if Melinda and I had go put into one word what we love most about Stanford, it’s the optimism.这所学校里发生了很多了不起的事情。如果要我和梅琳达用一个词来总结对斯坦福的热爱，我们会说是“乐观”。

There’s an infectious feeling here that innovation can solve almost every problem.这里有着浓郁的氛围，让人觉得创新能够解决所有问题。

That’s the belief that drove me in 1975 to leave a college in the suburbs of Boston and go on endless leave of absence.也正是这种信念让我在1975年离开波士顿郊外的那所大学，从此一去不复返。

I believed that magic of computers and software would empower people everywhere and make the world much, much better.我相信，神奇的计算机和软件能够让全世界所有人获得力量，让世界变得比现在好很多很多。It’s been 40 years since then, and 20 years since Melinda and I were married.从那时到现在已经过40年，我和梅琳达结婚也已经20年了。We are both more optimistic now and ever.我们仍然坚持着这份乐观，甚至更甚于当年。But on our journey, our optimism evolved.随着人生旅途的展开，这份乐观也随之深化。

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..今天，我们愿与大家分享自己的经历，告诉大家你们的乐观也可以和我们一样为更多的人做到更多。

When Paul Allen and I started Microsoft, we wanted to bring the power of the computers and software to the people, and that was the kind of rhetoric we used.我和保罗`艾伦开创微软时，希望让计算机和软件的力量造福全人类，这也正是我们所想传达的理念。

One of the pioneering book in the field had raised fist on the cover, and it was called “Computer Lib.”

领域内的一本先驱性的书籍封面上举起拳头，将这称作是“计算机解放运动”。At that time, only big businesses could buy computers.当时，只有大公司才买得起计算机。

We wanted to offer the same power to regular people, and democratize computing.我们希望让普通人也能使用这份力量，让计算机能够民众化 普及化。

By the 1990s, we saw how profoundly personal computers could empower people, but that success created a new dilemma.到1990年代，我们都见证了个人计算机为人类做出的巨大贡献，但这份成功同时又引来了新的困境。

If rich kids got computers and poor kids didn’t, then technology would make inequality worse.如果富有孩子有电脑用，而穷孩子没有，那么技术的天平将变得更加不平等。That ran counter to our core belief.这将同我们的核心新年背道而驰。Technology should benefit everyone.技术应当让每个人收益。

So we worked to close the digital divide.于是我们开始行动，试图缩小这一数字鸿沟。

I made a priority at Microsoft, and Melinda and I made it an early priority at our Foundation.我原来在微软以及我和梅琳达在盖茨基金会早期都确立了。

Donating personal computers to public libraries to make sure that everyone had access.向公共图书馆捐赠个人计算机这一优先事务以帮助每个人获得计算机使用权。The digital divide was a focus of mine in 1997, when I took my first trip to South Africa.1997年这意数字鸿沟是我的主要关注焦点，当时我是第一次去南非。I went there on business.我是出公差。

So I spent most of my time in meetings in downtown Johannesburg.大多数时间都在于汉内斯堡中心城区开会。

I stayed in the home of one of the richest families of South Africa.住在南非国内非常有线的一位富豪家里。

It had only been three years since the election of Nelson Mandela marked the end of apartheid.当时离纳尔逊·曼德拉当选只有三年时间，种族隔离刚刚终结。

When I sat down for dinner with my hosts, they used a bell to call the butler.我同屋子的主任坐在一起用餐，主人眼红铃来呼唤仆人。

After dinner, the women and men separated and the men smoked cigars.餐后女人们会和男人们分开，男人们会抽雪茄。

I thought, good thing I read Jane Austen, or I wouldn’t have known what was going on.我心想，幸好我读过简·奥斯汀的作品，否则我估计根本无法理解这里发生了什么。

But the next day I went to Soweto, the poor town just southwest of Johannesburg, that had been the center of the antiapartheid movement.第二天我去了索韦托，于汉内斯堡西南面一个很贫穷的城镇，曾经反种族运动的中心。It was a short distance from the city into the township, but the entry was sudden, jarring and harsh.这座城镇离约翰内斯堡主城区并不远，但进入索韦托后，我立刻感受到了强烈的视觉冲击。I passed into a world completely unlike the one I came from.它和我之前看到的完全是两个世界。

My visit to Soweto became an early lesson in how naïve I was.到索韦托后我才刚开始意识到原来自己有多么天真。

Microsoft was donating computers and software to a community center there.微软当时将计算机和软件捐给当地的社区中心。The kind of thing we did in the United States.这同我们在美国所做的一样。

