第一篇：勵(lì)志美聯(lián)英語 比爾蓋茨在哈佛大學(xué)畢業(yè)典禮上的演講

小編給你一個(gè)美聯(lián)英語官方免費(fèi)試聽課申請(qǐng)鏈接： http://m.meten.com/test/waijiao.aspx?tid=16-73675-0 美聯(lián)英語提供：比爾蓋茨在哈佛大學(xué)畢業(yè)典禮上的演講

President Bok, former President Rudenstine, incoming President Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers, members of the faculty, parents, and especially, the graduates: I've been waiting more than 30 years to say this: “Dad, I always told you I’d come back and get my degree.”

尊敬的博克校長(zhǎng)，前校長(zhǎng)魯?shù)撬固?，即將上任的佛斯特校長(zhǎng)，哈佛集團(tuán)和監(jiān)察理事會(huì)的各位成員。各位老師，各位家長(zhǎng)，各位同學(xué)：有句話我憋了30年，今天終于能一吐為快了：““爸 我沒騙你吧，文憑到手了!”

I want to thank Harvard for this timely honor.I’ll be changing my job next year … and it will be nice to finally have a college degree on my résumé.我由衷地感謝哈佛這個(gè)時(shí)候給我這個(gè)榮譽(yù)。明年我要換工作(退休)。我終于能在簡(jiǎn)歷里注明自己有大學(xué)學(xué)歷了。

I applaud the graduates today for taking a much more direct route to your degrees.For my part, I’m just happy that the Crimson has called me “Harvard’s most successful dropout.” I guess that makes me valedictorian of my own special class … I did the best of everyone who failed.我要恭喜今年的畢業(yè)生們，因?yàn)槟銈儺厴I(yè)比我順利多了。其實(shí)我倒是很樂意克萊姆森把我喚作“哈佛大學(xué)最成功的輟學(xué)生”。這大概是我脫穎而出的法寶……我是輟學(xué)生中的領(lǐng)頭

羊。

But I also want to be recognized as the guy who got Steve Ballmer to drop out of business school.I’m a bad influence.That’s why I was invited to speak at your graduation.If I had spoken at your orientation, fewer of you might be here today.我還要檢討一下史蒂夫-鮑爾默也是受我蠱惑從商學(xué)院退學(xué)。我劣跡斑斑。這就是為什么我會(huì)受邀參加畢業(yè)演講。如果是開學(xué)典禮，恐怕今天的人會(huì)少很多。

Harvard was just a phenomenal experience for me.Academic life was fascinating.I used to sit in on lots of classes I hadn’t even signed up for.And dorm life was terrific.I lived up at Radcliffe, in Currier House.There were always lots of people in my dorm room late at night discussing things, because everyone knew I didn’t worry about getting up in the morning.That’s how I came to be the leader of the antisocial group.We clung to each other as a way of validating our rejection of all those social people.哈佛是我生命里的一段非凡經(jīng)歷。校園生活格外充實(shí)，我旁聽過很多沒有選過的課程。住宿的日子也很爽我當(dāng)時(shí)住在拉德克利夫的柯里爾宿舍，總是很多人在我的寢室討論到深夜。大家知道我屬于夜行動(dòng)物。就這樣，我成為了這堆人的頭目。我們粘在一起，擺出拒絕社交的姿態(tài)。

Radcliffe was a great place to live.There were more women up there, and most of the guys were science-math types.That combination offered me the best odds, if you know what I mean.This is where I learned the sad lesson that improving your odds doesn’t guarantee success.拉德克利夫是個(gè)好地方。那里的女生比男生多，男生們大多都是科學(xué)怪人。所以我的機(jī)

會(huì)來了，你懂的。可同時(shí)我也明白了一個(gè)道理——機(jī)會(huì)大也不能保證成功。

One of my biggest memories of Harvard came in January 1975, When I made a call from Currier House to a company in Albuquerque that had begun making the world’s first personal computers.I offered to sell them software.1975年1月在哈佛打出的一通電話讓我畢生難忘。我打給位于阿爾伯克基的一個(gè)公司，那家公司當(dāng)時(shí)著手制造世界上第一臺(tái)個(gè)人電腦。我說我想出售軟件給他們。

I worried that they would realize I was just a student in a dorm and hang up on me.Instead they said: “We’re not quite ready, come see us in a month,” which was a good thing, because we hadn’t written the software yet.From that moment, I worked day and night on this little extra credit project that marked the end of my college education and the beginning of a remarkable journey with Microsoft.我擔(dān)心他們會(huì)因?yàn)槲覍W(xué)生身份而掛掉電話。但他們只是說：“現(xiàn)在還沒有準(zhǔn)備好 請(qǐng)一個(gè)月后再聯(lián)系我們?！蔽议L(zhǎng)舒一口氣，壓根我們就沒開工。從那時(shí)起 我不分晝夜地趕工 它是我大學(xué)生活結(jié)束的標(biāo)志，也是微軟偉大旅程的開始。

What I remember above all about Harvard was being in the midst of so much energy and intelligence.It could be exhilarating, intimidating, sometimes even discouraging, but always challenging.It was an amazing privilege and though I left early, I was transformed by my years at Harvard, the friendships I made, and the ideas I worked on.哈佛的獨(dú)特氛圍讓我充滿精力和智慧。這里的日子可能振奮快樂、也可能令人退縮沮喪，但永遠(yuǎn)充滿了挑戰(zhàn)，神奇的體驗(yàn)!雖然我提前離開了這里，但是這段經(jīng)歷對(duì)我影響重大。

But taking a serious look back … I do have one big regret.不過說心里話……我確實(shí)有一點(diǎn)遺憾。

I left Harvard with no real awareness of the awful inequities in the world-the appalling disparities of health, and wealth, and opportunity that condemn millions of people to lives of despair.我離開哈佛時(shí)，根本沒有意識(shí)到這個(gè)世界是多么地不平等。健康、財(cái)富、機(jī)遇差異懸殊，數(shù)以百萬計(jì)的人生活在絕望之中。

I learned a lot here at Harvard about new ideas in economics and politics.I got great exposure to the advances being made in the sciences.我在哈佛觸摸著經(jīng)濟(jì)政治中的新思想，探索科學(xué)技術(shù)的未知前沿。

But humanity’s greatest advances are not in its discoveries – but in how those discoveries are applied to reduce inequity.Whether through democracy, strong public education, quality health care, or broad economic opportunity – reducing inequity is the highest human achievement.但是，人類的進(jìn)步不在于這些新發(fā)現(xiàn)，而在于如何運(yùn)用這些發(fā)現(xiàn)減少社會(huì)不公。不管是通過民主政策、健全的公共教育、高質(zhì)量的醫(yī)療保健還是廣泛的商機(jī)，消除不平等始終是人類最大的目標(biāo)。

I left campus knowing little about the millions of young people cheated out of educational opportunities here in this country.And I knew nothing about the millions of people living in unspeakable poverty and disease in developing countries.It took me decades to find out.離開校園的時(shí)候，根本不知道在美國上百萬年輕人沒有接受教育的機(jī)會(huì)。也對(duì)發(fā)展中國

家被貧困和病痛折磨的人們一無所知。我花了幾十年才明白這些事情。

You graduates came to Harvard at a different time.You know more about the world’s inequities than the classes that came before.In your years here, I hope you’ve had a chance to think about how – in this age of accelerating technology – we can finally take on these inequities, and we can solve them.如今，在座的各位應(yīng)該比我更了解世界上的這些不平等現(xiàn)象。在你們的求學(xué)之路上我希望你們已經(jīng)思考過這個(gè)問題——如何在這個(gè)高速發(fā)展的時(shí)代解決不平等現(xiàn)象。

Imagine, just for the sake of discussion, that you had a few hours a week and a few dollars a month to donate to a cause and you wanted to spend that time and money where it would have the greatest impact in saving and improving lives.Where would you spend it?

試想一下如果你每周捐出幾個(gè)小時(shí)，幾塊錢，來參與一項(xiàng)能夠拯救生命和提高生活品質(zhì)的項(xiàng)目，你會(huì)如何選擇?

For Melinda and for me, the challenge is the same: how can we do the most good for the greatest number with the resources we have.我和妻子梅琳達(dá)就面臨著這樣一個(gè)問題：怎樣才能充分利用我們擁有的資源。

During our discussions on this question, Melinda and I read an article about the millions of children who were dying every year in poor countries from diseases that we had long ago made harmless in this country.Measles, malaria, pneumonia, hepatitis B, yellow fever.One disease I had never even heard of, rotavirus, was killing half a million kids each year-none of them in the United States.舉棋不定時(shí)我們讀到一篇文章，文章里說在貧困的國家里，每年有數(shù)百萬，兒童死于于

美國早已戰(zhàn)勝的疾病——麻疹、瘧疾、肺炎、乙肝、黃熱病，還有一種從未聽說的輪狀病毒每年會(huì)奪走五十萬兒童的生命，而在美國沒有一例死亡病例。

We were shocked.We had just assumed that if millions of children were dying and they could be saved, the world would make it a priority to discover and deliver the medicines to save them.But it did not.For under a dollar, there were interventions that could save lives that just weren’t being delivered.當(dāng)時(shí)我們就震驚了。我以為全世界會(huì)不遺余力地拯救這些在死亡線上掙扎的兒童們，然而這些不值錢的救命藥卻沒有送到他們手中。

If you believe that every life has equal value, it’s revolting to learn that some lives are seen as worth saving and others are not.We said to ourselves: “This can’t be true.But if it is true, it deserves to be the priority of our giving.”

