奥巴马Obama麻省大学毕业典礼的演讲(中英文).doc

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1、奥巴马麻省大学毕业典礼的演讲给大学毕业生的三个建议2006-6-2背景介绍麻省大学是美国新英格兰地区最多元化的公立大学。2006 年6 月2 日，美国麻省大学波士顿分校授予美国参议员巴拉克侯赛因奥巴马该校法学荣誉博士学位，以表彰其为保护弱势群体利益，维护超越党派和种族利益而做出的努 力。当天，还是美国参议员的奥巴马出席了麻省大学第38届学位授予典礼仪式，并发表演讲。他对毕业生们提出自己诚恳的建议：第一，要敢于冒险，坚持理想。 第二，要有全球思想，打破壁垒，不要狭隘。第三，培养人文情怀。最后，对美国这个“一切皆有可能”的地方充满好奇，实际上是对美国发自内心的肯定。University of Ma

2、ssachusetts at Boston Commencement Address Boston，MA |June 2，2006 Good morning President Wilson，Chancellor Collins，the Board of Trustees，faculty，parents，family，friends，and the Class of 2006. Congratulations on your graduation，and thank you for allowing me the honor to be a part of it. Its always gre

3、at to be back in Boston. As some of you may have heard， I was here a few years ago to give the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic Convention. It was an amazing experience for me. A humbling honor. A tremendous opportunity. And if you had come up to me a few years earlier and told me Id be there，

4、I wouldve politely told you that you were out of your mind. Let me tell you what happened at the last convention I had been to. It was the year 2000，and I had just gotten my rear-end handed to me in my very first race for Congress. Didnt even make it past the primary. I was a little depressed，and mo

5、re than a little broke，but some friends suggested that I get my mind off it by going to Los Angeles，where that years Democratic Convention was being held. So I decided to go. And when my plane landed in LA，I got my luggage， walked on over to the Hertz counter，filled out all the forms to rent a car，g

6、ave my credit card to the nice woman behind the counter who，moments later， handed it back to me and said，“Mr. Obama，it seems we have a problem.” Thats right，my credit card was denied. After thirty more minutes of haggling，I finally made it to the convention， only to learn that I was thought of so hi

7、ghly by the Democratic Party that my credentials barely granted me access to the mens room-let alone backstage where all the action was. And so，being the VIP that I was，I spent the rest of the week as the guy in the room who nobody knew，but everyone knew didnt belong. Needless to say，when they asked

8、 me to be the conventions keynote speaker just four years later，I made sure I was getting a car. All joking aside，receiving that honor was a welcome change-and，as MasterCard could attest，more than a little unlikely. But of course，America is an unlikely place-a country built on defiance of the odds；o

9、n a belief in the impossible. And I remind you of this because as you set out to live your own stories of success and achievement，its now your turn to help keep it this way. Its your turn to keep this daringly radical but unfailingly simple notion of America alive - that no matter where youre born o

10、r how much your parents have；no matter what you look like or what you believe in，you can still rise to become whatever you want；still go on to achieve great things；still pursue the happiness you hope for. Today，this dream sounds common-perhaps even cliche-yet for most of human history its been anyth

11、ing but. As a servant of Rome，a peasant in China，or a subject of King George，there were very few unlikely futures. No matter how hard you worked or struggled for something better，you knew youd spend your life forced to build somebody elses empire；to sacrifice for someone elses cause. But as the cent

12、uries passed，the people of the world grew restless. They were tired of tyranny and weary of their lot in life. And as they saw merchants start to sail across oceans and explorers set off in search of new worlds，they followed. It was right here，in the waters around us，where the American experiment be

13、gan. As the earliest settlers arrived on the shores of Boston and Salem and Plymouth，they dreamed of building a City upon a Hill. And the world watched，waiting to see if this improbable idea called America would succeed. For over two hundred years，it has. Not because our dream has progressed perfect

14、ly. It hasnt. It has been scarred by our treatment of native peoples， betrayed by slavery，clouded by the subjugation of women，wounded by racism，shaken by war and depression. Yet，the true test of our union is not whether its perfect，but whether we work to perfect it. Whether we recognize our failings

