歷史上的十大著名畢業演講(下)
d Foster Wallace at Kenyon, 2005
5.2005年，大衛·福斯特·華萊士於肯揚學院"There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship."
“所有事都值得崇拜。每個人都有自己的信仰，但我們可以自由選擇信仰什麼。”
David Foster Wallace, author of "Infinite Jest," delivered a timeless commencement address at Kenyon College in 2005. With touches of the macabre, the speech rang true, if not for graduates on the cusp of shiny new lives, then certainly for their parents. "There happen to be whole large parts of adult American life that nobody talks about in commencement speeches. Once such part involves boredom, routine and petty frustration," Wallace said, describing a resentful stop at a crowded grocery store after work for illustration. While Wallace's speech started as a downer, it ended on notes of transcendent grace, because he pointed out, you get to choose how you'll respond to life's frustrations and pettiness. "The really important kind of freedom involves attention and awareness and discipline and effort, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them, over and over, in myriad petty little unsexy ways, every day". So provocative was Wallace's address that it went viral. After Wallace's suicide in 2008, a portion of his address became a short film and was published in its entirety as a book.
大衛·福斯特·華萊士，是《無盡的玩笑》的作者，於2005年在肯揚學院的畢業典禮上發表了經典的演講。這次演講涉及“死亡”話題，可能對即將開啓嶄新生活的畢業生來說不夠具有吸引力，但對他們父母來說可謂價值頗豐。華萊士說，“美國成年人的大部分真實生活，在一般的大學畢業典禮上都無人談及，包括無聊的例行公事和極度沮喪挫折。”並用爲工作忙了一天後，到擁擠的雜貨店產生的不滿來舉例說明。華萊士的演講指出，你得選擇如何面對生活中的挫折和瑣事。演講開篇發人深省，結尾更是錦上添花。“真正重要的自由，是集專注、覺醒、自律及上進於一體，每天都會發自內心地去關心他人，在無數瑣碎、無趣的事上，貢獻自己的力量。”華萊士的演講令人振奮，並被迅速傳播。2008年，華萊士自殺後，他的部分演講被改編成電影短片，演講全文則被收入書籍出版發行。
y Pausch at Carnegie Mellon, 2008
4.2008年，蘭迪·波許於卡內基梅隆大學
"It is not the things we do in life that we regret on our death bed. It is the things we do not. I've done a lot of really stupid things and none of them bother me."
“人們臨終時後悔的不是已做過的事情，而是沒做過的事情。我已經做了很多愚蠢的事情，但這並沒有讓我覺得遺憾。”The keynote speaker at Carnegie Mellon University's 2008 commencement ceremony was former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, but Randy Pausch's surprise address stole the show. Pausch, a Carnegie Mellon professor, had months earlier delivered "The Last Lecture" after being diagnosed with a fast-moving pancreatic cancer. His memorable and moving message intended for his students went viral, sparked worldwide interest in his condition and later became a book. In Pausch's commencement speech, which was based on "The Last Lecture," he spoke of his love for Carnegie Mellon. He delivered the address three months after doctors predicted he would be dead and detailed what he'd learned about living. In typically humorous fashion, he asked students to seek respect from their peers, to form loving relationships with the people they held most dear and to follow their passions. "If there is anything I have learned in my life, you will not find that passion in things. And you will not find that passion in money." Instead, he implored the audience to ground their passion in people. As he exited the podium, Pausch kissed his wife and carried her offstage to the sounds of a cheering crowd.
2008年，美國前副總統阿爾·戈爾爲卡內基梅隆大學的畢業典禮作了一場演講，但被蘭迪·波許那場令人拍手叫好的演講搶盡了風頭。波許是卡內基梅隆大學的教授，在確診患有晚期胰腺癌的幾個月後，做了 “最後一堂課”的演講。這場令人難忘和生動的演講被他的學生們廣爲傳播，並激起了全世界對他的病情的關注，最後被編著成了一本書。這是一篇以 “最後一堂課”爲基點的畢業演講，波許講述了他對卡內基梅隆大學深摯的愛。在醫生預測他將離開人世的三個月後，他作了這篇演講，並詳細講述了他從生活中學到的事物。他用一種獨具一格的幽默方式，忠告學生們要在同齡人中找到尊重，跟最愛的人在一起並且要爲自己所熱愛的事物奮鬥。“如果要說我從生活中學到的東西，那就是你不可能從物質、金錢中找到生活的激情。”相反，他建議他的學生們把熱情投注在他人身上。走下講臺時，他親吻了一下妻子並帶着她走進了歡呼鼓掌的人潮中。Gaiman at the University of the Arts, 2012
3.2012年，尼爾·蓋曼於藝術大學
"When things get tough, this is what you should do. Make good art."
“當你遇到困境時，這是你最應該做的：創作美妙的藝術。”Neil Gaiman, the U.K.-born author of "Coraline" and "American Gods" among other works of literature, didn't go to college, let alone graduate from one. Instead, Gaiman, a self-described "feral child who was raised in libraries," engineered his own education as a writer. Gaiman cautioned graduates that life could -- and would -- go wrong, and therein lay the best experiences. "A freelance life, a life in the arts, is sometimes like putting message in bottles, on a desert island, and hoping that someone will find one of your bottles and open it and read it, and put something in a bottle that will wash its way back to you: appreciation, or a commission, or money, or love." He also gave some very practical advice on staying employed: "People keep working, in a freelance world ... because their work is good, and because they are easy to get along with, and because they deliver the work on time. And you don't even need all three. Two out of three is fine". Life, Gaiman noted, is about making good art, no matter the disappointments -- or successes -- along the way. It turns out his commencement address was good art, too. It was published in book form just one year later.