如果你堅(jiān)信人生而平等，把生命分等級(jí)的做法簡(jiǎn)直令人發(fā)指。我們對(duì)自己說：“這絕不可能。但萬一這是真的，那么這將成為我們慈善事業(yè)的首要任務(wù)。

So we began our work in the same way anyone here would begin it.We asked: “How could the world let these children die?”

于是我們開始行動(dòng)了 我相信這也會(huì)是你們的選擇。我們疑惑：“這個(gè)世界怎么可以眼睜睜看著這些孩子死去?”

The answer is simple, and harsh.The market did not reward saving the lives of these children, and governments did not subsidize it.So the children died because their mothers and their fathers had no power in the market and no voice in the system.But you and I have both.We can make market forces work better for the poor if we can develop a more creative capitalism.答案簡(jiǎn)單卻殘酷。市場(chǎng)經(jīng)濟(jì)中，拯救兒童沒有利潤(rùn)，政府也不會(huì)給予補(bǔ)貼。父母無財(cái)無權(quán) 孩子們就死了。我們不一樣，我們可以讓市場(chǎng)更好地為窮人服務(wù)，如果我們可以改進(jìn)現(xiàn)有資本主義制度。

If we can stretch the reach of market forces so that more people can make a profit, or at least make a living, serving people who are suffering from the worst inequities.We also can press governments around the world to spend taxpayer money in ways that better reflect the values of the people who pay the taxes.改善市場(chǎng)環(huán)境，讓更多的人賺到錢、維持生計(jì)，緩解苦難。給世界各地的政府施壓 讓他們把納稅人的錢花到最值得的地方。采取一些既滿足滿足窮人的需求，又能帶來商業(yè)利潤(rùn)并為政治家?guī)磉x票的措施。

If we can find approaches that meet the needs of the poor in ways that generate profits for business and votes for politicians, we will have found a sustainable way to reduce inequity in the world.This task is open-ended.It can never be finished.But a conscious effort to answer this challenge will change the world.采取一些既滿足滿足窮人的需求，又能帶來商業(yè)利潤(rùn)并為政治家?guī)磉x票的措施，我們就摸索到了減少世界不平等的可持續(xù)發(fā)展道路。然而這項(xiàng)任務(wù)并沒有終點(diǎn)，我們也許無法徹底解決。但只要不懈努力，就可以改變世界。

I am optimistic that we can do this, but I talk to skeptics who claim there is no hope.They say: “Inequity has been with us since the beginning, and will be with us till the end – because people just … don’t … care.” I completely disagree.我始終保持樂觀。但也聽到過消極的言論。他們認(rèn)為：“這種不平等現(xiàn)象會(huì)伴隨我們一

生，因?yàn)槿藗兡曔@一切。”但我不茍同。

I believe we have more caring than we know what to do with.All of us here in this Yard, at one time or another, have seen human tragedies that broke our hearts, and yet we did nothing, not because we didn’t care, but because we didn’t know what to do.If we had known how to help, we would have acted.雖然我們不知道該如何幫助他們，但我們絕對(duì)有這份心。我們都有過這樣的經(jīng)歷，看到令人心碎的悲劇，卻沒有伸出援手。不是因?yàn)槔淠?而是我們不知道該怎么做。如果我們知道如何去幫，就一定會(huì)采取行動(dòng)。

The barrier to change is not too little caring;it is too much complexity.To turn caring into action, we need to see a problem, see a solution, and see the impact.But complexity blocks all three steps.阻礙援助步伐的并非冷漠，而是世界太復(fù)雜。要把愛心轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)樾袆?dòng)，我們首先要發(fā)掘問題，然后尋找解決方案，并且監(jiān)測(cè)效果。然而世界的復(fù)雜性阻礙著這些步驟的實(shí)施。

Even with the advent of the Internet and 24-hour news, it is still a complex enterprise to get people to truly see the problems.When an airplane crashes, officials immediately call a press conference.They promise to investigate, determine the cause, and prevent similar crashes in the future.即使有了互聯(lián)網(wǎng)和24小時(shí)不間斷的新聞，人們?nèi)匀缓茈y看到真正的問題。一架飛機(jī)發(fā)生墜毀事故，官員們會(huì)立刻召開新聞發(fā)布會(huì)，承諾調(diào)查起因，以避免今后發(fā)生類似的事故。

But if the officials were brutally honest, they would say: “Of all the people in the world who died today from preventable causes, one half of one percent of them were on this plane.We’re determined to do everything possible to solve the

problem that took the lives of the one half of one percent.” The bigger problem is not the plane crash, but the millions of preventable deaths.但如果那些官員敢講真話，他們會(huì)說：“全世界每天會(huì)有好多人含恨而終，這起空難只是冰山一角。我們會(huì)不惜一切代價(jià)解決削平這一角冰山，此外的問題我們無力解決。” 可是與空難相比，那些奪走數(shù)百萬生命的問題則更為嚴(yán)重。

We don’t read much about these deaths.The media covers what’s new – and millions of people dying is nothing new.So it stays in the background, where it’s easier to ignore.But even when we do see it or read about it, it’s difficult to keep our eyes on the problem.It’s hard to look at suffering if the situation is so complex that we don’t know how to help.And so we look away.事實(shí)上那些人的死輕如鴻毛，司空見慣，連媒體都不屑于報(bào)道。更無法吸引我們的注意。即使我們知道了 它也很難刺痛我們的神經(jīng)。世間最痛苦的事莫過于看著他人經(jīng)受苦難的卻無能為力，于是我們選擇了逃避。

If we can really see a problem, which is the first step, we come to the second step: cutting through the complexity to find a solution.發(fā)現(xiàn)問題，只是邁出了第一步，接下來我們還要：尋找解決方案。

Finding solutions is essential if we want to make the most of our caring.If we have clear and proven answers anytime an organization or individual asks “How can I help?,” then we can get action – and we can make sure that none of the caring in the world is wasted.But complexity makes it hard to mark a path of action for everyone who cares — and that makes it hard for their caring to matter.如果不想讓愛心變成空談，就必須找到問題的解決方案。如果有清晰可靠的方案，那么

政府或個(gè)人組織就能立刻采取行動(dòng)，將愛心落實(shí)。但是世界的復(fù)雜性使找尋方案的過程無比艱難 于是愛心才淪為空談。

Cutting through complexity to find a solution runs through four predictable stages: determine a goal, find the highest-leverage approach, discover the ideal technology for that approach, and in the meantime, make the smartest application of the technology that you already have whether it’s something sophisticated, like a drug, or something simpler, like a bednet.打破復(fù)雜性需要四個(gè)步驟：確定目標(biāo)、找到最有效的途徑、尋找最理想的技術(shù)，并合理利用現(xiàn)有技術(shù)。無論是制作復(fù)雜的藥物，還是利用簡(jiǎn)單的蚊帳，都行。

The AIDS epidemic offers an example.The broad goal, of course, is to end the disease.The highest-leverage approach is prevention.The ideal technology would be a vaccine that gives lifetime immunity with a single dose.So governments, drug companies, and foundations fund vaccine research.But their work is likely to take more than a decade, so in the meantime, we have to work with what we have in hand – and the best prevention approach we have now is getting people to avoid risky behavior.以艾滋病為例。我們的目標(biāo)是消滅它。最有效的途徑是預(yù)防，最理想的技術(shù)是注射一劑疫苗實(shí)現(xiàn)終身免疫。所以現(xiàn)在政府、制藥公司、基金會(huì)都在資助疫苗的研究。但可能要十幾年才能研究出來，所以目前的最好的預(yù)防措施就是避開那些可能傳播艾滋病的行為。

Pursuing that goal starts the four-step cycle again.This is the pattern.The crucial thing is to never stop thinking and working – and never do what we did with malaria and tuberculosis in the 20th century – which is to surrender to

complexity and quit.四步循環(huán)直達(dá)目標(biāo)。記住永遠(yuǎn)不要停止思考和行動(dòng)——永遠(yuǎn)不要像人們?cè)?0世紀(jì)對(duì)待瘧疾和肺結(jié)核那樣，向疾病投降。

The final step – after seeing the problem and finding an approach – is to measure the impact of your work and share your successes and failures so that others learn from your efforts.在發(fā)現(xiàn)問題并找到解決方法后，還需監(jiān)測(cè)結(jié)果，并與他人分享成功的經(jīng)驗(yàn)和失敗的教訓(xùn)，讓別人也能從中受益。

You have to have the statistics, of course.You have to be able to show that a program is vaccinating millions more children.You have to be able to show a decline in the number of children dying from these diseases.This is essential not just to improve the program, but also to help draw more investment from business and government.當(dāng)然，你還得有統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)據(jù)。用來證明你的項(xiàng)目為上百萬兒童接種了疫苗，證明這些孩子的死亡率降低了。這不僅有利于項(xiàng)目的改進(jìn)，也有助于吸引更多的企業(yè)和政府投資。

But if you want to inspire people to participate, you have to show more than numbers.You have to convey the human impact of the work – so people can feel what saving a life means to the families affected.但如果想吸引更多的人參與進(jìn)來，光靠數(shù)字還遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)不夠。你需要展示出項(xiàng)目承載的價(jià)值，讓他們明白挽救一個(gè)生命對(duì)其家庭的意義。

Remember going to Davos some years back and sitting on a global health panel that was discussing ways to save millions of lives.Millions!Think of the thrill

of saving just one person’s life – then multiply that by millions.Yet this was the most boring panel I’ve ever been on – ever.So boring even I couldn’t bear it.我記得幾年前去達(dá)沃斯參加全球健康討論會(huì)，關(guān)于如何挽救數(shù)百萬人的生命。數(shù)百萬人!只要想想挽救一條生命帶來的震撼，再把這種震撼乘上幾百萬倍是什么感覺!然而，那是我見過的最無聊的討論會(huì)。

What made that experience especially striking was that I had just come from an event where we were introducing version 13 of some piece of software, and we had people jumping and shouting with excitement.I love getting people excited about software – but why can’t we generate even more excitement for saving lives?

