不忙于生，必忙于死 | 耶鲁大学校长开学与毕业演讲

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Introduction

5月17日，耶鲁大学举行2019届本科生毕业典礼，校长苏必德（Peter Salovey）发表名为“What are You For?”的演讲。

双语对照全文

So, there is a wonderful Yale tradition that I would like to honor right now:

下面请允许我先按例进行耶鲁的宝贵传统:

May I ask all of the families and friends here today to rise and recognize the outstanding—and graduating—members of the Class of 2019?

请今天在座的所有毕业生家属和朋友们起立，向2019届杰出的毕业生们表示祝贺。

And now, may I ask the Class of 2019 to consider all those who have supported your arrival at this milestone, and to please rise and recognize them?

现在，请2019届的全体毕业生们感念所有曾支持你们走到今天的人们，请你们起立向他们致敬。

Thank you!

谢谢各位！

In September 1974, Kingman Brewster, Jr., then president of Yale, spoke to members of the Class of 1978, seated right where you are now. He told them, “Many of us have just been on a ten-year trip of moral outrage: anti-Wallace, anti-War, anti-Watergate. We have been so sure about what we were against that we have almost forgotten how difficult it is to know what we are for and how to achieve it.”

1974年9月，时任耶鲁大学校长的Kingman Brewster, Jr.在开学典礼上对1978届学生发表演讲，他们就坐在你们现在的位置上。校长对他们说：“在座的许多人刚刚经历了道义上极其不满的十年：反华莱士、反战、反水门事件。我们对所反对的事物深信不疑，几乎忘记了我们要支持什么，以及如何实现。”

Does this sound familiar? Today, perhaps more than ever, it is easy to know what you’re against. Far more difficult to say what you’re for.

这话听起来是否感到熟悉？今天，可能比以往任何时代，都更容易知道你反对什么，也比任何时代都更难以说出你追求什么。

What we‘re against is going to be different for each of us. Maybe you’re against border walls and I’m against guns; your neighbor is against trade wars and your cousin is against abortion. For some, capitalism is the problem, while others fear the specter of socialism. By this point, I bet all of you are against sitting in old buildings with no air conditioning, listening to a long speech! So, I’ll get to the point…

每个人反对的事物并不相同。也许你反对边境筑墙，而我反对枪支；你的邻居可能反对贸易战，而你的堂兄反对堕胎。有些人认为资本主义才是问题所在，而另一些人担心的则是社会主义。但此刻，我敢肯定，你们所有人都反对坐在这个没有空调的旧礼堂里听我的长篇大论！所以，我打算开门见山……

How many of you have seen a Marx Brothers movie? Although I’m not mistaken for Groucho Marx as often since I shaved my moustache, I still have a weakness for his humor.

有多少人看过喜剧演员马克斯兄弟（Marx Brothers）的电影？自从我刮掉上唇的胡子后，虽不再像以前那样经常被误认为是格劳乔·马克斯（Groucho Marx），但我仍然对他的幽默风趣情有独钟。

格劳乔·马克斯饰演赫胥黎学院的新校长

One of Groucho’s best performances, of course, is when he plays a college president. (Now that is a funny role!) In the opening scene of the movie Horse Feathers, Groucho, the new president of Huxley College, is told that the trustees have “a few suggestions” for him. Then he breaks into this song:

格劳乔·马克斯饰演赫胥黎学院的新校长格劳乔最精彩的一段表演是扮演一位大学校长。在电影《趾高气扬》（Horse Feathers）的开场中，这位赫胥黎学院的新校长被告知学校的校董们对他有“一些建议”，于是他就唱起了这首歌曲：

“I don’t know what they have to say

我不知道他们要说些什么

It makes no difference anyway

但说什么也都无所谓

Whatever it is, I’m against it

不管说什么，我都将反对

No matter what it is or who commenced it

不管说什么，不管谁说的

I’m against it

我都将通通反对

Your proposition may be good

你们的建议也或许不错

But let’s have one thing understood:

但让我们明确一点：

Whatever it is, I’m against it.”[2]

不管说什么，我都将反对。

I encourage you to look up the scene on YouTube—not right now, please—because it’s still a very funny piece. It’s funny because it’s ridiculous, but also because it contains a kernel of truth. And the truth applies not only to college presidents, but to all of us.

大家可以去Youtube上看一看这段视频——不是现在就看，谢谢——因为它仍然让人捧腹。它的好笑，不仅因为它很荒谬，也因为它有那么一点道理，而且不仅体现在这位大学校长身上，也表现在我们每一个人身上。

How many times have we decided we’re against an idea before we’ve even heard it? How guilty are we of deciding “I’m against it” without even knowing what “it” is?

