You Are Not Special

演講人David McCullough Jr. 是普利策獎 (Pulitzer Prizes) 得主、知名歷史學家David McCullough之子，也是韋斯利高中 (Wellesley High School) 的資深英語教師。韋斯利高中是全美頂尖高中之一。

If you’ve learned anything in your years here I hope it’s that education should be for， rather than material advantage， the exhilaration of learning. You’ve learned， too， I hope， as Sophocles assured us， that wisdom is the chief element of happiness. (Second is ice cream… just an FYI) I also hope you’ve learned enough to recognize how little you know… how little you know now… at the moment… for today is just the beginning. It’s where you go from here that matters.

在韋斯利度過的高中生活里，你如果學到了些東西，我希望那是教育的本質——樂于學習，而不是物質上的優(yōu)勢。我希望你們還學習到了如Sophocles（古希臘悲劇作家）所說的，智慧是快樂的首要元素（第二個是冰淇淋——僅供參考）。我還希望你的所學能足以使你認識到自己的不足，了解自己目前所知的是多么地少。因為今天只是一個開始，重要的是今后的學習。

As you commence， then， and before you scatter to the winds， I urge you to do whatever you do for no reason other than you love it and believe in its importance. Don’t bother with work you don’t believe in any more than you would a spouse you’re not crazy about， lest you too find yourself on the wrong side of a Baltimore Orioles comparison. Resist the easy comforts of complacency， the specious glitter of materialism， the narcotic paralysis of self-satisfaction. Be worthy of your advantages. And read… read all the time… read as a matter of principle， as a matter of self-respect. Read as a nourishing staple of life. Develop and protect a moral sensibility and demonstrate the character to apply it. Dream big. Work hard. Think for yourself. Love everything you love， everyone you love， with all your might. And do so， please， with a sense of urgency， for every tick of the clock subtracts from fewer and fewer; and as surely as there are commencements there are cessations， and you’ll be in no condition to enjoy the ceremony attendant to that eventuality no matter how delightful the afternoon.

當你們畢業(yè)后，準備大展鴻圖之前，我建議你們，不管做任何事，都應基于熱愛并相信它的重要性。別費心理會你根本不相信的事，就像你不會跟一位你并未瘋狂愛上的伴侶結婚；也避免讓自己在巴爾的摩金鶯隊的比賽中站錯邊。別志得意滿；別被物質主義華而不實的光芒蒙蔽；別被自我滿足麻痹；別愧對自己的優(yōu)勢。堅持閱讀……養(yǎng)成閱讀習慣；閱讀跟原則和自重有關，把閱讀當成生活中的精神食糧。培養(yǎng)及保持道德感，并展現(xiàn)道德品格；擁有遠大夢想，并努力實現(xiàn)；進行獨立思考；全心全意地愛你所愛的一切人事物。請一定要把握時間，及時行動，因為時間正一分一秒地流逝。凡事有開始必有結束；無論你們這個下午過得多么愉快，這場典禮終究會結束。

The fulfilling life， the distinctive life， the relevant life， is an achievement， not something that will fall into your lap because you’re a nice person or mommy ordered it from the caterer. You’ll note the founding fathers took pains to secure your inalienable right to life， liberty and the pursuit of happiness–quite an active verb， “pursuit”–which leaves， I should think， little time for lying around watching parrots roller skate on Youtube.

充實的人生、與眾不同的人生、有意義的人生是一項成就；這不是某種只因為你是好人就會從天而降，或者媽媽能為你提供的東西。你會注意到，開國元勛們費盡心力地確保你不可剝奪的權力，包括生命、自由和追求幸福的權利——“追求”是一個相當積極的動詞——于是，我覺得，這些權利意味著沒有留給我們什么時間去懶懶地躺著觀看Youtube上的鸚鵡怎么溜冰。

The first President Roosevelt， the old rough rider， advocated the strenuous life. Mr. Thoreau wanted to drive life into a corner， to live deep and suck out all the marrow. The poet Mary Oliver tells us to row， row into the swirl and roil. Locally， someone… I forget who… from time to time encourages young scholars to carpe the heck out of the diem. The point is the same: get busy， have at it. Don’t wait for inspiration or passion to find you. Get up， get out， explore， find it yourself， and grab hold with both hands.

老羅斯福總統(tǒng)——一位老練的騎士，提倡艱苦的生活；梭羅先生盡力簡化生活，希望活得深刻并吸取生命的精髓；詩人 Mary Oliver告訴我們向前劃，劃進漩渦和湍流中；本校有個人——我忘了是誰，不時鼓勵年輕學子們把握當下。這些話的重點都相同：動起來，付諸行動；別枯等靈感或熱情來找你。站起來、走出去、進行探索、靠自己的力量尋找，緊緊把握。

None of this day-seizing， though， should be interpreted as license for self-indulgence. Like accolades ought to be， the fulfilled life is a consequence， a gratifying byproduct. It’s what happens when you’re thinking about more important things.

把握當下不應被曲解為自我放縱的許可。就像被稱贊一樣，充實的生活是結果，一個令人愉快的副產(chǎn)品。這就是當你思考更重要的事物時會發(fā)生的結果。

Climb the mountain not to plant your flag， but to embrace the challenge， enjoy the air and behold the view. Climb it so you can see the world， not so the world can see you. Go to Paris to be in Paris， not to cross it off your list and congratulate yourself for being worldly. Exercise free will and creative， independent thought not for the satisfactions they will bring you， but for the good they will do others， the rest of the 6.8 billion–and those who will follow them. And then you too will discover the great and curious truth of the human experience is that selflessness is the best thing you can do for yourself.

爬山不是為了插上旗幟，而是迎接挑戰(zhàn)、享受新鮮空氣、欣賞眼前的美景。爬山是為了看世界，而不是讓世界看見你。去巴黎，就好好體驗巴黎的一切，而不是為了將它從你的清單上劃去，然后慶祝自己又到過一個新國家。運用自由意志和創(chuàng)造力、進行獨立思考，不是為了替自己帶來滿足感，而是為了替其他68億人及后代子孫帶來福祉。然后，你會發(fā)現(xiàn)人類體驗到的偉大而奇妙的真理——無私是你能為自己所做的最棒的事情。

The sweetest joys of life， then， come only with the recognition that you’re not special.

Because everyone is.

只有當你認識到你并不特別的時候，生命中最甜美的喜悅才隨之而來。

因為每個人都是特別的。

注：節(jié)選，有刪減。

整個演講中David McCullough Jr. 九次告訴臺下的畢業(yè)生們 “You are not special”，這為他招來了不少批評和指責，他甚至不得不出面解釋。在CBS This Morning節(jié)目中Mr. McCullough Jr. 告訴批評者：

“I’ve been teaching high-school kids for 26 years， And in that time， one comes to see what kids need to be told. These are wonderful kids， and one grows very fond of them and proud of them. That doesn’t mean you should indulge them with platitudes or 1 encouragement，” he continued. “I wanted to give them a notion that with their privilege comes responsibility.”