之所以銘記在心是因?yàn)槲易罱鼌⒓拥囊豢钴浖l(fā)布會(huì)的現(xiàn)場(chǎng)氛圍異常火爆。人們激動(dòng)地歡呼雀躍?？吹饺藗円?yàn)檐浖d奮，我也很開心——但我們?yōu)槭裁礋o法對(duì)挽救生命更感興趣呢?

You can’t get people excited unless you can help them see and feel the impact.And how you do that – is a complex question.除非人們能感知到行動(dòng)的影響力，否則人們就不會(huì)動(dòng)心。如何做到這一點(diǎn)并不簡(jiǎn)單。

Still, I’m optimistic.Yes, inequity has been with us forever, but the new tools we have to cut through complexity have not been with us forever.They are new – they can help us make the most of our caring – and that’s why the future can be different from the past.盡管如此，我還是很樂觀。是的，不平等現(xiàn)象一直存在，但我們總會(huì)想出新的解決辦法。新技術(shù)可以幫助我們傳播愛心，我對(duì)未來充滿信心。

The defining and ongoing innovations of this age – biotechnology, the

computer, the Internet--give us a chance we’ve never had before to end extreme poverty and end death from preventable disease.創(chuàng)新技術(shù)不斷涌現(xiàn)，比如生物技術(shù)、計(jì)算機(jī)、互聯(lián)網(wǎng)。讓我們有機(jī)會(huì)終結(jié)救極度貧困和非惡性死亡。

Sixty years ago, George Marshall came to this commencement and announced a plan to assist the nations of post-war Europe.He said: “I think one difficulty is that the problem is one of such enormous complexity that the very mass of facts presented to the public by press and radio make it exceedingly difficult for the man in the street to reach a clear appraisement of the situation.It is virtually impossible at this distance to grasp at all the real significance of the situation.”

六十年前，喬治-馬歇爾在哈佛的畢業(yè)典禮上宣布了一項(xiàng)協(xié)助戰(zhàn)后歐洲的計(jì)劃。他說：“我認(rèn)為推動(dòng)這項(xiàng)計(jì)劃的困難在于，報(bào)紙和廣播源源不斷地提供各種事實(shí)，使得公眾難以清晰地判斷形勢(shì)。事實(shí)上，經(jīng)過層層傳播，想要真正地把握形勢(shì)，是根本不可能的。

Thirty years after Marshall made his address, as my class graduated without me, technology was emerging that would make the world smaller, more open, more visible, less distant.馬歇爾發(fā)表演講三十年后，我的同學(xué)畢業(yè)了，科技開始發(fā)展，這個(gè)世界變得更小、更開放、更透明、人們之間的關(guān)系拉得更近。

The emergence of low-cost personal computers gave rise to a powerful network that has transformed opportunities for learning and communicating.低成本個(gè)人電腦和互聯(lián)網(wǎng)為人們提供了更多學(xué)習(xí)和交流的機(jī)會(huì)。

The magical thing about this network is not just that it collapses distance and

makes everyone your neighbor.It also dramatically increases the number of brilliant minds we can have working together on the same problem and that scales up the rate of innovation to a staggering degree.神奇的是，網(wǎng)絡(luò)不僅縮短了人與人之間的距離，也增加了精英們集思廣益共同解決難題的機(jī)會(huì)。加快了創(chuàng)新的規(guī)模和速度。

At the same time, for every person in the world who has access to this technology, five people don’t.That means many creative minds are left out of this discussion smart people with practical intelligence and relevant experience who don’t have the technology to hone their talents or contribute their ideas to the world.然而世界上只有六分之一的人能夠接觸互聯(lián)網(wǎng)，很多精英不能參與我們的討論，很多人無法把它們解決問題的智慧和經(jīng)驗(yàn)分享出 來。

We need as many people as possible to have access to this technology, because these advances are triggering a revolution in what human beings can do for one another.They are making it possible not just for national governments, but for universities, corporations, smaller organizations, and even individualsto see problems, see approaches, and measure the impact of their efforts to address the hunger, poverty, and desperation George Marshall spoke of 60 years ago.如今，新技術(shù)將引發(fā)一場(chǎng)革命，讓盡可能多的人與世界接軌，科技不僅為政府，也為大學(xué)、企業(yè)、小團(tuán)體甚至個(gè)人帶來了機(jī)會(huì)，而今這些機(jī)構(gòu)和個(gè)人能夠運(yùn)用科技找到有效的解決60年前喬治?馬歇爾談到的饑荒、貧困和絕望。

Members of the Harvard Family: Here in the Yard is one of the great collections

of intellectual talent in the world.What for?

各位哈佛大家庭的成員，你們是世界上少有的精英。我們?yōu)槭裁匆瞎?

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?

毫無疑問，我們的教員、學(xué)生、校友都曾盡其所能改善全球人類的生活。我們還能更進(jìn)一步嗎?哈佛能夠?yàn)椴恢拦鹈麣獾哪吧朔瞰I(xiàn)智慧，伸出援助之手嗎?

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

請(qǐng)?jiān)洪L(zhǎng)和教授接受我的不情之請(qǐng)，各位哈佛大學(xué)的精英領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者們，在你們雇用新教員、授予教授終身教職、評(píng)估課程安排和決定學(xué)位要求時(shí)，請(qǐng)問自己一個(gè)問題：最優(yōu)秀的人才是否應(yīng)該致力于解決人類的困境?

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?

哈佛是否應(yīng)該鼓勵(lì)教授解決世界上存在的嚴(yán)重不平等?哈佛的學(xué)生是不是應(yīng)該多關(guān)注一些全球貧富不均、糧食短缺、水資源稀缺、女童輟學(xué)的問題?以及那些因無法接受有效治療而死亡的孩子?

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

世界上最衣食無憂的人是否應(yīng)該了解那些掙扎在死亡邊緣的人們的生活?

These are not rhetorical questions – you will answer with your policies.這并非言語修辭，這些問題只能用行動(dòng)回答。

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.”

我的母親一直為我考上哈佛而自豪，也一直督促我回報(bào)社會(huì)。我結(jié)婚的前幾天的儀式上，她高聲朗讀自己寫給我妻子的信。當(dāng)時(shí)我母親已經(jīng)是癌癥晚期，但她堅(jiān)持要用這個(gè)機(jī)會(huì)表達(dá)自己的觀點(diǎn)。信的最后 她念道：“獲益越多，責(zé)任越大?！?/p>

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.想想我們獲得了什么——天賦，特權(quán)，機(jī)遇——世界寄予殷切的期望。

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.我希望每位畢業(yè)生承擔(dān)起這樣一種責(zé)任—— 參與解決人類不平等的問題，如果你獻(xiàn)身這項(xiàng)事業(yè)，你的影響力將會(huì)是驚人的。既便不打算以此為業(yè)，你一樣可以有所作為。每周只需要花幾個(gè)小時(shí)，就可以利用互聯(lián)網(wǎng)獲取信息、找到志同道合的朋友、設(shè)法解決一兩個(gè)問題。

Don't let complexity stop you.Be activists.Take on the big inequities.It will be one of the great experiences of your lives.不要畏難，盡管放手去做。它將是你生命中最寶貴經(jīng)歷。

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.這是一個(gè)神奇的時(shí)代。今天的科技是我年輕時(shí)不曾體驗(yàn)的。你們對(duì)不平等現(xiàn)象的認(rèn)識(shí)遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超過我們這代人。面對(duì)這種不平等，你們更容易受良心的譴責(zé)。行動(dòng)起來，時(shí)不我待。

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.30年后當(dāng)你再次回到哈佛的時(shí)候，我希望看到你用自己的天賦和精力做了哪些事。不

僅用專業(yè)成就來衡量成功，還要看你是如何解決人類根深蒂固的不平等問題。你是怎樣對(duì)待那些與你相隔萬里、迥然不同的人的。

Good luck.同學(xué)們，祝你們好運(yùn)

第二篇：比爾蓋茨在哈佛大學(xué)演講

I'm Harvard's Most Successful Dropout

我是哈佛最成功的輟學(xué)生--比爾.蓋茨在哈佛大學(xué)接受榮譽(yù)學(xué)位時(shí)的演講

Thank you.President Bok, former President Rudenstine, incoming President Faust,謝謝.博克校長(zhǎng)、魯?shù)撬固骨靶ｉL(zhǎng)、即將就任的福斯特校長(zhǎng)、members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers, members of the faculty, parents, and especially, the graduates.哈佛理事會(huì)和督學(xué)委員會(huì)各位成員、各位教職員工、各位父母,特別是各位畢業(yè)生:

I've been waiting more than 30 years to say this: “Dad, I always told you I'd come back and get my degree.”

“父親,我一直對(duì)您說我會(huì)回到哈佛拿到我自己的學(xué)位.”為了說這句話,我等了三十多年.I want to thank Harvard for this honor.我要感謝哈佛給了我這個(gè)榮譽(yù).I'll be changing my job next year, and it will be nice to finally have a college degree on my resume.我明年要換工作了,最終能在簡(jiǎn)歷寫上一個(gè)大學(xué)學(xué)位是一件不錯(cuò)的事.I applaud the graduates for taking a much more direct route to your degrees.我為通過更直接的途徑獲得學(xué)位的畢業(yè)生喝彩.For my part, I'm just happy that the Crimson called me “Harvard's most successful dropout.”

