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奥普拉·温弗瑞1954年出生在密西西比的一个小镇。长相平平、肤色黝黑、身材欠佳，笑起来大嘴一咧，谈不上什么优雅。但就是这样一个女人，却占据着《福布斯》2005年度“百位名人”排行榜的头把交椅，令麦当娜、安吉丽娜·朱莉等这一大批光彩照人的女明星难以望其项背。
从1986年以她的名字命名的脱口秀节目在全美推出以来，她幽默机智的风格便迅速捕获了美国无数观众的心。如今，她以超过14亿美元的身价在美国黑人亿万富翁中名列第一；她在近8年里连续5次被评为全美最受欢迎的主持人；她在电视读书会节目推荐过的新书转眼就会成为畅销书；美国伊利诺伊大学开设了一门课程专门研究这种以奥普拉为标志的“美国文化现象”。作为亿万富翁的她同样没忘记回馈社会，她通过自己设立的慈善机构向贫困妇女、儿童和家庭伸出援助之手。美国《名利场》杂志评价她说：“在大众文化中，她的影响力，可能除了教皇以外，比任何大学教授、政治家或者宗教领袖都大。”
本篇是奥普拉·温弗瑞（Oprah Winfrey）于2008年6月在斯坦福大学毕业典礼上的演讲，她通过讲述自己的亲身经历，道出了成功的秘诀：毫不迟疑地打开人生的试卷，用真我面对现实，从中学会自我改进，追求更深层次的理解、被理解与成长。
感谢亨尼斯校长、董事会的各位董事、全体教职员工、各位家长，以及斯坦福的毕业生们。感谢你们让我与你们共度这美好的一天。
Thank you, President Hennessy, and to the trustees [注] and the faculty [注] , to all of the parents and grandparents, to you, the Stanford graduates. Thank you for letting me share this amazing day with you.
我需要透露一个小秘密给大家，以此作为这次演讲的开始。这个秘密就是卡比·邦珀斯，（掌声）斯坦福2008届的毕业生，她是我的教女。所以当亨尼斯校长邀请我来做毕业演讲时，我非常兴奋，因为自从卡比来这儿上学以来，这是我第一次被允许来到斯坦福的校园。
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.
你们知道，卡比是一个非常聪明的女孩。她说，希望通过自己的努力而不是通过她所认识的人来让人们了解她。因此她从来不想让任何一个第一次见到她的人知道我们俩互相认识。当她和她妈妈第一次来到斯坦福参加迎新活动时，我听说每个人对她们都十分热情。有人过来跟她说：“哦，我的天啊，那是盖尔·金。”因为很多人都知道盖尔·金是我最好的朋友。
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 [注] with her mom, I hear that they arrived and everybody was so welcoming, and somebody came up to Kirby and they said, “Oh my god, that's Gayle King!” Because a lot of people know Gayle King as my BFF（best friend forever）.
于是，有人走到卡比面前，对她说：“我的天啊，那是盖尔·金吗？”卡比说：“嗯，她是我妈妈。”
And so somebody comes up to Kirby,and they say, “Oh my god, is that Gayle King?” And Kirby's like, “Uh-huh. She's my mom.”
然后这个人说：“哦，我的天啊，那就是说，你认识奥普拉·温弗瑞？”
And so the person says, “Oh my god, does it mean, like, you know Oprah Winfrey?”
卡比说：“认识一点。”
And Kirby says, “Sort of.”
我说：“认识一点？你只认识我一点吗？”好吧，我有照片为证。我甚至可以把所有卡比拿我当马骑时的照片用邮件发给你们。因此，我不仅仅只是有点认识卡比·邦珀斯。我非常高兴来到这里，因为四年来，我终于能有机会看看她的寝室。说实话，这是我最想去的地方，因为我为卡比感到很自豪，她今天就要毕业了，并且获得了人类生物学和心理学的双学位。我爱你，卡比甜心！看看我跟她有多熟。我都可以叫她甜心呢。
I said, “Sort of? You sort of know me?”Well, I have
photographic
[注]
我也为她的父母感到骄傲，他们在这期间给了她很大帮助，还有她的弟弟威尔。卡比在这儿上大学的四年中，我对她真的没有什么帮助。但是在过去的这几周里，每当有人问我在做什么时，我都会说：“我正准备去斯坦福。”
And so proud of her mother and father, who helped her get through [注] 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.”
