利比亚的首位女总统瑟利夫2011哈佛大学毕业典礼英语演讲及双语文本
演讲日期：2011年5月26日 译者：阮一峰【人物介绍】埃伦•约翰逊•瑟利夫（Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf，1938年10月29日–），2006年1月16日当选利比里亚总统，成为非洲历史上首位女总统。毕业于美国威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校的会计专业，同时也获得了美国科罗拉多大学博尔德分校的经济学学位，后又拥有哈佛大学公共管理硕士学位。它人生经过重重的考验,如今踏上辉煌的旅途,她将会如何对她的校友讲述她的离奇经历呢？请看她在2011年在哈佛毕业典礼上的演讲。
【英语演讲稿正文】
President Drew Gilpin Faust, members of the Harvard Board of Overseers, members of the Harvard Corporation, faculty, staff and students, fellow alumni, members of the graduating Class of 2011, parents, family and friends, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, friends:
福斯特校长，哈佛监管理事会的各位理事，哈佛集团的各位成员，各位老师，各位教工，各位同学，各位校友，各位2011级的毕业生，各位毕业生的家长和亲朋，各位贵宾，先生们，女士们，朋友们，
I am honored not only to be the 360th Commencement speaker at my alma mater, but to do so in the year Harvard University celebrates 375 years of preparing minds as the oldest institution of higher learning in America. Thank you for the invitation and congratulations to you, Dr. Faust, the first female president of Harvard! It is a great privilege to share in Harvard’s distinguished and storied history. Harvard has produced presidents, prime ministers, a United Nations secretary-general, leaders in business, government, and the church. But more than anything, Harvard has produced the men and women on whose talent our societies function — the leaders in law, health, business, government, design, education, spirituality, and thought.
我感到非常荣幸，不仅因为担任母校第360届毕业典礼的演讲嘉宾，还因为赶上了哈佛大学—-这个美国最早的高等教育机构—-第375周年校庆。福斯特博士，您是哈佛历史上第一位女校长，谢谢您邀请我，向您表示祝贺。成为哈佛大学卓越传奇的历史的一部分，这是一种莫大的荣誉。哈佛培养了总统、首相、联合国秘书长、商界领袖、政界领袖、宗教领袖。但是更重要的是，哈佛培养了维持我们社会运转的各类充满才华的学生—-优秀的法律工作者、医生、商人、公务员、设计师、教育家、心理指导师和思想家。
An event four decades ago put me on the path that has led me to where I am today. I participated, as a junior official of Liberia’s Department of Treasury, in a national development conference sponsored by our National Planning Council and a team of Harvard advisers working with Liberia. My remarks, which challenged the status quo, landed me in my first political trouble. The head of the Harvard team, recognizing, in a closed society, the potential danger I faced, facilitated the process that enabled me to become a Mason Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government. The Mason Program provided me with the opportunity to study a diversified curriculum for a master’s degree in public administration. Perhaps more importantly, in terms of preparation for leadership, the program enabled us to learn and interact with other Fellows and classmates who represented current and potential leaders from all continents.
四十年前的一件往事，让我走上了今天的道路。当时，我作为利比里亚财政部的低级职员，参加了由我们的”国家规划委员会”赞助的一次国家发展会议，与一组哈佛大学的顾问一起在利比里亚合作。我在发言中批评了政府，这使我遇到了人生第一次政治麻烦。哈佛顾问团的团长看出了这一点，在一个封闭的社会中，我可能会遭受到危险，他设法让我成为肯尼迪政府学院的梅森研究员。梅森项目使我有机会学习多种课程，得到公共管理硕士学位。它的更重要的作用，可能是培养领导能力。这个项目使我们与其他研究员和同学一起学习和互动，如今他们正在或将要走上各国政治领袖的位置。
I engaged, thrilled to be among the world’s best minds, yet overwhelmed by the reality of being a part of the world’s most prestigious institution of learning. As a result, I did things that I should have done, like studying hard, going to the stacks to do the research for the many papers and for better knowledge of the history of my country. I notice a few blank stares — evidence of the generation gap — so let me explain: the stacks contained books, which people used to write, and other people used to read, before Google Scholar was created. I also did things that I should not have done, like exposing myself to frostbite when I joined students much younger than I to travel by bus to Washington, D.C., to demonstrate against U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.