有多少次我们尚未听到一个想法就已经决定反对它了？在我们还不清楚某件事之前，我们就已经决定反对这件事了，这样的错误我们是否犯过？

Many times we know what we’re against based on whose saying it. If an idea comes from a certain public figure, politician, or media outlet, we already know how we feel. Partly this is because our public discourse has become so predictable. We’ve lost the capacity for surprise, for revelation.

很多时候，我们反对什么取决于它是谁说出来的。如果出自某个公众人物或政治家之口，或某家媒体，那么我们已经对这个言论有想法了。其中部分缘由是今天的公开话语太可预测了，我们已经丧失了被震撼和被启示的能力。

Speaking of predictable, here is the moment when an ambassador of an older generation—that’s me—tells millennials—most of you—about the evils of social media! But please hear me out…

谈到可预测，这一刻我想代表老一代，向千禧一代的你们提一下社交媒体的“罪与恶”。请听我把话说完……

Social media has transformed our lives and our relationships. It has many advantages, of course, allowing us to share news and information quickly with people around the world. But it also heightens our sense of outrage and speeds up arguments, depriving us of the time and space for careful reflection.

社交媒体彻底改变了我们的生活和人际关系。诚然，它有很多优点，它让我们可以和世界各地的人们快速分享新闻和信息；但它也剥夺了我们深思的时间与空间，导致我们的愤怒感加剧，争论加速发生。

Bombarded with notifications, pressured to respond before the media cycle turns over, we tap out our position—our opposition—in seconds. It is easy to be against something in fewer than 280 characters. It is far more difficult to articulate what you are for—and to do it at warp speed.

社交媒体的信息接连不断，你必须在某个热点过气前发表言论，于是我们用几秒钟就打出了自己支持（或反对）的立场。用280个字的推文来反对一件事是容易的，相反要快速讲出你支持什么则要困难得多。

Make no mistake: There are plenty of reasons to be outraged. My generation, your generation—we face not only grave moral challenges but existential threats: rising ocean levels globally and rising inequality in America; violence around the world and in our own backyards; the fraying of the social fabric. “The falcon cannot hear the falconer,” and we wonder if the center can hold. [3]

请大家不要误会：愤怒的理由当然有很多，无论是我们这一代，还是在座的诸位这一代——不仅面临着严峻的道德挑战，更有生存威胁，比如全球海平面上升，美国不平等加剧，世界各地的暴力冲突，以及社会组织涣散等等。正如叶芝的诗句“猎鹰再听不见驯鹰人的呼声”，我们想知道中心是否还能维系得住。

I understand the impulse toward negativity. Like many of you, I sometimes feel overwhelmed by the challenges we face, by the injustices that call out for our condemnation. Yet it is precisely because our challenges are so great that outrage is not enough. Pointing out what is wrongs merely the beginning, not the end, of our work.

我理解奔向否定的冲动。和你们中的许多人一样，我有时也会对我们面临的挑战和需要谴责的不义感到应接不暇。然而，正是因为我们面临的挑战如此艰巨，只有愤怒是远远不够的。指出错误只是我们工作的开始，而不是结束。

捷克作家伊凡·克里玛（Ivan Klimt）

The Czech author Ivan Klimt wrote, “To destroy is easier than to create, and that is why so many people are ready to demonstrate against what they reject. But what would they say if one asked them what they wanted instead?”[4]

捷克作家伊凡·克里玛（Ivan Klimt）曾写道，“破坏比创造更容易，所以才有那么多人公然表示自己反对某一件事。如果你问他们想要什么，他们又会怎样作答呢？”

What would you say? What would I say? What are you for?

你们会怎么回答？我会怎么回答？你追求什么？

Lima’s life story is one of both criticism and creation. Born in Prague in 1931, he was sent to a Nazi concentration camp as child. He survived and became an outspoken voice for democracy in Czechoslovakia.

克里玛自己的一生既有批判也有创造。1931年出生于布拉格，童年时被关进纳粹集中营，他有幸存活下来，后来成为捷克斯洛伐克的一位敢于直言的民主倡导者。

But in 1968, with the Soviet invasion and crackdown,Klima’s ideas became dangerous. He could have fled, but he chose to return home and continue his work in defiance of the Communist regime. He organized an underground meeting of writers who circulated manuscripts in secret. Over the course of 18 years, those writers produced three hundred different works of art. They were critics, of course: critics of tyranny, critics of violence. But they were creators, too, of plays, novels, and poetry. They imagined, and helped create, a new and better world.

但在1968年，随着苏联的入侵和镇压，克里玛的言论被当局视为危险思想。本可以逃出来的他，却选择返回家乡继续工作。他成立地下作家组织，秘密传阅彼此的手稿。在18年的时间里，他们创作出300件不同的文艺作品。他们是批评者，没错，他们痛批专制、暴力，但他们也是戏剧、小说和诗歌的创作者。他们想象并帮助创造了一个新的、更加美好的世界。

What will you imagine? A better business, a smarter school, a stronger community? Whatever you are against, it is time to create something you are for.

