奥巴马 巴纳德学院毕业典礼演讲_奥巴马大学开学演讲稿
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巴纳德学院
Thank you so much.(Applause.)Thank you.Please, please have a seat.Thank you.(Applause.)Thank you, President Spar, trustees, President Bollinger.Hello, Cla of 2012.(Applause.)Congratulations on reaching this day.Thank you for the honor of being able to be a part of it.非常感谢,谢谢大家,请入座,谢谢。谢谢你们,斯巴院长(中文名石德葆)、各位校董、伯林格校长。你们好,2012届毕业生!(掌声)祝贺你们迎来了这一天。感谢你们让我有幸来参加这个活动。
There are so many people who are proud of you--your parents, family, faculty and friends--all who share in this achievement.So please give them a big round of applause.(Applause.)To all the moms who are here today, you could not ask for a better Mother’s Day gift than to see all of these folks graduate.(Applause.)有很多人为你们感到骄傲——你们的父母、家人、师长和朋友——都为取得这一成就出了力。请为他们热烈鼓掌。(掌声)今天在座的各位母亲,再没有比看到所有孩子们毕业更好的母亲节礼物了。(掌声)
I have to say, though, whenever I come to these things, I start thinking about Malia and Sasha graduating, and I start tearing up and--(laughter)--it's terrible.I don't know how you guys are holding it together.(Laughter.)但是我得说,每当我来到这种场合,就会想到玛莉娅和萨夏将来毕业的情景,我就会热泪盈眶——(笑声)——真恐怖,我难以想象你们怎么都能够把持得住。(笑声)
I will begin by telling a hard truth: I’m a Columbia college graduate.(Laughter and applause.)I know there can be a little bit of a sibling rivalry here.(Laughter.)But I’m honored neverthele to be your commencement speaker today--although I’ve got to say, you set a pretty high bar given the past three years.(Applause.)Hillary Clinton--(applause)--Meryl Streep--(applause)--Sheryl Sandberg--these are not easy acts to follow.(Applause.)我一开始就要说明一个确凿的事实:我是一名哥伦比亚大学的毕业生。(笑声和掌声)我知道可能会有一点同门弟子相争的劲儿。(笑声)但我还是为能够在你们今天的毕业典礼上讲话而感到荣幸——不过我得说,你们在过去三年树立了相当高的标准。(掌声)希拉里·克林顿——(掌声)——梅丽尔·斯特里普——(掌声)——谢里尔·桑德伯格——在她们之后出场可不容易。(掌声)
But I will point out Hillary is doing an extraordinary job as one of the finest Secretaries of State America has ever had.(Applause.)We gave Meryl the Presidential Medal of Arts and Humanities.(Applause.)Sheryl is not just a good friend;she’s also one of our economic advisers.So it’s like the old saying goes--keep your friends close, and your Barnard commencement speakers even closer.(Applause.)There's wisdom in that.(Laughter.)但我要指出,希拉里的工作极为出色,她是美国有史以来最杰出的国务卿之一。(掌声)我们已授予梅丽尔艺术与人文总统奖章。(掌声)谢里尔不仅是一位好朋友,还是我们的经济顾问之一。正如那句老话——亲近你的朋友,但更要亲近在你们巴纳德学院毕业典礼上讲话的人。(掌声)这话寓意深长。(笑声)
Now, the year I graduated--this area looks familiar(laughter)--the year I graduated was 1983, the first year women were admitted to Columbia.(Applause.)Sally Ride was the first American woman in space.Music was all about Michael and the Moonwalk.(Laughter.)话说我毕业那年——这地方看着眼熟(笑声)——我毕业于1983年,哥伦比亚大学录取女生的第一年。(掌声)当时萨莉·莱德成为第一位进入太空的美国女性。那时的音乐全是迈克尔和太空步(笑声)
[AUDIENCE MEMBER: Do it!(Laughter.)] 【画外音:一名听众说“走一个!”(笑声)】
No Moonwalking.(Laughter.)No Moonwalking today.(Laughter.)不走太空步。(笑声)今天不走太空步。(笑声)
巴纳德学院
impatient even, to step into the rushing waters of history and change its course.我今天的任务就是要告诉你们,不要相信这些说法。因为尽管困难很大,但我坚信你们的能力更大。我看到过你们的激情,我看到过你们的奉献。我看到过你们的投入,我看到过你们挺身而出,人数空前。我听到了你们的声音,创意和对数码技术的精通使得这种声音格外响亮,而我们这些年长的人几乎不得其解。我看到心情迫切、跃跃欲试的一代人准备跻身历史激流中,扭转其方向。
