6 月 5 号,我作为家长参加了普林斯顿大学的毕业典礼。初夏的朝阳穿过浓 密的树叶,将草地涂抹得色彩艳丽 , 胜过梵高的油画。 4 号夜间刚下过一场大雨,清新的空气随微风轻轻飘拂。整个校园洋溢着欢庆的气氛;在每个角落,都可以见到年轻的男女,穿着嵌着橙色条纹的黑色学位袍。他们戴着不同颜色的帽子,用以区分不同的学院和学位(学士、硕士、博士)。欢笑、握手与拥抱,告别、祝贺与希望,演讲、表演与聚会,所有这一切谱写了一曲成就与欢乐的交响乐 —— 这些年轻人达到了人生 中一个重要的里程碑。亲朋好友们忙着拍照,为他们所爱的人感到骄傲,为这些年轻人从这所世界著名的学府成功毕业而骄傲…… 毕业典礼仪式在普利斯顿大学最古老的建筑 Nassau 大厅前的草坪上举行。不同级别的学生代表作了简单的致辞。为本科生和研究生授予学位非常温馨。在六个获得荣誉博士学位的人中,我对黑人歌手艾瑞莎·富兰克林印象特别深,她被誉为“灵歌王后”。她是一个成就出众的女性,她 擅长灵歌、爵士、摇滚、蓝调、流行音乐和福音音乐。在人权运动中,她 的灵歌音乐曾激励着一代人追求自由和平等。 1968 年,她在父亲挚友马丁· 路德·金的葬礼上献歌,她也在美国总统卡特( 1977 )、克林顿( 1993 )、奥巴马( 2009 )的就职典礼上歌唱过。她获的荣誉包括国家艺术奖章、第 21 届格莱美奖、乔治·布什颁发的总统自由奖章。滚石杂志将她评委“历史上最伟大的 100 名歌手”的第一名。我和她仅有的一点联系可能就是 2011 年 2 月,我参加观看了她在马里兰州罗克维尔市斯特拉斯莫尔音乐中心的爵士音乐会。还有就是高兴地看到我的朋友 John D ,引领着富兰克林去领取荣誉音乐博士学位。 毕业典礼上最令人难忘的,还是普林斯顿大学校长雪利·蒂尔曼女士的演讲。她是一位成就斐然的分子生物学家、一位具远见卓识的科学领导者和一位非常善于激励人心的教育家。蒂尔曼博士一直是我非常尊重和敬佩的女士,她的教育理念对我的一些观点产生过很大影响,包括如何培养自己的孩子和影响下一代、中国的教育改革、甚至对人生的看法。蒂尔曼在演讲中赞扬普林斯顿大学在美国经济不景气的背景下坚持人文主义教育,批评了近来由佛罗里达州长 Rick Scott 和哈佛大学前校长 Larry Summers 所推崇的“目标导向”教育。她用普林斯顿校友、美国国父之一詹姆斯·麦迪逊的传奇故事,来阐述自己的观点: “詹姆斯·麦迪逊 1769 年秋从家乡维吉尼亚进入普林斯顿大学,……他埋首于拉丁语、希腊语、哲学、自然科学、地理学、数学和修辞学,尤其积极参加辩论……在两年内完成大学所需的课程后,他有些困惑,不知道自己下一步该如何走……于是,他接受了普林斯顿大学学生惯用的传统 —— 拖延。他说服了当时的校长 John Witherspoon , 允许他在学校继续学习一年希伯来语和政治哲学。因此,他成了普林斯顿大学首位(非正式的)研究生。一年过去后,他仍然不知道自己想做什么。于是他去旅行,之后又在父母家住了四年……” “ 最终,他找到了自己的人生所求 —— 加入爱国者事业,成为一名领袖,致力于建立一个自由独立的国家。他起草了许多最重要的文件,引导美国走到了今天……我最喜爱的故事是关于麦迪逊 1789 年帮助华盛顿起草首任总统就职演说的事。华盛顿拒绝使用一位朋友准备的 73 页的演讲草稿,而请麦迪逊重新写了一份。华盛顿用这份演讲稿国会联席会议做了非常精彩的演讲。演讲如此成功,国会决定应该做一份回应。他们也找了麦迪逊起草这份回应。对国会的回应,华盛顿非常感动,觉得应该写一封信致谢国会。毫无疑问,你想得到 —— 他请麦迪逊起草了这份感谢信。所以,这些总统和国会早期交流,其实是麦迪逊和麦迪逊的公开对话。” 蒂尔曼称麦迪逊在普林斯顿大学获得的人文主义教育,使他成为了一名有远见的思想家、有说服力的演讲家和伟大的作家。“跟随 Witherspoon 的学习,使得麦迪逊能够深入地思考建国思想,这些思想从古希腊文化延伸到苏格兰启蒙思想。它们造就了麦迪逊的领导才能,训练了它缜密的辩论能力,深化了他的道德观,磨练了他的写作和演讲技巧。所有这些对他在政治生涯中的成功都是至关重要的。” 当然,人文主义教育不是唯一有价值的教育形式。教育系统的多样性将会满足社会的不同需求。然而,蒂尔曼强调说,美国要在 21 世纪引领世界,顶尖大学就需要培养一些热爱历史、文学、语言、文化以及科学技术的领袖。“他们需要保持对世界的好奇,广泛接触信息,独立思考,并能够理解和同情他人……” 聆听蒂尔曼演讲,不禁使我想到了中国的高等教育。在如今追逐快速成功和眼前利益的社会里,大学在为社会培养“有用”人才方面面临的压力逐渐增大。学生(以及父母们)仅仅对能够快速找到高新职位的专业感兴趣。如今大学里的课程设置过早专业化,而且面太窄,导致培养的人只是技术专才,而不是创新发明家或领袖人物。中国要保持经济的可持续增长,成为真正现代化国家,改革教育体系以培养下一代智识人才,迫在眉睫。许多中国大学已经设定了进军世界一流大学的目标。基于这样的目标,我们的大学教育不应该把学生培养成某一种职业的专业人才,甚至不应培养只从事某种单一事业的人。我们需要一个健全均衡的教育,来提升创新、独立思考和跨学科工作的能力。世界日益变化,我们的学生需要发展学习新事物的能力,来适应千变万幻的世界,迎接新挑战。高等教育不应该只教专业技能,还应帮助学生发掘他们真正的激情和爱好,建立他们的独立人格。我们的大学应该是新思想的发源地,领导全社会走向未来。