Wellesley College Commencement -- Barbara Pierce Bush

Commencement Address at Wellesley College

韦尔斯利学院毕业典礼致辞

[AUTHENTICITY CERTIFIED: Text version below transcribed directly from audio.

[真实性认证：以下文本版本直接从音频转录。

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Thank you very, very much, President Keohane.

非常非常感谢基欧汉总统。

Mrs. Gorbachev, Trustees, faculty, parents, and I should say, Julia Porter, class president, and certainly my new best friend, Christine Bicknell -- and, of course, the Class of 1990.

戈尔巴乔夫夫人、董事会成员、教师、家长，我应该说，班长朱莉娅·波特，当然还有我最好的新朋友克里斯汀·比克内尔，当然还有 1990 届毕业生。

I am really thrilled to be here today, and very excited, as I know all of you must be, that Mrs. Gorbachev could join us.

我今天很高兴来到这里，而且我知道你们所有人也一定很兴奋戈尔巴乔夫夫人能够加入我们。

These -- These are exciting times.

这些——这是激动人心的时刻。

They're exciting in Washington, and I have really looked forward to coming to Wellesley.

他们在华盛顿令人兴奋，我真的很期待来到韦尔斯利。

I thought it was going to be fun.

我以为这会很有趣。

I never dreamt it would be this much fun.

我从来没想过会这么有趣。

So, thank you for that.

所以，谢谢你。

More than ten years ago, when I was invited here to talk about our experiences in the People's Republic of China, I was struck by both the natural beauty of your campus and the spirit of this place.

十多年前，当我受邀来这里谈论我们在中华人民共和国的经历时，我被你们校园的自然美景和这里的精神所震撼。

Wellesley, you see, is not just a place but an idea -- an experiment in excellence in which diversity is not just tolerated, but is embraced.

你看，韦尔斯利不仅是一个地方，而且是一个想法——一个卓越的实验，在这个实验中，多样性不仅被容忍，而且被拥抱。

The essence of this spirit was captured in a moving speech about tolerance given last year by a student body president of one of your sister colleges.

去年，贵校一所姊妹学院的学生会主席发表了一篇关于宽容的感人演讲，充分体现了这种精神的精髓。

She related the story by Robert Fulghum about a young pastor, finding himself in charge of some very energetic children, hits upon the game called "Giants, Wizards, and Dwarfs." "You have to decide now," the pastor instructed the children, "which you are -- a giant, a wizard, or a dwarf?" At that, a small girl tugging at his pants leg, asked, "But where do the mermaids stand?" And the pastor tells her there are no mermaids.

她讲述了罗伯特·富尔格姆（Robert Fulghum）的故事，讲述了一位年轻的牧师发现自己负责照顾一些非常精力充沛的孩子，并偶然发现了一款​​名为“巨人、巫师和小矮人”的游戏。 “你们现在必须决定，”牧师指导孩子们，“你们是哪一个——巨人、巫师，还是侏儒？”这时，一个小女孩拉着他的裤腿，问道：“那人鱼站在哪里？”牧师告诉她没有美人鱼。

And she says, "Oh yes there are -- they are.

她说：“哦，是的，有——确实有。

I am a mermaid."

我是美人鱼。”

Now this little girl knew what she was, and she was not about to give up on either her identity, or the game.

现在这个小女孩知道自己是什么了，她不会放弃自己的身份，也不会放弃这个游戏。

She intended to take her place wherever mermaids fit into the scheme of things.

她打算在美人鱼符合计划的任何地方取代她的位置。

"Where do the mermaids stand?

“美人鱼站在哪里？

All of those who are different, those who do not fit the boxes and the pigeonholes?" "Answer that question," wrote Fulghum, "And you can build a school, a nation, or a whole world." As that very wise young woman said, "Diversity, like anything worth having, requires effort -- effort to learn about and respect difference, to be compassionate with one another, to cherish our own identity, and to accept unconditionally the same in others.

所有那些与众不同的人，那些不适合盒子和书架的人？” “回答这个问题，”富尔格姆写道，“你就可以建立一所学校、一个国家或整个世界。”正如那位非常聪明的年轻女士所说：“多样性，就像任何值得拥有的东西一样，需要努力——努力了解和尊重差异，彼此富有同情心，珍惜我们自己的身份，并无条件接受他人的相同之处。

You should all be very proud that this is the Wellesley spirit.