And that defiant, can-do spirit is what runs through the veins of American history.It’s the lifeblood of all our progre.And it is that spirit which we need your generation to embrace and rekindle right now.这种蔑视困难、积极进取的精神贯穿于整个美国历史的进程。这种精神是我们一切进步的源泉。此时此刻,我们需要你们这一代继承和发扬光大的正是这种精神。
See, the question is not whether things will get better--they always do.The question is not whether we’ve got the solutions to our challenges--we’ve had them within our grasp for quite some time.We know, for example, that this country would be better off if more Americans were able to get the kind of education that you’ve received here at Barnard--(applause)--if more people could get the specific skills and training that employers are looking for today.可以看出,问题并不在于事情是否会好转——情况总会变好的。问题也不在于我们是否已经有了应对我们面临的挑战的办法——我们一直掌握着这些办法,已有相当一段时间了。比如说,我们知道,如果有更多的美国人能得到你们在巴纳德得到的这样的教育(掌声)——如果有更多的人能够获得今天的雇主所需要的那些特定的技能和训练,美国的情况会更好。
We know that we’d all be better off if we invest in science and technology that sparks new businees and medical breakthroughs;if we developed more clean energy so we could use le foreign oil and reduce the carbon pollution that’s threatening our planet.(Applause.)
我们知道,如果我们投资于能够造就新的企业并带动医学突破的科学与技术,如果我们开发出更多的清洁能源以减少使用外国石油并减少对我们的地球构成威胁的碳污染,我们的日子会过得更好。(掌声)
We know that we’re better off when there are rules that stop big banks from making bad bets with other people’s money and--(applause)--when insurance companies aren’t allowed to drop your coverage when you need it most or charge women differently from men.(Applause.)Indeed, we know we are better off when women are treated fairly and equally in every aspect of American life--whether it’s the salary you earn or the health decisions you make.(Applause.)
我们知道,如果有一定的规则制止大银行拿别人的钱去恶赌(掌声)——如果不允许保险公司在你最需要的时候取消你的保险资格或者对男女收费标准不一,我们的日子会过得更好。(掌声)确实,我们都知道,如果妇女在国家生活的方方面面都能得到公平与平等的对待——无论是你的薪金所得还是你所作的健康决定,我们的日子会过得更好。(掌声)
We know these things to be true.We know that our challenges are eminently solvable.The question is whether together, we can muster the will--in our own lives, in our common institutions, in our politics--to bring about the changes we need.And I’m convinced your generation poees that will.And I believe that the women of this generation--that all of you will help lead the way.(Applause.)我们知道这些都是实实在在的道理。我们知道,我们面临的挑战显然都是可以解决的。问题是,我们是否能够拧成一股绳,拿出意志力——在我们自己的生活中,在我们共同的体制中,在我们的政治事务中——实现我们所需的变革。我坚信,你们这一代具有这种意志力。我相信,这一代女性——你们所有的人将会在这条道路上走在前面。
Now, I recognize that’s a cheap applause line when you're giving a commencement at Barnard.(Laughter.)It’s the easy thing to say.But it’s true.It is--in part, it is simple math.Today, women
巴纳德学院
Our founders understood that America does not stand still;we are dynamic, not static.We look forward, not back.And now that new doors have been opened for you, you’ve got an obligation to seize those opportunities.我们的开国元勋认识到,美国并非一成不变;我们充满活力,不会停滞不前。我们向前看,不回头。既然新的大门已为你们敞开,你们就有义务把握这些机会。