15、，identify our shortcomings，and then rise to meet the challenges of our time. And so weve broadened the American family by winning civil rights and voting rights for women and then African Americans；by choosing to welcome waves of new immigrants to our shores. Weve pushed the boundaries of opportunit

16、y by providing free education for our children and health care for our seniors and our poor；and weve won bargaining rightsand wage hikes and retirement security for our workers. None of this progress happened on its own. Much of it seemed impossible at the time. But all of it came about because ordi

17、nary men and women had faith that here in America，our imperfect dream could be perfected. Now，there may be some who doubt that much has changed - those who doubt that things are better today than they were yesterday. To them I say take a look at this class of 2006. More than half of you represent th

18、e very first member of your family to ever attend college. In the most diverse university in all of New England，I look out at a sea of faces that are African-AmericanandHispanic-American and Asian-American and Arab-American. I see students that have come here from over 100 different countries，believ

19、ing like those first settlers that they too could find a home in this City on a Hill - that they too could find success in this unlikeliest of places. All of this has occurred in the midst of a city where No Irish Need Apply signs once hung from stores. All of this in a city where，just thirty years

20、ago， buses of black students were pelted with rocks as they pulled into schools in South Boston；where the Red Sox were once the team who refused to sign the great Jackie Robinson. But the problem isnt that weve made progress. The problem is that progress isnt good enough. There is more work to be do

21、ne，more justice to be had，more barriers to break. And now its your generations turn to bring these changes about. The last century was undoubtedly an American century. Our victory over fascism liberated millions. At home，we built a shared prosperity that created the largest middle-class inhistory. O

22、urs was a nation of liberators；of free people；of prosperous people - and the world took notice. But today，just a few years into the twenty-first century，we already find ourselves in a different and precarious position. As revolutions in communications and technology have broken down barriers across

23、the world， it has given more power to both our competitors and our enemies. No longer can we assume that a high-school education in Boston is enough to compete for a job that could easily go to a college-educated student in Bangalore or Beijing. No more can we count on employers to provide health ca

24、re and pensions and job training when their bottom-lines know no borders. Never again can we expect the oceans that surround America to keep us safe from attacks on our own soil. So what does this mean for you？What role will you play in meeting these challenges ？ I do not pretend to have the answers

25、. Each of you will have to discover your own. But perhaps I can offer a few suggestions that may be useful along the way. First，take risks. When I was on the brink of graduating from college，I had this crazy idea that I wanted to be a community organizer and work in low-income neighborhoods. My moth

26、er and grandparents thought I should go to law school，and my friends were all busy applying for jobs on Wall Street. But I went ahead and wrote letters to every organization in the country that I thought was working to empower low-income people. And finally，this small group of churches on the south

27、side of Chicago wrote back and offered me a job helping them deal with the consequences of steel plants that had closed and put thousands out of work. The churches didnt have much money -so they offered me a grand sum of $12，000 a year plus $2，000 to buy a car. So I bought a beat up old car，packed u

28、p my belongings，got out a map，and started driving west to Chicago - a place I had never been and where I didnt know a living soul. About halfway between New York City and Chicago，I stopped for the night in a small town in Pennsylvania whose name I no longer remember. I found a motel that looked chea

29、p and clean，I pulled into the driveway，and went to the counter，where there was an old guy doing crossword puzzles. I asked him for a room，and as he was filling out my information，heasked me where I was headed. I said I was going to Chicago，and I told him I was going there to work as a community orga

30、nizer. And he looked at me and he said，“You know，you look like a nice clean-cut young man，and youve got a nice voice. So let me give you a piece of advice - forget this community organizing business. You cant change the world，and people wont appreciate you trying. What you should do is go into telev

31、ision broadcasting. Im telling you，youve got a future.” I couldve taken my mothers advice and I couldve taken my grandparents advice. I couldve taken the path my friends traveled. And I couldve taken the words of wisdom from that old man in Pennsylvania. And，objectively speaking，Im sure he was right