与全世界最优秀的人在一起，成为世界最富盛名的教育机构的一份子，让我兴奋异常，全身心地投入，忙得不可开交。因此，我不仅做那些应该做的事情，比如刻苦学习、阅读一堆堆与研究项目和祖国历史有关的文献。（我看到有些听众不太理解的眼神，这就是”代沟”了，让我来解释一下，所谓”一堆堆”是指里面有很多书籍。Google学术搜索诞生之前，人们习惯写作和阅读书籍。）我还做那些本不应该做的事情，比如与许多比我年轻很多的学生，一起坐巴士，去华盛顿游行示威，反对美国卷入越南战争，这让我得了冻疮。
It is difficult to imagine achieving all that I have, without the opportunity to study at Harvard. It is, therefore, for me a profound honor to be counted as an alumna. I salute my fellow graduates who share that rich heritage of academic excellence and the pursuit of truth.
如果没有来到哈佛学习，很难想象我会得到今天的成就。因此，能够被哈佛承认为校友，对我来说是一种特别的光荣。我向那些一起毕业的同学致敬，他们继承了学术传统，追求真理，发扬光大了哈佛精神。
In preparation for this Address, I was pleasantly surprised to learn how far back Liberia’s connection to Harvard goes. The establishment of the Liberia College (now the University of Liberia) in 1862, the second-oldest institution of higher learning in West Africa, was led and funded by the Trustees of Donations for Education in Liberia. Simon Greenleaf, the Harvard College law professor who drafted Liberia’s Independence Constitution of 1847, was the founder and president of the Trustees of Donations for Education in Liberia.
准备这篇演讲稿的过程中，我很高兴和震惊地了解到，利比里亚与哈佛大学的联系可以追溯到非常久远之前。利比里亚学院（现为利比里亚大学）成立于1862年，是西部非洲第二古老的高等教育机构。这所学校是由”利比里亚教育基金会”资助和领导的，而这个基金会的创始人和主席是Simon Greenleaf。他是哈佛大学法学教授，在1847年起草了利比里亚独立宪章。
The first Liberian graduate of Harvard did so in 1920, and since then there has been a steady trail of Liberians to Cambridge. Most of them returned home to pursue successful careers.
1920年，第一个利比里亚学生从哈佛大学毕业。此后，一直不断有利比里亚人来到坎布里奇求学。他们中的大多数后来都回国，取得了事业的成功。
Thank you, Harvard, and thank you to the many Mason Program professors, dead and alive, for the compliments you paid when my papers and interventions were top rate, and for the patience you showed when I struggled with quantitative analysis.
感谢你，哈佛大学。感谢许多已故和健在的梅森项目教授，感谢你们对我的论文和其他活动的高度评价，感谢你们在我学习数量分析遇到困难时显示的耐心。
The self-confidence, sometimes called arrogance, that comes from being a Harvard graduate can also lead one down a dangerous path. It did for me. One year after my return from Cambridge, I was at it again, in a Commencement Address at my high school alma mater. I questioned the government’s failure to address long-standing inequalities in the society. This forced me into exile and a staff position at the World Bank. Other similar events would follow in a life of in and out of country, in and out of jail, in and out of professional service. There were times when I thought death was near, and times when the burden of standing tall by one’s conviction seemed only to result in failure. But through it all, my experience sends a strong message that failure is just as important as success.
毕业于哈佛，给人带来的自信（有时是自大），也能使人走上一条危险的道路。我就是这样。我从哈佛毕业回国一年后，又不得不再次来到美国。原因是我参加高中母校的毕业典礼，质疑政府在改变社会长期以来不平等方面的完全失败。这使得我不得不流亡海外，在世界银行担任职员。后来又发生了许多类似的事件，使得我回国又出国、入狱又出狱、就业又失业。好几次我觉得离死不远，还有好几次自己的坚定信念看来只会导致失败。但是经过这一切，我的经历表达了一个强烈的信息，那就是失败同成功一样重要。
Today I stand proud, as the first woman president of my country, Liberia. This has allowed me to lead the processes of change, change needed to address a long-standing environment characterized by awesome challenges: a collapsed economy, huge domestic and external debt arrears, dysfunctional institutions, destroyed infrastructure, poor regional and international relationships, and social capital destroyed by the scourge of war.