You need to do this not just for yourself but for those who don’t yet enjoy the choices that you’ve had, the choices you will have.And one reason many workplaces still have outdated policies is because women only account for 3 percent of the CEOs at Fortune 500 companies.One reason we’re actually refighting long-settled battles over women’s rights is because women occupy fewer than one in five seats in Congre.你们需要这么做,不仅为了你们自己,也是为了那些没有得到你们已经有过以及还将拥有的种种选择的人。许多工作场所仍在实行过时的政策,原因之一就是妇女只占财富500强公司首席行政官的3%。我们仍在为争取妇女权利而再次进行早已完成的抗争,原因之一就是妇女在国会所占的席位还不到五分之一。
Now, I’m not saying that the only way to achieve succe is by climbing to the top of the corporate ladder or running for office--although, let’s face it, Congre would get a lot more done if you did.(Laughter and applause.)That I think we’re sure about.But if you decide not to sit yourself at the table, at the very least you’ve got to make sure you have a say in who does.It matters.我不是说取得成功的唯一途径是晋升到公司的最高层,或是竞选公职,不过,请让我们面对这个事实:如果你们竞选公职,国会将能大有作为。(笑声和掌声)我想大家对此是深信无疑的。但如果你们决定不亲身参政,至少也应该确保自己有权选择议员。这很重要。
Before women like Barbara Mikulski and Olympia Snowe and others got to Congre, just to take one example, much of federally-funded research on diseases focused solely on their effects on men.It wasn’t until women like Patsy Mink and Edith Green got to Congre and paed Title IX, 40 years ago this year, that we declared women, too, should be allowed to compete and win on America’s playing fields.(Applause.)Until a woman named Lilly Ledbetter showed up at her office and had the courage to step up and say, you know what, this isn’t right, women weren’t being treated fairly--we lacked some of the tools we needed to uphold the basic principle of equal pay for equal work.例如,在像芭芭拉·米库尔斯基和奥林匹娅·斯诺及其他女性进入国会前,联邦资助的大部分疾病研究主要侧重于疾病对男性的影响。40年前的今天,帕齐·明克和伊迪丝·格林等女性进入国会并通过[教育法修正案]《第九条》,从而宣布女性也有资格在美国的运动场上参与竞赛并取胜。(掌声)一个名叫莉莉·莱德贝特的女性来到她的办公室,勇敢地而明确地说:你们知道吗,这不对,女性没有得到公正待遇——我们缺乏一些必要的手段捍卫同工同酬的基本原则。
So don’t accept somebody else’s construction of the way things ought to be.It’s up to you to right wrongs.It’s up to you to point out injustice.It’s up to you to hold the system accountable and sometimes upend it entirely.It’s up to you to stand up and to be heard, to write and to lobby, to march, to organize, to vote.Don’t be content to just sit back and watch.所以不要接受别人对于事情理当如何的看法。你应当來纠正错误做法。你应当來指出不公不义。你应当来督促社会体制负起责任,有时需要全盘改变。你应当挺身而出,发表意见,撰文游说,游行示威,组织民众,投票表决。不要满足于袖手旁观。
Those who oppose change, those who benefit from an unjust status quo, have always bet on the public’s cynicism or the public's complacency.Throughout American history, though, they have lost that bet, and I believe they will this time as well.(Applause.)But ultimately, Cla of 2012, that will depend on you.Don’t wait for the person next to you to be the first to speak up for what’s right.巴纳德学院
她,不要在意我们的流行文化对于美丽和时尚的迷恋--(掌声)--而是专注学习,发明创新,与人竞争,发挥领导作用,她就会一直在意那些事情。好,米歇尔会说,在意一点又何妨。(笑声)你可以既时髦又有力量。(掌声)那是米歇尔的建议。(掌声)
