Should Harvard encourage its faculty to take on the world’s worst inequities? Should Harvard students learn about the depth of global poverty … the prevalence of world hunger … the scarcity of clean water …the girls kept out of school … the children who die from diseases we can cure?

哈佛是否鼓勵(lì)她的老師去研究解決世界上最嚴(yán)重的不平等？哈佛的學(xué)生是否從全球那些極端的貧窮中學(xué)到了什么……世界性的饑荒……清潔的水資源的缺乏……無(wú)法上學(xué)的女童……死于非惡性疾病的兒童……哈佛的學(xué)生有沒(méi)有從中學(xué)到東西？

Should the world’s most privileged people learn about the lives of the world’s least privileged?

那些世界上過(guò)著最優(yōu)越生活的人們，有沒(méi)有從那些最困難的人們身上學(xué)到東西？

These are not rhetorical questions – you will answer with your policies.

這些問(wèn)題并非語(yǔ)言上的修辭。你必須用自己的行動(dòng)來(lái)回答它們。

My mother, who was filled with pride the day I was admitted here – never stopped pressing me to do more for others. A few days before my wedding, she hosted a bridal event, at which she read aloud a letter about marriage that she had written to Melinda. My mother was very ill with cancer at the time, but she saw one more opportunity to deliver her message, and at the close of the letter she said: "From those to whom much is given, much is expected."

我的母親在我被哈佛大學(xué)錄取的那一天，曾經(jīng)感到非常驕傲。她從沒(méi)有停止督促我，去為他人做更多的事情。在我結(jié)婚的前幾天，她主持了一個(gè)新娘進(jìn)我家的 儀式。在這個(gè)儀式上，她高聲朗讀了一封關(guān)于婚姻的信，這是她寫給Melinda的。那時(shí)，我的母親已經(jīng)因?yàn)榘┌Y病入膏肓，但是她還是認(rèn)為這是又一個(gè)傳播她 的信念的機(jī)會(huì)。在那封信的結(jié)尾，她寫道：“對(duì)于那些接受了許多幫助的人們，他們還在期待更多的幫助。”

When you consider what those of us here in this Yard have been given – in talent, privilege, and opportunity – there is almost no limit to what the world has a right to expect from us.

想一想吧，我們?cè)谶@個(gè)院子里的這些人，被給予過(guò)什么——天賦、特權(quán)、機(jī)遇——那么可以這樣說(shuō)，全世界的人們幾乎有無(wú)限的權(quán)力，期待我們做出貢獻(xiàn)。

In line with the promise of this age, I want to exhort each of the graduates here to take on an issue – a complex problem, a deep inequity, and become a specialist on it. If you make it the focus of your career, that would be phenomenal. But you don’t have to do that to make an impact. For a few hours every week, you can use the growing power of the Internet to get informed, find others with the same interests, see the barriers, and find ways to cut through them.

同這個(gè)時(shí)代的期望一樣，我也要向今天各位畢業(yè)的同學(xué)提出一個(gè)忠告：你們要選擇一個(gè)問(wèn)題，一個(gè)復(fù)雜的問(wèn)題，一個(gè)有關(guān)于人類深刻的不平等的問(wèn)題，然后你 們要變成這個(gè)問(wèn)題的專家。如果你們能夠使得這個(gè)問(wèn)題成為你們職業(yè)的核心，那么你們就會(huì)非常杰出。但是，你們不必一定要去做那些大事。每個(gè)星期只用幾個(gè)小 時(shí)，你就可以通過(guò)互聯(lián)網(wǎng)得到信息，找到志同道合的朋友，發(fā)現(xiàn)困難所在，找到解決它們的途徑。

Don’t let complexity stop you. Be activists. Take on the big inequities. It will be one of the great experiences of your lives.

不要讓這個(gè)世界的復(fù)雜性阻礙你前進(jìn)。要成為一個(gè)行動(dòng)主義者。將解決人類的不平等視為己任。它將成為你生命中最重要的經(jīng)歷之一。

You graduates are coming of age in an amazing time. As you leave Harvard, you have technology that members of my class never had. You have awareness of global inequity, which we did not have. And with that awareness, you likely also have an informed conscience that will torment you if you abandon these people whose lives you could change with very little effort. You have more than we had; you must start sooner, and carry on longer.

在座的各位畢業(yè)的同學(xué)，你們所處的時(shí)代是一個(gè)神奇的時(shí)代。當(dāng)你們離開(kāi)哈佛的時(shí)候，你們擁有的技術(shù)，是我們那一屆學(xué)生所沒(méi)有的。你們已經(jīng)了解到了世界 上的不平等，我們那時(shí)還不知道這些。有了這樣的了解之后，要是你再棄那些你可以幫助的人們于不顧，就將受到良心的譴責(zé)，只需一點(diǎn)小小的努力，你就可以改變 那些人們的生活。你們比我們擁有更大的能力；你們必須盡早開(kāi)始，盡可能長(zhǎng)時(shí)期堅(jiān)持下去。

Knowing what you know, how could you not?

知道了你們所知道的一切，你們?cè)趺纯赡懿徊扇⌒袆?dòng)呢？

And I hope you will come back here to Harvard 30 years from now and reflect on what you have done with your talent and your energy. I hope you will judge yourselves not on your professional accomplishments alone, but also on how well you have addressed the world’s deepest inequities … on how well you treated people a world away who have nothing in common with you but their humanity.

我希望，30年后你們還會(huì)再回到哈佛，想起你們用自己的天賦和能力所做出的一切。我希望，在那個(gè)時(shí)候，你們用來(lái)評(píng)價(jià)自己的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，不僅僅是你們的專業(yè) 成就，而包括你們?yōu)楦淖冞@個(gè)世界深刻的不平等所做出的努力，以及你們?nèi)绾紊拼切┻h(yuǎn)隔千山萬(wàn)水、與你們毫不涉及的人們，你們與他們唯一的共同點(diǎn)就是同為人類。

Good luck.

最后，祝各位同學(xué)好運(yùn)。