而對(duì)我來說,哈佛校報(bào)稱我為“哈佛歷史上最成功的輟學(xué)生”,這也讓我同樣感到高興.I guess that makes me valedictorian of my own special class.I did the best of everyone who failed.我想這樣我就成了我這個(gè)特別屆別的畢業(yè)生中作告別演講的不二人選.我是失敗者中最為成功的.But taking a serious look back, I do have one big regret.但認(rèn)真回顧過去,我確實(shí)有著一大遺憾.I left Harvard with no real awareness of the awful inequities in the world-

當(dāng)我離開哈佛時(shí),我并沒真正有意識(shí)到這個(gè)世界存在著可怕的不平等現(xiàn)象.the appalling disparities of health, and wealth, and opportunity that condemn millions of people to lives of despair.人們?cè)谙硎茚t(yī)療保健、財(cái)富和機(jī)會(huì)等方面存在著嚴(yán)重不均,這讓數(shù)百萬人生活在絕望之中.I learned a lot here at Harvard about new ideas in economics and politics.我在哈佛學(xué)到了很多經(jīng)濟(jì)和政治方面的新思想,I got great exposure to the advances being made in the sciences.了解到很多科學(xué)上的重大進(jìn)步.But humanity's greatest advances are not in its discoveries-but in how those discoveries are applied to reduce inequity.可是,人類的最大進(jìn)步并不體現(xiàn)在發(fā)現(xiàn)和發(fā)明上,而是如何利用它們來消除不平等.Whether through democracy, strong public education, quality health care, or broad economic opportunity,不管通過何種方式--民主、強(qiáng)大的公共教育、優(yōu)質(zhì)的醫(yī)療保健,或者廣泛的經(jīng)濟(jì)機(jī)會(huì)--

reducing inequity is the highest human achievement.減少不平等才是人類的最大成就.I left campus knowing little about the millions of young people

cheated out of educational opportunities here in this country.當(dāng)我離開校園時(shí),并不知道美國有數(shù)百萬的青少年享受不到受教育的機(jī)會(huì),And I knew nothing about the millions of people living in unspeakable poverty and disease in developing countries.我也不知道在發(fā)展中國家有數(shù)百萬人生活在極度的貧困之中,受疾病威脅.It took me decades to find out.我用了幾十年的時(shí)間才明白了這些.You graduates came to Harvard at a different time.你們來哈佛的時(shí)代與我完全不同,You know more about the world's inequities than the classes that came before.你們比之前的學(xué)生更了解這個(gè)世界上存在的不平等.In your years here, I hope you've had a chance to think about how, in this age of accelerating technology,我希望你們過去幾年都曾經(jīng)認(rèn)真想過,在科技飛速發(fā)展的時(shí)代,we can finally take on these inequities, and we can solve them.應(yīng)當(dāng)如何應(yīng)對(duì)這樣的不平等,以及如何解決這些問題.Now, this task is open-ended.It can never be finished.But a conscious effort to answer this challenge can change the world.這是一個(gè)沒有盡頭的任務(wù),永遠(yuǎn)也不會(huì)做完,但只要我們自覺行動(dòng)起來迎接這個(gè)挑戰(zhàn),就可以改變這個(gè)世界.Yes, inequity has been with us forever, but the new tools we have to cut through complexity have not been with us forever.確實(shí),不平等現(xiàn)象一直與我們相伴,但以前我們沒有解決這個(gè)復(fù)雜問題的新工具.They are new.They can help us make the most of our caring-and that's

why the future can be different from the past.這是些新的工具,它們可以幫助我們盡可能地發(fā)揮我們的愛心.而正是因?yàn)槿绱?未來才會(huì)與過去有所不同.The defining and ongoing innovations of this age-biotechnology, the personal computer, and the Internet-

這個(gè)時(shí)代特有的,并不斷發(fā)展的新發(fā)明--生物科學(xué)、個(gè)人電腦、互聯(lián)網(wǎng)--

give us a chance we've never had before to end extreme poverty and end death from preventable disease.這些都給予我們前所未有的機(jī)會(huì)消滅貧困,消滅可預(yù)防性疾病造成的死亡.In line with the promise of this age, I want to exhort each of the graduates here to take on an issue,秉承這個(gè)時(shí)代帶給人類的希望,我想敦促在座的每一位畢業(yè)生,接受一個(gè)問題的挑戰(zhàn),a complex problem-a deep inequity, and become a specialist on it.Don't let complexity stop you.這是一個(gè)復(fù)雜的問題,那就是極度的不平等現(xiàn)象,并成為這方面的專家.不要讓問題的復(fù)雜性成為你的障礙.Be activists.Take on big inequities.I feel sure it will be one of the great experiences of your lives.行動(dòng)起來,向重大不平等現(xiàn)象發(fā)起挑戰(zhàn).我肯定這會(huì)成為你生命中最了不起的經(jīng)歷之一.You graduates are coming of age in an amazing time.你們這些正在成熟的畢業(yè)生處于一個(gè)了不起的時(shí)代.As you leave Harvard, you have technology that members of my class never had.就在你們離開哈佛的時(shí)候,你們掌握了我們這屆學(xué)生未曾掌握的技術(shù)手段.You have awareness of global inequity, which we did not have.你們了解全球的不平等現(xiàn)象,這也是我們當(dāng)時(shí)做不到的.And with that awareness, you likely also have an informed conscience

有了這種意識(shí),你很可能就會(huì)有明事理的良心.that will torment you if you abandon these people whose lives you could change with modest effort.如果無需花多大的努力你就可以改變某些人的生活,但你卻對(duì)他們置之不理,那你會(huì)受到良心的譴責(zé).You have more than we had;you must start sooner, and carry on longer.你們比我們有更多的優(yōu)勢(shì),必須更早開始行動(dòng),并堅(jiān)持更久.And I hope you will come back here to Harvard 30 years from now

我希望你們?cè)?0年后再回到哈佛,and reflect on what you've done with your talent and your energy.回顧你們發(fā)揮自己的才能和精力所做的一切.I hope you will judge yourselves not on your professional

accomplishments alone,我希望你們不僅僅是以自己職業(yè)上的成就來評(píng)價(jià)自己,but also on how well you have addressed the world's deepest inequities,還要以你們?nèi)绾翁幚硎澜缟献钌钪氐牟黄降痊F(xiàn)象,on how well you treated people a world away who have nothing in common with you but their humanity.以你們?nèi)绾螌?duì)待那些與你們相距遙遠(yuǎn),同為人類一員,但除了此以外并沒有共同點(diǎn)的人來衡量自己的成功.Good luck.祝你們好運(yùn).

第三篇：比爾蓋茨在哈佛大學(xué)畢業(yè)典禮上的演講稿

president Bok, former president Rudenstine, incoming president Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers, members of the faculty, parents, and especially, the graduates:

尊敬的 Bok 校長(zhǎng)，Rudenstine 前校長(zhǎng)，即將上任的 Faust 校長(zhǎng)，哈佛集團(tuán)的各位成員，監(jiān)管理事會(huì)的各位理事，各位老師，各位家長(zhǎng)，各位同學(xué)：

I’ve been waiting more than 30 years to say this: Dad, I always told you I’d come back and get my degree.有一句話我等了三十年，現(xiàn)在終于可以說了： “ 老爸，我總是跟你說，我會(huì)回來拿到我的學(xué)位的!”

I want to thank Harvard for this timely honor.I’ll be changing my job next year … and it will be nice to finally have a college degree on my resume.我要感謝哈佛大學(xué)在這個(gè)時(shí)候給我這個(gè)榮譽(yù)。明年，我就要換工作了(注：指從微軟公司退休)…… 我終于可以在簡(jiǎn)歷上寫我有一個(gè)本科學(xué)位，這真是不錯(cuò)啊。

I applaud the graduates today for taking a much more direct route to your degrees.For my part, I’m just happy that the Crimson has called me Harvard’s most successful dropout.I guess that makes me valedictorian of my own special class … I did the best of everyone who failed.我為今天在座的各位同學(xué)感到高興，你們拿到學(xué)位可比我簡(jiǎn)單多了。哈佛的校報(bào)稱我是 “ 哈佛大學(xué)歷史上最成功的輟學(xué)生 ”。我想這大概使我有資格代表我這一類學(xué)生發(fā)言 …… 在所有的失敗者里，我做得最好。

But I also want to be recognized as the guy who got Steve Ballmer to drop out of business school.I’m a bad influence.That’s why I was invited to speak at your graduation.If I had spoken at your orientation, fewer of you might be here today.但是，我還要提醒大家，我使得 Steve Ballmer(注：微軟總經(jīng)理)也從哈佛商學(xué)院退學(xué)了。因此，我是個(gè)有著惡劣影響力的人。這就是為什么我被邀請(qǐng)來在你們的畢業(yè)典禮上演講。如果我在你們?nèi)雽W(xué)歡迎儀式上演講，那么能夠堅(jiān)持到今天在這里畢業(yè)的人也許會(huì)少得多吧。