我就是喜欢说“斯坦福”。因为事实上，我知道我根本不可能会拿到斯坦福的学位，因为我没有在这儿念过书。我读的是田纳西州立大学。我原本是拿不到毕业证的，因为我本应该在1975年毕业，但当时我还差一个学分。我少了一个学分，于是我打算就这么把它忘了吧。因为你知道，本来我也不想跟我的同学们一样，一直上完大学。因为我那时已经上了电视。我从19岁起就上电视了，那时我上大学二年级。的确，我是唯一播报晚上十点的新闻，却还得遵守晚上十一点宵禁的节目主持人。
I just love saying “Stanford”. Because the truth is, I know I would have never gotten my degree at all, because 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. I was short one credit, and I figured, I'm just going to forget it, because, 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 [注] . Granted, I was the only television anchor [注] person that had an 11 o'clock curfew [注] doing the 10 o'clock news.
父亲严肃地告诉我：“嗯，新闻十点半结束，十一点前就要到家。”
Seriously, my dad was like, “Well, that news is over at 10:30. Be home by 11.”
但是这对我并不重要，因为我在自食其力。我在走我自己的路。所以我想，就让大学的这件事这么过去吧，而我只是差一个学分。但从那时起往后的数年里，父亲却一直对我肄业一事耿耿于怀。他总是说：“奥普拉·盖尔”——我的中间名字——“我不知道没有那个学位你打算做些什么。”然后我会说：“但是，爸爸，我都已经有我自己的电视节目啦。”
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.”
他就说：“嗯，但是我还是不知道没有那个学位你打算干什么。”我又说：“可是，爸爸，现在我已经是脱口秀的主持人了。”他还是说：“我不知道没有那个学位你怎么去找其他的工作。”
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.”
在1987年，田纳西州立大学邀请我回去做毕业演讲。那时，我已经有了自己的电视节目，并通过联合组织在全国播出。我制作了一部电影，并被奥斯卡奖提名，我还成立了我自己的公司——哈普公司。可我告诉他们，我不能去演讲，除非我再得到一个学分，因为我爸爸仍在说，没有学位我将一事无成。
So, in 1987, Tennessee State University invited me back to speak at their commencement. By then, I had my own show, was nationally syndicated [注] . I'd made a movie, had been nominated [注] 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.
因此，我完成了我的课程，上交了我的毕业论文，然后拿到了学位。我爸爸非常骄傲。从此我知道，无论发生什么事情，那一个学分都会成为我的救星。
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 [注] .
而且我还知道为什么父亲总是坚持让我取得文凭，因为，正如B. B.金所说：“关于学习的美好之处在于别人不会把学到的东西从你身上拿走。”广义上来讲，学习这正是我今天想说的，因为你们的教育并没有在这里结束。从很多方面来说，这只是刚刚开始。
But I also know why my dad was insisting on [注] 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 really want to talk about today, because your education, of course, isn't ending here. In many ways, it's only just begun.
这个世界会教给你们很多东西。我认为这个世界，这个地球，就像一所学校，而我们的人生就像是教室。在世界这所学校里，有些课程常常装扮成人生的弯路或障碍，有时则充满危机。而我所学到的应对这一切的秘诀就是：勇于面对一切挫折与危机，它们来自于最广阔的世界，也就是这个大千世界本身。在人生的旅途中，能够对生活充满激情，并不断提高自己，这样才能最好地帮助自身发展，因为这就是我们存在于世的真正意义，作为人而不断地在完善。所以，要更好地活出自我，不断地去追求更高的认知水平，要更加富有同情心并不断地成长。
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 [注] or roadblocks and sometimes as full-blown [注] crises. And the secret I've learned to getting ahead is being open to the lessons, lessons from the grandest universe 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 [注] , because that's really why we're here, to evolve as human beings. So, to grow into being more of ourselves, always moving to the next level of understanding, the next level of compassion [注] and growth.
我记得我所受到的最高的赞扬之一是：刚在芝加哥开始工作时，我与一个记者做了采访。很多年以后我们又见面了。她对我说：“你知道吗？你一点也没有变，你只是越来越像你自己了。”
I think the great one of the greatest compliments [注] 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.”
