There is no question that the faculty, the alumni, the students, and the benefactors of Harvard have used their power to improve the lives of people here and around the world. But can we do more? Can Harvard dedicate its intellect to improving the lives of people who will never even hear its name?

毫無(wú)疑問，哈佛的師生、哈佛的校友和哈佛的資助者已經(jīng)盡力改善了在座各位的的生活，也改善了世界各地人們的生活。但是，我們還能夠再做什么呢？哈佛人能夠?qū)⑺麄兊牟胖欠瞰I(xiàn)出來(lái)嗎？哈佛人能夠改善那些甚至沒有聞“哈佛”之名的人們的生活嗎？

 Let me make a request of the deans and the professors – the intellectual leaders here at Harvard: As you hire new faculty, award tenure, review curriculum, and determine degree requirements, please ask yourselves:

各位院長(zhǎng)，各位教授，你們是哈佛知識(shí)分子的領(lǐng)袖，請(qǐng)?jiān)试S我提出一個(gè)請(qǐng)求——當(dāng)你們雇用新任教師、授予終身教職、評(píng)估全部課程、決定學(xué)位頒發(fā)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的時(shí)候，請(qǐng)問你們自己如下的問題：

Should our best minds be dedicated to solving our biggest problems?

我們最優(yōu)秀的人才是否在致力于解決最困難的問題？

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)其教師去解決世界上最嚴(yán)重的不平等問題？哈佛的學(xué)生是否了解全球性的貧困？是否了解世界性的饑荒？是否了解水資源的缺乏？是否了解輟學(xué)的女童？是否了解那些死于非惡性疾病的兒童？

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

那些養(yǎng)尊處優(yōu)的人們，你們是否了解那些含辛茹苦的人民？

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

我并不是在設(shè)問，請(qǐng)用你行動(dòng)的方針來(lái)做答。

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."

在我被哈佛大學(xué)錄取的那一天，我母親倍感自豪，但她一直敦促我，要為他人謀取更多的福祉。在我結(jié)婚典禮的前幾天，她特意主持了一個(gè)儀式。在這個(gè)儀式上，她高聲朗讀了一封信，是寫給梅林達(dá)的，關(guān)于婚姻方面的問題。那時(shí)，我母親已經(jīng)因癌癥而病入膏肓，但她還是抓住了一線機(jī)會(huì)，傳播她的信念。在信的結(jié)尾，她寫道：“天賦于斯，大任在肩，得到越多，期望更大。”

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.

在座各位，請(qǐng)想一想吧，你們得到了什么——天才、特權(quán)、機(jī)遇——既如此，全世界的人都在期望，期望我們做出無(wú)窮無(wú)盡的貢獻(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，我也要勉勵(lì)各位畢業(yè)生去解決一個(gè)問題，一個(gè)復(fù)雜的問題，那就是去解決這種明顯的社會(huì)不平等問題，然后把自己變成這方面的專家。如果你們能夠以此作為你職業(yè)的目標(biāo)，你將脫穎而出。但是，你不可以僅僅為擴(kuò)大影響而為。你可以一周花幾個(gè)小時(shí)，從日益壯大的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)上獲得信息，找到志同道合的朋友，發(fā)現(xiàn)困難之所在，找到解決困難的捷徑。

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)復(fù)雜的世界阻礙了你前進(jìn)的腳步。做一個(gè)行動(dòng)主義者。將解決人類的不平等視為己任，它將成就你生命歷程中的最輝煌。

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.

諸位畢業(yè)生，你們所處的時(shí)代是一個(gè)神奇的時(shí)代。當(dāng)你們離開哈佛的時(shí)候，你們擁有了我們那時(shí)未曾擁有的技術(shù)，你們認(rèn)識(shí)到了我們那時(shí)未曾認(rèn)識(shí)的社會(huì)不平等現(xiàn)象。既然認(rèn)識(shí)到了這個(gè)問題，如果你棄之不管，你可能就會(huì)受到良心的譴責(zé)，因?yàn)橐稽c(diǎn)小小的努力，你就可以改變那些人的生活。既然你們比我們擁有更大的能力，你們就應(yīng)該爭(zhēng)朝夕，謀長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)，持之以恒地做下去。

Knowing what you know, how could you not?

既知之，怎能無(wú)動(dòng)于衷？

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?cè)俚焦穑叵肽銈冇们啻汉筒胖菗Q來(lái)的一切。我希望各位，在那個(gè)時(shí)候，你們不僅僅用自己專業(yè)成就來(lái)衡量自己；還要用你們?nèi)绾螢橄鐣?huì)的不平等的努力來(lái)衡量自己；還要用你們?nèi)绾紊拼切┻h(yuǎn)隔千山萬(wàn)水的世人來(lái)衡量自己；他們與你們，或許無(wú)一點(diǎn)相似，但他們都是人類。

Good luck.

祝福好運(yùn)。