32、. But I knew there was something in me that wanted to try for something bigger. So dont let people talk you into doing the safe thing. Listen to whats in you and decide what it is that you care so much about that youre willing to take a chance. My second piece of advice is to stay global. As the wor

33、ld continues to change and we become more connected to each other，globalization will bring both benefits and disruptions to our lives. But either way，its here，and its not going away. We can try to build walls around us，and we can look inward，and we can respond by being frightened and angry about tho

34、se disruptions. But thats not what were about. We are a confident country，not a fearful one. We can meet these challenges. And that means every single one of us needs to learn more so we can compete more. It means we need an energy policy that will create new jobs in this country and end our depende

35、nce on oil from the Middle East. And it means we need to update our social contract to make sure that people have health care and pensions and training no matter where they work or how many times they switch jobs. But it doesnt mean we should ever withdrawal. We are better than that. My third piece

36、of advice is to cultivate a sense of empathy -to put yourself in other peoples shoes - to see the world from their eyes. Empathy is a quality of character that can change the world -one that makes you understand that your obligations to others extend beyond people who look like you and act like you

37、and live in your neighborhood. I know that，especially on this campus，so many of you have been serving at homeless shelters and high schools and youth centers and job placement organizations all over the Boston area. And I hope this spirit of service lives on long after you leave here. But as you con

38、tinue on in life，its not always easy. In the years to come， you will encounter all kinds of obstacles in the way of empathy. You will find people who，out of fear or need for power，try to divide us and deny what we have in common. Youll hear that the Americans who sleep in the streets and beg for foo

39、d got there because theyre all lazy or weak of spirit. That the immigrants who risk their lives to cross a desert have nothing to contribute to this country and no desire to embrace our ideals. That the inner-city children who are trapped in the nations mostdilapidated schools cant learn and wont le

40、arn and so we should just give up on them entirely. That the innocent people being slaughtered and expelled from their homes half a world away are somebody elses problem to take care of. Youll hear all of this，and youll have to choose. Youll have to decide where your obligations lie. And let me tell

41、 you - the easiest thing in the world is to do nothing at all. To turn off the TV，put down the paper，and walk away from the stories about Iraq or Darfur or poverty or iolence or joblessness or hopelessness. To go about your busy lives，wishing these problems away but expecting someone else to do it.

42、To remain detached；to remain indifferent；to remain safe. But I hope you dont do whats easy. I hope you do whats hard. I often imagine the young Americans -teenagers and college kids not much older than you -from all over the country，watching the Civil Rights Movement unfold before them on their tele

43、vision sets. I imagine that they wouldve seen the marchers and heard the speeches，but they also probably saw the dogs and the fire hoses，or the footage of innocent people being beaten within an inch of their lives，or maybe they wouldve heard the news the day those four little girls died when someone

44、 threw a bomb into their church. Instinctively，they knew that it was safer and smarter to stay at home； to watch the movement from afar. But somewhere in their hearts，they also understood that these people in Georgia and Alabama and Mississippi were their brothers and sisters；that what was happening

45、 was wrong；and that they had an obligation to make it right. And so when the buses pulled up for a Freedom Ride down South，they got on. And they rode. Thousands of them. And they changed the world. We need you to do the same. As Robert F. Kennedy once told a crowd of South Africans no older than you

46、，“The world demands the qualities of youth；not a time of life but a state of mind，a temper of the will，a quality of the imagination，a predominance of courage over timidity，of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease.” Finally，my last piece of advice is to stay amazed - to remain in wonder at

47、 this unlikely place we call America. I think its easy for some people to look at all the challenges we face；to look at poverty and war and racism and inequality and hatred and helplessness，and to get down on this country as a result - to think that theres something wrong with us - that there is lit

48、tle hope to make things better. And if you ever feel like that yourselves，I ask you to remember all the amazing and unlikely things that have happened in this country. This country where a young man from Illinois who failed at so many of the business and political ventures he attempted still went on to become the president who freed a people and saved a union. This country where a young black minister from Georgia who had nothing but a dream in his heart went on to lead his people to the promised land of civil rights and voting rights. This country where hundreds of parents all over the w