Grace英語教學SPA館

2012 Wellesley High School Commencement Speech -

'You Are Not Special' by David McCullough Jr.

"If everyone is special,then no one is .

If eeryone gets a trophy, trophies become meaningless."

「如果每個人都是特別的，那就沒有一個特別；

如果每個人都得到一個獎杯，獎杯就變得毫無意義。」

"... I urge you to do whatevery you do for

no reason other than you love it and believe in its importance."

麥卡洛鼓勵畢業生們去做任何想做的事，

不為別的，就因為熱愛而且相信它很重要。

Dream big. Work hard. Think for yourself.

Love everything you love, everyone you love. with all your might.

"Climb the mountain not to plant your flag,

but ot embrace the challenge,

enjoythe air and behold the view.

Climb it so you can see the world, not so the world can see. you"

「去爬山；爬山，是因為你可以看到世界，而不是讓世界可以看到你。」

"Congratulations. Good luck . Make for yourselves, please,

 for your sake and for ours, extraordinary lives."

「為你們、為我們，請過好你們自己的特別生活。」

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfdhFFSlNnw [中文字幕版]

1We’d been hearing good things over the weekend about Wellesley High School English teacher David McCullough, Jr.’s faculty speech to the Class of 2012 last Friday. Here it is, in its entirety, courtesy of Mr. McCullough:

(以下為演講文)

2Dr. Wong, Dr. Keough, Mrs. Novogroski, Ms. Curran, members of the board of education, family and friends of the graduates, ladies and gentlemen of the Wellesley High School class of 2012, for the privilege of speaking to you this afternoon, I am honored and grateful. Thank you.

黃博士，基奧博士，諾莫果思基夫人，科倫女士，教育局官員，畢業生的家人和朋友，威爾利思高中2012年畢業班的女士先生們，我感到十分榮幸和感激，在這個下午有這樣的機會跟你們講話。

3 So here we are… commencement… life’s great forward-looking ceremony. (And don’t say, “What about weddings?” Weddings are one-sided and insufficiently effective. Weddings are bride-centric pageantry. Other than conceding to a list of unreasonable demands, the groom just stands there.

所以，我們在這裡，畢業典禮，生命中最重要的前瞻性儀式，(但是不要問:”那婚禮呢?”)婚禮是片面的而且不怎麼管用，婚禮是新娘為中心的盛會，除了同意一連串不怎麼合理的要求外，新郎只是呆在那理。

4 No stately, hey-everybody-look-at-me procession. No being given away. No identity-changing pronouncement. And can you imagine a television show dedicated to watching guys try on tuxedos? Their fathers sitting there misty-eyed with joy and disbelief, their brothers lurking in the corner muttering with envy. Left to men, weddings would be, after limits-testing procrastination, spontaneous, almost inadvertent… during halftime… on the way to the refrigerator. And then there’s the frequency of failure: statistics tell us half of you will get divorced. A winning percentage like that’ll get you last place in the American League East. The Baltimore Orioles do better than weddings.)不是怎麼莊重，大家看我排在隊伍裡，不能落跑，沒有改變身分的宣告;你可以想像有個專門看大家穿上禮服的電視節目，他們的父親坐在那裡，感傷中帶著喜悅和懷疑。他們的兄弟轉到角落，喃喃自語中帶著羨慕，留給男人的婚禮可能是幾經測試後的拖延，自發性的行為似乎不曾發生。除了在中場休息，到冰箱拿飲料的路上，然而婚姻是有失敗率的，統計上說你們有一半的人將會離婚，婚姻的成功率就像是美聯東區墊底的位置，巴爾的摩金鶯隊的勝率都比婚姻的成功率來的高。

5But this ceremony… commencement… a commencement works every time. From this day forward… truly… in sickness and in health, through financial fiascos, through midlife crises and passably attractive sales reps at trade shows in Cincinnati, through diminishing tolerance for annoyingness, through every difference, irreconcilable and otherwise, you will stay forever graduated from high school, you and your diploma as one, ‘til death do you part.