But it became clear to me, very quickly, that this was not the United States.但我很快意识到南非并不是美国。

I had seen statistics on poverty, but I had never really seen poverty.我之前看过关于贫困的统计数字，但却从来没真正看过什么叫贫穷。

The people there lived in corrugated tin shacks, with on electricity, no water, no toilets.当地人住在简陋的金属棚里，没有电没有水 没有厕所。Most people didn’t wear shoes.大多数人连鞋都没有穿的。

They walked barefoot along the streets, except there were no streets, just ruts in the mud.他们赤脚在街上走，其实那里根本就没有街，不过只有一些泥巴路。The community center had no consistent source of power.社区中心连持续的电力供应都没有。

So they rigged up an extension cord that ran 200 feet from the center to the diesel generator

outside.人们只能临时拉了一根200英尺长的延长线，让社区中心能够街上外面的柴油机发电机。Looking at this setup, I knew the minute the reporters left, the generator would get to a more urgent task.看到这种情形，我知道一旦记者离开发电机就会被用到更紧急的任务。

And the people at the community center would go back to worry about challenges that couldn’t be solved by a personal computer.而社区中心的人们也需要重新去面对那些不是个人计算机就能解决的问题。When I gave my prepared remarks to the press, I said Soweto is a milestone.我按照事先准备的讲稿，对媒体说索韦托是一个里程碑。

There’s major decisions ahead about whether technology will leave the developing world behind.在未来，为了不让发展中国家在技术上落后显然还有很多重大决定要做。This is to close the gap.我们将像这样，努力缩小技术上的鸿沟。

But as I read those words, I knew they weren’t super relevant.但在我阅读这份讲稿时，我深知情况远远没有这么简单。

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.讲稿上有一段我没有读，也就是我们还没开始关注这块大陆上，每年有大约五十万人死于疟疾这一事实。

But we are sure as hell going to bring you computers.但我们至少能够给大家带来计算机。

Before I went to Soweto, I thought I understood the world’s problems but I was blind to many of the most important ones.在我去索韦托之前，我以为我了解世界的问题，事实上我对很多问题都一无所知。

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? 亲眼所见的情形让我非常惊讶，我不得不问自己我还相信创新能够解决世界上最困难的问题吗？

I promised myself that before I came back to Africa, I would find out more about what keeps people poor.我许下承若要在下次回到非洲之前，更了解到底是什么导致了人们的持续贫穷。Over the years, Melinda and I did learn more about the pressing needs of the poor.这些年来，我和梅琳达确实更了解穷人的急切需求。

On a later trip to South Africa, I paid a visit to a hospital for patients with MDR-TB, multidrug resistant tuberculosis, a disease with a cure rate of under 59%.在之后一次去南非的过程中，我造访了一家治疗MDR-TB病人的医院，MDR-TB也就是多耐药肺结核，这种疾病的治愈率低于50%。I remember that hospital as a place of despair.我还记得那所医院是一个充满绝望的地方。

It was a giant open ward, with a sea of patients shuffling around in pajamas, wearing masks.一个开放式的巨大病房中，到处都是身着病服和口罩，驮着沉重步伐走动的病人。There was one floor just for children, including some babies lying in bed.有一层楼专门容纳儿童病人，包括刚出生不久的婴儿。

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.这里还有一所小型学校，为身体条件足够好的孩子们准备，但很多孩子都没好转到能够上学，医院不知道开这么一所学校是否值得。I talked to a patient there in her early 30s.我同以为三十岁出头的年轻女患者谈了谈。

She had been a worker at a TB hospital when she came down with a cough.她之前在一家结合并医院当护工，结果自己也开始咳嗽。She went to a doctor and said she had drug-resistant TB.她去看医生，医生说她得了耐药性结核病。She was later diagnosed with AIDS.之后她又被确诊患有艾滋病。

She wasn’t going to live much longer.But there were plenty of MDR patients, waiting to take her bed when she vacated it.她估计活不了多久，但还有很多肺结核患者等待这她死后腾出的病床。This was hell with a waiting list.这是一个排队等待死亡的地狱。

But seeing this hell didn’t reduce my optimism.It channeled it.看到这个地狱并没有挫败我的乐观态度。而是为我指引了方向。

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.离开的时候，我钻进车里告诉与我们共事的医生，我知道MDR-TB很难治愈，但我们必须为这些人们做点什么。

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 $2000, we get an 80% cure rate after six months under $100.实际上，就在今年，我们进入了一种新结核药的第三阶段，对于响应的患者，情况不再是2000美元价格，治疗18个月治愈率50%，而是不到100美元的价格，治疗6个月治愈率80%。