Harvard was just a phenomenal experience for me.Academic life was fascinating.I used to sit in on lots of classes I hadn’t even signed up for.And dorm life was terrific.I lived upat Radcliffe, in Currier House.There were always lots of people in my dorm room late at night discussing things, because everyone knew I didn’t worry about getting up in the morning.That’s how I came to be the leader of the anti-social group.We clung to each other as a way of validating our rejection of all those social people.對(duì)我來說，哈佛的求學(xué)經(jīng)歷是一段非凡的經(jīng)歷。校園生活很有趣，我常去旁聽我沒選修的課。哈佛的課外生活也很棒，我在 Radcliffe 過著逍遙自在 的日子。每天我的寢室里總有很多人一直待到半夜，討論著各種事情。因?yàn)槊總€(gè)人都知道我從不考慮第二天早起。這使得我變成了校園里那些不安分學(xué)生的頭頭，我們互相粘在一起，做出一種拒絕所有正常學(xué)生的姿態(tài)。

Radcliffe was a great place to live.There were more women up there, and most of the guys were science-math types.That combination offered me the best odds, if you know what I mean.This is where I learned the sad lesson that improving your odds doesn’t guarantee success.Radcliffe 是個(gè)過日子的好地方。那里的女生比男生多，而且大多數(shù)男生都是理工科的。這種狀況為我創(chuàng)造了最好的機(jī)會(huì)，如果你們明白我的意思?？上У氖?，我正是在這里學(xué)到了人生中悲傷的一課：機(jī)會(huì)大，并不等于你就會(huì)成功。

One of my biggest memories of Harvard came in January 1975, when I made a call from Currier House to a company in Albuquerque that had begun making the world’s first personal computers.I offered to sell them software.我在哈佛最難忘的回憶之一，發(fā)生在 1975 年 1 月。那時(shí)，我從宿舍樓里給位于 Albuquerque 的一家公司打了一個(gè)電話，那家公司已經(jīng)在著手制造世界上第一臺(tái)個(gè)人電腦。我提出想向他們出售軟件。

I worried that they would realize I was just a student in a dorm and hang up on me.Instead they said: We’re not quite ready, come see us in a month, which was a good thing, because we hadn’t written the software yet.From that moment, I worked day and night on this little extra credit project that marked the end of my college education and the beginning of a remarkable journey with microsoft.我很擔(dān)心，他們會(huì)發(fā)覺我是一個(gè)住在宿舍的學(xué)生，從而掛斷電話。但是他們卻說： “ 我們還沒準(zhǔn)備好，一個(gè)月后你再來找我們吧?！?這是個(gè)好消息，因?yàn)槟菚r(shí) 軟件還根本沒有寫出來呢。就是從那個(gè)時(shí)候起，我日以繼夜地在這個(gè)小小的課外項(xiàng)目上工作，這導(dǎo)致了我學(xué)生生活的結(jié)束，以及通往微軟公司的不平凡的旅程的開 始。

What I remember above all about Harvard was being in the midst of so much energy and Intelligence.It could be exhilarating, intimidating, sometimes even discouraging, but always challenging.It was an amazing privilege – and though I left early, I was transformed by my years at Harvard, the friendships I made, and the ideas I worked on.不管怎樣，我對(duì)哈佛的回憶主要都與充沛的精力和智力活動(dòng)有關(guān)。哈佛的生活令人愉快，也令人感到有壓力，有時(shí)甚至?xí)械叫箽?，但永遠(yuǎn)充滿了挑戰(zhàn)性。生 活在哈佛是一種吸引人的特殊待遇 …… 雖然我離開得比較早，但是我在這里的經(jīng)歷、在這里結(jié)識(shí)的朋友、在這里發(fā)展起來的一些想法，永遠(yuǎn)地改變了我。

But taking a serious look back … I do have one big regret.但是，如果現(xiàn)在嚴(yán)肅地回憶起來，我確實(shí)有一個(gè)真正的遺憾。

I left Harvard with no real awareness of the awful inequities in the world – the appalling disparities of health, and wealth, and opportunity that condemn millions of people to lives of despair.我離開哈佛的時(shí)候，根本沒有意識(shí)到這個(gè)世界是多么的不平等。人類在健康、財(cái)富和機(jī)遇上的不平等大得可怕，它們使得無數(shù)的人們被迫生活在絕望之中。

I learned a lot here at Harvard about new ideas in economics and politics.I got great exposure to the advances being made in the sciences.我在哈佛學(xué)到了很多經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)和政治學(xué)的新思想。我也了解了很多科學(xué)上的新進(jìn)展。

But humanity’s greatest advances are not in its discoveries – but in how those discoveries are applied to reduce inequity.Whether through democracy, strong public education, quality health care, or broad economic opportunity – reducing inequity is the highest human achievement.但是，人類最大的進(jìn)步并不來自于這些發(fā)現(xiàn)，而是來自于那些有助于減少人類不平等的發(fā)現(xiàn)。不管通過何種手段 —— 民主制度、健全的公共教育體系、高質(zhì)量的醫(yī)療保健、還是廣泛的經(jīng)濟(jì)機(jī)會(huì) —— 減少不平等始終是人類最大的成就。

I left campus knowing little about the millions of young people cheated out of educational opportunities here in this country.And I knew nothing about the millions of people living in unspeakable poverty and disease in developing countries.我離開校園的時(shí)候，根本不知道在這個(gè)國家里，有幾百萬的年輕人無法獲得接受教育的機(jī)會(huì)。我也不知道，發(fā)展中國家里有無數(shù)的人們生活在無法形容的貧窮和疾病之中。

It took me decades to find out.我花了幾十年才明白了這些事情。

You graduates came to Harvard at a different time.You know more about the world’s inequities than the classes that came before.In your years here, I hope you’ve had a chance to think about how – in this age of accelerating technology – we can finally take on these inequities, and we can solve them.在座的各位同學(xué)，你們是在與我不同的時(shí)代來到哈佛的。你們比以前的學(xué)生，更多地了解世界是怎樣的不平等。在你們的哈佛求學(xué)過程中，我希望你們已經(jīng)思考過一個(gè)問題，那就是在這個(gè)新技術(shù)加速發(fā)展的時(shí)代，我們?cè)鯓幼罱K應(yīng)對(duì)這種不平等，以及我們?cè)鯓觼斫鉀Q這個(gè)問題。

Imagine, just for the sake of discussion, that you had a few hours a week and a few dollars a month to donate to a cause – and you wanted to spend that time and money where it would have the greatest impact in saving and improving lives.Where would you spend it?

為了討論的方便，請(qǐng)想象一下，假如你每個(gè)星期可以捐獻(xiàn)一些時(shí)間、每個(gè)月可以捐獻(xiàn)一些錢 —— 你希望這些時(shí)間和金錢，可以用到對(duì)拯救生命和改善人類生活有最大作用的地方。你會(huì)選擇什么地方?

For Melinda and for me, the challenge is the same: how can we do the most good for the greatest number with the resources we have.對(duì) Melinda(注：蓋茨的妻子)和我來說，這也是我們面臨的問題：我們?nèi)绾文軐⑽覀儞碛械馁Y源發(fā)揮出最大的作用。

During our discussions on this question, Melinda and I read an article about the millions of children who were dying every year in poor countries from diseases that we had long ago made harmless in this country.Measles, malaria, pneumonia, hepatitis B, yellow fever.One disease I had never even heard of, rotavirus, was killing half a million kids each year – none of them in the United States.在討論過程中，Melinda 和我讀到了一篇文章，里面說在那些貧窮的國家，每年有數(shù)百萬的兒童死于那些在美國早已不成問題的疾病。麻疹、瘧疾、肺

炎、乙型肝炎、黃熱病、還有一種以前我從未聽說過的輪狀病毒，這些疾病每年導(dǎo)致 50 萬兒童死亡，但是在美國一例死亡病例也沒有。

We were shocked.We had just assumed that if millions of children were dying and they could be saved, the world would make it a priority to discover and deliver the medicines to save them.But it did not.For under a dollar, there were interventions that could save lives that just weren’t being delivered.我們被震驚了。我們想，如果幾百萬兒童正在死亡線上掙扎，而且他們是可以被挽救的，那么世界理應(yīng)將用藥物拯救他們作為頭等大事。但是事實(shí)并非如此。那些價(jià)格還不到一美元的救命的藥劑，并沒有送到他們的手中。

If you believe that every life has equal value, it’s revolting to learn that some lives are seen as worth saving and others are not.We said to ourselves: This can’t be true.But if it is true, it deserves to be the priority of our giving.如果你相信每個(gè)生命都是平等的，那么當(dāng)你發(fā)現(xiàn)某些生命被挽救了，而另一些生命被放棄了，你會(huì)感到無法接受。我們對(duì)自己說： “ 事情不可能如此。如果這是真的，那么它理應(yīng)是我們努力的頭等大事?！?/p>

So we began our work in the same way anyone here would begin it.We asked: How could the world let these children die?