但這個畢業典禮，畢業典禮總要來的，從今而後，真的，讓你歷經疾病與健康，財務困頓，中年危機和在辛辛那提的展銷會遇到迷人的銷售代表，對惱人的事容忍度越來越低，歷經每次改變，無法調解的事或其他方面，你們將永遠從高中畢業，你和你的文憑合為一體，至死不渝。

6No, commencement is life’s great ceremonial beginning, with its own attendant and highly appropriate symbolism. Fitting, for example, for this auspicious rite of passage, is where we find ourselves this afternoon, the venue. Normally, I avoid clichés like the plague, wouldn’t touch them with a ten-foot pole, but here we are on a literal level playing field. That matters. That says something. And your ceremonial costume… shapeless, uniform, one-size-fits-all. Whether male or female, tall or short, scholar or slacker, spray-tanned prom queen or intergalactic X-Box assassin, each of you is dressed, you’ll notice, exactly the same. And your diploma… but for your name, exactly the same.

不是的，畢業典禮是生命偉大儀式的開始，有自己的參與者和高度的象徵意義。例如，通過這個儀式，今天下午我們找到自己，就在這個場地;通常我會避免陳腔濫調的致詞，連碰都不想碰，但我們處在這個知識階級的遊樂場，致詞這一點很重要，也代表某些意義，至於你們的典禮服裝，無造型，一致的，一個尺碼適合所有的人，無論男女，高矮，書讀好不好，曬成棕褐色的舞會皇后或X-BOX銀河刺客，你們每個人的穿著，你會發現一模一樣。你的文憑也是，除了印上不一樣的名字，

7All of th，is is as it should be, because none of you is special.You are not special. You are not exceptional. 本來就是這樣，因為你並不特別(1)，你不特別(2)，你並沒有與眾不同(3)。

8 Contrary to what your u9 soccer trophy suggests, your glowing seventh grade report card, despite every assurance of a certain corpulent purple dinosaur, that nice Mister Rogers and your batty Aunt Sylvia, no matter how often your maternal caped crusader has swooped in to save you… you’re nothing special.

9Yes, you’ve been pampered, cosseted, doted upon, helmeted, bubble-wrapped. Yes, capable adults with other things to do have held you, kissed you, fed you, wiped your mouth, wiped your bottom, trained you, taught you, tutored you, coached you, listened to you, counseled you, encouraged you, consoled you and encouraged you again. You’ve been nudged, cajoled, wheedled and implored. You’ve been feted and fawned over and called sweetie pie. Yes, you have. And, certainly, we’ve been to your games, your plays, your recitals, your science fairs. Absolutely, smiles ignite when you walk into a room, and hundreds gasp with delight at your every tweet. Why, maybe you’ve even had your picture in the Townsman! 對照你的U9族球獎杯上說的你發光的七年級成績單，儘管確信一定有紫色肥胖的恐龍 那個好心的羅傑斯先生和巴帝西維爾阿姨，不管那個女蝙蝠俠多麼常衝下來救你，你還是枚什麼特別的(4)是的，你一直養尊處優，嬌生慣養，被寵愛，頭戴鋼盔，氣泡袋包裹著，是的，有能力的大人正在忙時，幫助你,親吻你,餵養你,擦你的嘴,擦你的屁股,訓練你,教你,引導你，教育你，聽你說，安慰,你鼓勵你 然後又安慰你再次鼓勵你;你們曾經被輕輕推一把，誘騙，好言相勸和懇求 你曾經被款待和奉承，並被稱為甜心派。是的,你有。當然我們在你的遊戲裡，你的演出劇裡，你的演奏會，你的科學展覽，當然，當你走進一個房間燃起微笑和你每一個推文數百個贊，為什麼，也許你在Townsman有照片

10 And now you’ve conquered high school… and, indisputably, here we all have gathered for you, the pride and joy of this fine community, the first to emerge from that magnificent new building…現在你們已經征服了高中，無庸置疑的，我們因為你們而聚在這裡，是這個社區的驕傲和喜悅 第一個從那宏偉的新建築浮現，

11But do not get the idea you’re anything special. Because you’re not. 但不要以為你有不同(5)因為你不是(6)