在座诸位会有怎样的想象呢？一个更好的企业，一所更优质的学校，还是一个更强大的社区？无论你反对什么，现在是时候创造你所追求的事物了。

At Yale you have learned to do both: to imagine and create. You have studied and explored new ideas; made art and music; excelled in athletics; launched companies; and served your neighbors and the world. You have created a vibrant, diverse, and exciting community.

在耶鲁，你们既学想象又学创造；你们研思想，创文艺，竞体育，办公司，近则服务邻里，远则奉献世界。你们创造了一个活泼、多元、精彩的社区。

Take these experiences with you and draw on them when you need encouragement. Remember a class that surprised you; conversation that inspired you; a professor who believed in you. And take care to avoid what Toni Morrison calls “second-rate goals and secondhand ideas.”

请把这些经历装入行囊，当你们需要鼓励的时候，可以从中汲取力量。记住在耶鲁的点点滴滴，哪怕是一堂让你惊奇的课，一次有启发的谈话，或者一位信任你的教授。要留心避免作家托妮·莫里森（Toni Morrison）所说的“二流目标和二手思想”。

作家托妮·莫里森（Toni Morrison）

“Our past is bleak. Our future dim,” Morrison writes. “But if we see the world as one long brutal game, then we bump into another mystery, the mystery of beauty, of light, of the canary that sings on the skulls.”[5]

“我们的过去黯然惨淡，我们的未来阴暗朦胧，” 莫里森曾写道。“但如果我们把这个世界看作一场漫长而残酷的游戏，我们就会碰到另一个谜，那是美和光的谜，是在骷髅上歌唱的金丝雀的谜。”

Being for something is a search for those mysteries, for that light: it is an act of radical optimism, a belief that a more perfect world is within reach and that we can help build it.

追求一件事便是寻找这谜和光：这是一种激进的乐观主义行为，是一种信念——坚信一个更完美的世界触手可及，坚信我们能够努力建成它。

What are you for?

那么，在座诸位都追求什么呢？

You may well turn that question back to me. What are you for, Peter Salvoes?

你们也可能会反问我：苏必德校长，你追求什么呢？

I am for the transformative power of a liberal education—one that asks you to think broadly, questions everything, and embrace the joy of learning.

我追求博雅教育的重塑力量——它要求你高瞻远瞩、质疑一切，且拥抱学习的快乐。

I am for the American Dream in all its rich promise—the idea that opportunities are shared widely and that access to education is within reach for the many, not the few.

我追求真正意义上的“美国梦”——机会广泛共享，接受教育是多数人的权利，而不是少数人的专利。

I am for the robust and free exchange of ideas, as essential to the mission of a great university as it is to the health of our democracy.

我追求活跃且自由的思想交锋，因为一所伟大学府的核心使命和我们的民主政体的良性运转都需要它。

I am for a world where we welcome the immigrant, the poor, and the forgotten; we do not shut them out or silence them; a world where showing empathy and understanding is considered the true hallmark of success, of a life well-lived.

我追求这样一个世界，那里欢迎移民、穷人和被遗忘的人，而不是把他们拒之门外或封住他们的口；在那里，表现出同理心和理解才是成功和美好生活的真正标志。

That is what I am for.

这些都是我所追求的。

Yale’s mission says, in part, that we are “committed to improving the world today and for future generations.” That commitment does not end at graduation.

耶鲁的使命包含这样一句话：“致力于改善世界，为今天也为后人”。这个承诺不应在毕业时终止。

Soon you will leave Yale and, as Robert Penn Warren, who studied and taught at Yale, wrote, “Go into the convulsion of the world, out of history and into history.”

诸位即将离开耶鲁，正如曾在耶鲁学习和授课的文学家罗伯特·佩恩·沃伦（Robert Penn Warren）所说，“进入这个痉挛中的世界，走出历史，又走进了历史。”

文学家罗伯特·佩恩·沃伦（Robert Penn Warren）

Indeed, you will go into history and make history.

的确，你们即将走进历史，并创造历史。

Looking around me today, I think of the generations of Yale graduates who have come before you. Individuals who have been for something.

今天，环顾四周，让我想起那些在诸位之前的耶鲁毕业生们，一个个有所追求的人。

There are many names we know and others that would be less familiar—presidents and world leaders, artists and business executives, scholars and scientists.

许多名字我们都知道，有总统和世界领袖，有艺术家和企业高管，有学者和科学家，还有很多我们不那么熟知的名字。

Like them, I know you will heed the call to leadership and service and leave your mark on every realm of human endeavor.

和他们一样，我知道诸位也将听从召唤成为领导者和服务者，在人类开拓的每一处疆域，留下你们的印迹。

That is Yale’s mission—that is what Yale is for.

而这正是耶鲁的使命——正是耶鲁所追求的。

As members of the Yale community, what do we believe?