今天我作为我的祖国利比里亚的第一位女总统站在这里，非常骄傲。这个职位允许我领导变革的进程，我的祖国需要变革，来面对现实中长期存在的许多巨大的挑战：崩溃的经济，巨大的国内外逾期债务，丧失功能的各种机构，被摧毁的基础设施，脆弱的地区和国际关系，毁于战火的各种社会资源。
After election, I moved quickly in mobilizing our team, sought support from partners, and tackled the challenges. In five years, we formulated the laws and policies and strategies for growth and development. We removed the international sanctions on our primary exports; introduced and made public a cash-based budget; increased revenue by over 400 percent; and mobilized foreign direct investment worth 16 times the size of the economy when I assumed office. We built a small and professional army and coast guard, and moved the economy from negative growth to average around 6 percent. We have virtually eliminated a $4.9 billion external debt, settled a large portion of international institutional debt, as well as domestic arrears and suppliers’ credit. We restored electricity and pipe-borne water, lacking in the capital for two decades; reconstructed two modern universities and rural referral hospitals; constructed or reconstructed roads, bridges, schools, training institutions, local government facilities, and courts throughout the country; established and strengthened the institutional pillars of integrity; decentralized education by establishing community colleges; brought back the Peace Corps; and mobilized financial and technical resources from U.S. foundations, sororities, and individuals for support of programs aimed at the education of girls, the empowerment of adolescent youth, and improved working conditions for market women.
当选后，我迅速动员我们的团队，向支持者寻求支持，应对各种挑战。在五年的时间中，我们制定了法律、政策和战略，促进经济增长和社会发展。我们消除了主要出口商品的国际制裁，引入并公开了建立在现金基础上的财政预算，财政收入增加超过400%，动员的外国投资是我就职时经济规模的16倍。我们建立了一支小规模、专业化的军队和海岸护卫队，将经济从负增长提升到平均年增长6%左右。我们实际上消除了49亿美元的外债，解决了大部分的国际机构欠款，以及国内的逾期债务和供应商的贷款。我们修复了电力和自来水系统，它们已经在首都缺失20年了；我们重建了两所现代化大学和农村的中央医院，修建和重修了道路、桥梁、学校、培训机构、地方政府设施、全国各地的法院；我们建立和加强了保证正义的一些体制措施；通过建立社区学院，让教育资源去中心化；让和平队重新回到利比里亚；动员了美国的基金会、联谊会和个人，提供资金和技术资源，支持那些教育女童、激励青少年、改进女性小贩工作条件的项目。
Nevertheless, the challenges for sustained growth and development remain awesome. Our stability is threatened by the thousands of returnees from U.S. prisons and regional refugee camps, the bulk of whom are lacking in technical skills. Our peace is threatened by the challenging neighborhood where we live: two of our three neighbors have either experienced, or narrowly avoided, civil war in the past year, and we patiently host their refugees, since not even a decade ago it was they who hosted so many of us. Implementation of our economic development agenda is constrained by low implementation and absorptive capacity, which means that we are not constrained by funding alone. Plans to enhance performance in governance move slower than desired due to long-standing institutional decay and a corrupted value system of dishonesty and dependency. The development of infrastructure is constrained by the high capital cost of restoration, brought about by the lack of maintenance and exacerbated by wanton destruction over two decades of conflict.
但是，可持续发展所面对的挑战，依然巨大。从美国监狱和其他地区的难民营回归的几千个人员，对我们的稳定有威胁，他们中的大多数人没有技能。我们的和平也受到邻国的威胁。去年，我们的三个邻国当中有两个，经历了或者惊险地避免了内战。我们忍耐地接受他们的难民，因为不到十年之前，正是他们接受了我们的大量难民。我们的经济发展规划，受到低下的学习和执行能力的限制，这意味着我们的困难并不仅仅是资金不足。提高政府表现的计划，比想象的进展缓慢，因为我们体制落后，而且还有不诚实、讲人情的腐败价值观。基础设施的开发，也受到巨大修复成本的制约，因为我们缺乏维修能力，而且过去二十多年的内部冲突带来的恶意破坏，使得情况大大恶化。
Yet, today, we are proud that young Liberian children are back in school, preparing themselves to play a productive part in the new Liberian society. Our seven-year-olds do not hear guns and do not have to run. They can smile again. We can thus say with confidence that we have moved our war-torn nation from turmoil to peace, from disaster to development, from dismay to hope. And it was the Liberian women who fought the final battle for peace, who came, their number and conviction the only things greater than their diversity, to demonstrate for the end to our civil war. I am, therefore, proud to stand before you, humbled by the success in representing the aspirations and expectations of Liberian women, African women, and, I dare to say, women worldwide.