Optimism is often dismissed as false hope.But there is also false hopelessness.乐观经常会由于错误的希望而消散。但错误的绝望同样存在。

That’s the attitude that says we can’t defeat poverty and disease.We absolutely can.这种态度总在告诉我们，我们无法打败贫穷和疾病。实际上我们肯定能打败。

Melinda: 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.那天造访结合医院后，比尔打电话给我，如果我们俩有人要到国外出差，一般情况下，我们都会对去哪以及见谁有一个计划。

But this call was different.Bill said to me, Melinda, I have been somewhere that I have never been before.但这通电话很特别。比尔跟我说，梅琳达我去了一个从没去过的地方。And then he coked up and he couldn’t go on.然后他有些哽咽有些话说不出来。

And he finally just said, I will tell you more when I get home.最后他说等我回来以后再跟你仔细讲。

And I knew what he was going through because when you see people with so little hope, it breaks your heart.我能了解他正经受着什么，当你看到有人如此缺乏希望时，你会感到心碎。

But if you want to do the most, you have to go see the worst, and I’ve had days like that too.但要想做得最多，你必须看到最糟的真相。我也有过这样的经历。

About ten years ago, I traveled with a group of friends to India.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.大约十年前我和一帮朋友去了印度。待在那里的最后一天我见了一群妓女，跟她们讨论她们所面临的艾滋病威胁，但她们想跟我讲的确实污名。Many of these women had been abandoned by their husbands.她们很多人都被丈夫抛弃了。

That’s why they even went into prostitution.不得已靠卖身为生。

They wanted to be able to feed their children.她们必须想办法养活自己的孩子。

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.她们在社会的眼中如此卑贱以至于任何人甚至警察都可以随意强奸抢劫和殴打她们，但却没人关心。

Talking to them about their lives was so moving to me, but what I remember most was how much they wanted to be touched.同她们的对话让我动容，我印象最深刻的是她们很希望同人接触。They wanted to touch me and to be touched by them.她们希望接触我也希望我接触她们。

It was if physical contact somehow proved their worth.似乎只有通过这种身体接触，她们才能体会到自己的存在价值。

And so before I left, we linked arms hand in hand and did a photo together.于是我在离开之前，同她们手拉手照了合影。

Later that same day, I spent some time in India in a home for the dying.还是那一天，我后来又去了一所垂死之家。

I walked into a large hall and I saw rows and rows of cots, and every cot was attended to except for one, that was far off in the corner.And so I decided to go over there.我走过大厅看到一排排病床，每张病床都有人照料，除了角落里的那张略显孤独。于是我决定过去看看。

The patient who was in this room was a woman in her 30s.And I remember her eyes.床上是以为三十多岁的女性。我深深记得她的眼睛。

She had these huge, brown, sorrowful eyes.She was emaciated and on the verge of death and her intestines were not holding anything and so the workers had put a pan under her bed, cut a hole in bottom of the bed, and everything in her was just pouring out into that pan.她有一对充满悲伤的棕色大眼睛。她很消瘦离死亡已不遥远，她的肚子里已经无法容纳任何东西，义工们不得不将床板切一个洞，并将盆子放到床下，她体内的一切就这样倾泻到盆子里。

I could tell that she had AIDS.Both in the way she looked and the fact that she was off in this corner alone.我可以看出她患有艾滋病。她有一些症状而且被安排在这个孤独的角落更说明了这一点。The stigma of AIDS is vicious, especially for women.And the punishment is abandonment.艾滋病的污名是恶劣的，特别是对于女性。而惩罚便是被抛弃。When I arrived at her cot, I suddenly felt completely and totally helpless.我到了她的病床前，我感到的是完全的无助。

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.我没有什么能给这位女性的。我没办法挽救她的生命。但我不认看到她那么孤独。

So I knelt down with her and put my hand out..She reached for my hand and grasped it and she wouldn’t let it go.于是跪在她身旁，把手伸给他。她抓住我的手久久不愿放开。

I didn’t speak her language.And I couldn’t think of what I should say to her.我不会讲她的语言，我也不知道该对她说什么。And finally I just said to her, it’s going to be okay.最后我只能说 没事的。

It’s going to be okay.It’s not your fault.没事的，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 so up on the roof and see the sunset.我同他相处了一段时间，她指向屋顶。她显然是想上去，我意识到太阳就快下山。她肯定是想到屋顶看日落。

The workers in this home for the dying were very busy.I said to them can we take her up on the roof top? And they said, “No.No.We have to pass out medicines.”