(科学网 任春晓 梅进 翻译) Princeton Commencement – Cultivating liberal arts education It was June 5. As a parent, I attended the Commencement of the Princeton University. Shining through the thick tree leaves, the early summer sun painted the grass an array of colors richer than Van Gogh’s oil on canvas. The light wind brought in fresh air that was purified by the heavy rain from the previous night. The whole campus was filled with festivity. At every corner, you can see young men and women on black gowns with orange stripes, with different colored hoods to symbolize their schools and degrees (bachelors, masters, doctors). Laughter, hand-shakes and hugs; farewells, congras and best wishes; speeches, performances and parties; all these orchestrated a symphony of accomplishments and happiness – a major milestone of their young lives have been achieved. Friends and families were busy taking photos with a great sense of pride that their loved ones are ready to walk out of one of the most prestigious colleges on earth... The Commencement Ceremony was held in the front lawn of Nassau Hall. There were elegant speeches by the salutatorian, the valedictorian, etc. T he awarding of degrees to undergraduate and graduate students was heart-warming. Of the six people who were conferr ed with honorary doctor’s degree , I was particular drawn to Aretha Franklin, a black singer who was considered the "Queen of Soul". This is an exceptionally accomplished woman whose repertoire includes soul, jazz, rock, blues, pop and gospel. During the civil rights movement, her soul music inspired a new generation to pursue freedom and equality. She sang at the funeral of Martin Luther King Jr., a close friend of her father, in 1968, as well as multiple inaugural events for Presidents Jimmy Carter (1977), Bill Clinton (1993), and Barack Obama (2009). Her honors include National Medal of Arts, 21 Grammy Awards, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom from George W. Bush. Rolling Stone magazine named her No. 1 on its list of "The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time." The only tie that I may have with her was that I attended her jazz concert in Strathmore Music Center in Rockville, MD in February, 2011. I was also happy to see that my friend John Diekman presented Franklin for the conferral of the Honorary Doctor of Music degree at Princeton University. Of course, the most memorable thing for me was the commencement speech by the Princeton University P resident , Sherry Tilghman. An accomplished molecular biologist, a visionary scientific leader and an inspirational educator, Dr. Tilghman