I am honored to be with you today for your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world.Truth be told,I never graduated from college.And this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life.That’s it. no big deal.Just three stories.
今天，我很荣幸能和你们一起参加毕业典礼，斯坦福大学是世界上最好的大学之一。说实话，(虽然)我从来没有从大学中毕业，但今天是我生命中离大学毕业最近的一天了。今天我想向你们讲述我生活中的三个故事。不说大道理，就是三个故事而已。
The first story is about connecting the dots.
第一个故事是关于如何把生命中的点点滴滴串连起来。
I dropped out of reed college after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. so why did I drop out?
我在里德学院读了六个月之后就退学了，但是在十八个月以后，我还经常去学校。我为什么要退学呢?
It started before I was born. my biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student,and she decided to put me up for adoption.She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates,so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife.Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl.So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: “we have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?” They said: “of course.” my biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school.She refused to sign the final adoption papers.She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.This was the start in my life.
故事要从我的出生说起。我的亲生母亲是一名年轻未婚的大学毕业生。她决定让别人收养我，她十分想让大学毕业生收养我。所以在我出生前，她已经准备一切，让一位律师和他的妻子收养。但是她没有料到，在我出生后，律师夫妇突然决定要一个女孩。所以，我的养父养母突然在半夜接到了一个电话：“我们有一个意外降生的男婴，你们想收养他吗?”他们回答说： “当然!” 但是我亲生母亲随后发现，我的养母从未上过大学，我的养父高中没毕业。于是她拒绝签订收养合同。但在几个月以后，因为我的养父养母答应她一定要让我上大学，她才心软同意了。
And 17 years later I did go to college.But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as stanford,and all of my working-class parents’ savings were being spent on my college tuition.After six months,I couldn’t see the value in it.I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out.And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life.So I decided to drop out and would all work out ok.It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made.The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn’t interest me,and begin dropping in on the ones that looked far more interesting.
在十七岁那年，我的确上大学了。但我天真地选择了一个几乎和斯坦福大学一样贵的学校，我父母还处于工薪阶层，为了交学费，他们几乎耗光所有积蓄。六个月后，我几乎看不到在学校的价值。我不知道(我生命中)要追求什么，我也不知道学校是否能帮我找到答案。但在学校，我将花光我父母这一辈子的积蓄。所以，我决定退学，并且我相信车到山前必有路。(不可否认)，我当时非常害怕，但现在回头来看，这个决定是我一生中最明智决定之一。在我做出退学决定后，我再也不用去上那些我丝毫没有兴趣的必修课，我开始去听那些看起来有趣的课程。
It wasn’t all romantic.I didn’t have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends’ rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5℃ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every sunday night to get one good meal a week at the hare krishna temple.I loved it. and much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on.Let me give you one example:
这一点也不罗曼蒂克。没了宿舍，所以我要到朋友家睡地板;为了填饱肚子，我捡过值5美分的可乐罐;为了每周一顿的好一点的饭，每个星期天晚上，我穿街过巷，步行7英里到hare krishna教堂。我喜欢那里的饭菜。在好奇和直觉的引导下，我跌跌撞撞地遇到很多东西，这些后来被证明是无价瑰宝。我给你们举一个例子吧：
Reed college at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country.Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer,was beautifully hand calligraphed. because I had dropped out and didn’t have to take the normal classes,I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this.I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great.It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can’t capture,and I found it fascinating.
那时候，里德学院的书法课程也许是全美最好的。学校里的每个海报，抽屉上的每个标签，上面全都是漂亮的书法。因为我退学了，没有了正常的课程，所以我决定去上/书法课，去学学怎样写出漂亮的字。我学到了san serif 和serif字体，我学会了怎么样在不同的字母组合之中变化间距，还有怎么样做最好的版式。那种美感、真实感和艺术感，是科学永远不能捕捉到的，(我发现)那实在是太迷人了。
None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life.But ten years later,when we were designing the first macintosh computer,it all came back to me. and we designed it all into the mac.It was the first computer with beautiful typography.If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. and since windows just copied the mac,its likely that no personal computer would have them.If I had never dropped out,I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class,and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do.Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when i was in college.But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.
