Today, I speak from this podium a final time as your president. As I depart, I want to thank all of you - students, faculty, alumni and staff - with whom I have been privileged to work over these past years. Some of us have had our disagreements, but I know that which unites us transcends that which divides us. I leave with a full heart, grateful for the opportunity I have had to lead this remarkable institution.

　　今天，我將以校長的身份，最后一次在這個講臺上演講。即將離任前，我要感謝諸位學生、教師、校友和員工，而且非常榮幸在過去的5年里能與你們共事。我們中的一些人意見不盡相同， 但是，我知道，我們的共識遠遠超越分歧。我心滿意足的離開哈佛，感激你們給我機會領導這所杰出的學府。

Since I delivered my inaugural address, 56 months ago, I have learned an enormous amount—about higher education, about leadership, and also about myself. Some things look different to me than they did five years ago. The world that today’s Harvard’s graduates are entering is a profoundly different one than the world administrators entered.

　　自從56個月前我發表上任講話以來，我學到了很多——關于高等教育，關于領導藝術，也關于自我完善。在我看來，現在與5年前不同了。今天的哈佛畢業生正在進入的世界和管理人員當年所進入的世界相比已是大相徑庭了。

　　It is a world where opportunities have never been greater for those who know how to teach children to read, or those who know how to distribute financial risk; never greater for those who understand the cell and the pixel; never greater for those who can master, and navigate between, legal codes, faith traditions, computer platforms, political viewpoints.

　　現今世界，機遇對于這些人來說是空前的：他們知道如何教子女閱讀；他們知道如何組合投資；他們懂得基本存儲單元和像素概念；他們能掌握各種法典、傳統信仰、計算機平臺、政治觀點并在其中游刃有余。
It is also a world where some are left further and further behind - those who are not educated, those trapped in poverty and violence, those for whom equal opportunity is just a hollow phrase.

　　同時，現今世界，一些人越來越落后于時代。這些人沒受過教育、深陷于貧窮和暴力、平等機遇對他們而言，僅是一句空話。

　　Scientific and technological advances are enabling us to comprehend the furthest reaches of the cosmos, the most basic constituents of matter, and the miracle of life.

　　科技進步正在使我們能夠探索宇宙的邊陲、物質最基本的成分及生命的奇跡。

　　At the same time, today, the actions, and inaction, of human beings imperil not only life on the planet, but the very life of the planet.

　　與此同時，今天，人類所做的及沒能做到的事情，不僅危害到這個星球上的生命，也危害到該星球的壽命。

　　Globalization is making the world smaller, faster and richer. Still, 9/11, avian flu, and Iran remind us that a smaller, faster world is not necessarily a safer world.

　　全球化正在使地球變得愈來愈小、愈來愈快和愈來愈富有。盡管如此，9/11、禽流感及伊朗提醒我們，更小更快的世界決不意味著其更安全。

　　Our world is bursting with knowledge - but desperately in need of wisdom. Now, when sound bites are getting shorter, when instant messages crowd out essays, and when individual lives grow more frenzied, college graduates capable of deep reflection are what our world needs.

　　我們正處于一個知識爆炸的世界之中，不過，迫切需要智慧。現在，在(新聞采訪的)原聲摘要播出變得愈來愈短，即時信息淘汰了雜記文，個人生活變得如癡如狂之際，這個世界還是需要能夠深思的大學生。

　　For all these reasons I believed - and I believe even more strongly today - in the unique and irreplaceable mission of universities.

　　考慮到這些理由，我過去信仰，而今天甚至更加強烈地信仰大學獨特的、無可取代的使命。

　　Universities are where the wisdom we cannot afford to lose is preserved from generation to generation. Among all human institutions, universities can look beyond present norms to future possibilities, can look through current considerations to emergent opportunities.

　　大學是人類把不可或缺的智慧世代流傳的殿堂。就人類所有公共機構而言，僅僅大學，能夠超越當前的準則，注意到未來的可能性；能通過目前的判斷，注意到突發的機遇。

　　And among universities, Harvard stands out. With its great tradition, its iconic reputation, its remarkable network of 300,000 alumni, Harvard has never had as much potential as it does now.

　　哈佛在大學中間，鶴立雞群。憑其偉大的傳統、因襲聲譽及其非凡的300000校友網，哈佛的潛力前所未有。 
    And yet, great and proud institutions, like great and proud nations at their peak, must surmount a very real risk: that the very strength of their traditions will lead to caution, to an inward focus on prerogative and to a complacency that lets the world pass them by.

　　可是，就像偉大和自豪的國家在其鼎盛時期一樣，它們必須克服一個完全不能掉以輕心的危險因素：它們傳統的絕對強勢將會導致謹小慎微、追求內部特權及自滿，這將使它們不能與時俱進。

　　And so I say to you that our University today is at an inflection point in its history. At such a moment, there is temptation to elevate comfort and consensus over progress and clear direction, but this would be a mistake. The University’s matchless resources - human, physical, financial - demand that we seize this moment with vision and boldness. To do otherwise would be a lost opportunity. We can spur great deeds that history will mark decades and even centuries from now. If Harvard can find the courage to change itself, it can change the world.

　　今天，哈佛正處于其歷史的轉折點。此時此刻的自然傾向是，把貪圖舒適和隨波逐流留凌駕于進步和方向性之上，但，這可能是錯誤的。大學無與倫比的資源 ——人力、物力、財力——要求我們遠見卓識和勇敢地抓住這個時機，否則，將會坐失良機。我們能推動將會被歷史永世銘記的偉大的事業。如果哈佛能找到勇氣來改變自己，它就能改變世界。

更多 英語美文、英文美文、英文短文、英語短文，請點擊 英語短文