12The empirical evidence is everywhere, numbers even an English teacher can’t ignore. Newton, Natick, Nee… I am allowed to say Needham, yes? …that has to be two thousand high school graduates right there, give or take, and that’s just the neighborhood Ns. Across the country no fewer than 3.2 million seniors are graduating about now from more than 37,000 high schools. That’s 37,000 valedictorians… 37,000 class presidents… 92,000 harmonizing altos… 340,000 swaggering jocks… 2,185,967 pairs of Uggs. But why limit ourselves to high school? After all, you’re leaving it. So think about this: even if you’re one in a million, on a planet of 6.8 billion that means there are nearly 7,000 people just like you. Imagine standing somewhere over there on Washington Street on Marathon Monday and watching sixty-eight hundred yous go running by. And consider for a moment the bigger picture: your planet, I’ll remind you, is not the center of its solar system, your solar system is not the center of its galaxy, your galaxy is not the center of the universe. In fact, astrophysicists assure us the universe has no center; therefore, you cannot be it. Neither can Donald Trump… which someone should tell him… although that hair is quite a phenomenon.實證無所不在，這些數字甚至連ㄧ個英文老師都不能忽視，牛頓，納迪克，尼(我可以說是尼達姆高中嗎)那裡正有2000個高中畢業生，信不信由你，這只是鄰近地區，全國各地不下32,,000個高中生現在正從37,000多所高中畢業，也就是說有37,000多個畢業生，37,000多個班長92000和聲男高音340,000校隊運動健將人穿著靴子 但是為什麼要限制在高中呢，畢竟你將離開他，所以想一想 即使你是百萬中選一 在地球上68億人口這意味著有將近7000人跟你一樣，想像一下站在華盛頓街上，看著馬拉松星期一活動，有6800個和你一樣的人跑過。並且花點時間往大處想 我會提醒你，你的星球不是太陽系的中心，你的太陽系不是銀河的中心，你的銀河不是宇宙的中心，事實上，天體物理學家說宇宙沒有中心，因此你也不會是特別的(7) ，即使唐納德川普也不是，儘管有人得告訴他這件事，即使他的頭髮非常與眾不同。

13“But, Dave,” you cry, “Walt Whitman tells me I’m my own version of perfection! Epictetus tells me I have the spark of Zeus!” And I don’t disagree. So that makes 6.8 billion examples of perfection, 6.8 billion sparks of Zeus. You see, if everyone is special, then no one is. If everyone gets a trophy, trophies become meaningless. In our unspoken but not so subtle Darwinian competition with one another–which springs, I think, from our fear of our own insignificance, a subset of our dread of mortality — we have of late, we Americans, to our detriment, come to love accolades more than genuine achievement. “但是，大衛(作者名)”你哭著問， “惠特曼告訴我，我是我自己的完美版本”  ‘愛匹克提塔斯告訴我，我有宙斯的火花’，這一點我不反對，因此世界上造救了68億完美的例子，68億宙斯的火花，你看如果每個人都是特別的那就沒有人是特別的 如果每個人都得到一座獎盃，獎盃就變得毫無意義。我們不說但我們也知道達爾文競爭理論，我認為他源自我們無關緊要的恐懼，我們對死亡恐懼的一個子集，最近以來，我們美國人對我們的損害，我們喜愛稱讚更勝於真正的成就，

14We have come to see them as the point — and we’re happy to compromise standards, or ignore reality, if we suspect that’s the quickest way, or only way, to have something to put on the mantelpiece, something to pose with, crow about, something with which to leverage ourselves into a better spot on the social totem pole. No longer is it how you play the game, no longer is it even whether you win or lose, or learn or grow, or enjoy yourself doing it… Now it’s “So what does this get me?” As a consequence, we cheapen worthy endeavors, and building a Guatemalan medical clinic becomes more about the application to Bowdoin than the well-being of Guatemalans.我們要認真來看待這一點，我們樂於對標準妥協或無視於現實，如果我們知道這是最快的方式或唯一的方法，把東西放在壁爐上，提出ㄧ些看法，可以自吹自擂，有什麼可以幫自己取得在社會的圖騰柱下更好的位置;重要的不再是你如何玩遊戲，無關乎比賽的結果是平手是贏是輸，或學習或成長，不管你喜不喜歡做這件事… “那這跟我又有什麼關係”，因此，