垂死之家的义工都非常忙碌。我们她们能否帮忙把她抬上屋顶？她们说：“不行，我们还需要非法药物。”

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.”

我等着她们做完我又问了另一个义工“不行不行，我们太忙了，没时间把她抬上去。” And so finally, I just scooped this woman up in my arms.最后我只能自己将这位女性用手搂起。

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 the light breeze.I put her there and sat her down, and put a blanket over her legs and she sat there facing to the west, watching the sunset.她几乎痩的只剩皮包骨头了，我将她搀扶到屋顶，找了一张被人遗忘的在微风中的塑料椅子，让她坐在椅子上，用毛毯盖上她的双腿，她坐在那里，面朝西方，静静的看着日落。

The workers knew—I made sure they knew that she was up there so that they would bring her down after later that evening after the sun went down and then I had to leave.我告诉义工们她在上面，让她们晚上日落后把她搬下来，然后我不得不离开。But she never left me.但对她的记忆却在心中挥之不去。

I felt completely and totally inadequate in the face of this woman’s death.听到这位女性死去的消息我觉得自己完全没有做好心理准备。

But sometimes, it’s the people that you can’t help that inspire you the most.有时正是那些你帮不了的人对你心灵的震撼最大。

I knew that those sex worker 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.我知道白天我碰到的那些性工作者，以后很有可能就会变成那天晚上我扶上楼的那位女性，除非我们能够找到办法，为她们洗脱身上无法摆脱的污名。

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.过去十年来 我们基金会帮助性工作者建立起很多支持小组 让他们有能力互相鼓励发出声音 要求安全的性交易 要求客人使用安全套。

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.她们的努力让性工作者的艾滋病发病率保持较低水平，很多研究显示这也正是艾滋病没有在印度大范围暴发的重要原因。

When these sex workers gather together to help stop AIDS transmission, something unexpected and wonderful happened.性工作者们聚在一起帮助阻止艾滋病传播的同时，又发生了一件令人意想不到的奇妙事情。The community they formed became a platform for everything.她们组成的群体为自身权益的伸张筑起了平台。

Police and others who raped and robbed them couldn’t get away with it anymore.强奸 抢劫她们的警察和其他人不能再逍遥法外。

The women set up systems to encourage savings for one another and with those savings, they were able to leave sex work.这些女性组织起了一个鼓励大家存钱的体系，通过这些存款 不少人得以脱离性工作。This was all done by people that society considered the lowest of the low.这些都是被社会认为最下等的人们所做的。

Optimism, for me, is not a passive expectation that things are going to get better.乐观在我看来，并不是一种认为未来会变美好的被动期望。For me, it’s a conviction and a belief that we can make things better.而是一种信念 相信我们能用自己的双手让未来变的更好。

So no matter how much suffering we see, no matter how bad it is, we can help people if we don’t lose hope and if we don’t look away.无论我们遭受了多少苦难 无论境况有多糟糕，只要不丧失希望 不假装没看见我们就能帮助这些人。

Bill: Melinda and I have described some devastating scenes, but we want to make the strongest case we can for the power of optimism.我和梅琳达都讲述了灾难性的情景，但我们愿意以最好的期许 相信乐观的力量。

Even in dire situations, optimism fuels innovation and leads to new approaches that eliminate suffering.越是在极端恶劣的情形下，乐观越能激发出创新 为消除苦难找出新的方法。But if you never really see the people who are suffering, your optimism can’t help them.但如果你没亲眼见过遭受苦难的人们，你的乐观将帮不到她们。You will never change their world.你也永远无法改变他们的世界。

And that brings me to what I see is a paradox.这在我看来是一个巨大的悖论。

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.现代世界是一个无可比拟的创新之源，斯坦福则位于这一切的中心，创立起新公司和新的思想学派，充满获奖教授，启迪指示和智慧，研发出神奇药物，培养出了不起的毕业生。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.无论你是得到新发现的科学家，还是奋战于满足边缘人群需求最前线的人，你都是在推动人类相互帮助上的伟大突破。

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.同时在美国范围内如果你问人们未来会比过去号码，大多数人说不会。我的子孙会比我过的糟糕。

They think innovation won’t make the world better for them or their children.他们认为创新不会让她们及子孙的世界变得更好。So who is right? 到底谁对呢？

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? 是那些声称创新能够创造新机遇并让世界变得更好的人，还是那些认为不平等会加重，机会会减少，不认为创新能够改变这些趋势的人？

The pessimists are wrong, in my view.But they are not crazy.在我看来，悲观主义者是错误的。但她们的想法并不疯狂。