作为耶鲁的成员，我们相信什么呢？

We believe that facts and expertise, applied with creativity and wisdom, can transform the world.

我们相信，事实和专业，再加上创造力和智慧，可以改变世界。

We believe that education and research save lives and make life more meaningful.

我们相信，教育和研究可以拯救生命，让生活更有意义。

We believe that diversity of thought and diversity in deed are essential to human progress.

我们相信，思想和行为的多样性对人类的进步至关重要。

We believe, most of all, in the boundless potential of human ingenuity; that together, we can solve great challenges and bring light and truth to a world in great need of it.

最重要的是，我们相信人类无限的创造潜力；我们相信，只要我们齐心协力，就能解决那些巨大的挑战，把光明和真理带到一个亟需它们的世界。

On Monday during your commencement ceremonies, I will confer on you all the “rights and responsibilities” of a Yale degree. Yours is a great responsibility. You will have to know what you are for.

在星期一的学位授予典礼上，我会授予诸位耶鲁学位所承载的“权利和责任”。诸位任重道远，因此必须清楚你们所追求的是什么。

What are you for?

你们的追求是什么？

“Surely in the light of history,” Eleanor Roosevelt said, “it is more intelligent to hope rather than to fear, to try rather than motto try.”[7]

埃莉诺·罗斯福（Eleanor Roosevelt，罗斯福总统夫人）曾说过：“从历史的角度来看，明智者总是怀抱希望而非心存恐惧，勇于尝试而非望而却步。”

埃莉诺·罗斯福（Eleanor Roosevelt）

Yale has prepared you, as a scholar and a human being, to try; to face challenges with courage and determination. And I trust you are leaving Yale with a sense of your own responsibilities to one another, to the planet, and to our shared future.

耶鲁已经为诸位努力成为学者那样的人做了准备；拿出勇气和决心去面对挑战吧。我相信，在座诸位离开耶鲁时，一定怀着一份对彼此、对世界、对人类共同未来的责任感。

By serving others and our communities with the many gifts you have been given, you will live a life that is for something, a life of meaning and purpose.

运用你们被馈赠的天赋和才能，去服务他人和社会，你们的人生必将有所为、有意义、有目标。

There is no time to waste; there are no words to waste: As a young Bob Dylan sang in 1965, “He not busy being born is busy dying.”[8] We must give life to new ideas, imagine new ways of being in the world, new answers to the problems that vex us and our neighbors.

没有时间可以浪费；也没有语言可以浪费：正如1965年青春年少的鲍勃•迪伦（Bob Dylan）所唱的那样：“不忙于生，必忙于死。”我们必须给予生命以新思想，想象生存在这个世界的新方式，寻找恼人问题的新答案。

Now is the time.

现在时机已到。

Members of the Class of 2019 (please rise):

2019届毕业生们（请起立）：

We are delighted to salute your accomplishments, and we are proud of your achievements. Remember to give thanks for all that has brought you to this day. And go forth from this place with grateful hearts, paying back the gifts you have received here by using your minds, voices, and hands to imagine and create the new worlds you wish to see.

我们心怀喜悦为你们所取得的成就致敬，也为你们感到自豪。请记得感谢所有帮你们走到今天的人们。请带着感恩的心离开这里，用你们的思想、声音和双手去想象、去创造你们希望看到的新世界，以此来回报你们在这里所得到的馈赠。

What are you for?

请问你们的追求是什么？

Congratulations, Class of 2019!

祝贺你们，2019届的毕业生们！

2018年8月25日，耶鲁大学校长苏必德 (Peter Salovey)发表致2022届新生的开学演讲。苏必德向新生传递了“耶鲁公民”这一概念，希望来自不同国家和地区、不同文化背景、持有不同观点的耶鲁人都能享受耶鲁大学带来的权利，同时在校园外也能实现自己作为耶鲁公民的义务——抱有好奇，善于倾听，尊重文化，服务他人。耶鲁校长讲给新生的这番话，或许可以启发所有人的思考。

双语对照全文

Our Yale Citizenship

-- Yale College Opening Assembly Address, Class of 2022

Peter Salovey, President of Yale University

Saturday, August 25, 2018

耶鲁公民身份

——耶鲁大学2022届学生开学典礼致辞

耶鲁大学校长 苏必德

2018年8月25日 周六

Good morning! On behalf of my colleagues here on stage, I extend a warm welcome to all the family members with us today. And to the first-years, transfer students, and Eli Whitney students: Welcome to Yale!

大家早上好，在此我谨代表各位同事向2022届的本科新生们、转校生们以及Eli Whitney项目的学生们表示最诚挚的欢迎。欢迎来到耶鲁！

Today is a day of pageantry and excitement. Many of you bring members of your extended families to cheer you on, celebrating this milestone with justifiable pride and just a little anxiety.