当时这些东西似乎在我生命中没什么可用之处。但十年之后，当我们在设计第一台macintosh计算机的时候，就全部派上用场。我把当时我学的那些东西全都融入到mac。那是拥有漂亮字体的第一台计算机。如果我当时没有退学，我没机会沉迷于书法课程，mac就不会有种类繁多或的行距整齐的字体。如果windows没有抄袭mac，个人电脑很可能就不会这么多字体。如果我没有退学，我不会沉迷于书法课程，个人电脑很可能就不会这么多字体。当然了，我在学校的时候不可能把这些点点滴滴提前串连起来。但在十年之后回顾过去，这些东西历历在目。
Again,you can’t connect the dots looking forward;you can only connect them looking backwards.So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. you have to trust in something — your gut,destiny,life,karma, whatever.This approach has never let me down,and it would made all the difference.
再说一次，你不可能把这些点点滴滴提前串连起来;你只能在回顾的时候把它们串连起来。所以你必须相信这些点点滴滴是和你的未来项链的。你必须要相信某些东西：直觉、命运、生命、因缘等等。这个方法从未让我失望过，它让我与众不同。
My second story is about love and loss.
我的第二个故事是关于爱和失去。
I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life.Woz and I started apple in my parents garage when I was 20.We worked hard,and in 10 years apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees.We had just released our finest creation — the macintosh — a year earlier,and I had just turned 30.And then I got fired.How can you get fired from a company you started? Well,as apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well.But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out.When we did,our board of directors sided with him.So at 30 I was out.And very publicly out.What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone,and it was devastating.
我非常幸运，因为我在很早的时候就找到了我钟爱的东西。我在二十岁的时候，沃兹和我在父母的车库里面开创了苹果公司。我们努力工作，十年之后，苹果从只有两个的穷小子的车库公司，发展到了员工超过四千名、市值超过二十亿的大公司。在公司成立的第九年，我们刚刚发布了最好的产品——macintosh。我也快要到而立之年了。后来，我被炒鱿鱼了。你怎么可能被你自己创立的公司炒了鱿鱼呢? 在苹果快速成长的时候，我们雇用了一个很有天分的家伙和我一起管理这个公司，在最初的几年风调雨顺。但是后来我们对公司未来的看法有了分歧，最终我们吵了起来。当吵的不可开交的时候，董事会站在了他的那一边。所以在三十岁的时候，我被炒鱿鱼了。公开地把我扫地出门了。曾经是我整个生命的中心已经不再有了，这让我不知所措。
I really didn’t know what to do for a few months.I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down – that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me.I met with david packard and bob noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly.I was a very public failure,and I even thought about running away from the valley.But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did.The turn of events at apple had not changed that one bit.I had been rejected, but I was still in love. and so I decided to start over.
有几个月，我真是不知道该做些什么。我觉得我很令上一代的企业家们很失望，因为我把他们交给我的接力棒弄丢了。我把事情搞砸了，我和(创办hp的)david packard和(创办intel的)bob noyce见面，并试图向他们道歉。在公众面前，我是个失败者，我甚至想过逃离硅谷。但我后来慢慢看到了曙光，我仍然喜爱我从事的一切。在苹果发生的风波，并没有丝毫改变这一点。虽然我被驱逐了，但是我仍然钟爱我所做的事情。所以我决定从头再来。
I didn’t see it then,but it turned out that getting fired from apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me.The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again,less sure about everything.It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.
我当时没有觉察，但是事后证明，被苹果扫地出门是我这一生经历的最好的事。因为，作为一个创业者的轻松感觉重新替代作为一个成功者的负重感，不要把每件事情都看得那么重。它(扫地出门)把我释放出来，让我进入了我生命中最有创造力的一个阶段。
During the next five years,I started a company named next, another company named pixar,and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife.Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film,toy story,and is now the most successful animation studio in the world.In a remarkable turn of events,apple bought next,I returned to apple,and the technology we developed at next is at the heart of apple’s current renaissance.And laurene and I have a wonderful family together.