这其实就是我们一直努力在做的，去做我们自己。而且，我相信你们会从自己做过的几乎每一件事情上以及每一次经历中学到经验，这样你们才能取得进步。也只有这样才能丰富你们的内心。相信我，内在的智慧比外在的财富更加珍贵。你运用智慧越多，你得到的也会越多。
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.
所以，今天我只想和大家分享几点教训，也就是我在自己的人生旅途中所学到的三条经验。你们难道不觉得高兴吗？当有人对你们说：“我只是想和你们分享很少的一些”，但事实上随后却是10个教训，你们不觉得反感吗？而且，你们肯定在想：“听着，这是我的毕业典礼，又不是你的。”因此我今天只和大家分享三条经验。
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.
这三条经验对我的人生产生了很大的影响，它们是感觉、失败和追求幸福。
The three lessons that have had the greatest impact on my life have to do with feelings, with failure and with finding happiness.
离开大学一年后，我在巴尔的摩得到了一个和别人共同主持6点档新闻的机会，因为我那时在传媒界的全部目标就是努力进入到更广阔的市场中，而巴尔的摩是一个比纳什维尔大得多的市场。所以，在22岁时得到这份共同主持6点档新闻的工作对我来说是件天大的好事，感觉当时它就是这世界上最了不起的事情。
A year after I left college, I was given the opportunity to co-anchor [注] 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.
我非常自豪，因为我终于有机会能像芭芭拉·沃尔特斯一样了，她是我从事电视传媒行业以来一直努力效仿的对象。那时我22岁，每年挣2.2万美元。我还遇到了我最好的朋友盖尔，当时她在同一个电视台实习。我们一成为朋友，她说：“我的天啊，简直难以置信！你仅22岁，每年就能挣2.2万美元。那你到40岁时，年薪就是4万美元啦！”当我真的40岁时，我很高兴这并没有成真。
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 [注] 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 [注] at the same TV station. And once we became friends, we'd say, “Oh my god, 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!”When I turned 40, I was so glad that didn't happen.
这就是我，22岁时每年挣2.2万美元，然而，感觉却不太对。感觉不对的第一个迹象就是，正如亨尼斯校长所说，他们试图让我改名字。当时新闻总监对我说：“没人会记住奥普拉这个名字。因此我们想让你改名字。我们已经为你想了一个大家都会记住并喜欢的名字，是一个亲切的名字：苏茜。”
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.”
嗨，苏茜。很亲切。你不会厌恶苏茜。记住苏茜吧。但我的名字不叫苏茜。而且，要知道，自小我就不怎么喜欢我的名字。因为当你在饭盒和牌照上找你的名字时，你永远也不会找到奥普拉这几个字。
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.
所以，我从小就不喜欢这个名字，但是当我被告知要改名字时，我想，好吧，这是我的名字，我看起来像苏茜？我想，不，它并不适合我。我不会改我的名字。人们是否记得住我的名字没什么大不了的。
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.
然后他们还对我说，他们不喜欢我的形象。那是在1976年，你的老板可以把你叫进办公室跟你说“我不喜欢你的形象”。但如果这件事发生在现在的话，那可能会被诉讼。但那时他们却可以说：“我不喜欢你的形象”。我根本不像芭芭拉·沃尔特斯，坐在后排的同学也许看不出我像不像她。于是，他们把我送到美发店，给我烫了发。可是几天后，我的头发就全都掉了，我不得不剃光头发。这次他们确实不喜欢我的形象了。因为这下成了一个光头黑人坐在电视里了，这样的画面肯定不好看。不过，比剃光头发更令我讨厌的是，我不得不把播报别人遭受的痛苦作为我日常工作的一部分。我深知我理应只是个旁观者而已，但我的直觉告诉我，我应该做些什么，我应该为他人提供帮助。
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 [注] , 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 [注] , 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 [注] 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 [注] told me that I should be doing something, I should be lending a hand.
所以，正如亨尼斯校长所说的那样，我播报了一起火灾，然后我便回去给受害者拿毯子。由于白天播报的那些新闻，晚上我难以入睡。
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.