is someone that I have had great respect and admiration. Her philosophy of education has great resonance in my view of how to bring about my own children and our next generation, education reform in China, and even way of life. In her speech, she championed Princeton’s stand for a liberal arts education in today's difficult economic climate , and criticized a recent trend of “goal-oriented” education promoted by leaders like Florida's Governor Rick Scott and former Harvard University President Larry Summers . Tighlman told a great story of James Madison, a Princeton graduate and one of the founding father of the United States, to make her point: “ James Madison arrived at Princeton in the fall of 1769 from his home in Virginia , … immersed himself in Latin and Greek, philosophy, natural science, geography, mathematics, and rhetoric, and actively participated in debate .. . After completing all his requirements in just two years, he found himself at a loss as to what to do next .. . So, adopting that time-honored tradition of all Princeton students — procrastination — he persuaded President John Witherspoon to allow him to stay on for a year and continue his studies in Hebrew and political philosophy, thereby becoming Princeton's first, if unofficial, graduate student. At the end of that year, still not knowing what he wanted to do, he journeyed .. and lived with his parents for another four years… “ Eventually, he found his calling — he embraced the patriot cause and became a leader in the crusade to found a free and independent nation. He went on to author a number of the most important documents that guide our nation to this day … M y favorite story about Madison involves George Washington's first inaugural address in 1789. Washington rejected the 73-page draft prepared by a friend and turned instead to Madison to write the one that he eventually delivered to a joint session of Congress. The speech was such a great success that Congress decided it needed to respond. They asked Madison to draft the response. Washington was so touched by their response that he felt a need to send a thank you note, and, sure enough, you guessed it — he asked Madison to draft it. So these key early exchanges between President and Congress were really Madison talking to Madison in public! Tilghman argue d that the liberal arts education that Madison received at Princeton prepared him as a visionary thinker, a persuasive speaker and