尼爾·蓋曼是一名作家，出生於英國，寫了《鬼媽媽》、《美國衆神》等文學作品。他沒有上過大學，更別提從大學畢業了。但是，蓋曼自稱是“被圖書館養育的孩子”，接受了“以成爲作家爲目標”的自我教育。蓋曼告誡學生們，生活中不如意事常八九，但其中會有彌足珍貴的體驗。“從事自由職業、藝術工作，就猶如你投放在荒島裏的瓶中信，並希望終有人會發現你的瓶子，打開它、閱讀它並放入某些你期待的響應：欣賞，委託，金錢，喜愛。”關於職場生涯，他也給出了很多建設性的建議：“人們能在自由的工作環境中保住工作………因爲他們的作品是優秀的，他們性格隨和並且他們及時投稿。但是你甚至不需要做到這三點，做到兩點就夠了。”蓋曼說，生活無論成功與失敗，都是關於美好藝術的創作。他覺得作畢業演講也是一項美妙的藝術。一年後，這篇演講被收入書籍出版發行。ident Barack Obama at Morehouse, 2013
2.2013年，美國總統奧巴馬於莫爾豪斯學院
"My whole life, I've tried to be for Michelle and my girls what my father was not for my mother and me."
“我的一生都在爲妻子米歇爾和女兒着想，而不是像我父親待我母親和我那樣。”U.S. President Barack Obama had spoken at several commencements by the time he addressed the graduating class of Morehouse College in 2013. But this speech turned out to be his most personal – and controversial. Obama touched on the historic role the historically black Morehouse College has played in higher education, but also spoke of his personal failings and his struggles with race. "Sometimes I wrote off my own failings as just another example of the world trying to keep a black man down," he said. "I had a tendency sometimes to make excuses for me not doing the right thing. But one of the things that all of you have learned over the last four years is there's no longer any room for excuses". Obama also lamented that his father had not been present when he was growing up. "I want to break that cycle where a father is not at home -- where a father is not helping to raise that son or daughter. I want to be a better father, a better husband, a better man". Afterward, some criticized the speech as condescending and ignoring the role of government in perpetuating policies that hindered African-Americans. But others applauded his "no excuses" stance and for being a more vocal role model to young black men.
美國總統巴拉克·奧巴馬曾經在幾個畢業典禮上發表過演講，但他在莫爾豪斯學院2013級的畢業典禮上發表的纔是其最具個人特色也是最具爭議的演講。奧巴馬談到，莫爾豪斯學院爲黑人的高等教育發揮了歷史性的作用，但同時他也提及自身爲種族歧視所做的奮鬥及失敗的經歷。“有時我會將我的失敗一筆勾銷，把它當做是這個世界試圖打壓黑人的又一個案例。”他說道，“有時我會傾向於爲自己沒有做正確的事而找藉口，但在過去的四年中，你們所需要學到的一件事就是這裏沒有藉口存活的任何餘地。”奧巴馬還爲他的父親在他成長過程中的缺席而感嘆。“我要打破這種父親在兒女成長過程中沒有擔當好其角色的做法，我想成爲一個好父親、好丈夫和好男人。”隨後，一些人就其演講進行了批評。他們認爲奧巴馬的演講顯得目中無人，忽視了政府在現存政策上對阻礙非洲裔美國人所起到的積極性作用。但也有一些贊同的聲音，他們認爲奧巴馬“別找藉口”的立場值得稱讚，使其在年輕的黑人心中成爲直言不諱的榜樣。ge Saunders at Syracuse University, 2013
1.2013年，美國作家喬治·桑德斯於雪城大學
"Be kind."
“與人爲善”。If you remember nothing else of George Saunders' commencement address at Syracuse University in 2013, odds are he'd want you to know those two words. "What I regret most in my life are failures of kindness," Saunders said. "Those moments when another human being was there, in front of me, suffering, and I responded ... sensibly. Reservedly. Mildly." Saunders is an English professor at Syracuse University and writer of short stories, including the collection "The Tenth of December." He can count his graduation speech-turned-book "Congratulations, by the Way," among his credits, too. The literary star said that each of us thinks we are the center of the universe and behaves accordingly. So the key to becoming less selfish was to "err in the direction of kindness." "Do those things that incline you toward the big questions, and avoid the things that would reduce you and make you trivial. That luminous part of you that exists beyond personality -- your soul, if you will -- is as bright and shining as any that has ever been".
如果你對喬治·桑德斯)在2013年雪城大學畢業典禮上發表的演講沒有什麼印象的話，那有可能是，他只想讓你們記住“與人爲善”這幾個字。“我人生中最後悔的事便是沒有對他人表達善意，”桑德斯說。“真希望當一個人在我面前表現出痛苦的那些時刻，我能夠溫和的、體貼的、含蓄的予以迴應。”喬治·桑德斯是雪城大學的英語教授，同時也是短篇小說作家，著有作品集《十二月十日》。根據他的畢業演講所集成的書《順便祝賀你們》也可爲其履歷添上一筆。這位文學家說道，我們每個人都認爲自己是宇宙的中心，爲人處世都以自我爲中心。因此“竭盡全力讓自己變善良，犯錯也在所難免”是讓我們少一些自私自利的有效方法。“做那些顧全大局的事情，避免做糾結於細節的瑣碎小事。真正凸顯一個人光環的是靈魂而不是個性，如果你願意，你可以比以往任何時刻都閃耀光彩。”審校：圍巾 編輯：listen 來源：前十網