与此同时，我尽量保持像芭芭拉那样优雅的坐姿，还要让自己像芭芭拉那样讲话。我认为好吧，我可能会成为一个傻傻的芭芭拉。但如果我知道如何做回我自己，我就会成为一个很棒的奥普拉。我努力像芭芭拉那样优雅地说话。有时，我并不照本宣科，因为内心的声音告诉我，应该自然地播报新闻，所以我希望在为人们播报新闻时，自己也能理解这些新闻。因此，有时我不会照着稿件读新闻，而是会像这样报道：40号洲际公路上发生了六人连环车祸事故。哦，我的天啊！
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 [注] Barbara. And if I could figure out [注] how to be myself, I could be a pretty good Oprah. I was trying to sound elegant [注] like Barbara. And sometimes I didn't read my copy, because something inside me said, this should be spontaneous [注] , you know, it 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 [注] on I-40.Oh, my goodness.
由于想要更自然而不是照本宣科，所以有时我会遇到一些不认识的词，甚至还会发错音。有一天我居然把“加拿大”念成了“卡——那——大”。我就这么念错了，在播放中我差点儿都崩溃了，于是我决定，模仿芭芭拉并不是好事，我要做回我自己。
And sometimes I wouldn't read the copy, and I'd be — 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 “Cah — Nah — Dah”. And I did just that. I cracked myself on the air. And I decided, this Barbara thing's not going too well. I should try being myself.
但那时我爸爸却对我说：“奥普拉·盖尔，这是毕生难逢的机会。你最好继续做那份工作。”我的老板也说：“这是晚间新闻。你是主播，不是社工。就做你的本职工作吧。”
But at the same time, my dad was saying, “Oprah Gail, this is an opportunity of a lifetime. You'd 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.”
因此，我尽力应付这些期待和责任，自我感觉真的很糟糕。晚上回到家后我会记日记。自从15岁时我就开始记日记——现在我已经有好几卷日记了。我晚上回到家后，会记录下来我是多么痛苦、多么沮丧。然后独自一人为焦虑所困。这一切已经成为我的习惯。
So, I was juggling [注] these messages of expectation and obligation and feeling really miserable [注] with myself. I'd go home at night and fill up my journals, because 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.
8个月后，我失去了那份工作。他们说我太情绪化了，太过头了。但因为他们不想付违约金，就让我去巴尔的摩主持一档脱口秀节目。从我坐下来主持那档节目的那一刻开始，就在主持的那一刻，我便有了舒适自在的感觉。我意识到电视不应该仅仅是一个娱乐场，更应该是一个以服务为目的的平台，帮助他人更好地生活。就在我坐下来开始主持那档脱口秀节目的那一刻，就感觉像呼吸一样自在，感觉好极啦。而那才是我工作真正开始的时候。
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, it felt right. And that's where everything that followed for me began.
于是，我得到了这条经验：当你从事自己喜爱的工作时，那种感觉棒极了，每天都像在领奖金，不管赚多少钱。
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
[注]
这是真的。但是你怎么知道你所做的是适合你的呢？你怎么知道呢？跟着感觉走。我现在所知道的就是你的感觉其实就是你人生的导航系统。你是应该做某事或是不应该去做，你情感上的引导系统会让你知道。关键是学会去面对自己，面对自己的内心。我做过的所有正确决定——我曾做的所有正确决定——都是源自内心的。而我所做出的所有错误决定都是因为没有听取自己那更强烈的心声。
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 [注] at the door and start checking your gut [注] 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.
如果感觉不对劲，就不要去做。这就是我的经验。朋友们，仅凭这一条经验就会让你免遭很多痛苦。甚至有些许的怀疑都意味着不要去做。这就是我所学到的。有很多时候你都不知道该做什么。当你不知道该做些什么时，那就静下心来，保持冷静，直到你确实明白该做什么为止。
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.
当你真正静下心来，并让内心的动机成为驱动力时，不仅你的个人生活会有所改善，你在工作中也会获得竞争优势。因为，正如丹尼尔·平克在他的畅销书《全新思维》中所说的那样：“我们进入了一个全新的时代”，他称之为“概念时代”。如今，使人与人之间产生差异的特征将来自于我们的内心（即右脑）和头脑。他说：“重要的不仅仅是逻辑上的、线性的、基于规则的思维方式。移情、快乐、目标和内部特质同样也有卓越的价值。”当我们做自己喜欢的事时，这些特质就会焕发生机，所以，当我们全身心地投入到工作中时，我们的专长与情感也会焕发出光彩。
And when you do get still and let your
internal
[注]
因此，我要对你们说，忘掉那种快车道吧。如果你真的想要飞翔，就把力量投入到你的激情当中。尊重你内心的召唤。每一个人都会有内心的召唤。相信你的内心，你就会取得成功。
So, I say to you, forget about the fast lane [注] . 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.