And never forget that the most important example a young girl will ever follow is that of a parent.Malia and Sasha are going to be outstanding women because Michelle and Marian Robinson are outstanding women.So understand your power, and use it wisely.千万不要忘记一个女孩仿效的最重要榜样就是她的父母。玛莉娅和莎夏将会成为杰出的女性,因为米歇尔和玛丽安·鲁宾逊都是杰出的女性。所以,要认识到你们的力量,并且明智地加以运用。
My last piece of advice--this is simple, but perhaps most important: Persevere.Persevere.Nothing worthwhile is easy.No one of achievement has avoided failure--sometimes catastrophic failures.But they keep at it.They learn from mistakes.They don’t quit.我的最后一点建议--这很简单,但可能是最重要的一点:坚持不懈。坚持不懈。有价值的事物得之不易。没有一个有成就的人能够避免失败--有时甚至是一败涂地。可是他们坚持不懈,从错误中学习。他们绝不放弃。
You know, when I first arrived on this campus, it was with little money, fewer options.But it was here that I tried to find my place in this world.I knew I wanted to make a difference, but it was vague how in fact I’d go about it.(Laughter.)But I wanted to do my part to do my part to shape a better world.你知道,我刚到这校园时,没多少钱更没多少选择。但正是在这里,我试图寻找我在这个世界上的立足之地。我知道我想有所作为,但却不清楚如何去做。(笑声)可我想尽自己力量去建设一个更好的世界。
So even as I worked after graduation in a few unfulfilling jobs here in New York--I will not list them all--(laughter)--even as I went from motley apartment to motley apartment, I reached out.I started to write letters to community organizations all acro the country.And one day, a small group of churches on the South Side of Chicago answered, offering me work with people in neighborhoods hit hard by steel mills that were shutting down and communities where jobs were dying away.因此,即使当我毕业后在纽约从事几份没有成就感的工作的时候——我不会一 一列举——(笑声)——即使在我搬出一间杂乱的公寓又搬到另一间同样杂乱的公寓的时候,我也在努力求索。我开始给全国各地的社区组织写信。有一天,芝加哥南区的一个小型教会组织回了信,给了我一份为当地居民服务的工作,他们那里的钢厂停业使他们受到沉重打击,那里的就业机会也一天天消失。
The community had been plagued by gang violence, so once I arrived, one of the first things we tried to do was to mobilize a meeting with community leaders to deal with gangs.And I’d worked for weeks on this project.We invited the police;we made phone calls;we went to churches;we paed out flyers.The night of the meeting we arranged rows and rows of chairs in anticipation of this crowd.And we waited, and we waited.And finally, a group of older folks walked in to the hall and they sat down.And this little old lady raised her hand and asked, “Is this where the bingo game is?”(Laughter.)It was a disaster.Nobody showed up.My first big community meeting--nobody showed up.当地社区一直被帮派暴力所扰,所以我一到那里,我们争取做的第一件事情就是与社区领袖开会商量应对帮派的对策。我为这项工作忙了好几个星期。我们邀请了警察;我们打了电话,我们去了教堂;我们散发了传单。要开会的那天晚上,我们排好了一排排椅子,以为会有一大群人到会。我们等啊等。最后,一??群老人走进大厅,然后坐下来。有一位瘦小的老太太举起了手,问道:“宾果游戏是在这里吗?”(笑声)真是糟糕透了。没有人来。我的第一个社区大会——没有人到场。
And later, the volunteers I worked with told me, that's it;we’re quitting.They'd been doing this for
巴纳德学院