a great writer . “ His studies with Witherspoon gave him the opportunity to grapple with the ideas on which this nation was founded, ideas stretching from ancient Greece to the Scottish enlightenment; they disciplined his ability to marshal and then defend a well-constructed argument; deepened his moral sensibility; and they honed his writing and speaking skills, all of which were critical to his success in public life. ” Of course, a liberal education is not the only valuable form of education . The diversity in educational systems will meet various needs of the society. However, Tilghman emphasized that for the United States to be successful in the 21st century, leading universities need to train leaders who are steeped in history, literature, languages, culture, as well as scientific and technological ideas . “ They need to be curious about the world, broadly well-informed, independent of mind, and able to understand and sympathize …”. I couldn’t help but think about China’s high education while I was listening Tilghman’s speech. In today’s atmosphere of seeking quick success and instant benefits, the universities are under increasing pressure to produce “useful” people for the market today. Students (and their parents) are only interested in majors that could lead to jobs immediately, preferably with high incomes. The current college curricula specialize too early and too narrowly , and produce well-trained technocrats but not innovators or leaders . To sustain the economic growth and to become truly modernized country, there is an urgent need to reform our educational system to train the next generation intellectuals in China. Many universities in China have now set an ambitious goal to become a “world class” university. With that in mind, our college education should not be designed to prepar e the students for a specific job or even a single career . We need a well-balanced education to p romote innovation, independent thinking and the ability to work across disciplinary boundaries . The world is changing rapidly. Our students need to develop capability to learn new things, to adapt to the changing world, and to take on new challenges . Our high education should not only teach specialized skills and capabilities, but also help students discover their true passion and interests, and build their characters. Our universities should inspire new thinking, and lead the society.