在接下来的五年里，我创立了一个名叫next的公司，还有一个叫pixar的公司，还有和一位魅力女士相识并相爱，她后来成为我的妻子。pixar 制作了全球第一部由电脑制作的动画电影——“玩具总动员”，pixar现在也是全球上最成功的电脑制作工作室。在随后一系列运作中，苹果收购了next，我重返苹果。我们在next研发的技术是苹果重焕生机的关键。而且，我还和laurence共同建立了一个幸福完美的家庭。
I’m pretty sure none of this would have happened if i hadn’t been fired from apple.It was awful tasting medicine,but I guess the patient needed it.Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick.Don’t lose faith.I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did.You’ve got to find what you love.And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. your work is going to fill a large part of your life,and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking.And don’t settle.As with all matters of the heart,you’ll know when you find it.And,like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on.So keep looking. don’t settle.
如果苹果没有开除我的话，我可以非常肯定，这其中的任何一件事情都不会发生的。虽然这剂良药的味道非常苦涩，但我这个病人需要它。虽然命运有时候会拿起板砖，猛拍你的脑袋。但你不要失去信仰。我很清楚，唯一使我一直走下去的，就是我钟爱着我从事的事。你必须去找到你所钟爱的东西。对于你的工作是如此，对于你的爱人亦如此。你的工作将会占据你的大部分生活时间，你惟一获得成就感方法就是相信你从事工作是高尚的;做高尚工作的惟一方法就是钟爱你的事业。如果你还没有找到，那么你要继续寻找，不要半途而废。心中有信念，你就会找到的。而且，这和其他任何事情一样，随着岁月流逝，它会越来越好。所以，不要半途而废，继续寻找。
My third story is about death.
我的第三个故事是关于死亡的。
When I was 17,I read a quote that went something like: “if you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me,and since then, for the past 33 years,I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “if today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “no” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
在我十七岁的时候，我曾看过一句名言：“如果你把每一天看成是生命中的最后一天，那么有一天你会发现你是正确的。”这句话我印象颇深。从那时开始已有33年了，每个早晨，我都会对着镜子问自己：“如果今天是我生命中的最后一天，你会不会完成你今天想做的事情呢?”如果连续几天的答案都是“不”的`时候，我知道我要做些改变了。
Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.Because almost everything —all external expectations,all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure–these things just fall away in the face of death,leaving only what is truly important.Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.You are already naked.There is no reason not to follow your heart.
谨记我随时死去，这是我一生中遇到的最有帮助的工具，它帮我做出了生命中重要的抉择。因为几乎所有的事情，包括所有的荣誉、所有的骄傲、来自难堪和失败所有的恐惧，这些在死亡面前统统消亡，剩下的爱是真正重要的东西。谨记我随时死去，这是我所知道的，来避开将要失去的一些东西的陷阱的最好方法。人生不带来，死不带去，我们没有理由不随心而安。
About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer.I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas.I didn’t even know what a pancreas was. the doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable,and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months.My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order,which is doctor’s code for prepare to die.It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you’d have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months.It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family.It means to say your goodbyes.
大概一年以前，我被诊断出癌症。早晨七点半，我做了一个检查，检查结果清楚地显示我胰腺有一个肿瘤。我当时甚至都不知道胰腺是什么东西。医生告诉我这是很可能一种无法治愈的癌症，我仅剩三到六个月的时间活在世上。我的医生建议我回家打理后事，这是医生对临终病人的标准程序。这也就是说，我必须在短短几个月之内，要把未来十年对你小孩说的话全部交待完;这也就是说，我要把事情安排妥当，让你的家人会尽可能轻松的生活;这也就是说，我要和他们说“再见了”。
I lived with that diagnosis all day.Later that evening I had a biopsy,where they stuck an endoscope down my throat,through my stomach and into my intestines,put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor.I was sedated, but my wife,who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery.I had the surgery and I’m fine now.