那么，我是如何定义成功的呢？让我来告诉你，金钱是好东西。我站在这里，不会告诉你们成功与金钱无关，因为金钱是好东西。我喜欢金钱。它能买东西。
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, because money is very nice. I like money. It's good for buying things.
但是拥有很多钱并不能让你自动成为成功的人。除了金钱，你还需要实现人生的意义。你应该让自己的工作有意义，因为有意义才能使你的生活真正充实起来。你真正希望得到的是，你所信任、珍视的人以及珍爱你的人围绕在你周围。这才是你真正富有的时候。
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.
因此，我人生的第一条经验就是跟着自己的感觉走。如果感觉对了，那就继续前进。如果感觉不对，就放弃。
So, lesson one, follow your feelings. If it feels right, move forward. If it doesn't feel right, don't do it.
现在我想谈谈失败，因为人的一生不可能一帆风顺。我们都会跌倒，我们都会遭受挫折。如果事情出了问题，你走进了死胡同——你会遇到这种情况的——这就是生活在以它自己的方式提醒你是时候该改变路线了。所以，去质疑每一次失败——这就是我所做的 ——每一次失败，每一次危机，每一个艰难时期——我都会问，这会教给我什么？而且只要你吸取了教训，你就会继续前进。如果你真正领悟了这个教训，就会顺利通过考验，不再重蹈覆辙。反之，失败就会以另外一种形式出现——让你做些补救工作。
Now I want to talk a little bit about failings, because nobody's journey is seamless [注] or smooth. We all stumble [注] . We all have setbacks [注] . 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 — 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 [注] work.
我还发现，如果你没有仔细聆听生活的私语，困难就会出现，因为生活总会提前低声地提醒你。如果你忽视它的提醒，生活迟早会对你发出尖声的警告。此时无论你怎样抵抗都无济于事。但是如果你对此作出正确的回应——不是去纠缠困难出现的原因，而是反思这次挫折教给了我什么，我从这学到了什么？——那么生活就会引领你找对位置，学到你所需要的经验教训。
And what I've found is that difficulties come when you don't pay attention to life's whisper [注] , 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. What is this here to teach me? — it puts you in the place and space to get the lesson you need.
我的朋友埃克哈特·托勒写了一本叫做《新世界》的书，这本书非常棒，内容全是关于让你的自我意识去激励所做的每一件事。他在书里这样写道，“不要去反抗困境，而是要融入其中。于是，问题就会迎刃而解。因为暂时的屈服并不意味着放弃，它意味着以一种责任感来采取行动。”
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 [注] everything that you do, he puts it like this: He says, “Don't react against a bad situation; merge with [注] that situation instead. And the solution will arise from the challenge. Because surrendering [注] yourself doesn't mean giving up; it means acting with responsibility.”
你们当中很多人都知道，正如亨尼斯校长所说，我在非洲创办了一所学校。而我创办这所学校是想给南非的女孩们一个拥有像你们一样的未来的机会——就像斯坦福。我花了5年时间来保障学校会像那里的学生们一样美丽。我想让每一个女孩感觉到她自身的价值都反映在她周围的事物上。所以我审阅每一张设计图，亲自挑选每一个枕头，甚至检查砖块间的水泥。我了解被单上的每处经纬密度。每一个女生都是我从9个省的村落里亲自选出来的。然而，去年秋天，我却经历了一场始料未及的风波。有人告诉我，有一名宿舍管理员涉嫌性虐待。
Okay, 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 [注] , I picked every pillow [注] . I was looking at the grout [注] 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 [注] . I was told that one of the dorm matrons [注] was suspected of sexual abuse.