你们都应该感到非常自豪，这就是韦尔斯利精神。

Now I know your first choice today was Alice Walker -- guess how I know!

现在我知道你今天的第一选择是爱丽丝·沃克——你猜我是怎么知道的！

-- known for The Color Purple.

——以紫色而闻名。

Instead you got me -- known for the color of my hair.

相反，你得到了我——以我头发的颜色而闻名。

Alice Walker's book has a special resonance here.

艾丽丝·沃克的书在这里引起了特殊的共鸣。

At Wellesley, each class is known by a special color.

在韦尔斯利，每个班级都以一种特殊的颜色而闻名。

For four years the Class of '90 has worn the color purple.

四年来，90 年代的人们一直穿着紫色。

Today you meet on Severance Green to say goodbye to all of that, to begin a new and a very personal journey, to search for your own true colors.

今天，你们相聚在塞弗兰斯格林，告别这一切，开始一段新的、非常个人的旅程，寻找自己的真实色彩。

In the world that awaits you, beyond the shores of Waban -- Lake Waban, no one can say what your true colors will be.

在瓦班湖畔等待着你的世界——瓦班湖，没有人能说出你的真面目。

But this I do know: You have a first class education from a first class school.

但我确实知道：你拥有来自一流学校的一流教育。

And so you need not, probably cannot, live a "paint-by-numbers" life.

所以你不需要，也许不能，过着“按数字绘画”的生活。

Decisions are not irrevocable.

决定并非不可撤销。

Choices do come back.

选择确实会回来。

And as you set off from Wellesley, I hope that many of you will consider making three very special choices.

当你们从韦尔斯利出发时，我希望你们中的许多人会考虑做出三个非常特别的选择。

The first is to believe in something larger than yourself, to get involved in some of the big ideas of our time.

首先是相信比自己更伟大的事物，参与我们这个时代的一些伟大想法。

I chose literacy because I honestly believe that if more people could read, write, and comprehend, we would be that much closer to solving so many of the problems that plague our nation and our society.

我选择识字是因为我真诚地相信，如果更多的人能够阅读、写作和理解，我们就会更接近解决困扰我们国家和社会的许多问题。

And early on I made another choice, which I hope you'll make as well.

我很早就做出了另一个选择，我希望你也会做出这样的选择。

Whether you are talking about education, career, or service, you're talking about life -- and life really must have joy.

无论你谈论的是教育、职业还是服务，你都是在谈论生活——而生活确实必须有快乐。

It's supposed to be fun.

这应该很有趣。

One of the reasons I made the most important decision of my life, to marry George Bush, is because he made me laugh.

我做出一生中最重要的决定——嫁给乔治·布什——的原因之一是因为他让我开怀大笑。

It's true, sometimes we've laughed through our tears, but that shared laughter has been one of our strongest bonds.

确实，有时我们会笑着流泪，但共同的笑声是我们最牢固的纽带之一。

Find the joy in life, because as Ferris Bueller said on his day off, "Life moves pretty fast; and you don't stop and look around once in a while, you're going to miss it."

寻找生活中的乐趣，因为正如费里斯·布勒 (Ferris Bueller) 在休息日所说的那样，“生活节奏很快；如果你不偶尔停下来看看周围，你就会错过它。”

(I'm not going to tell George you clapped more for Ferris than you clapped for George.)

（我不会告诉乔治，你为费里斯鼓掌的次数比为乔治鼓掌的次数还多。）

The third choice that must not be missed is to cherish your human connections: your relationships with family and friends.

第三个不容错过的选择是珍惜人际关系：与家人和朋友的关系。

For several years, you've had impressed upon you the importance to your career of dedication and hard work.

多年来，您一直深刻地认识到奉献和努力工作对您的职业生涯的重要性。

And, of course, that's true.

当然，这是事实。

But as important as your obligations as a doctor, a lawyer, a business leader will be, you are a human being first.

但与你作为医生、律师、商业领袖的义务一样重要，你首先是一个人。

And those human connections --- with spouses, with children, with friends -- are the most important investments you will ever make.

而那些人际关系——与配偶、孩子、朋友——是你所做的最重要的投资。

At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, winning one more verdict, or not closing one more deal.

在你生命的尽头，你永远不会后悔没有再通过一项测试，再赢得一项判决，或者没有再完成一笔交易。

You will regret time not spent with a husband, a child, a friend, or a parent.