所以，我們用任何人都會(huì)想到的方式開始工作。我們問： “ 這個(gè)世界怎么可以眼睜睜看著這些孩子死去? ”

我們并沒有很多機(jī)會(huì)了解那些死亡事件。媒體總是報(bào)告新聞，幾百萬人將要死去并非新聞。如果沒有人報(bào)道，那么這些事件就很容易被忽視。另一方面，即使 我們確實(shí)目睹了事件本身或者看到了相關(guān)報(bào)道，我們也很難持續(xù)關(guān)注這些事件?？粗耸芸嗍橇钊送纯嗟模螞r問題又如此復(fù)雜，我們根本不知道如何去幫助他 人。所以我們會(huì)將臉轉(zhuǎn)過去。

If we can really see a problem, which is the first step, we come to the second step: cutting through the complexity to find a solution.就算我們真正發(fā)現(xiàn)了問題所在，也不過是邁出了第一步，接著還有第二步：那就是從復(fù)雜的事件中找到解決辦法。

Finding solutions is essential if we want to make the most of our caring.If we have clear and proven answers anytime an organization or individual asks How can I help?, then we can get action – and we can make sure that none of the caring in the world is wasted.But complexity makes it hard to mark a path of action for everyone who cares — and that makes it hard for their caring to matter.如果我們要讓關(guān)心落到實(shí)處，我們就必須找到解決辦法。如果我們有一個(gè)清晰的和可靠的答案，那么當(dāng)任何組織和個(gè)人發(fā)出疑問 “ 如何我能提供幫助 ” 的時(shí) 候，我們就能采取行動(dòng)。我們就能夠保證不浪費(fèi)一丁點(diǎn)全世界人類對(duì)他人的關(guān)心。但是，世界的復(fù)雜性使得很難找到對(duì)全世界每一個(gè)有愛心的人都有效的行動(dòng)方法，因此人類對(duì)他人的關(guān)心往往很難產(chǎn)生實(shí)際效果。

Cutting through complexity to find a solution runs through four predictable stages: determine a goal, find the highest-leverage approach, discover the ideal technology for that approach, and in the meantime, make the smartest application of the technology that you already have — whether it’s something sophisticated, like a drug, or something simpler, like a bednet.從這個(gè)復(fù)雜的世界中找到解決辦法，可以分為四個(gè)步驟：確定目標(biāo)，找到最高效的方法，發(fā)現(xiàn)適用于這個(gè)方法的新技術(shù)，同時(shí)最聰明地利用現(xiàn)有的技術(shù)，不管它是復(fù)雜的藥物，還是最簡(jiǎn)單的蚊帳。

The AIDS epidemic offers an example.The broad goal, of course, is to end the disease.The highest-leverage approach is prevention.The ideal technology would be a vaccine that gives lifetime immunity with a single dose.So governments, drug companies, and foundations fund vaccine research.But their work is likely to take more than a decade, so in the meantime, we have to work with what we have in hand – and the best prevention approach we have now is getting people to avoid risky behavior.艾滋病就是一個(gè)例子。總的目標(biāo)，毫無疑問是消滅這種疾病。最高效的方法是預(yù)防。最理想的技術(shù)是發(fā)明一種疫苗，只要注射一次，就可以終生免疫。所以，政府、制藥公司、基金會(huì)應(yīng)該資助疫苗研究。但是，這樣研究工作很可能十年之內(nèi)都無法完成。因此，與此同時(shí)，我們必須使用現(xiàn)有的技術(shù)，目前最有效的預(yù)防方法 就是設(shè)法讓人們避免那些危險(xiǎn)的行為。

pursuing that goal starts the four-step cycle again.This is the pattern.The crucial thing is to never stop thinking and working – and never do what we did with malaria and tuberculosis in the 20th century – which is to surrender to complexity and quit.要實(shí)現(xiàn)這個(gè)新的目標(biāo)，又可以采用新的四步循環(huán)。這是一種模式。關(guān)鍵的東西是永遠(yuǎn)不要停止思考和行動(dòng)。我們千萬不能再犯上個(gè)世紀(jì)在瘧疾和肺結(jié)核上犯過的錯(cuò)誤，那時(shí)我們因?yàn)樗鼈兲珡?fù)雜，而放棄了采取行動(dòng)。

The final step – after seeing the problem and finding an approach – is to measure the impact of your work and share your successes and failures so that others learn from your efforts.在發(fā)現(xiàn)問題和找到解決方法之后，就是最后一步 —— 評(píng)估工作結(jié)果，將你的成功經(jīng)驗(yàn)或者失敗經(jīng)驗(yàn)傳播出去，這樣其他人就可以從你的努力中有所收獲。

You have to have the statistics, of course.You have to be able to show that a program is vaccinating millions more children.You have to be able to show a decline in the number of children dying from these diseases.This is essential not just to improve the program, but also to help draw more investment from business and government.當(dāng)然，你必須有一些統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)字。你必須讓他人知道，你的項(xiàng)目為幾百萬兒童新接種了疫苗。你也必須讓他人知道，兒童死亡人數(shù)下降了多少。這些都是很關(guān)鍵的，不僅有利于改善項(xiàng)目效果，也有利于從商界和政府得到更多的幫助。

But if you want to inspire people to participate, you have to show more than numbers;you have to convey the human impact of the work – so people can feel what saving a life means to the families affected.但是，這些還不夠，如果你想激勵(lì)其他人參加你的項(xiàng)目，你就必須拿出更多的統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)字;你必須展示你的項(xiàng)目的人性因素，這樣其他人就會(huì)感到拯救一個(gè)生命，對(duì)那些處在困境中的家庭到底意味著什么。

I remember going to Davos some years back and sitting on a global health panel that was discussing ways to save millions of lives.Millions!Think of the thrill of saving just one person’s life – then multiply that by millions.… Yet this was the most boring panel I’ve ever been on – ever.So boring even I couldn’t bear it.幾年前，我去瑞士達(dá)沃斯旁聽一個(gè)全球健康問題論壇，會(huì)議的內(nèi)容有關(guān)于如何拯救幾百萬條生命。天哪，是幾百萬!想一想吧，拯救一個(gè)人的生命已經(jīng)讓人何等激動(dòng)，現(xiàn)在你要把這種激動(dòng)再乘上幾百萬倍 …… 但是，不幸的是，這是我參加過的最最乏味的論壇，乏味到我無法強(qiáng)迫自己聽下去。

What made that experience especially striking was that I had just come from an event where we were introducing version 13 of some piece of software, and we had people jumping and shouting with excitement.I love getting people excited about software – but why can’t we generate even more excitement for saving lives?

那次經(jīng)歷之所以讓我難忘，是因?yàn)橹拔覀儎倓偘l(fā)布了一個(gè)軟件的第 13 個(gè)版本，我們讓觀眾激動(dòng)得跳了起來，喊出了聲。我喜歡人們因?yàn)檐浖械郊?dòng)，那么我們?yōu)槭裁床荒軌蜃屓藗円驗(yàn)槟軌蛘壬械礁蛹?dòng)呢?

You can’t get people excited unless you can help them see and feel the impact.And how you do that – is a complex question.除非你能夠讓人們看到或者感受到行動(dòng)的影響力，否則你無法讓人們激動(dòng)。如何做到這一點(diǎn)，并不是一件簡(jiǎn)單的事。

Still, I’m optimistic.Yes, inequity has been with us forever, but the new tools we have to cut through complexity have not been with us forever.They are new – they can help us make the most of our caring – and that’s why the future can be different from the past.同前面一樣，在這個(gè)問題上，我依然是樂觀的。不錯(cuò)，人類的不平等有史以來一直存在，但是那些能夠化繁為簡(jiǎn)的新工具，卻是最近才出現(xiàn)的。這些新工具可以幫助我們，將人類的同情心發(fā)揮最大的作用，這就是為什么將來同過去是不一樣的。

The defining and ongoing innovations of this age – biotechnology, the computer, the Internet – give us a chance we’ve never had before to end extreme poverty and end death from preventable disease.這個(gè)時(shí)代無時(shí)無刻不在涌現(xiàn)出新的革新 —— 生物技術(shù)，計(jì)算機(jī)，互聯(lián)網(wǎng) —— 它們給了我們一個(gè)從未有過的機(jī)會(huì)，去終結(jié)那些極端的貧窮和非惡性疾病的死亡。

Sixty years ago, George Marshall came to this commencement and announced a plan to assist the nations of post-war Europe.He said: I think one difficulty is that the problem is one of such enormous complexity that the very mass of facts presented to the public by press and radio make it exceedingly difficult for the man in the street to reach a clear appraisement of the situation.It is virtually impossible at this distance to grasp at all the real significance of the situation.六十年前，喬治.馬歇爾也是在這個(gè)地方的畢業(yè)典禮上，宣布了一個(gè)計(jì)劃，幫助那些歐洲國家的戰(zhàn)后建設(shè)。他說： “ 我認(rèn)為，困難的一點(diǎn)是這個(gè)問題太復(fù)雜，報(bào)紙和電臺(tái)向公眾源源不斷地提供各種事實(shí)，使得大街上的普通人極端難于清晰地判斷形勢(shì)。事實(shí)上，經(jīng)過層層傳播，想要真正地把握形勢(shì)，是根本不可能的?！?/p>

Thirty years after Marshall made his address, as my class graduated without me, technology was emerging that would make the world smaller, more open, more visible, less distant.馬歇爾發(fā)表這個(gè)演講之后的三十年，我那一屆學(xué)生畢業(yè)，當(dāng)然我不在其中。那時(shí)，新技術(shù)剛剛開始萌芽，它們將使得這個(gè)世界變得更小、更開放、更容易看到、距離更近。

The emergence of low-cost personal computers gave rise to a powerful network that has transformed opportunities for learning and communicating.低成本的個(gè)人電腦的出現(xiàn)，使得一個(gè)強(qiáng)大的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)有機(jī)會(huì)誕生，它為學(xué)習(xí)和交流提供了巨大的機(jī)會(huì)。

The magical thing about this network is not just that it collapses distance and makes everyone your neighbor.It also dramatically increases the number of brilliant minds we can have working together on the same problem – and that scales up the rate of innovation to a staggering degree.網(wǎng)絡(luò)的神奇之處，不僅僅是它縮短了物理距離，使得天涯若比鄰。它還極大地增加了懷有共同想法的人們聚集在一起的機(jī)會(huì)，我們可以為了解決同一個(gè)問題，一起共同工作。這就大大加快了革新的進(jìn)程，發(fā)展速度簡(jiǎn)直快得讓人震驚。