你们可以想象得到这是多么令人沮丧的消息啊。刚开始，我哭了——实际上，我啜泣了大约半个小时。然后我说，我们得面对这个事实；在这半个小时的时间里，这就是你所全部领悟到的。你需要把注意力集中到现在，集中到现在你应该做的事情上。于是，我联系了一位儿童心理创伤专家。我派了调查队。我要确保女孩们得到了心理咨询服务和支持。盖尔和我坐上飞机飞往南非。
That was, as you can imagine, devastating [注] 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, it's half an hour. You need to focus on the now, what you need to do now. So, I contacted a child trauma [注] specialist. I put together a team of investigators [注] . I made sure the girls had counseling [注] and support. And Gayle and I got on a plane and flew to South Africa.
这件事的整个过程中我都在不停地问自己：“这件事教给了我什么？”这是一次十分艰难的经历，我学到了很多。我现在意识到自己所犯的错误，因为我一直以来都把注意力集中在错误的事情上。我从外部建造了那所学校，然而真正重要的是要由内而外地去建造它。
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.
因此，总体来说，这个教训适用于我们所有人的生活。最重要的是内在的品质，即正直感素质意识和审美感。我从中得到了教训。而我知道女孩们也吸取了一些教训。她们恢复了原来的状态，并且更加精力充沛，她们也意识到自己的声音是有份量的。
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 [注] , 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 [注] and knowing that their voices have power.
她们的乐观性格和精神让我学到了很多，比我给她们的物质上的支持还要多，这便引出了我的最后一条经验——追求幸福。这个话题我们可以谈论一整天，但是我知道你们还有其他稀奇古怪的事情要做呢。
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 [注] things to do.
追求幸福并不是一个小话题，但从某种程度上来说，我认为它又是最简单的话题。格温德琳·布鲁克斯曾给她的孩子们写过一首诗，诗名是《寄语青少年：关于向前迈进的寄语》。她在诗的最后写道：不要为了战胜而生活。/不要为了结局而生活。/要活在当下。她的意思和埃克哈特·托勒一样，你应当为了现在而活着。你应该活在当下。无论过去发生了什么都不应该影响到今天，因为生活就是过好今天。
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.
不过，我想她还在说，去参与一些事。不要仅仅为了自己而活。我非常确定的是：为了追求真正的幸福，你必须为了一些更有意义的事而活，且必须去拥护、支持它。因为生活就是相互给予。有所付出才能不断前行。这对我来说是人生中最重要的经验。想要得到幸福，你就必须学会回报。
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 [注] 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.
我知道你们明白这条经验，因为它已经深深地融入了斯坦福。这条经验是简和利兰德·斯坦福得到并给你们的馈赠。因为你们所有的人都知道这所伟大的学校是如何建立起来的。斯坦福夫妇的独子在15岁时得了伤寒离开了他们。在那个时候，他们有充分的权利和理由去憎恨这个世界，但是他们却将心中的悲伤与痛苦转化为善举。在他们儿子死后不到一年的时间里，他们已经为这所伟大的大学筹集了建设经费，并发誓要为别人的孩子做一些他们没能为自己的孩子做到的事情。
I know you know that, because that's a lesson that's woven [注] into the very fabric of this university. It's a lesson that Jane and Leland Stanford got and one they've bequeathed [注] 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 [注] 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 [注] 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.
这个经验非常明白易懂，那就是，如果你受了伤，你需要帮助他人减轻伤痛。如果你感到痛苦，就去帮助他人减轻痛苦。如果你的生活一团糟，那就在去帮助其他人摆脱困境的过程中把自己从困境中解脱出来。而且在这一过程中，你就会成为被我称为最伟大的“人类情谊协会”的一员：是具有同情心和服务精神的、兄弟姐妹友爱之“情谊联合会”。
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. sorority [注] of compassion and the fraternity [注] of service.And in the process, you get to become a member of what I call the greatest fellowship of all, the
斯坦福夫妇遭受了世上所有父母所能忍受的最大痛苦，然而他们懂得通过帮助他人来帮助自己。而且，这种智慧渐渐被自然科学和社会学研究所证实。这不仅仅是某种追求软技能的谈话，这实际上是在帮助别人的过程中迅速提高了自己的精神境界。所以，如果你想感觉良好，就走出去帮助别人吧。
The Stanfords had suffered the worst thing any, 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 [注] research. It's no longer just woo-woo soft-skills talk. There's actually a helper's high, a spiritual surge [注] you gain from serving others. So, if you want to feel good, you have to go out and do some good.