你会后悔没有与丈夫、孩子、朋友或父母共度时光。

We are in a transitional period right now -- We are in a transitional period right now, fascinating and exhilarating times, learning to adjust to changes and the choices we, men and women, are facing.

我们现在正处于一个过渡时期——我们现在正处于一个过渡时期，这是一个令人着迷和令人兴奋的时代，我们正在学习适应变化和我们，男人和女人所面临的选择。

As an example, I remember what a friend said, on hearing her husband complain to his buddies that he had to babysit.

举个例子，我记得一位朋友在听到她的丈夫向他的朋友抱怨他必须照顾孩子时所说的话。

Quickly setting him straight, my friend told her husband that when it's your own kids, it's not called babysitting.

我的朋友很快纠正了他的观点，告诉她的丈夫，如果是你自己的孩子，那就不叫保姆了。

Now maybe we should adjust faster; maybe we should adjust slower.

现在也许我们应该更快地调整；也许我们应该调整得慢一些。

But whatever the era twenty -- whatever the era, whatever the times, one thing will never change: fathers and mothers, if you have children, they must come first.

但无论什么时代二十——无论什么时代，无论什么时代，有一件事永远不会改变：父亲和母亲，如果你有孩子，他们必须排在第一位。

You must read to your children, and you must hug your children, and you must love your children.

你必须读书给你的孩子听，你必须拥抱你的孩子，你必须爱你的孩子。

Your success as a family, our success as a society, depends not on what happens in the White House, but on what happens inside your house.

你们作为一个家庭的成功，我们作为一个社会的成功，并不取决于白宫里发生的事情，而是取决于你们家里发生的事情。

For over fifty years, it was said that the winner of Wellesley's annual hoop race would be the first to get married.

五十多年来，人们都说韦尔斯利年度篮球比赛的获胜者将是第一个结婚的人。

Now they say, the winner will be the first to become a C.E.O.

现在他们说，获胜者将是第一个成为首席执行官的人。

Both -- Both of those stereotypes show too little tolerance for those who want to know where the mermaids stand.

两者——对于那些想知道美人鱼立场的人来说，这两种刻板印象都表现出太低的容忍度。

So -- So I want to offer a new legend: the winner of the hoop race will be the first to realize her dream -- not society's dreams -- her own personal dream.

所以——所以我想提供一个新的传奇：篮球比赛的获胜者将是第一个实现她的梦想的人——不是社会的梦想——她自己的个人梦想。

And who -- Who knows?

谁——谁知道呢？

Somewhere out in this audience may even be someone who will one day follow in my footsteps, and preside over the White House as the President's spouse -- and I wish him well.

在座的某个人甚至可能有一天会追随我的脚步，作为总统的配偶主持白宫——我祝他一切顺利。

Well, the controversy ends here.

好了，争论到这里就结束了。

But our conversation is only beginning.

但我们的谈话才刚刚开始。

And a worthwhile conversation it has been.

这是一次有价值的谈话。

So as you leave Wellesley today, take with you deep thanks for the courtesy and the honor you have shared with Mrs. Gorbachev and with me.

因此，当您今天离开韦尔斯利时，请带上深深的谢意，感谢您与戈尔巴乔夫夫人和我分享的礼貌和荣誉。

Thank you.

谢谢你。

God bless you.

上帝保佑你。

And may your future be worthy of your dreams.

愿你的未来值得你的梦想。

Book/CDs by Michael E.

Michael E. 的书籍/CD

Eidenmuller, Published by McGraw-Hill (2008) Audio, Video, Image (Screenshot) : George Bush Presidential Library and Museum Audio Note : AR-XE = American Rhetoric Extreme Enhancement Page Updated : 3/6/21 U.S. Copyright Status : This text and audio = Property of A merican R hetoric.com.

Eidenmuller，麦格劳-希尔出版 (2008) 音频、视频、图像（屏幕截图）：乔治布什总统图书馆和博物馆音频注释：AR-XE = 美国修辞极端增强页面更新：21 年 3 月 6 日美国版权状态：本文和音频 = American Rhetoric.com 的财产。

� Copyright 2001-Present.

� 版权所有 2001 年至今。

American Rhetoric.

美国修辞学。

HTML transcription by Michael E.

HTML 转录由 Michael E.

Eidenmuller.

艾登米勒。