但是，令我们骄傲的是，今天利比里亚的儿童已经重返校园，为建设一个新利比里亚做准备。我们的七岁儿童不会听到枪声，也不必逃亡。他们可以重新微笑。我们能够自信地说，我们已经令这个饱受战火蹂躏的国家，从战乱走向和平，从灾难走向发展，从忧伤走向希望。正是利比里亚妇女，为和平进行最后的战斗，她们的人数和信念战胜内部的差异，她们终结了内战。因此，我非常骄傲地站在你们面前，为能够代表利比里亚妇女、非洲妇女、甚至全世界的妇女，而感到荣幸万分。
Today I stand equally proud, as the first woman president of our African continent, a continent that has embraced the process of change and transformation. I am proud that Liberia became a beacon of hope in Africa. With few notable exceptions, Africa is no longer a continent of countries with corrupt big men who rule with iron fists. It is no longer the Dark Continent in continual economic free fall, wallowing in debt, poverty and disease.
今天，我同样自豪地作为非洲大陆第一位女总统来到这里，非洲正在进入变革和转型的时期。我为利比里亚成为非洲希望的灯塔，而感到自豪。除了极少数突出的例外，非洲不再是独裁者一手遮天、腐败无处不在的大陆。它也不再是经济像自由落体那样下滑的黑暗大陆，不再沉溺于债务、贫穷和疾病。
When he addressed the Ghanaian Parliament in 2009, President Barack Obama reminded the people of Africa that it would no longer be the great men of the past who would transform the continent. The future of all of our countries is in the hands of the young people, people like you, Obama said, “brimming with talent and energy and hope, who can claim the future that so many in previous generations never realized.”
2009年，奥巴马总统在加纳议会致辞时，提醒非洲人民，这块大陆的变革不能再依赖过去的伟人。我们所有国家的未来，掌握在年轻人手中，就像你们这样的年轻人。奥巴马说：”你们充满才华、热情和希望，能够实现过去许多代人无法设想的未来。”
While many challenges persist, times have changed and the world you enter today, graduates of the Class of 2011, is much more accountable than the one we faced. At the beginning of this year, 17 elections were scheduled across our continent. In 1989, there were three democracies in sub-Saharan Africa; by 2008, there were 23. That is progress. This is a significant improvement from the days when violent overthrows were the default means of transition. A clear example stands out in West Africa. Although they did not get as much focus as postelection violence in C?te d’Ivoire, Niger and Guinea proved exemplary where the military oversaw democratic elections, turned power over to the civilian government, and returned to the barracks. In the case of C?te d’Ivoire, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union recognized a nonincumbent as the legitimate winner. That, again, is progress.
虽然存在那么多挑战，但是时代已经变了，作为2011届毕业生，你们走进的世界远比我们曾经面对的世界更加合理。今年，非洲大陆计划中的民主选举有17次。1989年，在撒哈拉沙漠以南的非洲只有3次。2008年，就增加到了23次。这就是进步。在非洲大陆推行变革的方式，以前是暴力颠覆，相比那时，现在就是显著的改善。整个西部非洲的局势变化，就是一个明显的例子。虽然科特迪瓦选举后的暴力冲突得到了广泛报道，但是尼日尔和几内亚的例子才是主流，它们的军队监督了民主选举，将政权转移到了民选政府手中，然后回到兵营，它们可以充当楷模。就科特迪瓦而言，西非国家经济体和非洲联盟认可一个非现职的竞选人为当选者，这也是一个进步。
We also see evidence of this progress in the African economy, which has been growing at more than 5 percent over the past decade. A recent African Development Bank report measured the rise of the middle class in Africa, totaling 313 million out of 1 billion Africans. The countries experiencing exceptional growth in their middle class include Ghana, Mozambique, Mali, Tanzania, Cape Verde, Botswana, Burkina Faso, and Rwanda. This middle class is changing the face of Africa. We are moving away from dependence on extractive industries and agriculture. There is a rising consumer class that helped brace Africa during the global economic crisis. This is emblematic not only of the progress in purchasing power in Africa, but in the progress that means you can still put food on the table for your family when the rains fail, that you can engage intelligently in political debates and hold your leaders accountable.
