善良比聪慧更重要

Kindness is more important than Clever

2010 年,亚马逊 CEO 杰夫·贝佐斯(Jeff Bezos)在母校普林斯顿大学的毕业典礼上,勉励年轻人,善用自己的天赋,做出对的选择。因为,「人生到头来,我们的选择,决定了我们是什么样的人。」

亚马逊 CEO 杰夫·贝佐斯(Jeff Bezos)

分段翻译

Part 1 翻译

As a kid, I spent my summers with my grandparents on their ranch in Texax. I helped fix windmills, vaccinate cattle, and do other chores. We also watched soap operas every afternoon, especially "Days of our Lives". My grandparents belonged to a Caravan Club, a group of Airstream trailer owners who travel together around the U.S. and Canada. And every few summers, we'd join the caravan. We'd hitch up the Airstream trailer to my grandfather's car, and off we'd go, in a line with 300 other Airstream adventurers. I loved and worshipped my grandparents and I really looked forward to these trips. One one particular trip, I was about 10 years old. I was rolling around in the big bench seat in the back of the car. My grandfather was driving. And my grandmother had the passenger seat. She smoked throughout these trips, and I hated the smell.

在我小时候,我总是在德克萨斯州祖父母的农场里度过夏天。我帮忙修理过风车,为牛接种疫苗,还有一些其他的杂活。每天下午,我们都会看肥皂剧,特别是《Days of our Lives》这部。我的祖父母参加了一个俱乐部,这个俱乐部是一群游历于美国和加拿大的Airstream房车车主。每隔几个夏天,我们会加入一次旅行队伍。我们把Airstream拖车挂在祖父的汽车后面,和300多名冒险者一起出发。我爱我的祖父母,并且非常崇拜他们,我也非常期待这样的旅行。有一次旅行很特殊,那时候我大概10岁左右。我那时候躺坐在汽车后排的长椅上,我的祖父开着车,祖母坐在副驾驶,整个旅途中她一直在抽烟,我很讨厌烟味。

Part 1 生词统计

单词音标翻译
ranch/ræntʃ/n. 大农场、大牧场; v. 经营牧场、在牧场工作
windmill/'wɪnd'mɪl/n. 风车、风车房、旋转玩具、直升飞机; v. 使旋转
vaccinate/'væksə'net/n. 被接种牛痘者; v. 接种疫苗
chore/tʃɔrz/n. 家庭杂物、日常的零星事务
caravan/'kærəvæn/n. (可供居住的)拖车、大篷车、(穿过沙漠地带的)旅行队(如商队); v. 乘拖车度假
trailer/'trelɚ/n. 拖车、[电视]预告片、追踪者; v. 乘拖车式活动房屋旅行
hitch/hɪtʃ/n. 故障、钩、猛拉; v. 搭便车、勾住、套住

Part 2 翻译

At that age, I'd take any excuse to make estimates and do minor arithmetic. I'd calculate our gas mileage, figure out useless statistics on things like grocery spending. I'd been hearing an ad campaign about smoking. I can't remember the details, but basically the ad said, every puff of a cigarette takes some number of minutes off of your life. I think it might have been two minutes per puff. At any rate, I decided to do the math for my grandmother. I estimated the number of cigarettes per days, estimated the number of puffs per cigarette and so on. When I was satisfied that I'd come up with a reasonable number, I poked my head into the front of the car, tapped my grandmother on the shoulder, and proudly proclaimed, "At two minutes per puff, you've taken nine years off your life!" I have a vivid memory of what happened, and it was not what I expected. I expected to be applauded for my cleverness and arithmetic skills. "Jeff, you're so smart. You had to have made some tricky estimates, figure out the number of minutes in a year and do some division." That's not what happened. Instead, my grandmother burst into tears. I sat in the backseat and did not know what to do. While my grandmother sat crying, my grandfather, who had been driving in silence, pulled over onto the shoulder of the highway. He got out of the car and came around and opened my door and waited for me to follow. Was I in trouble? My grandfather was a highly intelligent, quiet man. He had never said a harsh word to me, and maybe this was to be the first time? Or maybe he would ask that I get back in the car and apologize to my grandmother. I had no experience in this realm with my grandparents and no way to gauge what the consequences might be. We stopped beside the trailer. My grandfather looked at me, and after a bit of silence, he gently and calmly said, "Jeff, one day you'll understand that it's harder to be kind than clever."