At the same time, for every person in the world who has access to this technology, five people don’t.That means many creative minds are left out of this discussion--smart people with practical intelligence and relevant experience who don’t have the technology to hone their talents or contribute their ideas to the world.與此同時(shí)，世界上有條件上網(wǎng)的人，只是全部人口的六分之一。這意味著，還有許多具有創(chuàng)造性的人們，沒有加入到我們的討論中來。那些有著實(shí)際的操作經(jīng)驗(yàn)和相關(guān)經(jīng)歷的聰明人，卻沒有技術(shù)來幫助他們，將他們的天賦或者想法與全世界分享。

We need as many people as possible to have access to this technology, because these advances are triggering a revolution in what human beings can do for one another.They are making it possible not just for national governments, but for universities, corporations, smaller organizations, and even individuals to see problems, see approaches, and measure the impact of their efforts to address the hunger, poverty, and desperation George Marshall spoke of 60 years ago.lunwen001.cn provided

我們需要盡可能地讓更多的人有機(jī)會(huì)使用新技術(shù)，因?yàn)檫@些新技術(shù)正在引發(fā)一場(chǎng)革命，人類將因此可以互相幫助。新技術(shù)正在創(chuàng)造一種可能，不僅是政府，還 包括大學(xué)、公司、小機(jī)構(gòu)、甚至個(gè)人，能夠發(fā)現(xiàn)問題所在、能夠找到解決辦法、能夠評(píng)估他們努力的效果，去改變那些馬歇爾六十年前就說到過的問題 —— 饑餓、貧 窮和絕望。

Members of the Harvard Family: Here in the Yard is one of the great collections of intellectual talent in the world.哈佛是一個(gè)大家庭。這個(gè)院子里在場(chǎng)的人們，是全世界最有智力的人類群體之一。

What for?

我們可以做些什么?

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?

毫無疑問，哈佛的老師、校友、學(xué)生和資助者，已經(jīng)用他們的能力改善了全世界各地人們的生活。但是，我們還能夠再做什么呢?有沒有可能，哈佛的人們可以將他們的智慧，用來幫助那些甚至從來沒有聽到過 “ 哈佛 ” 這個(gè)名字的人?

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:lunwen001.cn provided

請(qǐng)?jiān)试S我向各位院長(zhǎng)和教授，提出一個(gè)請(qǐng)求 —— 你們是哈佛的智力領(lǐng)袖，當(dāng)你們雇用新的老師、授予終身教職、評(píng)估課程、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我們最大的問題?

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)她的老師去研究解決世界上最嚴(yán)重的不平等?哈佛的學(xué)生是否從全球那些極端的貧窮中學(xué)到了什么 …… 世界性的饑荒 …… 清潔的水資源的缺乏 …… 無法上學(xué)的女童 …… 死于非惡性疾病的兒童 …… 哈佛的學(xué)生有沒有從中學(xué)到東西?

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

那些世界上過著最優(yōu)越生活的人們，有沒有從那些最困難的人們身上學(xué)到東西?

These are not rhetorical questions – you will answer with your policies.這些問題并非語言上的修辭。你必須用自己的行動(dòng)來回答它們。

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.lunwen001.cn provided

我的母親在我被哈佛大學(xué)錄取的那一天，曾經(jīng)感到非常驕傲。她從沒有停止督促我，去為他人做更多的事情。在我結(jié)婚的前幾天，她主持了一個(gè)新娘進(jìn)我家的 儀式。在這個(gè)儀式上，她高聲朗讀了一封關(guān)于婚姻的信，這是她寫給 Melinda 的。那時(shí)，我的母親已經(jīng)因?yàn)榘┌Y病入膏肓，但是她還是認(rèn)為這是又一個(gè)傳播她 的信念的機(jī)會(huì)。在那封信的結(jié)尾，她寫道： “ 對(duì)于那些接受了許多幫助的人們，他們還在期待更多的幫助?！?/p>

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.想一想吧，我們?cè)谶@個(gè)院子里的這些人，被給予過什么 —— 天賦、特權(quán)、機(jī)遇 —— 那么可以這樣說，全世界的人們幾乎有無限的權(quán)力，期待我們做出貢獻(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.lunwen001.cn provided

同這個(gè)時(shí)代的期望一樣，我也要向今天各位畢業(yè)的同學(xué)提出一個(gè)忠告：你們要選擇一個(gè)問題，一個(gè)復(fù)雜的問題，一個(gè)有關(guān)于人類深刻的不平等的問題，然后你 們要變成這個(gè)問題的專家。如果你們能夠使得這個(gè)問題成為你們職業(yè)的核心，那么你們就會(huì)非常杰出。但是，你們不必一定要去做那些大事。每個(gè)星期只用幾個(gè)小 時(shí)，你就可以通過互聯(lián)網(wǎng)得到信息，找到志同道合的朋友，發(fā)現(xiàn)困難所在，找到解決它們的途徑。

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)世界的復(fù)雜性阻礙你前進(jìn)。要成為一個(gè)行動(dòng)主義者。將解決人類的不平等視為己任。它將成為你生命中最重要的經(jīng)歷之一。

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.在座的各位畢業(yè)的同學(xué)，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，你們擁有的技術(shù)，是我們那一屆學(xué)生所沒有的。你們已經(jīng)了解到了世界 上的不平等，我們那時(shí)還不知道這些。有了這樣的了解之后，要是你再棄那些你可以幫助的人們于不顧，就將受到良心的譴責(zé)，只需一點(diǎn)小小的努力，你就可以改變 那些人們的生活。你們比我們擁有更大的能力;你們必須盡早開始，盡可能長(zhǎng)時(shí)期堅(jiān)持下去。

Knowing what you know, how could you not?

知道了你們所知道的一切，你們?cè)趺纯赡懿徊扇⌒袆?dòng)呢?

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 年后你們還會(huì)再回到哈佛，想起你們用自己的天賦和能力所做出的一切。我希望，在那個(gè)時(shí)候，你們用來評(píng)價(jià)自己的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，不僅僅是你們的專業(yè)

成就，而包括你們?yōu)楦淖冞@個(gè)世界深刻的不平等所做出的努力，以及你們?nèi)绾紊拼切┻h(yuǎn)隔千山萬水、與你們毫不涉及的人們，你們與他們唯一的共同點(diǎn)就是同為人 類。

Good luck.最后，祝各位同學(xué)好運(yùn)。

第四篇：看2007年比爾蓋茨在哈佛大學(xué)畢業(yè)典禮上的演講有感

看<2007年比爾蓋茨于哈佛大學(xué)畢業(yè)典禮上的演講>有感

在本學(xué)期開設(shè)的管理溝通課上，我系統(tǒng)地學(xué)習(xí)了有關(guān)管理溝通的一些理論和技能，并在課堂學(xué)習(xí)中接觸到了有關(guān)名人演講的內(nèi)容，覃老師曾在課堂上播放過比爾蓋茨07年在哈佛大學(xué)畢業(yè)典禮上的演講視頻，這使我對(duì)名人演講產(chǎn)生了興趣并且感覺受益匪淺，以下是我對(duì)比爾蓋茨那次演講的一些個(gè)人感受。

外國名人的演講總喜歡以幽默為開場(chǎng)白，蓋茨也不例外。蓋茨首先調(diào)侃自己曾經(jīng)的輟學(xué)經(jīng)歷并笑稱自己是“哈佛大學(xué)最成功的輟學(xué)生”，風(fēng)趣的話語逗樂了全體師生，調(diào)節(jié)了畢業(yè)典禮嚴(yán)肅的氛圍，為后面的演講做了良好的鋪墊。緊接著他開始談及他在哈佛大學(xué)的生活、他那一通改變命運(yùn)的電話以及哈佛對(duì)于他人生的影響。接下來開始講述他進(jìn)入社會(huì)后發(fā)現(xiàn)的問題和經(jīng)歷，他開始提出問題，“世界是不平等的，如何能減少社會(huì)不公”，然后是引用一些現(xiàn)實(shí)的數(shù)據(jù)和例子帶領(lǐng)大家一起看待和分析這個(gè)問題。最后是解決問題，他告訴學(xué)生們他們可做的和能做的，打破復(fù)雜性的四個(gè)步驟等等，鼓勵(lì)學(xué)生們要采取行動(dòng)。他再次列舉了兩個(gè)自身的例子來引出他的觀點(diǎn)，“如果不能證明行動(dòng)的影響力，人們就不會(huì)動(dòng)心”，再次強(qiáng)調(diào)了行動(dòng)的重要性。在演講的末尾，他引出了他媽媽生前對(duì)他說過的有一句話，“受益越多，責(zé)任越大”，勉勵(lì)大學(xué)生要有社會(huì)責(zé)任感，要學(xué)會(huì)回饋，整個(gè)演講在最后得到了升華。