我们还看到了非洲经济的进步，过去十年它的增长率超过了5%。一份近期的非洲发展银行报告，研究了非洲中产阶级的崛起，10亿非洲人之中有3.13亿。加纳、莫桑比克、马里、坦桑尼亚、佛得角、博茨瓦纳、布基纳法索、卢旺达的中产阶级人数，都在史无前例地增长。我们正在摆脱对采掘业和农业的依赖。我们的消费者阶层正在不断扩大，有助于非洲度过这次全球经济危机。这不仅意味着非洲购买力进步，也意味着当天气变化时你可以在家里储存食物，还意味着你能理性地参与政治争论，使政治领导人负起责任来。
Instability and years of conflict in Liberia have pushed us to the bottom of this table in terms of the size of our middle class. We stubbornly refuse to accept this and are preparing a new development agenda that aims, through proper allocation of our natural resources, to graduate Liberia from development assistance in 10 years, and propels us to a middle-income country by 2030.
如果以中产阶级的人数衡量，利比里亚处在非洲的最底端，这是动荡和内乱导致的。我们绝不接受这种地位，正在准备一个新的发展规划，通过合理地分配我们的自然资源，争取用10年时间结束国际援助，到2030年使利比里亚成为一个中等收入国家。
As Africa charts its economic path, we are taking advantage of South-South partnerships as China, India, and Brazil, not to mention Nigeria and Ghana, become more significant partners in our economic expansion. Their experience is closer to ours, and our cooperation going forward will be crucial.
非洲正在选择它的经济道路，除了与尼日利亚、加纳进行经济合作以外，我们还充分利用与中国、印度、巴西的南南合作，它们日益成为对我们经济增长意义重大的伙伴。它们的经历与我们相似，我们之间进一步的合作将非常关键。
Even as the African renaissance appears on course, we must recognize that some of this progress is driven by the same forces of commodity demand that led to temporary gains four decades ago. We are the source of raw materials, now to India and China as well as the Western world, yet we generate the least profits from these exhaustible resources. Moreover, we remain vulnerable to external price shocks and receive very little transfer of technology, or growth in related industries. Until we begin to make products to sell, build better road and rail systems, and improve the easy movement of people and goods across our borders; until we supply the engineers and geologists and marketers of our resources, our middle class will remain stunted.
即使非洲的复兴看来理所当然，我们必须认识到，一部分经济增长来源于全球旺盛的商品需求，这种事情40年前发生过一次，只导致了一些暂时的增长。我们以前是西方国家的原材料来源，现在是中国和印度的原材料来源，但是我们从不可再生资源当中只获得了最微薄的利润。而且，我们对外部价格波动一直非常脆弱，引进的新技术或者相关工业的增长寥寥无几。只有我们能够生产出可销售的产品，修筑出更好的公路和铁路体系，培养出我们自己的开发资源的工程师、地质学家、销售员，我们的中产阶级才能持续成长。
In spite of these needs, and the fundamental economics of resource extraction, everywhere I travel in Africa, I see signs of a continent rising. We are producing more, manufacturing more, trading more, and cooperating more. Words like accountability, transparency, and reform are not just the calling card of some foreign donor; they are the words that must adjudicate closed-door decisions for those governments in Africa that seek re-election. There is a growing consensus on these issues, giving me great optimism about the future of Africa’s common economy and democratic prospects.
就算不考虑采掘业的影响，我在非洲各地都看到这块大陆复兴的迹象。我们有了更多的产品，更多的制造业，更多的贸易，更多的合作。诸如”责任心”、”透明性”、”改革”这样的词汇，不再只是外国援助者的专利，各国政府为了重新当选，使用这些词汇判断各种决策。人们在这些问题上，有了越来越多的共识，请允许我对非洲未来的经济和民主抱有巨大的乐观。
I am excited about Africa’s future, and more so about Liberia’s future. In a few months, the Liberian people will have the opportunity to select their political leadership. This means that Liberia will know a second peaceful democratic transition in six years: this in a country that was riven by political rivalries, tribalism, and civil war for two decades. It is, nonetheless, with cautious optimism that we approach this event and the future. Anxieties remain because we know that as impressive as Liberia’s rebirth has been, our achievements remain fragile and reversible.