那时候的我总是会想尽办法做一些估算或小算数。我计算过我们的油耗和一些没什么用的杂物话费等。我记得我听过一个关于抽烟等广告活动,我不太记得清具体的细节了,但是那个广告主要说的是,每抽进去的一口烟都会减少几分钟的寿命。我想大概是没口烟两分钟吧。无论如何,我决定为我的祖母做个算数。我估算了每天抽几根烟,每根烟大概抽几口等等。当我心满意足的得出了一个合理的数字,我把头伸向了车的前座,拍了拍祖母的肩膀,并自豪的宣读着:按照每抽一口烟两分钟算,您已经失去了九年的寿命了。我清楚的记得当时发生了什么,不是为期待的结果,我期望我的聪明和算数得到赞扬。杰夫,你非常的聪明,你应该做一些更难的估算,算以下每年有多少分钟,做一些除法。但这些并没有发生。事实上,我的祖母突然就哭了,我坐回了后排作为不知道怎么办才好。祖母哭泣的时候,我的祖父安静的把车开到了路肩上。他从车上下来,打开我的车门让我跟着他。我惹了什么麻烦了?我的祖父是一个很聪明并且祥和的人,他从来没对我说过一句严厉的话,或许这会是第一次吧?又或许他会让我返回车上跟祖母道歉。我在这方面完全没有经验并且不能够猜测究竟会是什么结果。我们在拖车旁边停了下来。我的祖父看着我,在一小段的安静过后,他温和的对我说:杰夫,总有一天你会明白善良比聪明更难。

Part 2 生词统计

单词音标翻译
excuseɪkˈskjusn. 接口、理由; v. 原谅、为...申辩、给...免去
estimate'ɛstə,metn. 估计、判断、看法; v. 估计、估价
minor'maɪnɚn. 未成年人、小调; v. 辅修
arithmeticə'rɪθmətɪkn. 算法、算数
mileage'maɪlɪdʒn. 英里数
statisticstə'tɪstɪkn. 统计数值; adj. 统计的、统计学的
grocery'ɡrosərin. 食品杂货店
campaignkæm'penn. 运动、活动、战役; v. 作战、参加竞选
puffpʌfn. 粉扑、泡芙、蓬松、一阵喷烟、肿块; v. 膨胀、喷出、张开、夸张
pokepokn. 戳、刺; v. 刺、捅
proclaimprə'klemv. 宣告、公布、声明
vivid'vɪvɪdadj. 生动的、鲜明的、鲜艳的
applaudə'plɔdv. 赞同、喝彩、称赞
tricky'trɪkɪadj. 狡猾的、机警的
divisiondə'vɪʒənn. 除法、部门、分配
burstbɝstn. 爆发、突发; v. 爆发、爆炸
intelligentɪn'tɛlɪdʒəntadj. 智能的、聪明的、理解能力强的
harshhɑrʃn. 人名(哈什); adj. 严厉的、严酷的、刺耳的
realmrɛlmn. 领域、范围、王国
gaugegedʒn. 计量器、标准尺寸、容量规格; v. 测量、估计
consequnence'kɑnsəkwɛnsn. 结果、重要性、推论

Part 3 翻译

What I want to talk to you about today is the difference between gifts and choices. Cleverness is a gift, kindness is a choice. Gifts are easy, they're given after all. Choices can be hard. You can seduce yourself with your gifts if you're not careful, and if you do, it'll probably be to the detriment of your choices. This is a group with many gifts. I'm sure one of your gifts is the gift of a smart and capable brain. I'm confident that's the case bacause admisson is competitve and if there weren't some signs that you're clever, the dean of admisson wouldn't have let you in.