Paul Janssen于1926年9月12日出生于比利时的蒂伦豪特,他是父亲Jan Constant Janssen 医生和母亲Margriet Fleerackers的长子。他的父母不曾想到,这个孩子日后会成为知名的药物科学家。 他进入比利时蒂伦豪特Jesuit St-Jozefcollege的中学求学,在那里,他决定跟随他父亲Jan Constant Janssen 的脚步成为一名医生。第二次世界大战期间,Paul Janssen在比利时 Namur 市Facultés universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix (FUNDP)学习物理学,生物学,化学。然后Paul Janssen在列文Catholic大学和Ghent大学学习医学。1951年,Paul Janssen以医学“优等生”的成绩从Ghent大学毕业。 服兵役期间,他曾在德国Cologne大学J.Schuller药理学研究所的舒勒工作直到1952年。之后他回到比利时,在Ghent大学Corneille Heymans教授的药理学和治疗学研究所兼职工作,Heymans教授还是1938年诺贝尔医学奖得主。 1953年,Paul Janssen从他的父亲Constant Janssen那里贷款50000比利时法郎开始创业,他成立了自己的科研实验室。同年,他发现了他的第一个药物氨布醋胺(ambucetamide),这个解痉药对缓解月经疼痛特别有效。 1956年,Paul Janssen用研究R79型化合物的论文获得高等教育药理学专业教学证书。然后他离开了学校,在1956年成立公司,也就是后来全球知名的拥有20000名员工的比利时Janssen制药公司。1957年,他娶Dora Arts为妻。 1958年2月11日,他制备了氟哌啶醇,取得了治疗精神分裂症的重大突破。 Paul Janssen和他的团队发展芬太尼家族药物和许多其他强效镇痛药,例如氟哌利多和依托咪酯,为麻醉学作出了重大贡献。他开发了用于治疗腹泻的地芬诺酯,这个药物甚至进入太空,并在阿波罗计划中使用。 1985年,他的Janssen制药公司成为第一个与中华人民共和国建立合资医药企业的西方制药公司,即西安杨森制药有限公司。 他在1995年与Paul Lewi一起成立了分子设计中心,在那里他使用一台超级计算机搜寻治疗艾滋病的候选分子。在一篇题目为“Drug Design with Dr. Paul Janssen”的文章中,描述了他们的合作,那里特别提到动物疼痛模型--热板法就是Paul Janssen最先建立的,它现在已经成为世界上药理学实验的标准模型。 Paul Janssen和Janssen制药公司科学家一共发现了超过80种新药!他的四个药物被列入世界卫生组织的基本药物目录,这绝对是一个世界纪录。他和他的团队开发的大多数的药物为人类医学发展做出了贡献并且被用来治疗真菌和寄生虫感染疾病,精神疾病,心血管疾病,过敏和胃肠道疾病。他一生被授予超过80个医学奖和22个荣誉博士学位。在1990年,詹森被比利时国王博杜安一世封为爵士。 2003年,Paul Janssen在意大利罗马出席一项庆典活动期间不幸逝世。 Drug Design with Dr. Paul Janssen
来所里不知不觉依已然快2月,扪心自问干了些什么?改文章改文章改文章改文章,除此之外就是去几次试验站取取数据,维护一下仪器。凭心而论,自觉玩的不是很过分,周末看个电影,每周打两次球,每天吃晚饭的时候浏览一下网页,大概半小时到一小时左右,看看闲书,然后就是中午休息,周末早上睡个懒觉,洗洗衣服收拾一下房间...可是,两个月就过去了,文章还没改完...当然在二月初,刚回来,心还没有淡定,论文也不是很好改...可是可是,2个月就过去了,也没弄出个什么来,马上就到了汇报的时候,郁闷,内疚?时间就这样过去了,我写博客的时候,时间过去了;我看闲书的时候,时间过去了;我看微博的时候,时间就过去了;我在思考的时候,我在彷徨的时候,我在迷茫的时候,时间就这样白白过去了.... 哎,19年过去了,我高中毕业,23年过去了,我大学毕业,28年过去了,我博士还没毕业...别人工作了我在读书,别人谈恋爱了,我在读书,别人结婚了,我在读书,别人有孩子了,我在读书,别人孩子打酱油了,我还在读书... 然而,我悔了么?NO。然而,我以后会后悔么?I do not known;还是逍遥自在的生活着,可是,时间啊,你就不能慢点么?
看过了《一天》。我的理解啊,故事是这样的: 一对原先素不相识的男女在大学毕业狂欢后滚到了床上,不知道为啥没办事儿,但是一起躺在床上聊了几句,提到了7月15日是个什么节日。BTW,这个日子在中国阴历似乎是鬼节。以后的故事就是围绕着这一天以编年体展开了,女的蹉跎过,纠结过,写诗的文艺青年,端盘子的招待,与不爱的男人同居,最后选择了教书;男的喧嚣过、热闹过,电视节目的主持人,风流酗酒,结婚生子,最后总是失落。 无论人生的轨迹如何,他们都一直保持着联系,维系着友情,或者是时隐时现的爱情。一直是相互陪伴着走过,走到一起,最后又......。 面对着这个叫Dexter的男人,忽然发现他是我们的一面镜子,任何一个男人的镜子。 男人其实一直生活在呵护中,Dexter有溺爱他的母亲,严厉的父亲,身边不乏追捧的女孩子,但是这些造就了他自私、和软弱。 我们都是软弱的,外强中干的,一直在寻找一个能接纳我们无所顾忌哭泣的怀抱。如果你的生命中遇到了这样的女人,你就解放了、你就不用装了、你就是幸福的了。如果没找到,或者最有资格给你怀抱的人不知道你的需求,你就只好继续你的探索,在探索,search, search, and research。 感动的一句台词,Emma在Dexter春风得意、酗酒痛哭的时候,拥抱着这个男人,在他耳边缓缓地说: I love you . So much ...I just don't like you anymore. 我愿意把它颠倒过来念。 I don't like you so much, but I still love you so much. 我可以不喜欢你的做派,你的生活习惯,比如在朋友聚会的时候总是没完没了地发短信,比如一个月不洗脚,比如打呼噜......,但是我不能不爱你,因为你一直陪我走过,让我坚强,让我成长,让我成为男人或者女人。