今天是激动人心的一天，也是值得庆祝的一天。你们中的许多人今天和家人一起来到现场，带着自豪和一丝紧张，一起来庆祝人生中的这一重要里程碑。

Today is also a day of Yale traditions. You will encounter countless wonderful rituals here, some recent and some quite old. Many are steeped in history yet remain popular, even beloved, among Yalies. (And remember, you are now a Yalie!)

今天也是耶鲁诸多传统中的一天。你们将看到很多精彩的仪式，有些是近几年才开始的，有些则相当古老。许多历史悠久的仪式，至今仍然相当流行，深受耶鲁人喜爱。当然，现在在座的你们也是耶鲁人！

One of our Yale traditions is singing an old song, “Bright College Years.” Written in the late 19th century, it is our unofficial, but widely acknowledged, alma mater. You will hear it at many campus events, often sung by the Yale Glee Club and other Yale groups, and played by the Yale Precision Marching Band after football games.

耶鲁的传统之一是唱一首古老的歌曲，叫Bright College Years 《美好校园年华》。它诞生于19世纪晚期，虽然是非官方的歌曲，却受到广泛认可。你将在许多校园活动中听到这首歌，通常是由耶鲁合唱团或其他耶鲁团体演唱，或是在美式橄榄球比赛后由耶鲁大学仪仗队进行演奏。

Now, I am not a singer. I am a bluegrass bass player. But I hope you will indulge me for a moment:

当然，我不是个歌手。我其实是一名蓝草贝斯手。但现在，我希望你们能允许我给大家小唱一段：

The seasons come, the seasons go,

The earth is green or white with snow,

But time and change shall naught avail

To break the friendships formed at Yale.

春去秋来，花落花开

碧绿草地，转瞬皑皑

星斗虽移，世事或迁

耶鲁情谊，坚固永远

These couplets are some of my favorites from “Bright College Years,” and, in my experience, they are truthful. I suspect they will prove accurate for you as well. But it is the song’s final lines, popular at alumni gatherings and always sung with gusto, complete with the waving of handkerchiefs, that I want to use to launch my topic for today:

这是《美好校园年华》歌词中我最喜欢的一段，也是相当真切的一段。我相信有一天你们也会发现这段话的道理。但是我想用来开始今天演讲主题的，是这首歌的最后几行，也就是在校友聚会中深受欢迎且被多次传唱的一段：

Oh, let us strive that ever we

May let these words our watch cry be,

Where’er upon life’s sea we sail:

“For God, for Country and for Yale!”

努力奋发，一如从前

相与相勉，牢记箴言

鼓勇扬帆，沧海征途

为主为国，也为耶鲁

“For God, for Country, and for Yale:” A member of the Yale College Class of 1881 named Henry Durand wrote this ballad, and the final lines were meant to be a rallying cry. It made sense in those days to presume, as Durand did, that most Yale students shared, or at least professed to share, the same god and the same country. Most Yalies, until recent decades, were white, Protestant, and American. And of course, until fifty years ago in Yale College, they were all men.

“为主为国，也为耶鲁。”这首歌是耶鲁大学1881届一位名叫Henry Durand的学生所作，最后这一段歌词是为了号召大家团结奋发。在当时，像Henry Durand一样，大多数的耶鲁学生都来自同一个国家，信奉同一宗教。甚至到本世纪上半叶，大多数耶鲁人都是白人、新教徒且来自美国本土。直到50年前，耶鲁学生甚至全部为男性。

Today, Yale is a different place from the college Durand knew. We welcome people from around the world, from every background and from every walk of life.

当然，今天的耶鲁早已不再是当时Henry Durand所认识的那所大学。我们欢迎来自世界各地的学生，不论背景，不分阶层。

I am proud to be a Yale graduate. I received my Ph.D. in psychology from Yale in 1986. A hundred years earlier, I may have been less likely to have been admitted to Yale on account of my background; I am Jewish, with roots in Eastern Europe. My wife Marta, another proud Yale graduate, received her master’s degree in public health in 1984; her family is from Puerto Rico. Our stories are not unique. Over the past decades, Yale has opened its doors wider and wider. We have expanded the circle of belonging.

作为耶鲁大学的毕业生，我感到很自豪。1986年，我在耶鲁大学获得心理学博士学位。如果在一百年前，我很可能由于我的背景而无法被耶鲁大学录取。我是来自东欧的犹太人，我的妻子Marta也是一位耶鲁毕业生，她于1984年获得公共卫生硕士学位，而她的家族来自波多黎各。我们的故事无独有偶。过去几十年，耶鲁大学的校门为全球学生敞开，我们组成了一个更大、更包容的大家庭。

Yet despite our differences and diversity, we have at least one very important thing in common: we all share Yale. No matter where you are from, or who you are, or your path to arriving here, now you are—among other things—a member of this community. You belong here. You are citizens of Yale.

