视听｜成功来自坚定的信念：马云英文演讲

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马云，阿里巴巴集团的创始人，互联网时代并不陌生的名字，从英语教师到商业巨擘，相信他的创业故事大多数人耳熟能详。没有人能随随便便成功，希望他的成功演讲能给年轻人的奋斗提供更多动力。

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The Greatest Success Story

里面一

I did not have a rich father. Tried three times for university, all failed. I apply for Harvard for 10 times, all failed. They don’t even want to see me. For the last time, I went to the teachers’ college, which was considered the third or fourth class of my city. I applied jobs for 30 times. Got rejected. It was so difficult at that time. 

I was so frustrated ①. Because I taught in the university. My pay was 10 dollars a month. Because I cannot find a good job. In 1994, discussed that I am going to do something called Internet. And 23 of them against it. They said, “This is a stupid idea. We have never heard about the Internet and you know nothing about computer.”

① frustrated: [ˈfrʌstreɪtɪd] adj. feeling annoyed, upset, and impatient, because you cannot control or change a situation, or achieve something. 沮丧的  

And I never thought I was smart. Nobody believed that I could be successful, because everybody said, “This guy thinks differently, thinks crazily. He will think about something that will never work.” I tried to borrow 3000 US dollars from the banks. It took me three months, but I still couldn’t get it. We talked to over 30 or 40 venture capitalists ②. Everybody said, “No, forget it.” 

② venture capitalist: [ˈventʃər ˈkæpɪtəlɪst] n. money lent to someone so that they can start a new business. 风险投资家

Lot of people said, “Alibaba is a terrible model.” As I said, “I believed it. I think this thing could be big.” I never thought it would be that big like today. But I believe that something is waiting for me there. And I have to work hard to prove myself. That was the toughest experience. 

So we gathered 50,000 US dollars from 18 founders. We started. For the first three years, we did not have even 1 dollar revenue ③ from our business. It was not easy. Why it keeps us going ahead, going forward? Because I received lots of emails of thanks from the customers. They said, “This is such a great thing. We cannot pay you, but this thing helped us. If you keep on helping us, one day you will be successful.” 

③ revenue: [ˈrevənuː] n. money that a business or organization receives over a period of time, especially from selling goods or services. 收入

And I believe this. Little by little, we built up our business. Little by little, we built up our ecosystem of the infrastructure. And now after 16 years, we have Alibaba Group. We have T-mall Group. We have Taobao Group and we have Alipay. And people say, “You’re so smart. How could you make a company like that?”

Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Jack Welch, Larry Gage, Mark Zuckerberg. The difference between those people and other people—they are always optimistic for the future. They never complain. They always try to solve the problems of the others. When you are optimistic, it’s always opportunity. 

People say the same thing here today, “Jack, where’s the opportunity? I don’t have a job, I don’t have this, I don’t have that.” We are at the best of time of this century. The best assets you have is that you are young. Don’t complain. Let the other people complain. The opportunity, like always, lies where people complain. 

Think about how you can make things different. Is there anything I can do that makes the difference? And then when you think about this, start to do it. I saw a lot of people, young people, have fantastic ideas every evening, but in the morning, they go to the office same again. 

Being entrepreneur ④, you have to do the things before the other people do. You have to wake up before the other people wake up. You have to be more brave than the others. Use your instinct ⑤. Everything you do is to the need of the customer. To everybody, to any person, tomorrow is new. Make the move. Make the action. 

④ entrepreneur: [ˌɑːntrəprəˈnɜːr] n. someone who starts a new business or arranges business deals in order to make money, often in a way that involves financial risks. 企业家

⑤ instinct: [ˈɪnstɪŋkt] n. a natural tendency to behave in a particular way or a natural ability to know something, which is not learned. 直觉；本能

Whether investors believe it or not, whether your friends believe it or not, whether your parents believe it or not, that’s not important. You believe it. Your team believe it and work day and night on this. That’s how the thing happens. Make enough mistakes. You fall. You stand up. 

Any mistake is an income, is a wonderful revenue. Don’t worry about the money. Money follows people, people should follow their dreams. If you have a dream, just go ahead. I think nobody can conquer ⑥ the world. We only can serve the world other work for the others or work for yourself. 

⑥ conquer: [ˈkɑːŋkər] v. to gain control over something that is difficult, using a lot of efforts. 征服

And I choose the way work for myself. Working for myself that means working for the society. If you really want to work for yourself, think about the others. Because only when the other people are successful, when the other people are happy you will be successful. You will be happy.

大连外国语大学高级翻译学院实习生

穆楠 整理

(Credit: dailyburstofenergy.com)

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