我們貶低了努力的價值，建立瓜地馬拉的醫療診所對於包登的應用，更勝於對瓜地馬拉人的福祉。

15 It’s an epidemic — and in its way, not even dear old Wellesley High is immune… one of the best of the 37,000 nationwide, Wellesley High School… where good is no longer good enough, where a B is the new C, and the midlevel curriculum is called Advanced College Placement. And I hope you caught me when I said “one of the best.” I said “one of the best” so we can feel better about ourselves, so we can bask in a little easy distinction, however vague and unverifiable, and count ourselves among the elite, whoever they might be, and enjoy a perceived leg up on the perceived competition. But the phrase defies logic.

這種想法是不能免疫的，這種情況下，即使是古老的威爾斯利高中都不能免疫，全球37.000所最好的高中之一。在這裡，好已經不夠好，一個B被新的C取代，中等程度的課程被稱為大學預修課程，希望你剛剛有注意聽到我說的 “最好之一”，我這樣說，是因為可以讓我們自我感覺良好”，我們沉浸在一個小的易辨別的，儘管這是含糊不清和無法證實的，以為我們自己也是菁英之一，而真正的菁英份子，他們處於優勢並樂於競爭，但是這話不合邏輯。

16 By definition there can be only one best. You’re it or you’re not.If you’ve learned anything in your years here I hope it’s that education should be for, rather than material advantage, the exhilaration of learning. You’ve learned, too, I hope, as Sophocles assured us, that wisdom is the chief element of happiness. (Second is ice cream… just an fyi) I also hope you’ve learned enough to recognize how little you know… how little you know now… at the moment… for today is just the beginning. It’s where you go from here that matters. 照理說，最好的僅能有一個，是就是不是就不是。如果你在這四年學到東西，我希望教育的目的本來就在樂於學習，而不僅僅是物質上的優勢，我希望你清楚這一點，就像是所福克里斯跟我們說智慧是幸福的第一元素(第二是冰淇淋)我希望你查覺到你們所知其實很少，真的很少，現在此時此刻，把今天當做是個開始，今後的學習那是更重要的。

17As you commence, then, and before you scatter to the winds, I urge you to do whatever you do for no reason other than you love it and believe in its importance. Don’t bother with work you don’t believe in any more than you would a spouse you’re not crazy about, lest you too find yourself on the wrong side of a Baltimore Orioles comparison. 當你們正準備開始隨風散落到各地之前，我懇請你去只因為你愛而不用理由的事，因為你相信他的重要價值，不用管那些你不相信的事，只要你不是瘋了，避免自己坐到支持巴爾的摩金鶯隊的敵方。

18 Resist the easy comforts of complacency, the specious glitter of materialism, the narcotic paralysis of self-satisfaction. Be worthy of your advantages. And read… read all the time… read as a matter of principle, as a matter of self-respect. Read as a nourishing staple of life. Develop and protect a moral sensibility and demonstrate the character to apply it. 不要太志得意滿，不要太唯物主義，不要自我滿足，珍視你的優點，閱讀，持續廣泛的閱讀，閱讀有關原則的建立，自我的尊重，把閱讀當做生活中的精神糧食，建立並保護道德情操並且展現良好的品格。

19Dream big. Work hard. Think for yourself. Love everything you love, everyone you love, with all your might. And do so, please, with a sense of urgency, for every tick of the clock subtracts from fewer and fewer; and as surely as there are commencements there are cessations, and you’ll be in no condition to enjoy the ceremony attendant to that eventuality no matter how delightful the afternoon. 追求遠大的夢想，並付諸努力。為自己好好想想，盡可能愛你所愛的每件事物，全心全意愛你所愛的每一個人，請一定要這樣做，這有急迫感，因為時間一分一秒正在流逝，這是肯定的，有開始就有結束，你們將盡情享受下午的這場典禮，不論多們令人愉快，還是有結束的時候，