我拿着那个诊断书过了一整天。那天晚上，我又作了一个活切片检查，医生把一个内窥镜从我的喉咙伸进去，穿过我的胃，进入我的肠道，在我的胰腺上的肿瘤上，用一根针取了一些细胞。我当时打了麻醉/药，不醒人事，但是我的妻子一直在那里。她后来告诉我，当医生在显微镜下观察这些细胞，最后他们发现这些细胞竟然是一种非常罕见的可以用手术治愈的胰腺癌症细胞，于是他们都大叫起来。我做了这个手术，现在我痊愈了。
This was the closestI’ve been to facing death,and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades.Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:
那是我和死神距离最近的一次，我也希望这是以后几十年中的最近一次。以前我只把死亡看作是个概念，但经历此事后，我可以更肯定地对你们说：
No one wants to die.Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. no one has ever escaped it. and that is as it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life.It is life’s change agent.It clears out the old to make way for the new. right now the new is you,but someday not too long from now,you will gradually become the old and be cleared away.Sorry to be so dramatic,but it is quite true.
没人想死，即便人们想上天堂，也是想活着去那里。但是人必有一死，你我都无法逃脱。这也本该如此，因为“死亡”很可能就是“生命”中最杰出的发明。它是生命的轮回，它为新生事物清理道路。现在你们是新生的，但终有一天，你们将逐渐变老，直至谢幕。很抱歉，我讲的这么戏剧化，但这就是现实。
Your time is limited,so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking.Don’t let the noise of others’opinions drown out your own inner voice.And most important,have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.They somehow already know what you truly want to become.Everything else is secondary.
人生有限，所以不要把时间浪费在重复其他人的生活上;不要被教条束缚，那意味着你的思维和其他人没什么不一样;不要被其他人喧嚣的观点掩盖你真正的内心的声音。还有最重要的是，你要有勇气去跟随你直觉和心灵，因为它们在某种程度上已经知道你想要成为什么样子。所有其他的事情都是次要的。
When I was young,there was an amazing publication called the whole earth catalog,which was one of the bibles of my generation.It was created by a fellow named stewart brand not far from here in menlo park,and he brought it to life with his poetic touch.This was in the late 1960's,before personal computers and desktop publishing,so it was all made with typewriters, scissors,and polaroid cameras.It was sort of like google in paperback form, 35 years before google came along:it was idealistic,and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.
在我年轻的时候，有一本振聋发聩的杂志叫做《全球目录》，它是我们那一代人的圣经之一。它是由一位叫stewart brand的家伙在离这里不远的门罗帕克主刊的，他神奇般地将这本书带到了这个世界。那是六十年代后期，也就是在个人电脑出现之前，这本书完全是用靠打字机、剪刀还有偏光相机做出来的。它有点像用软皮包装的google，它比google早三十五年出现，它是理想主义的，其中包含了许多灵巧的工具和伟大的见解。
Stewart and his team put out several issues of the whole earth catalog,and then when it had run its course,they put out a final issue.It was the mid-1970s,and I was your age.On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous.Beneath it were the words: “stay hungry. stay foolish.” It was their farewell message as they signed off.Stay hungry. stay foolish.And I have always wished that for myself.And now,as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.
stewart和他的团队出版了几期的《全球目录》，当它完成了自己使命的时候，他们发布了最后一期的。那是在七十年代的中期，我正好是你们这个的年纪。在最后一期的封底上，有一张乡村公路清晨的照片(如果你有冒险精神的话，你可以自己找到这条路的)，在照片下方有这样一句话：“求知若饥，虚心若愚。”这是他们停刊的告别语。“求知若饥，虚心若愚。”我总是希望自己能够那样。现在，在你们即将毕业，开始新的征程的时候，我也希望你们能这样：
Stay hungry.Stay foolish.
求知若饥，虚心若愚。
Thank you all very much.
非常感谢你们!
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