蓋茨的演講時(shí)可圈可點(diǎn)的。首先，在演講的主題上，是有意義的、建設(shè)性的。蓋茨作為世界首富，他沒有過多地吹噓或炫耀自己的個(gè)人經(jīng)歷和往事，而是迎合了畢業(yè)生的需要，與學(xué)生一起探討社會(huì)問題并鼓勵(lì)他們采取行動(dòng)，引導(dǎo)學(xué)生們樹立正確、遠(yuǎn)大的世界觀、人生觀、價(jià)值觀；在演講的取材上，針對(duì)畢業(yè)生的受眾群體，他分享了自己的大學(xué)生活，加上幽默的話語風(fēng)格拉近了與畢業(yè)生們間的距離，他在提出世界不平等這個(gè)問題時(shí)，既提出自己的觀點(diǎn)，又尋找事實(shí)、數(shù)據(jù)和例子來論證觀點(diǎn)，做到有理有據(jù)，內(nèi)容充實(shí)有力。然后，在演講的結(jié)構(gòu)設(shè)計(jì)上，我認(rèn)為蓋茨的演講是按照“問題—解決方法”的順序。他首先提出了社會(huì)不公的問題，再用事實(shí)數(shù)據(jù)帶領(lǐng)大家對(duì)其問題進(jìn)行分析，最后鼓勵(lì)大家要解決問題，要轉(zhuǎn)化為行動(dòng)，為此他還傳授了一些例如如何打破復(fù)雜性的四個(gè)步驟等解決方案，使得其主題更加明確，也更讓人接受。最后，在演講的口語表達(dá)和非語言方面，蓋茨的語言始終是條理清晰的、明白準(zhǔn)確的、嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)卻不死板、平易近人且富有感染力的。在調(diào)侃自己的經(jīng)歷時(shí)，語言是詼諧幽默的；在進(jìn)入正題時(shí)，他多次用“我們”帶領(lǐng)大家一起看待問題，拉近了與聽眾的距離，而不是命令式的號(hào)召；在語句的使用上，豐富多變而不單調(diào)，雖是嚴(yán)肅的主題卻因表達(dá)方式的出采而讓人回味無窮。他的節(jié)奏是復(fù)合型的，在演講開場(chǎng)的時(shí)候提及輟學(xué)經(jīng)歷時(shí)的語氣是放松的，節(jié)奏是明快的，緊接著開始慢慢引入他想要表達(dá)的主題，情感慢慢上升，內(nèi)容由輕松轉(zhuǎn)為嚴(yán)肅，這時(shí)候的節(jié)奏是持重的。在演講開始時(shí)他的表情是放松親切的，轉(zhuǎn)入正題講到社會(huì)不平等時(shí)，他的表情是表示擔(dān)憂的。在整個(gè)演講過程中，蓋茨都很好地做到了以理服人、以情動(dòng)人。在演講的尾聲，他表達(dá)了自己對(duì)于哈佛大學(xué)畢業(yè)生們的希冀，“獲益越多，責(zé)任越大”，無不讓人對(duì)其心生敬意，他用自己的思想和高尚的情懷征服了全場(chǎng)觀眾，也征服了全世界人民！

從蓋茨、羅琳等名人的演講中，我領(lǐng)悟到，在世界上具有較大影響力的人，他們都具有類似的共同點(diǎn)，例如敢于追求并且堅(jiān)持夢(mèng)想、心懷眾生、志存高遠(yuǎn)、獨(dú)立思考、保持想象力和創(chuàng)造力、堅(jiān)強(qiáng)的意志、懂得感恩、善良等等。透過這些視頻資料，我們可以學(xué)到很多，不僅是學(xué)習(xí)他們演講與口才的魅力和成功的秘籍，更多的是他們身上那種高尚的人文情懷和人格品質(zhì)。我覺得這是我們當(dāng)今很多人已經(jīng)喪失了的美好的東西……

10財(cái)務(wù)管理A班

李芬芳

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第五篇：比爾蓋茨在哈佛大學(xué)畢業(yè)典禮上的演講稿（定稿）

比爾蓋茨在哈佛大學(xué)畢業(yè)典禮上的演講稿（英）

2011-06-19 00:47:16 標(biāo)簽：比爾蓋茨 休閑 演講 比爾蓋茨哈佛演講 生活

From:http:// President Bok, former President Rudenstine, incoming President Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers, members of the faculty, parents, and especially, the graduates: I've been waiting more than 30 years to say this: Dad, I always told you I'd come back and get my degree.I want to thank Harvard for this timely honor.I'll be changing my job next year...and it will be nice to finally have a college degree on my resume.I applaud the graduates today for taking a much more direct route to your degrees.For my part, I'm just happy that the Crimson has called me Harvard's most successful dropout.I guess that makes me valedictorian of my own special class...I did the best of everyone who failed.But I also want to be recognized as the guy who got Steve Ballmer to drop out of business school.I'm a bad influence.That's why I was invited to speak at your graduation.If I had spoken at your orientation, fewer of you might be here today.Harvard was just a phenomenal experience for me.Academic life was fascinating.I used to sit in on lots of classes I hadn't even signed up for.And dorm life was terrific.I lived up at Radcliffe, in Currier House.There were always lots of people in my dorm room late at night discussing things, because everyone knew I didn't worry about getting up in the morning.That's how I came to be the leader of the anti-social group.We clung to each other as a way of validating our rejection of all those social people.Radcilffe was a great place to live.There were more women up there, and most of the guys were science-math types.That combination offered me the best odds, if you know what I mean.This is where I learned the sad lesson that improving your odds doesn't guarantee success.One of my biggest memories of Harvard came in January 1975, when I made a call from Currier House to a company in Albuquerque that had begun making the world's first personal computer.I offered to sell them software.I worried that they would realize I was just a student in a dorm and hang up on me.Instead they said: We're not quite ready, come see us in a month, which was a good thing, because we hadn't written the software yet.From that moment, I worked day and night on this little extra credit projectt that marked the end of my college education and the beginning of a remarkable journey with microsoft.What I remember above all about Harvard was being in the midst of so much energy and Intelligence.It could be exhilarating, intimidating, sometimes even discouraging, but always challenging.It was an amazing privilegethe appalling disparities of health, and wealth, and opportunity that condemn millions of people to lives of despair.I learned a lot here at Harvard about new ideas in economics and politics.I got great exposure to the advances being made in the sciences.But humanity's greatest advances are not in its discoveriesreducing inequity is the highest human achievement.I left campus knowing little about the millions of young people cheated out of educational opportunities here in this country.And I knew nothing about the millions of people living in unspeakable poverty and disease in developing countries.It took me decades to find out.You graduates came to Harvard at a different time.You know more about the world's inequities than the classes that came before.In your years here, I hope you've had a chance to think about howwe can finally take on these inequities, and we can solve them.Imagine, just for the sake of discussion, that you had a few hours a week and a few dollars a month to donate to a causenone of them in the United States.We were shocked.We had just assumed that if millions of children were dying and they could be saved, the world would make it a priority to discover and deliver the medicines to save them.But is did not.For under a dollar, there were interventions that could save lives that just weren't being delivered.If you believe that every life has equal value, it's revolting to learn that some lives are seen as worth saving and others are not.We said to ourselves: This can't be true.But if it is true, it deserves to be the priority of our giving.So we began our work in the same way anyone here would begin it.We asked: How could the world let these children die? The answer is simple, and harsh.The market did not reward saving the lives of these children, and governments did not subsidize it.So the children died because their mothers and their fathers had no power in the market and no voice in the system.But you and I have both.We can make market forces work better for the poor if we can develop a more creative capitalismbecause people just...don't...care.I completely disagree.I believe we have more caring than we know what to do with.All of us here in this Yard, at one time or another, have seen human tragedies that broke our hearts, and yet we did nothingand millions of people dying is nothing new.So it stays in the background, where it's easier to ignore.But even when we do see it or read about it, it's difficult to keep our eyes on the problem.It's hard to look at suffering if the situation is so complex that we don't know how to help.And so we look away.If we can really see a problem, which is the first step, we come to the second step: cutting through the complexity to find a solution.Finding solutions is essential if we want to make the most of our caring.If we have clear and proven answers anytime an organization or individual asks How can I help?, then we get actionand that makes it hard for their caring to matter.Cutting through complexity to find a solution runs through four predictable stages: determine a goal, find the highest-leverage approach, discover the ideal technology for that approach, and in the meantime, make the smartest application of the technology that you already haveand the best prevention approach we have now is getting people to avoid risky behavior.Pursuing that goal starts the four-step cycle again.This is the pattern.The crucial thing is to never stop thinking and workingafter seeing the problem and finding an approachso people can feel what saving a life means to the families affected.I remember going to Davos some years back and sitting on a global health panel that was disscussing ways to save millions of lives.Millions!Think of the thrill of saving just one person's lifeever.So boring even I couldn't bear it.What made that experience especially striking was that I had just come from an event where we were introducing version 13 of some piece of software, and we had people jumping and shouting with excitement.I love getting people excited about softwareis a complex question.Still, I'm optimistic.Yes, inequity has been with us forever, but the new tools we have to cut through complexity have not been with us forever.They are newand that's why the future can be different from the past.The defining and ongoing innovations of this agegive us a chance we've never had before to end extreme proverty and end death from preventable disease.Sixty years ago, George Marshall came to this commencement and announced a plan to assist the nations of post-war Europe.He said: I think one difficulty is that the problem is one of such enormous complexity that the very mass of facts presented to the public by press and radio make it exceedingly difficult for the man in the street to reach a clear appraisement of the situation.It is virtually impossible at this distance to grasp at all the real significance of the situation.Thirty years after Marshall made his address, as my class graduated without me, technology was emerging that would make the world smaller, more open, more visible, less distant.The emergence of low-cost personal computers gave rise to a powerful network that has transformed opportunities for learning and communicating.The magical thing about this network is not just that it collapses distance and makes everyone your neighbor.It also dramatically increases the number of brilliant minds we can have working together on the same problemthe intellectual leaders here at Harvard: As you hire new faculty, award tenure, review curriculum, and determine degree requirements, please ask yourselves.Should our best minds be dedicated to solving our biggest problems? Should Harvard encourage its faculty to take on the world's 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? Should the world's most privileged people learn about the lives of the world's least privileged? These are not rhetorical questionsnever 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.When you consider what those of us here in this Yard have been giventhere is almost no limit to what the world has a right to expect from us.