我对非洲的未来激动不已，对利比里亚的未来更是如此。再过几个月，利比里亚人民将进行大选。这将是六年内通过民主选举的第二次政府和平过渡。这个国家曾经被各派势力四分五裂，部落林立，内战持续了20年。我谨慎乐观地估计，我们最终将迎来这个时刻，走向未来。担忧依然存在，因为我们知道虽然利比里亚的新生已经给世人留下深刻印象，但是我们已取得的成果非常脆弱，随时可被逆转。
I have no personal anxieties, however, for in a decades-long career in public service, I have learned many lessons that I can share with you today. In my journey, I have come to value hope and resilience. As an actor in Liberia’s history as it has unfolded over the last 40 years, I have seen these characteristics come full circle. I was there in the early ’70s, a decade after the independence movement had swept across Africa. Back then, the future appeared full of endless possibilities. Then across the continent there was a gradual descent into militarism, sectarian violence, and divisive ethnic politics. But I have been blessed with the opportunity to watch and participate as not only my nation but other African countries rise out of the ashes of war. With cautious optimism, it is my hope that I will continue to lead Liberia to consolidate and realize the dividends of peace.
不过，我个人并不担忧，我从事政治已经几十年了，有许多经验可以与你们分享。在我的经历中，我很看重始终抱有希望和自我修复能力。作为利比里亚历史中的一个角色，我已经演出40多年了，目睹了令人怀有希望的时刻不断出现。上个世纪70年代早期，我觉得是这样；十年后，独立运动横扫非洲，也是这样。当时，未来看上去有无限的可能性，但是接下来这块大陆就逐渐沦陷了，军国主义、宗教暴力、提倡分裂的种族政治占据了上风。但是，我很幸运能够目睹和亲身参与历史进程，看到我的祖国以及其他非洲国家，从战争的废墟上重新复苏。依然是出于谨慎的乐观主义，我希望接下来还是由我领导利比里亚，巩固和平，取得更多的成绩。
As much as I have lived and experienced, what you graduates will know and do will far exceed it. History, it seems, is speeding up. After graduation, you leave the relative security, predictability, and certainty of these walls for a world full of uncertainties. Across the globe, entire societies are being transformed, new identities forged, and national stories retold. People your age across the world are becoming increasingly vocal about how they are governed and by whom. Old templates of control have been overturned as States struggle internally with issues about national character and destiny. People who, heretofore, had no say in those conversations are asserting themselves and taking a place at the table, with or without an invitation.
虽然我经历过很多事情，但是你们这些毕业生的知识和成就将远远超过我。因为看起来，历史正在加速发展。毕业之后，你们将离开相对安全、讲究规则、充满确定性的校园，进入不确定的真实世界。全世界的各种社会都在转型，新的形态被锻造出来，各个国家都在被重新定义。全世界像你们这样年纪的青年，正在越来越多地提出自己的看法，关于社会怎样管理以及谁来管理。旧的控制模式已经被颠覆，关于国民性和国家命运的问题，正在各国内部引起激烈讨论。以前那些无法发言的人们，正走上发言台，提出自己的立场，不管有没有收到邀请。
Ten years ago, information about the tragic events of September 11 came to us mainly through traditional media: radio, television, and … cnn.com. There was no Facebook, no YouTube, no Twitter and all the other social networking sites that my grandchildren now take for granted. In the intervening 10 years, young people like yourselves have gone on to use technology to improve the overall quality of life and created wealth. In those 10 years, the world has become smaller and more connected. The complex financial instruments of 10 years ago would seem quaint to the hedge funds and investment banks of today. In those 10 years, our markets and economies have become more connected and adjusted faster.
十年前，我们得知悲剧性的911事件，主要通过传统媒体—-广播，电视，以及cnn.com。那时没有Facebook，没有YouTube，没有Twitter和其他社交网络，我的孙子早已对那些东西习以为常。在过去的10年中，像你们这样的年轻人已经使用新技术，改变了生活的各个方面，创造出财富。在这10年中，世界变得更小，联系更紧密了。10年前的复杂金融操作指令，对于今天的套利基金和投资银行来说，也许只是小玩意。10年间，我们的市场和经济更加融为一体，调节起来更快速。
Just six months ago, the Tunisian revolution began, leading rapidly and inexorably to fundamental change across North Africa and the Middle East. Could this have happened without digital social media, or without heightened correlation of food prices across time and space? Could this have happened just 10 years ago, with the same preconditions but a different degree of connectivity? Can you imagine what the next 10 years will bring? The next 50?