今天,我想告诉大家的就是天赋和选择的不同之处。聪明是天赋,善良是选择。聪明对你们来说不难,你们已经拥有了。而选择却不简单。稍不注意你就会被你的天赋所诱惑,如果你这样做了,将会对你的选择造成伤害。在座的都是有天赋的人。我确信的你们的天赋之一就是拥有聪明能干的大脑。我相信这个事实,因为入学竞争很激烈,如果你们没有聪明这个标签,院长也不会让你们来到这里。

Part 3 生词统计

单词音标翻译
seducesɪ'dʊsv. 引诱、诱惑
detrimentdɛtrɪməntn. 损害、伤害
capablekepəbladj. 能干的、能胜任等
deandinn. 院长、系主任、教务长

Part 4 翻译

Your smarts will come in handy because you will travel in a land of marvels. We humans -- plodding as we are -- will astonish ourselves. We'll invent ways to generate clean energy and a lot of it. Atom by atom, we'll assemble tiny machines that will enter cell walls and make repairs. This month comes the extraordinary but also inevitable news that we've synthesized life. In the coming years, we'll not only synthesize it, but we'll engineer it to specifications. I believe you'll even see us understand the human brain. Jules Verne, Mark Twain, Galileo, Newton -- all the curious from the ages would have wanted to be alive most of all right now. As a civilization, we will have so many gifts, just as you as individuals have so many individual gifts as you sit before me. How will you use these gifts? And will you take pride in your gifts or pride in your choices?

在这个充满奇迹的世界上前行,你的聪明将会随处可用。我们人类,虽然缓慢的在前行,但成果也让人惊讶。我们将会发明很多清洁能源。我们把原子组合曾微型机器,他用来进入细胞壁进行修复。这个月,有一个不可思议但不可避免的新闻,我们已经合成了生命。未来几年,我们不止是合成它,而是规范它。我相信你们甚至会看到我们彻底研究透人类的大脑。儒勒·凡尔纳、马克·吐温、伽利略、牛顿,这些充满好奇心的人都希望活在现在。作为一种文明,我们有很多的天赋,就像坐在我面前的你们,同样拥有很多个人独特的天赋。你将会怎样利用这些天赋呢?你会为自己的天赋而骄傲还是为自己的选择而骄傲?

Part 4 生词统计

单词音标翻译
marvels'mɑrvln. 奇迹、漫威漫画; v. 感到惊讶
plodding'plɔdiŋadj. 单调乏味的、沉重缓慢的; v. 沉重的走、辛勤工作
astonishə'stɑnɪʃv. 使惊讶
inventɪn'vɛntv. 发明、创造、虚构
generate'dʒɛnəretv. 使形成、发生、生殖
extraordinaryɪkˈstrɔrdənerɪadj. 非凡的、特别的、离奇的
inevitableɪn'ɛvɪtəbladj. 必然的、不可避免的
synthesize'sɪnθəsaɪzv. 合成、综合
specification'spɛsəfə'keʃənn. 规格、说明书、详述
curious'kjʊrɪəsadj. 好奇的、有求知欲的、古怪的
civilizationˌsɪvələˈzeɪʃənn. 文明、文化
individualˌɪndəˈvɪdʒʊəln. 个人、个体; adj. 个人的、个别的、独特的

Part 5 翻译

I got the idea to start Amazon 16 years ago. I came across the fact that Web usage was growing at 2,300 percent per year. I'd never seen or heard of anything that grew that fast, and the idea of building an online bookstore with millions of titles -- something that simply couldn't exist in physical world -- was very exciting to me. I had just turned 30 years old, and I'd been married for a year. I told my wife MacKenzie that I wanted to quit my job and go do this crazy thing that probably wouldn't work since most startups dont't, and I wasn't sure what would happen after that. MacKenzie (alse a Princeton grad and sitting here in the second row) told me I should go for it. As a young boy, I'd been a garage inventor. I'd invented an automatic gate closer out of cement-filled tires, a solar cooker that didn't work very well out of an umbrella and tinfoil, baking-pan alarms to entrap my siblings. I'd always wanted to be an inventor, and she wanted me to follow my passion.