尽管我们之间存在着差异和多样性，但是我们有一个非常重要的共同点：我们都共享着耶鲁大学。无论你们来自哪里，无论你们是谁，也无论你们如何迈入耶鲁大门，现在，相较于其他身份，你们更是这个社区的成员。你们属于这里。你们，都是耶鲁公民。

In our country and our world today, questions about citizenship and immigration are hotly contested. But at Yale, we share none of this uncertainty about the critical importance of immigrant and international students and scholars. The work of the university—education and research—requires the free movement of people and ideas across national borders. On behalf of this university, I advocate for policies that will allow us to welcome students and scholars from around the world to our campus.

在我们的国家，乃至当今世界，关于公民身份和移民问题的争论非常激烈。但在耶鲁，我们对移民和国际学生学者的重要性没有任何质疑。大学的教育和研究工作需要人类及其思想在国家之间自由流动。代表这所大学，我欢迎来自世界各地的学生和学者来到我们的校园。

Our Yale citizenship, however, is not based on national origin. Our students hail from 121 countries. Nor is it based on our adherence to a certain set of beliefs or dogma, as we bring an enormous range of viewpoints and perspectives to this campus. Instead, we are citizens of Yale because we share a desire to know, understand, and create. We are members of an academic community dedicated to Urim v’Thummim, lux et veritas, light and truth.

耶鲁公民身份并非基于国家和地域。我们的学生来自全球121个国家；同时它也不是基于我们对某种信仰或教条的坚持，因为我们所有人为这个校园带来了极为广泛的观点和视角。相反，我们是耶鲁公民，是因为我们都渴望学习、理解并创造。我们都属于同一个学术团体，致力于追求Urim v’Thummim（起源于希伯来语，意为光明与真理），lux et veritas（拉丁语，意为光明与真理），光明与真理。

We are poets and psychologists, historians and scientists, physicians and deans, and yet we all share the same fundamental goal: to expand the horizons of the known world. To ask questions that shake the foundations of knowledge and to rebuild them again with new answers.

我们中有诗人、心理学家、历史学家、科学家、医生和院长，但我们都共有一个根本目标：扩大已知世界的视野，提出动摇知识基础的问题，并以新的答案重新建构。

Our world is desperate for new ideas and solutions. We need to understand the human condition and our planet. We need insights into the genome. We need breakthroughs in our ability to fight disease, alleviate suffering, and find justice. We need answers to urgent and long-standing questions.

我们的世界迫切需要新的想法和解决方案；我们需要了解人类所处的环境，认识我们的星球。我们需要洞察基因组；我们需要在抗击疾病、减轻痛苦和伸张正义的能力上取得突破；我们需要对紧迫和长期存在的问题做出回应。

You will tackle this important work at Yale. The experiences you have here will shape the rest of your lives, and you will have opportunities that most people only dream of.

你们将在耶鲁应对这项重要的工作。在这里的经历将塑造你们的余生，因为你们将拥有大多数人梦寐以求的机会。

And because a Yale education is a great privilege, it comes with certain obligations. I want to speak today about some of the most important obligations of Yale citizenship. I will delineate four of them:

如果说耶鲁教育是一种你们得到的权利，那么随之而来就有相应的义务。今天我想谈谈耶鲁公民的一些最重要的义务。我要阐述其中四条：

The responsibility to be curious, constantly;

The duty to listen to others, even those whose thoughts you despise, and to exchange ideas freely;

The obligation to create a culture of respect here;

And the requirement to use the gifts you have been provided to serve others and the world.

始终保持好奇心的责任；

倾听他人，即使当他人的想法令你鄙视，也应与之自由交流思想的责任；

创造尊重的文化的义务；

以及利用你的天赋来服务他人与世界的义务。

So, the first obligation concerns our intellectual and scholarly work. Our campus must be a place conducive to deep study that will motivate both a lifetime of learning and the development of character that will serve you well as future leaders.

第一个义务涉及到我们的学术工作。我们的校园必须是一个有助于深入学习的地方，以激励终生学习，促进性格发展。这将对于你成为未来领袖大有裨益。

Yale will demand much of you. There will be times when you don’t understand an assignment or struggle with a problem set. You may do poorly on a midterm. At least I hope so! Those failures—as much as your successes—mean you are doing something right. Be kind to yourself, and remember that you have come to Yale because you don’t know everything—not yet.

耶鲁会对你们有诸多要求。有些时候，你会无法理解一项作业而陷入自我思想斗争；你也可能会在某次期中考试中表现不佳——至少我希望这些都能够在你们身上发生！那些失败和你的成功一样，意味着你在做正确的事。善待自己，并时刻记得你来到耶鲁是因为你还有需要探索的未知领域。

The faculty will be alongside you, as teachers and mentors. This is my thirty-third year on Yale’s faculty, and I know that working with students is one of the great joys of this profession. Go to office hours. Get to know your professors, and they will help you deepen and expand your expertise. Most of all, allow your curiosity to take wing—to take you in unexpected directions and lead you to new areas of study, practice, and discovery.