就在六个月前，突尼斯革命爆发了，在北非和中东，迅猛和不可阻挡地引发基础性变革。没有数字化的社交媒体，这一切会发生吗？或者如果人们不知道其他地方的食品价格，这一切会发生吗？要是换在10年前，就算具备了同样的前提条件，只是沟通不如现在便捷，这一切会发生吗？你能想象接下来的10年会出现什么吗？接下来的50年呢？
In the time even before Friendster succumbed to Facebook, our world went through phases of transformation, and Harvard graduates, students, faculty, and commencement speakers have been key actors, writers, and chroniclers of those changes. In 1947, U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall stood in this very Yard before a graduating class such as this one to announce the plan to salvage Europe after the devastation caused by the Second World War:
甚至在Facebook取代Friendster之前，我们的世界就已经进入了转变的阶段。哈佛的学生、老师、毕业生、毕业典礼演讲者，是这种转变的关键演员、作者和历史学家。1947年，美国国务卿乔治•马歇尔就站在这个院子里，面对像你们这样的毕业生，宣布了一个计划，抢救被二战摧毁的欧洲：
He began, “I need not tell you, gentlemen, (I don’t know where the ladies were) that the world situation is very serious. But to speak more seriously” — Marshall said as he went on to advocate the well-known Marshall Plan. In time, we saw a rebounded Europe, and the subsequent rise of East Asia, have been the catalyzing forces behind Africa’s own recent progress.
他说：”我不必提醒各位，世界形势非常严峻。但是，我还有更严重的话要说”—-马歇尔接下去就倡导了举世闻名的马歇尔计划。然后，一个复兴的欧洲出现了，接着是东亚的崛起，这些都是非洲目前进程背后的催化剂。
When President John F. Kennedy, another Harvard graduate, spoke to this audience in 1956 as the junior senator from Massachusetts, he analyzed the tension between politicians and intellectuals. Of the politicians, Kennedy said, “We need both the technical judgment and the disinterested viewpoint of the scholar, to prevent us from becoming imprisoned by our own slogans.” In newly democratic societies, where ballots are marked with distinctive icons as well as names since many voters remain illiterate, the danger of sloganeering political populism is only greater, and can lead down the road of war, not just bad policy choices. Kennedy, of course, would go on to launch the Peace Corps, which has impacted the lives of millions throughout the world by bringing Americans across the ocean, teaching students and training teachers, and making our world a smaller place.
1956年，哈佛毕业生肯尼迪总统（那时还是马萨诸塞州参议员），公开发言，分析了政治家和知识分子之间的紧张关系。肯尼迪这样说政治家：”我们需要学者公正的观点，也需要技术性的判断，这样才能防止我们被自己的宣传口号蒙骗。”在新兴的民主国家，许多投票者都是文盲，所以选票上不得不印上各种图案，代表不同的候选人。这种情况下，口号政治和政治民粹主义的危险性只会更大，不仅仅是恶劣的政策问题，它本身就能将国家引向战争。当然，肯尼迪这样说是为了启动和平队项目，让美国人跨越大洋，教育学生、训练教师，影响了全世界几百万人口，让我们的世界变得更小。
Ralph Ellison, speaking at the 1974 Commencement, told the graduates and alumni: “Let us not be dismayed, let us not lose faith simply because the correctives we have set in motion, and you have set in motion, took a long time.” Ellison believed that despite the challenge, the chance for national regeneration was there.
1974年，Ralph Ellison在毕业典礼上演讲，告诉毕业生和校友：”不要沮丧，不要丧失信念，因为你已经付出的行动，需要很长的时间才能看到效果。”他相信尽管有种种挑战，国家的复兴依然有机会实现。
In the more recent past, Bill Gates, a famous Harvard attendee, has made our world smaller still by having all of us speak the same dialect, by connecting us electronically and opening doors that just one generation ago seemed to belong to the realm of science fiction. Today, because of him, we are closer to living in a global village.
再后来，著名的哈佛辍学生比尔•盖茨，让我们所有人使用同一种计算机语言，将我们用电子方式联系起来，使世界变得更小，打开了通往未来的大门，前一代人曾经认为那些只是科幻小说的内容。今天，因为他的出现，我们更像生活在一个地球村里。
With the election of Harvard graduate Barack Obama to the presidency of the United States, the face of American politics has been altered for good. In the sea change that his election represents, let me remind you, America, that Liberia has you beat on one score: We elected our first female president, perhaps 11 years before the United States might do so.