16年前,我有了创建亚马逊的想法.我发现互联网用户以每年2300%的速度在增长,我从未见到或听说过任何事情有这样的增长速度,而在网上建立一个包含几百万种书的书店这种想法,在现实中是根本不可能存在,这让我非常兴奋。那时候我才30岁,刚好结婚一年。我告诉我的妻子MacKenzie,我想要辞掉工作去做这个疯狂的事情,这很可能失败,因为大多数创业者都是这样的,并且我不能确定在那之后会怎样。MacKenzie(也是普林斯顿毕业的,就坐在下面的第二排)告诉我我应该去做这件事。小时候,我是一个车库里的发明家。我发明了一个充满水泥的轮胎的自动门,一个用伞和锡箔纸做的并不太好用的太阳能炒锅,烘焙盘子做的报警器并且吓到了我的邻居们。我曾一直想成为一个发明家,并且她希望我能追随我的热情所在。

Part 5 生词统计

单词音标翻译
physical'fɪzɪkln. 体格检查; adj. 物理的、身体的、物质的、符合自然法规的
startup'stɑrt'ʌpn. 启动、开办、创业
garagegəˈrɑ:ʒn. 车库、汽车修理厂; v. 把...送入车库
inventɪn'vɛntv. 发明、创造、虚构
gateɡetn. 大门、出入口、门道; v. 给...装大门
tire'taɪɚn. 轮胎、头饰; v. 疲劳、厌倦
solar'solɚn. 日光浴室; adj. 太阳的、日光的
tinfoil‘tin'fɔiln. 锡箔、锡纸; adj. 锡箔的
entrapɪn'træpv. 使陷入、欺骗

Part 6 翻译

I was working at a financial firm in New York City with a bunch of very smart people, and I had a brilliant boss that I much admired. I went to my boss and told him I wanted to start a company selling books on the Internet. He took me on a long walk in Central Park, listened carefully to me, and finally said, "That sounds like a really good idea, but it would be an even better idea for someone who didn't already have a good job." That logic made some sense to me, and he convinced me to think about it for 48 hours before making a final decision. Seen in that light, it really was a difficult choice, but ultimately, I decided I had to give it a shot. I didn't think I'd regret trying and failing. And I suspected I would always be haunted by a decision to not try at all. After much consideration, I took the less safe path to follow my passion, and I'm proud of that choice.

我那时候和一群非常聪明的人在纽约的一家金融公司工作,我有一个非常杰出的老板,我很尊重它。我找到我的老板并且告诉他我想再网上开一家书店。他带着我在中央公园走了很久,静静地听我说完,然后他说”这听起来是一个很好的主意,但是对于一个目前没有找到一份好工作的人来说这是个更好的主意“。这听起来感觉很有道理,他说服我让我考虑48小时后再做最终的决定。在那个时候,这确实是一个很难作出选择的决定,但是最终,我决定拼一次。我不认为我会为尝试和失败而后悔。反而我怀疑我会为没有决定尝试去做而整日被这个想法而纠缠。考虑许久后,我选择了追随心中激情的那条不太安全的道路,现在我为那个决定而自豪。

Part 6 生词统计

单词音标翻译
logic'lɔdʒikn. 逻辑、逻辑学、逻辑性; adj. 逻辑的
convincekən'vɪnsv. 说服、使确信、使信服
ultimateˈʌltəmɪtn. 终极、根本、基本原则; adj. 最终的、极限的、根本的
suspectsʌspɛktn. 嫌疑犯; adj. 可疑地、不可信的; v.怀疑、猜想
haunted'hɔntɪdadj. 闹鬼的、反复出现的、受到困扰的; v. 常去、纠缠
considerationkən,sɪdə'reʃən]n. 考虑、原因、关心、报酬

Part 7 翻译

Tomorrow, in a very real sense, your life -- the life you author from scratch on your own --begins.

How will you use your gifts? What choices will you make?

Will inertia be your guide, or will you follow your passions?

Will you follow dogma, or will you be original?

Will you choose a life of ease, or a life of service and adventure?

Will you wilt under criticism, or will you follow your convictions?

Will you bluff it out when you're wrong, or will you apologize?

Will you guard your heart against rejection, or will you act when you fall in love?

Will you play it safe, or will you be a little bit swashbuckling?

When it's tough, will you give up, or will you be relentless?

Will you be a cynic, or will you be a builder?

Will you be clever at the expense of others, or will you be kind?

I will hazard a prediction. When you are 80 years old, and in a quiet moment of reflection narrating for only yourself the most personal version of your life story, the telling that will be most compact and meaningful will be the series of choices you have made. In the end, we are our choices. Build yourself a great story.

Thank you and good luck!