20The fulfilling life, the distinctive life, the relevant life, is an achievement, not something that will fall into your lap because you’re a nice person or mommy ordered it from the caterer. You’ll note the founding fathers took pains to secure your inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness–quite an active verb, “pursuit”–which leaves, I should think, little time for lying around watching parrots rollerskate on Youtube. 充實的生活，與眾不同的生活，有意義的生活，是一項成就，但不會因為你是個好人 這些東西就從天而降 或像媽媽可以幫你打理一切 你會注意到開國元勳們如何煞費苦心的保護你不可剝奪的權利，生命 自由 追求幸福 ;一個相當活躍的動詞“追求”，我想，躺在youtube看鸚鵡怎麼溜冰是浪費時間

21The first President Roosevelt, the old rough rider, advocated the strenuous life. Mr. Thoreau wanted to drive life into a corner, to live deep and suck out all the marrow. The poet Mary Oliver tells us to row, row into the swirl and roil. Locally, someone… I forget who… from time to time encourages young scholars to carpe the heck out of the diem. The point is the same: get busy, have at it. Don’t wait for inspiration or passion to find you. Get up, get out, explore, find it yourself, and grab hold with both hands. 第一任總統羅斯福，一個老騎手，提倡勤奮的生活，梭羅先生嘗試過一種簡單的隱居生活，活的深刻，並吸取精髓，詩人馬利奧利佛告訴我們:划進漩渦和攪動，在本地，有人，我忘記是誰，不時鼓勵學子及時行樂，重點都一樣，動起來，盡力去做，不要等你的靈感和熱情來找你，起來，出去，探索，自己去找並用雙手努力打造。

22(Now, before you dash off and get your YOLO tattoo, let me point out the illogic of that trendy little expression–because you can and should live not merely once, but every day of your life. Rather than You Only Live Once, it should be You Live Only Once… but because YLOO doesn’t have the same ring, we shrug and decide it doesn’t matter.)現在，在你們匆忙離去，去紋上YOLO刺青前，請容許我指出這個不合邏輯的流行，因為你可以不只是活一次，而是要好好過你的每一天，不是你只能活一次(YOLO)，而是人生不能重來(YLOO)，因為YLOO不需配戴相同的環，我們聳肩，並決定那沒有必要，

23None of this day-seizing, though, this YLOOing, should be interpreted as license for self-indulgence. Like accolades ought to be, the fulfilled life is a consequence, a gratifying byproduct. It’s what happens when you’re thinking about more important things. Climb the mountain not to plant your flag, but to embrace the challenge, enjoy the air and behold the view. Climb it so you can see the world, not so the world can see you. Go to Paris to be in Paris, not to cross it off your list and congratulate yourself for being worldly. 而把握今天不應該被曲解為自我放縱的執照，充實的人生是一個結果，成就固然是一個可喜的副產品，當你想做更重要的事情，這些結果必然會發生，登上山頂並不用插上旗幟，但是，我們可以迎接挑戰，享受空氣，瞧瞧眼下的景色，爬上去，所以你可以看到世界，而不是為了讓世界可以看到你，去巴黎，那就好好體驗巴黎，不要將他從你的清單劃去，只為了恭賀自己又到過了一個地方，

24Exercise free will and creative, independent thought not for the satisfactions they will bring you, but for the good they will do others, the rest of the 6.8 billion–and those who will follow them. And then you too will discover the great and curious truth of the human experience is that selflessness is the best thing you can do for yourself. The sweetest joys of life, then, come only with the recognition that you’re not special.

Because everyone is.        

行使自由意志和創造力，即使不滿意，他們會帶給你獨立思考，要是沒有好的結果也會帶給你ㄧ些其他的東西，對於其他的68億人也一樣，努力追尋，然後你會發現人類經驗偉大和奇妙的真理，那就是，無私是你可以為自己做得最好的事情，生命中最甜美的喜悅，只要你認知到，你並不特別(8)因為每個人都是(9)

Congratulations. Good luck. Make for yourselves, please, for your sake and for ours, extraordinary lives.恭喜，祝你們好運，請為了你自己，也為了大家，打造自己不凡的人生。

(David McCullough)