If innovation is purely market driven, and we don’t focus on the big inequalities, then we could have amazing advances in inventions that leave the world even more divided.如果创新纯粹是市场驱使的，没人关心不平等的加剧，那么世界就算有再多美妙发明也是白搭，只能让世界分化越发严重。

We won’t improve public schools.We won’t end malaria.We won’t end poverty.We won’t develop the innovations poor farmers need to grow food in a changing climate.我们将无法改善公立学校条件，我们将无法根除疟疾，我们将无法根除贫穷。我们将无法开发出贫苦农民所需的创新，让她们能在变化的气候条件下种出作物。

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.如果我们的乐观不能解决这些问题，不能帮助很多需要帮助的同胞，那么这种乐观就需要更多同情心。如果同情心能够引导我们的乐观，我们就肯定能看到贫困，疾病和糟糕的教育条件。

We will answer with our innovations and we will surprise the pessimists.我们就肯定能通过创新给我答案，我们就肯定能让悲观主义者大吃一惊。

Over the next generation, you, Stanford graduates, will lead a new weave of innovation.在下一代，你们这些斯坦福毕业生将会引领新一波创新。Which problems will you decide to solve? 你们决定处理哪些问题？

If your world is wide, you can create the future we all want.如果你们的世界观足够宽广你们将恩那个创建出我们所有人都想要的未来。If your world is narrow, you may create the future the pessimists fear.如果你们的世界观太过狭窄，你们就有可能创建出悲观主义者们所害怕的未来。

I started learning in Soweto, that if we are going to make our optimism matter to everyone, and empower people everywhere, we have to see the lives of those most in need.从索韦托开始我开始了解到，如果我们要将这份乐观传递给每个人，让所有地方的人都获得力量，我们需要首先去感受那些需求最迫切者的生活。

If we have optimism, without empathy, then it doesn’t matter how much we master the secrets of science.如果我们指示乐观而没有同情心，那么对科学秘密掌握得再好也将毫无用处。

We are not really solving problems.We are just working on puzzles.I think most of you have a broader view than I had at your age.You can do better at this than I did.因为我们并不是在解决问题，而是仅仅在做一些智力题。我想你们大多数人，世界观都比我在你们这么大时更加宽广。你们肯定能够比我做到更好。

If you put your hearts and minds to it, you can surprise the pessimists.We are eager to see it.只要全心全意的投入进来，我们就必然能让悲观主义者震惊。我们很像看到你们创造的未来。Melinda: So let your heart break.It will change what you do with your optimism.让自己沉浸于心碎。这会改变你们对乐观的理解。

On a trip to South Asia, I met a desperately poor Indian woman who had two children and she begged me to take them home with me.有一次去南亚，我碰到了以为赤贫的印度女性，她有两个孩子，她请求我把这两个孩子带回去领养。

And when I begged her for her forgiveness she said, well, then please, just take one of them.在我请她原谅我的无能为力时她说，那请你领养其中一个孩子行吗。

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? 还有一次我去南洛杉矶，见了一群来自艰苦社区的学生。一个小女孩跟我说，你有没有觉得我们这些孩子都被父母放置不理，我们只不过是多余的东西。These women broke my heart.And they still do.这些女性让我感到心碎。现在仍然如此。

And the empathy intensifies if I admit to myself, that could be me.如果想想“这也可能是我”同情心便会越发强烈。

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.我在其他地方碰到过很多母亲。我们想为子女提供的东西其实并没有太大差别。唯一差别在于我们为子女提供这些东西的能力。So what accounts for that difference? 这中差异是如何造成的？

Bill and I talk about this with our own kids around the dinner table.我和比尔在餐桌上同我们自己的孩子讨论这个问题。

Bill worked incredibly hard and he took risks and he made sacrifices for success.比尔工作无比努力，他冒过很多风险，做过很多牺牲采取的了今天的成功。

But there’s another essential ingredient of success, and that is luck.Absolute and total luck.但成功还有另外一个很重要的成分那就是运气。完全纯粹的运气。When were you born? Who are your parents? Where did you grow up? 你出生在什么年代，你的父母是谁？你在那里长大？ None of us earn these things.These things were given to us.我们谁都不能挣得这些，这些都是被给予的。

So when we strip away all of 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.当我们去除掉所有的优势，考虑我们没有这些优势。这就是同情心。

Empathy tears down barriers, and it opens up whole new frontiers for optimism.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.同情推到一切障碍，并且打开乐观的新视野。这里有很大的吸引力。

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.Congratulations and good luck to the class of 2014!