但是当你做好事时，我希望你不仅仅是为了从中获得快乐，因为我深知做好事可以让你更出色。所以，无论你从事什么行业，若能以服务他人为榜样，我相信你的生活会更有价值，你也会更快乐。
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 [注] of service, I know your life will have more value and you will be happy.
主持脱口秀节目一直都让我很快乐，当我决定不再仅仅出现在电视里，把主持节目看作职业，而决定要利用电视作为平台来为我的观众服务，而不是让电视利用我时，那种快乐上升到一种更深层次的成就感和喜悦感，我真的很难去表达和衡量。仅仅这一点就改变了我成功的轨迹。
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 [注] of my success.
因此，我知道，如果你是一名演员，你就应该把自己的才智贡献给能够激发艺术灵感的事业。如果你是一名解剖学家，你就应当把自己的才能看作是医治他人的知识与贡献。今天，你们中的很多人在商业、法律、工程、人文学科、自然科学和医药方面获得了博士学位或其他学位，无论你们是否应聘这些职业招聘，如果你们决定用自己的技能和智慧去服务他人，选择把服务他人作为目标，并从这个高度来看待生活；那么，你们所做的就不再仅仅是工作而已，而是成为了一种才能。我知道你们在斯坦福学习这么长时间不仅仅只是为了出去找份工作。
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 [注] , 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 [注] 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.
因此，你们在很多方面都得到了充实。这是你们成就自己并与他人分享这份财富再好不过的方式了。我不断地为自己祈祷，希望自己能够为他人提供更好的服务。
So, you've been enriched in countless ways. There's no better way to make your mark on the world and to share that abundance [注] with others. My constant prayer for myself is to be used in service for the greater good.
所以，就让我引用马丁·路德·金的话来作为结束语吧，这是我最喜欢的名言之一。他说：“不是所有人都会出名。”对此我不太确定，但似乎今天所有人都想出名。
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.
但是成名也是一种羁绊。有些人会尾随你到卫生间，听你小便。那你就让小便的声音小一点。这没什么大不了的。他们会跳出来对你说：“噢，天啊，是你！你尿尿啦。”这就是成名的代价，我不知道你们是否喜欢这样。
But fame is a trip. People follow you to the bathroom, listen to you pee [注] . It's just— try to pee quietly. It doesn't matter, they come out and say, “Oh my god, it's you. You peed.” That's the fame trip, so I don't know if you want that.
所以，正如马丁·路德·金所说：“不是所有人都会成名。但每个人都可以变得伟大，因为伟大是通过服务他人来界定的。”你们当中学历史专业的同学可能会知道接下来这段话。他说：“为别人提供服务，并不一定要有大学学历，并不一定要主谓一致，并不一定要知道柏拉图和亚里士多德，并不一定要知道爱因斯坦的相对论，也并不一定要了解物理学中的热力学第二定律。你所需要的只是一颗仁慈的心和一个充满爱的灵魂。”
So, Dr. King said, “Not everybody can be famous. But everybody can be great, because greatness is determined by service.” Yet, 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 [注] in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love.”
稍后，你们就会正式成为斯坦福大学2008届的毕业生了。与此同时，你们也有强大的内心和足够的聪明才智。而且，你们拥有如何运用这些才智的决定权。说真的，你们将会在哪儿运用它们呢？你们拿到了文凭，因此，走向社会去学些经验教训吧，因为我坚信你们肯定会做出伟大的事情。
In a few moments, you'll all be officially Stanford's graduates 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,because I know great things are sure to come.
要知道，我一直坚信，分享会让一切变得更美好，所以在我离开这里之前，我想和大家分享一份毕业礼物。在你们的座位下面，你们会发现两本我最喜欢的书。一本是埃克哈特·托勒的《新世界》，这是最近我的流行书俱乐部的精选品。我们的《新世界》网络版广播已经被下载了3000万次。另一本是丹尼尔·平克的《全新思维：为什么右脑者可以驾驭未来》，这本书使我再次确定我正走在人生的正轨上。
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 [注] your seats you'll find two of my favorite books. Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth, which is my current book club selection [注] . 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 [注] me I'm moving in the right direction.
我真的想送大家轿车，只是开不过来啊！祝贺大家！2008届的毕业生们！
I really wanted to give you cars but I just couldn't pull that off! Congratulations,08!08!