作为教师和导师，耶鲁的教职员工将和你们并肩前行。这是我在耶鲁大学任教的第三十三年，和学生一起工作是教授这个职业的一大乐趣。去了解你的教授，他们会帮助你加深和扩展你的专业知识。最重要的是，允许你的好奇心插上翅膀，带领你进入学习、实践和发现的全新领域。

I enrolled in courses in college that I hadn’t planned to take, and they changed the way I see the world now, forty years later: a course in the history of theater styles, a course in writing poetry, a course in real-world (applied) sociology, a course in geology that involved fascinating fieldwork.  Make sure you explore the great range and diversity of academic experiences available to you here.

我在大学时参加了一些我并没有计划的课程，它们改变了在四十年后的我看世界的方式。当时我上了一门关于戏剧风格历史的课，一门诗歌创作的课，一门应用社会学课，还有一门涉及有趣的田野调查的地质学课。确保你在耶鲁能够探寻足够广泛和多样的学术经验。

Second, as citizens of Yale, we are obligated to listen carefully to others. Sometimes this means we must listen to ideas we find objectionable. You don’t have to agree, but each of us must enjoy the opportunity to express thoughts and opinions. We work hard to safeguard this right on our campus. I hope you will have many opportunities to think deeply and speak honestly and courageously about difficult issues during your time here.

第二，作为耶鲁的公民，我们有义务认真倾听他人的意见，虽然有时这意味着我们必须倾听那些反对我们的想法。你不需要同意每个人，但我们每个人都必须有机会表达自己的想法和观点。我们努力在校园中维护这一权利。我希望你们在耶鲁度过的这段时间里，有很多机会深入思考，并真诚且勇敢地谈论复杂的问题。

Discourse is the heart of the academic enterprise. So, find times and places for conversation, whether in a classroom, dining hall, or on the athletic field.

论述是学术事业的核心。所以，找时间与不同的人交谈，无论是在教室、餐厅还是在体育场上。

There are many impediments to meaningful conversation, including technology. I am not going to try to persuade you to stop texting or tweeting altogether. But I would urge you to put down your phones whenever possible, and seek out face-to-face interactions. We are happier and our relationships are stronger when we do. (Just ask anyone who took “Psychology and the Good Life” with Professor Laurie Santos last year!)

当然，要进行一场有意义的对话面临包括科技上的许多障碍。我不会试图说服你停止发短信或推特，但我会敦促你尽可能地放下手机，寻求面对面的交流。当我们面对面交流时，我们会更快乐，我们的关系也会更牢固。（任何一个听了Laurie Santos的课程《心理学和美好生活》的人都知道！）

You will meet people of remarkable talent, promise, and integrity here at Yale. In the days and weeks ahead, I would urge you to seek out a wide variety of friends and associates. As I said to last year’s graduating class,draw a larger circle to include people who might look, talk, act, or think differently from you. Introduce yourself to staff members; get to know your neighbors in the city of New Haven. Your ability to speak but also listen, to reach beyond what is familiar and easy, will be one of the great measures of your time here at Yale.

在耶鲁，你会遇到拥有杰出天赋、前途和品格的人。在未来的日子里，我希望你结识不同领域的朋友，正如我对去年的毕业生所说的，画出一个更大的圈子，将样貌、谈吐、行动或思维与你不同的人囊括进去。去认识更多教职员工，去认识你在纽黑文市的邻居。你在谈话时也不要忘了倾听，超越那些你已经熟识的事物，将是衡量你的耶鲁时光的一大标准。

Third, as citizens of Yale we strive to support a culture of mutual respect on our campus. To do this we must accord each person the dignity and recognition they deserve.

第三，作为耶鲁的公民，我们努力在我们的校园里建立一种相互尊重的文化。要做到这一点，我们必须让每个人都得到应有的尊严和认可。

Claudia Rankine is the Frederick Iseman Professor of Poetry at Yale. In her powerful work, Citizen: An American Lyric, she explores what citizenship and belonging mean in contemporary America, often by describing mundane situations. I would like to read you a passage:

Claudia Rankine是耶鲁大学的诗歌教授。在她的著作《公民：一首美国抒情诗》中，通过描述一些平凡的场景，她探讨了当代美国公民的身份和归属感。在此我想给你们读上一段：

“In line at the drugstore it’s finally your turn, and then it’s

not as he walks in front of you and puts his things on the

counter. The cashier says, Sir, she was next. When he

turns to you he is truly surprised.

Oh my God, I didn’t see you.

You must be in a hurry, you offer.

No, no, no, I really didn’t see you.”

在药店排队的时候，终于轮到你了，这时他却走到你前面，把他的东西放在柜台上。收银员说，先生，她是下一个。当他转向你的时候，确是一脸的惊讶。

“哦，天哪，我没看见你。”

“你一定很着急”，你主动解围。

“不，不，不，我真的没看见你。”

Who do we see—or not see? In our residential colleges and classrooms, in restaurants, on vacation and at work, in our country and in our world? Who do we see, and who do we look past?