刚刚与印度德里大学毕业的路谈到印度的本科教育。所有的教材与美国同步,授课老师列一个outline,不同的书,不同的章节在上课之前全部需要弄明白,宏观,微观,公共经济,数学,计量,作者都是我早已耳闻,与自己的本科教育相比实在是相形见绌。起先他告诉我他上课从来不预习,但习题一定都会在老师讲解之前做完,我以为他有超理解能力,现在看来,他在本科打下了一个坚定的基础。 来学校之前以为是黑色星期五,因为11:45am是supervision meeting,正好又遇见了Sourafel教授,他依旧热情,这个印度老头我一直不大听得懂他的英语,好几次打招呼,我都担心他对我心存芥蒂,这会他很热情让我顾虑全消。他是Zo的第二导师。Richard一直目标明确,他以嘱咐的语气希望下学期微观计量Sourafel会讲授一些对我有用的内容,"Lefan needs IV and Panel, no GMM, no time serie..."的确很期待下一学期Sourafel的课。 下午的Econometric Theory依旧不明白,因为没有做好预习的功课,Steve的讲授都是基本的时间序列,如果明白了与EDA的课程一定是相辅相成的。其实对于协整方面的研究我还真的是挺有兴趣的。约好Ben周日来帮我做Cottage Pie,并与美里,原次郞交谈了一会,他们虽然是夫妻但是行动都相当的独立。 我发现自己一个不好的习惯,对于对方问我的问题,我总是答不对题,复杂化。Econometric课间休息遇到Sourafel,问我是否要喝咖啡,看看我回答了什么:"I do need coffee to keet alert, but I've got only five minutes in the break."这不人家生气的走了!唉,你就不能说“No, thank you.”吗? 好好整理一下的!乐。
You've got to find what you love,' Jobs says Jobs说,你必须要找到你所爱的东西。 This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005. 这是苹果公司和Pixar动画工作室的CEO Steve Jobs于2005年6月12号在斯坦福大学的毕业典礼上面的演讲稿。 I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories. 我今天很荣幸能和你们一起参加毕业典礼,斯坦福大学是世界上最好的大学之一。我从来没有从大学中毕业。说实话,今天也许是在我的生命中离大学毕业最近的一天了。今天我想向你们讲述我生活中的三个故事。不是什么大不了的事情,只是三个故事而已。 The first story is about connecting the dots. 第一个故事是关于如何把生命中的点点滴滴串连起来。 I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out? 我在Reed大学读了六个月之后就退学了,但是在十八个月以后——我真正的作出退学决定之前,我还经常去学校。我为什么要退学呢? It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college. 故事从我出生的时候讲起。我的亲生母亲是一个年轻的,没有结婚的大学毕业生。她决定让别人收养我, 她十分想让我被大学毕业生收养。所以在我出生的时候,她已经做好了一切的准备工作,能使得我被一个律师和他的妻子所收养。但是她没有料到,当我出生之后,律师夫妇突然决定他们想要一个女孩。 所以我的生养父母(他们还在我亲生父母的观察名单上)突然在半夜接到了一个电话:“我们现在这儿有一个不小心生出来的男婴,你们想要他吗?”他们回答道:“当然!”但是我亲生母亲随后发现,我的养母从来没有上过大学,我的父亲甚至从没有读过高中。她拒绝签这个收养合同。只是在几个月以后,我的父母答应她一定要让我上大学,那个时候她才同意。 And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting. 在十七岁那年,我真的上了大学。但是我很愚蠢的选择了一个几乎和你们斯坦福大学一样贵的学校, 我父母还处于蓝领阶层,他们几乎把所有积蓄都花在了我的学费上面。在六个月后, 我已经看不到其中的价值所在。我不知道我想要在生命中做什么,我也不知道大学能帮助我找到怎样的答案。 但是在这里,我几乎花光了我父母这一辈子的所有积蓄。所以我决定要退学,我觉得这是个正确的决定。不能否认,我当时确实非常的害怕, 但是现在回头看看,那的确是我这一生中最棒的一个决定。在我做出退学决定的那一刻, 我终于可以不必去读那些令我提不起丝毫兴趣的课程了。然后我还可以去修那些看起来有点意思的课程。 It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example: 但是这并不是那么罗曼蒂克。我失去了我的宿舍,所以我只能在朋友房间的地板上面睡觉,我去捡5美分的可乐瓶子,仅仅为了填饱肚子, 在星期天的晚上,我需要走七英里的路程,穿过这个城市到Hare Krishna寺庙(注:位于纽约Brooklyn下城),只是为了能吃上饭——这个星期唯一一顿好一点的饭。