明天,确切地说,从现在开始把握你自己的人生。 你将会怎样使用自己的天赋?会做出怎样的选择? 是选择被习惯引导,还是选择追随自己的激情? 是选择遵循教条,还是保持初心? 是选择简单的活一生,还是让生活充满奉献与冒险? 是选择在批评中衰弱,还是坚守信念? 是选择在掩盖错误事实,还是选择为过错道歉? 是选择保护内心不被拒绝,还是主动出击,坠入爱河? 是选择小心翼翼,还是选择莽撞一点? 面对强硬的时候,是选择放弃,还是坚定前行? 是选择做个愤世嫉俗的人,还是选择做一个建设者? 是选择在其他人面前耗尽聪明,还是选择善良? 我赌一个预言。当你80岁的时候,在一个安静的时候去回想叙述自己这一生,最得意,最有意义的时刻,将会是你所做的一系列选择。最后,是选择造就了我们,建造属于自己的伟大故事吧。 谢谢大家,祝各位好运!

Part 7 生词统计

单词音标翻译
scratchskrætʃn. 擦伤、抓痕、乱写; adj. 打草稿用的、凑合的; v. 抓、刮、挖出
inertiaɪ'nɝʃən. [力]惯性、惰性、迟钝、不活动
dogma'dɔɡmən. 教条、教理、武断的意见
wiltwɪltn. 枯萎、憔悴、衰弱; v. 使枯萎、使萎缩、使衰弱
criticismkrɪtə'sɪzəmn. 批评、考证、苛求
convictionkən'vɪkʃənn. 定罪、确信、证明有罪
bluffblʌfn. 吓唬、绝壁、断崖; v. 吓唬、愚弄; adj. 直率的、陡峭的
againstəˈɡɛnstprep. 反对、违反、靠、倚、防备; v. 不利的、对立的
swashbuckling'swɔʃbʌklɪŋn. 虚张声势、吹嘘、神气活现; adj. 虚张声势的、持强凌弱的
toughtʌfn. 恶棍; v. 坚持、忍受、忍耐; adj. 艰苦的、困难的、不屈不挠的
relentrɪ'lɛntv. 使温和、使宽厚、减弱、缓和
cynic'sɪnɪkn. 愤世嫉俗者、犬儒学派的人; adj. 犬儒学派的
expenseɪk'spɛnsn. 损失、代价、消费、开支; v. 向...收取费用
hazard'hæzɚdn. 危险、冒险、冒险的事; v. 赌运气、冒...的危险、使遭受危险
predictprɪ'dɪktv. 预报、预言、预知
narratenæretv. 叙述、给...作旁白
compact'kɑmpæktn. 合同、契约、小粉盒; v. 使简洁、使紧密结合; adj. 紧凑的、紧密的、简洁的

原文阅读

As a kid, I spent my summers with my grandparents on their ranch in Texas. I helped fix windmills, vaccinate cattle, and do other chores. We also watched soap operas every afternoon, especially "Days of our Lives". My grandparents belonged to a Caravan Club, a group of Airstream trailer owners who travel together around the U.S. and Canada. Aand every few summers, we'd join the caravan. We'd hitch up the Airstream trailer to my grandfather's car, and off we'd go, in a line with 300 other Airstream adventurers. I loved and worshipped my grandparents and I really looked forward to these trips. On one particular trip, I was about 10 years old. I was rolling around in the big bench seat in the back of the car. My grandfather was driving. Aand my grandmother had the passenger seat. She smoked throughout these trips, and I hated the smell.

At that age, I'd take any excuse to make estimates and do minor arithmetic. I'd calculate our gas mileage -- figure out useless statistics on things like grocery spending. I'd been hearing an ad campaign about smoking. I can't remember the details, but basically the ad said, every puff of a cigarette takes some number of minutes off of your life. I think it might have been two minutes per puff. At any rate, I decided to do the math for my grandmother. I estimated the number of cigarettes per days, estimated the number of puffs per cigarette and so on. When I was satisfied that I'd come up with a reasonable number, I poked my head into the front of the car, tapped my grandmother on the shoulder, and proudly proclaimed, "At two minutes per puff, you've taken nine years off your life!" I have a vivid memory of what happened, and it was not I expected. I expected to be applauded for my cleverness and arithmetic skills. "Jeff, you're so smart. You had to have make some tricky estimates, figure out the number of minutes in a year and do some division." That's not what happended. Instead, my grandmother burst into tears. I sat in the backseat and did not know what to do. While my grandmother sat crying, my grandfather, who had been driving in silence, pulled over onto the shoulder of the highway. He got out of the car and came around and opended my door and waited for me to follow. Was I in trouble? My grandfather was a highly intelligent, quiet man. He has never said a harsh word to me, and maybe this was to be the first time? Or maybe he would ask that I get back in the car and apologize to my grandmother. I had no experience in this realm with my grandparents and no way to guage what the consequences might be. We stoped beside the trailer. My grandfather looded at me, and after a bit of silence, he gently and calmly said, "Jeff, one day you'll understand that it's harder to be kind than clever."