我们看得到谁，又看不到谁？放眼住宿学院和教室、餐馆，亦或是度假或工作期间，甚至是在我们的国家乃至我们的世界？我们看到的是谁，我们忽略的又是谁？

Your lives at Yale will be busy and full. You will study, work, volunteer, socialize, and—I dearly hope—sometimes sleep. But make sure you take time to see the people around you. Try to imagine the world through their eyes; bring empathy and imagination to all that you do. I am counting on each of you. Together we can ensure that Yale is a community where each person feels valued and welcomed.

你们在耶鲁的生活将是忙碌而充实的。你们将在这里学习、工作、奉献或社交，我非常希望你们能有时间睡觉。但无论如何，你们要确保花时间去留意周围的人，试着通过他们的眼睛来想象这个世界，随时保持一颗同理心。我寄望于你们每个人，希望通过大家共同努力，确保耶鲁成为让每个人都感到有价值和受欢迎的社区。

Finally, your obligations as citizens of Yale extend beyond this campus. Our alumni are perhaps the greatest illustration of Yale’s tradition of service. Five Yale graduates have served as U.S. presidents, four as secretaries of state, and eighteen as justices on the U.S. Supreme Court, representing viewpoints across the political spectrum.

最后，你们作为耶鲁公民的义务并不局限于这个校园。我们的校友可能是耶鲁服务传统最伟大的例证。在耶鲁大学毕业生中，曾有五人担任过美国总统，四人担任国务卿，十八人担任美国最高法院大法官，代表了不同政治派别的观点。

Yale alumni have served as heads of state of several foreign countries, including Italy, Mexico, Malawi, and South Korea. Many others have improved their neighborhoods and cities as teachers, philanthropists, and mentors. Still others have built businesses that created jobs. For generations, our students and alumni have contributed to the common good. I urge you to carry on this vital Yale tradition.

耶鲁校友中亦有几位在意大利、墨西哥、马拉维、韩国等国担任外国元首。此外，许多人作为教师、慈善家和导师改善了他（她）们的社区和城市；还有一些人缔造了商业帝国，创造了很多就业机会。多年来，我们的学生和校友为公共利益做出了贡献。我真心希望你们也能够继承这一重要的耶鲁传统。

“For God, for Country, and for Yale:” This is still the promise of “Bright College Years”—and I enjoy singing those words as much as anyone—that even if we worship differently or not at all, even if we are citizens of different nations or people without a country, we all share Yale. We take pride in our “rights and responsibilities” as members of this community. In return for the great privilege of a Yale education, we look beyond this campus to pursue a larger purpose, to “improv[e] the world today and for future generations.” This is what we share in common.

“为主为国，也为耶鲁”，这是《美好校园年华》的承诺。我和大家一样喜欢唱出这些歌词，即使我们信仰不同或没有任何信仰，即使我们是不同国家的公民或是没有国籍的人，我们都共享耶鲁。作为这个社区的成员，我们为自己的“权利和责任”感到自豪。作为对享有耶鲁教育这份巨大权利的回报，我们把目光投向这个校园之外，追求更大的目标，“致力于改善当今世界，造福子孙后代”。这便是我们所共有的目标。

I am convinced that our Yale citizenship is just as vital today as it was 317 years ago when this college was founded. The world needs light and truth as much as ever. It needs your leadership and your service. It needs the meaning you bring to the world and the questions you ask. Most of all, it needs your best efforts—your successes and your failures.

我坚信，耶鲁公民身份，同317年前这所大学成立时一样，在如今时代同样重要。世界一如既往需要光明与真理，它需要你们的领导和服务，需要你们带给它意义，同样需要你提出的问题。最重要的是，它需要你们无论成败，全力以赴。

As citizens of Yale sharing a common purpose—the pursuit of knowledge and understanding—let us start today to begin the work we have come here to do: to ask new questions, to listen carefully and speak honestly, to see with new eyes, and to contribute to our communities and our world. Most of all, leave this hall today with a commitment in your hearts to be exemplary citizens of Yale, building the future we hope to see.

作为拥有追求知识和理解这一共同目标的耶鲁公民，让我们从今天起开始我们的工作：提出新问题，仔细倾听，真诚发言，用新的眼光看问题，并为我们的社区和我们的世界做出贡献。最重要的是，我希望今天你们能够在心中许下承诺：成为耶鲁的模范公民，建设我们所期的未来。

Today, as I look out onto this room, I am optimistic about the future of Yale and the future of our world.

今天，当我环顾这个房间，看到在座的各位，我对耶鲁的未来和我们世界的未来充满信心。

Good luck, Class of 2022!

2022届耶鲁公民们，祝你们好运！

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