She only had a high school education.She got a job at a local bank.She hit the gla ceiling, and watched men she once trained promoted up the ladder ahead of her.But she didn’t quit.Rather than grow hard or angry each time she got paed over, she kept doing her job as best as she knew how, and ultimately ended up being vice president at the bank.She didn’t quit.她仅受过高中教育。她在当地银行找到一份工作,她遇到了事业上的玻璃天花板,眼看着她曾经培训过的男人晋升到比她更高的级别。但她没有退却。她没有因一次次机会旁落而变得冷漠或愤怒,而是继续尽自己最大努力做好工作,最终她成为银行的副总裁。她没有退却。
And later on, I met a woman who was aigned to advise me on my first summer job at a law firm.And she gave me such good advice that I married her.(Laughter.)And Michelle and I gave everything we had to balance our careers and a young family.But let’s face it, no matter how enlightened I must have thought myself to be, it often fell more on her shoulders when I was traveling, when I was away.I know that when she was with our girls, she’d feel guilty that she wasn’t giving enough time to her work, and when she was at her work, she’d feel guilty she wasn’t giving enough time to our girls.And both of us wished we had some superpower that would let us be in two places at once.But we persisted.We made that marriage work.后来,我遇到一位女性,她被派来担任我在一家律师事务所从事的第一份暑期工作的指导。她对我的指导如此之好,以致于我娶了她。(笑声)米歇尔和我竭尽全力在发展事业与照顾幼小的孩子之间找到平衡。但是说实话,不管我当时可能认为自己是多么开通,在我外出旅行时,在我不在家时,家事往往更多地落在她的肩上。我知道,在照顾我们的两个女儿时,她为没有在工作上付出足够时间感到内疚;而当她上班时,又为没有给孩子足够的时间感到内疚。我们俩都唯愿我们有某种超人的能力,使我们能够两者兼顾。但我们坚持住了,我们的努力保证了婚姻的成功。
And the reason Michelle had the strength to juggle everything, and put up with me and eventually the public spotlight, was because she, too, came from a family of folks who didn’t quit--because she saw her dad get up and go to work every day even though he never finished college, even though he had crippling MS.She saw her mother, even though she never finished college, in that school, that urban school, every day making sure Michelle and her brother were getting the education they deserved.Michelle saw how her parents never quit.They never indulged in self-pity, no matter how stacked the odds were against them.They didn't quit.米歇尔之所以能坚强地招架一切并忍受我,而且最终忍受公众聚光,是因为她同样来自一个不轻易退却的家庭——因为她看到她的父亲每天一大早起来去上班,尽管他从未念完大学,尽管他患有影响行动的多发性硬化症。她看到,尽管她的母亲从未念完大学,但在那个学校,那个贫民区的学校,她每天都确保米歇尔和她哥哥受到他们应该得到的教育。米歇尔看到她的父母从不放弃。他们从不沉溺于自怜,不管他们面临多么不利的境况。他们从不放弃。
Those are the folks who inspire me.People ask me sometimes, who inspires you, Mr.President? Those quiet heroes all acro this country--some of your parents and grandparents who are sitting here--no fanfare, no articles written about them, they just persevere.They just do their jobs.They meet their responsibilities.They don't quit.I'm only here because of them.They may not have set out to change the world, but in small, important ways, they did.They certainly changed mine.正是这些人激励着我。人们有时问我,总统先生,是谁激励着你?是这个国家各地那些默默耕耘的英雄——今天在座的你们一些人的父母和祖父母——他们不张扬,没有文章报道他们,他们只是坚持不懈。他们只是做好本职工作。他们履行自己的责任。他们不放弃。正是因为有他们我才站到这里。他们或许并没有从一开始就要改变世界,但他们以一点一滴的重要方式,改变了世界。他们无疑改变了我的世界。
So whether it’s starting a busine, or running for office, or raising an amazing family, remember that making your mark on the world is hard.It takes patience.It takes commitment.It comes with plenty of setbacks and it comes with plenty of failures.