What I want to talk to you about today if the difference between gifts and choices. Cleverness is a gift, kindness is a choice. Gifts are easy -- they're given after all. Choices can be hard. You can seduce yourself with your gifts if you're not careful, and if you do, it'll probably be to the detriment of your choices. This is a group with many gifts. I'm sure one of your gifts is the gift of a smart and capable brain. I'm confident that's the case because the admission is competitive and if there weren't some signs that you're clever, the dean of admission wouldn't have let you in.

Your smarts will come in handy because you will travel in a land of marvels. We humans -- plodding as we are -- will astonish ourselves. We'll invent ways to generate clean energy and a lot of it. Atom by atom, we'll assemble tiny machines that will enter cell walls and make repairs. This month comes the extraordinary but also inevitable news that we've synthesized life. In the coming years, we'll not only synthesize it, but we'll engineer it to specifications. I believe you'll even see us understand the human brain. Jules Verne, Mark Twain, Galileo, Newton -- all the curious from the ages would have wanted to be alive most of all right now. As a civilization, we will have so many gifts, just as you as individuals have so many individual gifts as you sit before me. How will you use these gifts? And will you take pride in your gifts or pride in your choices?

I got the idea to start Amazon 16 years ago. I came acroll the fact that Web usage was growing at 2,300 percent per year. I'd never seen or heard of anything that grew that fast, and the idea of building an online bookstore with millions of titles -- something that simply couldn't exist in the pysical world -- was very exciting to me. I had just turned 30 years old, and I'd been married for a year. I told my wife MacKenzie that I wanted to quit my job and go to this crazy thing that probably wouldn't work since most startups don't, and I was sure what would happed after that. MacKenzie(also a Princeton grad and sitting here in the second row) told me I should go for it. As a young boy, I'd been a garage inventer. I'd invented an automatic gate closer out of cement-filled tires, a solar worker that didn't work very well out of an umbrella and tinfoil, baking-pan alarms to entrap my siblings. I'd always wanted to be an inventor, and she wangted me to follow my passion.

I was working at a financial firm in New York City with a bunch of very smart people, and I had a brilliant boss that I much admired. I went to my boss and told him I wanted to start a company selling books on the Internet. He took me on a long walk in Central Park, listened carefully to me, and finally said,"That sounds like a readlly good idea, but it would be an even better idea for someone who didn't already have a good job." That logic made some sense to me, and he convinced me to think about it for 48 hours before making a final decision. Seen in that light, it really was a difficult choice, but ultimately, I decided I had to give it a shot. I didn't think I'd regret trying and failing. And I suspected I would always be haunted by a decision to not try at all. After much consideration, I took the less safe path to follow my passion, and I'm proud of that choice.

Tomorrow, in a very real sense, your life -- the life you author from scratch on your own -- begins. How will you use your gifts? What choices will you make? Will inertia be your guide, or will you follow your passions? Will you follow dogma, or will you be original? Will you choose a life of ease, or a life of service and adventure? Will you wilt under criticism, or will you follow your convictions? Will you bluff it out when you're wrong, or will you apologize? Will you guard your heart against rejection, or will you act when you fall in love? Will you play it safe, or will you be a little bit swashbuckling? When it's tough, will you give up, or will you be relentless? Will you be a cynic, or will you be a builder? Will you be clever at the expense of others, or will you be kind?

I will hazard a prediction. When you are 80 years old, and in a quiet moment of reflection narrating for only yourself the most personal version of your life story, the telling that will be most compact and meaningful will be the series of choices you have made. In the end, we are our choices. Build yourself a great story.

Thank you and good luck!