但是我喜欢这样。我跟着我的直觉和好奇心走, 遇到的很多东西,此后被证明是无价之宝。让我给你们举一个例子吧: Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating. Reed大学在那时提供也许是全美最好的美术字课程。在这个大学里面的每个海报, 每个抽屉的标签上面全都是漂亮的美术字。因为我退学了, 没有受到正规的训练, 所以我决定去参加这个课程,去学学怎样写出漂亮的美术字。我学到了san serif 和serif字体, 我学会了怎么样在不同的字母组合之中改变空格的长度, 还有怎么样才能作出最棒的印刷式样。那是一种科学永远不能捕捉到的、美丽的、真实的艺术精妙, 我发现那实在是太美妙了。 None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later. 当时看起来这些东西在我的生命中,好像都没有什么实际应用的可能。但是十年之后,当我们在设计第一台Macintosh电脑的时候,就不是那样了。我把当时我学的那些家伙全都设计进了Mac。那是第一台使用了漂亮的印刷字体的电脑。如果我当时没有退学, 就不会有机会去参加这个我感兴趣的美术字课程, Mac就不会有这么多丰富的字体,以及赏心悦目的字体间距。那么现在个人电脑就不会有现在这么美妙的字型了。当然我在大学的时候,还不可能把从前的点点滴滴串连起来,但是当我十年后回顾这一切的时候,真的豁然开朗了。 Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life. 再次说明的是,你在向前展望的时候不可能将这些片断串连起来;你只能在回顾的时候将点点滴滴串连起来。所以你必须相信这些片断会在你未来的某一天串连起来。你必须要相信某些东西:你的勇气、目的、生命、因缘。这个过程从来没有令我失望(let me down),只是让我的生命更加地与众不同而已。 My second story is about love and loss. 我的第二个故事是关于爱和损失的。 I was lucky – I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation - the Macintosh - a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating. 我非常幸运, 因为我在很早的时候就找到了我钟爱的东西。Woz和我在二十岁的时候就在父母的车库里面开创了苹果公司。我们工作得很努力, 十年之后, 这个公司从那两个车库中的穷光蛋发展到了超过四千名的雇员、价值超过二十亿的大公司。在公司成立的第九年,我们刚刚发布了最好的产品,那就是Macintosh。我也快要到三十岁了。在那一年, 我被炒了鱿鱼。你怎么可能被你自己创立的公司炒了鱿鱼呢? 嗯,在苹果快速成长的时候,我们雇用了一个很有天分的家伙和我一起管理这个公司, 在最初的几年,公司运转的很好。但是后来我们对未来的看法发生了分歧, 最终我们吵了起来。当争吵不可开交的时候, 董事会站在了他的那一边。所以在三十岁的时候, 我被炒了。在这么多人的眼皮下我被炒了。在而立之年,我生命的全部支柱离自己远去, 这真是毁灭性的打击。 I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me – I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over. 在最初的几个月里,我真是不知道该做些什么。我把从前的创业激情给丢了, 我觉得自己让与我一同创业的人都很沮丧。我和David Pack和Bob Boyce见面,并试图向他们道歉。我把事情弄得糟糕透顶了。但是我渐渐发现了曙光, 我仍然喜爱我从事的这些东西。苹果公司发生的这些事情丝毫的没有改变这些, 一点也没有。我被驱逐了,但是我仍然钟爱它。所以我决定从头再来。 I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life. 我当时没有觉察, 但是事后证明, 从苹果公司被炒是我这辈子发生的最棒的事情。因为,作为一个成功者的极乐感觉被作为一个创业者的轻松感觉所重新代替: 对任何事情都不那么特别看重。这让我觉得如此自由, 进入了我生命中最有创造力的一个阶段。 During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I retuned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together. 在接下来的五年里, 我创立了一个名叫NeXT的公司, 还有一个叫Pixar的公司, 然后和一个后来成为我妻子的优雅女人相识。Pixar 制作了世界上第一个用电脑制作的动画电影——“”玩具总动员”,Pixar现在也是世界上最成功的电脑制作工作室。在后来的一系列运转中,Apple收购了NeXT, 然后我又回到了Apple公司。我们在NeXT发展的技术在Apple的复兴之中发挥了关键的作用。我还和Laurence 一起建立了一个幸福的家庭。 I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle. 我可以非常肯定,如果我不被Apple开除的话, 这其中一件事情也不会发生的。这个良药的味道实在是太苦了,但是我想病人需要这个药。有些时候, 生活会拿起一块砖头向你的脑袋上猛拍一下。不要失去信心。我很清楚唯一使我一直走下去的,就是我做的事情令我无比钟爱。你需要去找到你所爱的东西。对于工作是如此, 对于你的爱人也是如此。