随着哈佛毕业生奥巴马当选为美国总统，美国政治家的形象大大改善。虽然他的当选说明美国正在发生巨大变化，但是让我提醒你们美国人，有一点利比里亚超过了你们，那就是我们选出了第一位女总统，也许比美国早了11年。
Today, I share more than a Harvard background with you. In a way, this is also a commencement year for me. Just as you end one journey today and begin the next, so too do I in November. As my first term as the president of Liberia comes to an end, I will be standing for re-election. The person who claims to be the strongest opposition contender is a Harvard graduate. But I want you to know that the incumbent, who is also a Harvard graduate, is determined to win. The relationship between Harvard and Liberia is thus secured and in good hands!
今天，我更多地是以哈佛人的身份与你们交流。某种程度上，今年也是我的毕业年。正如今天你们结束了一段旅程，将要开始下一个旅程，我在今年11月也会如此。我的利比里亚总统的第一个任期即将结束，我将再次投入大选。我最强大的一个竞争对手，也是哈佛毕业生。但是，我想让你们知道，现任的这个哈佛毕业生下定决心，要赢得大选。因此，哈佛与利比里亚的关系完全有保障，非常可靠！
Harvard Graduates, Class of 2011: I urge you to be fearless about the future. Just because something has not been done yet, doesn’t mean it can’t be. I was never deterred from running for president just because there had never been any females elected head of state in Africa. Simply because political leadership in Liberia had always been a “boys’ club” didn’t mean it was right, and I was not deterred. Today, an unprecedented number of women hold leadership positions in our country, and we intend to increase that number.
哈佛大学2011届毕业生，我敦促你们勇敢无畏地面对未来。某件事还没做成，并不意味着它不能做成。我竞选总统时，没有因为从无妇女在非洲当过总统，而感到畏缩。不能因为利比里亚政府总是被男人控制，就说明这是对的，我没有被吓住。今天，利比里亚领导岗位上的妇女，数量前所未有，我们还将继续增加。
As you approach your future, there will be ample opportunity to become jaded and cynical, but I urge you to resist cynicism — the world is still a beautiful place and change is possible. As I have noted here today, my path to the presidency was never straightforward or guaranteed. Prison, death threats, and exile provided every reason to quit, to forget about the dream, yet I persisted, convinced that my country and people are so much better than our recent history indicates. Looking back on my life, I have come to appreciate its difficult moments. I believe I am a better leader, a better person with a richer appreciation for the present because of my past.
当你们进入社会，很有可能变得厌倦和偏激，但是我希望你们能够抵制这种愤世嫉俗的心态。这个世界依然是一个美丽的地方，改变是可能发生的。正如我今天在这里所说，我的总统之路并不顺利，充满变数。监狱、死亡、流亡，任何一个理由都能使我退出，忘掉自己的梦想，但是我坚持下来了，坚信我的国家和人民绝不应该是那时的样子，而应该好得多。回顾我的人生，我对那些艰难时刻，反而感到非常珍惜。因为有了那些过去的痛苦，我才更珍惜现在，它让我成了一个更好的领导人、更好的人。
The size of your dreams must always exceed your current capacity to achieve them. If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough. If you start off with a small dream, you may not have much left when it is fulfilled because along the way, life will task your dreams and make demands on you. I am, however, bullish about the future of our world because of you. We share one defining characteristic that prepares us to transform our world — we are all Harvard University graduates. When we add to that the traditional quests for excellence for which we are known, there is no telling what we can accomplish.
你们要敢于怀有大梦想，不要担心超过自己现在的能力。如果你的梦想不令你感到害怕，那就说明它们不够大。如果你的梦想很小，当它实现的时候，你会发现人生顿时空空荡荡，因为你的梦想为人生创造出任务，对你提出要求。不过我相信，你们会令我们的世界有一个更美好的未来，我充满信心。我们有一个共同的特点，那就是我们都是哈佛大学的毕业生，这使得我们都必须做好去改变世界的准备。当我们接受这种传统，为了追求卓越，去开拓那些未知的领域，没有人能够预言我们能达到怎样的成就。Go forth and embrace a future that awaits you.
勇敢向前，未来正在前方等着你们。I thank you.
谢谢大家。
（完）
原文网址：http://www.ruanyifeng.com/blog/2011/06/sirleaf_s_speech_in_harvard_commencement_2011.html
本文地址：http://www.dioenglish.com/writing/speech/14346.html