你的工作将会占据生活中很大的一部分。你只有相信自己所做的是伟大的工作, 你才能怡然自得。如果你现在还没有找到, 那么继续找、不要停下来、全心全意的去找, 当你找到的时候你就会知道的。就像任何真诚的关系, 随着岁月的流逝只会越来越紧密。所以继续找,直到你找到它,不要停下来! My third story is about death. 我的第三个故事是关于死亡的。 When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something. 当我十七岁的时候, 我读到了一句话:“如果你把每一天都当作生命中最后一天去生活的话,那么有一天你会发现你是正确的。”这句话给我留下了深刻的印象。从那时开始,过了33年,我在每天早晨都会对着镜子问自己:“如果今天是我生命中的最后一天, 你会不会完成你今天想做的事情呢?”当答案连续很多次被给予“不是”的时候, 我知道自己需要改变某些事情了。 Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. “记住你即将死去”是我一生中遇到的最重要箴言。它帮我指明了生命中重要的选择。因为几乎所有的事情, 包括所有的荣誉、所有的骄傲、所有对难堪和失败的恐惧,这些在死亡面前都会消失。我看到的是留下的真正重要的东西。你有时候会思考你将会失去某些东西,“记住你即将死去”是我知道的避免这些想法的最好办法。你已经赤身裸体了, 你没有理由不去跟随自己的心一起跳动。 About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes. 大概一年以前, 我被诊断出癌症。我在早晨七点半做了一个检查, 检查清楚的显示在我的胰腺有一个肿瘤。我当时都不知道胰腺是什么东西。医生告诉我那很可能是一种无法治愈的癌症, 我还有三到六个月的时间活在这个世界上。我的医生叫我回家, 然后整理好我的一切, 那就是医生准备死亡的程序。那意味着你将要把未来十年对你小孩说的话在几个月里面说完.;那意味着把每件事情都搞定, 让你的家人会尽可能轻松的生活;那意味着你要说“再见了”。 I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now. 我整天和那个诊断书一起生活。后来有一天早上我作了一个活切片检查,医生将一个内窥镜从我的喉咙伸进去,通过我的胃, 然后进入我的肠子, 用一根针在我的胰腺上的肿瘤上取了几个细胞。我当时很镇静,因为我被注射了镇定剂。但是我的妻子在那里, 后来告诉我,当医生在显微镜地下观察这些细胞的时候他们开始尖叫, 因为这些细胞最后竟然是一种非常罕见的可以用手术治愈的胰腺癌症。我做了这个手术, 现在我痊愈了。 This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept: 那是我最接近死亡的时候, 我还希望这也是以后的几十年最接近的一次。从死亡线上又活了过来, 死亡对我来说,只是一个有用但是纯粹是知识上的概念的时候,我可以更肯定一点地对你们说: No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true. 没有人愿意死, 即使人们想上天堂, 人们也不会为了去那里而死。但是死亡是我们每个人共同的终点。从来没有人能够逃脱它。也应该如此。 因为死亡就是生命中最好的一个发明。它将旧的清除以便给新的让路。你们现在是新的, 但是从现在开始不久以后, 你们将会逐渐的变成旧的然后被清除。我很抱歉这很戏剧性, 但是这十分的真实。 Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. 你们的时间很有限, 所以不要将他们浪费在重复其他人的生活上。不要被教条束缚,那意味着你和其他人思考的结果一起生活。不要被其他人喧嚣的观点掩盖你真正的内心的声音。还有最重要的是, 你要有勇气去听从你直觉和心灵的指示——它们在某种程度上知道你想要成为什么样子,所有其他的事情都是次要的。 When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions. 当我年轻的时候, 有一本叫做“整个地球的目录”振聋发聩的杂志,它是我们那一代人的圣经之一。它是一个叫Stewart Brand的家伙在离这里不远的Menlo Park书写的, 他象诗一般神奇地将这本书带到了这个世界。那是六十年代后期, 在个人电脑出现之前, 所以这本书全部是用打字机,、剪刀还有偏光镜制造的。有点像用软皮包装的google, 在google出现三十五年之前:这是理想主义的, 其中有许多灵巧的工具和伟大的想法。 Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you. Stewart和他的伙伴出版了几期的“整个地球的目录”,当它完成了自己使命的时候, 他们做出了最后一期的目录。那是在七十年代的中期, 你们的时代。在最后一期的封底上是清晨乡村公路的照片(如果你有冒险精神的话,你可以自己找到这条路的),在照片之下有这样一段话:“保持饥饿,保持愚蠢。”这是他们停止了发刊的告别语。“保持饥饿,保持愚蠢。”我总是希望自己能够那样,现在, 在你们即将毕业,开始新的旅程的时候, 我也希望你们能这样: Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. 保持饥饿,保持愚蠢。 Thank you all very much. 非常感谢你们。 本文来自CSDN博客,转载请标明出处: http://blog.csdn.net/wcn1990/archive/2009/01/25/3852998.aspx