无论你是刚刚毕业生，还是已经毕业好几年，这些毕业名言都会提醒你：无论面临什么挑战，你们都具备成功所需的条件；无论前途如何未卜，你们都已经准备好迎接生活的种种挑战。
安妮·德拉蒙德：俄克拉荷马州立大学，2022
安妮·玛丽·德拉蒙德的昵称是Ree，是一名美国的博主、作家、美食作家和电视名人。她因为她的博客The Pioneer Woman而出名，这个博客记录了她在农村俄克拉荷马州的生活。她的博客也有很多美味的食谱、家居设计、购物和娱乐的内容。她还在美国食品频道主持自己的节目，也叫The Pioneer Woman。
"Buckle up, you have good times and rough seas ahead. It is just part of life, but enjoy the ride and laugh a lot... Life is about to unfold for you in all its forms. Love, heartache, accomplishments, disappointment, testing of faith... life is beautiful, so I repeat, buckle up and laugh along the way. It makes life fun."
“系好安全带，你的好日子还在前头，波涛汹涌。这只是生活的一部分，但要享受这段旅程，多笑笑……生活将以它所有的形式为你展开。爱、心痛、成就、失望、信仰的考验……生活是美好的，所以我重复一遍，系好安全带，一路欢笑。它让生活充满乐趣。”
史蒂夫·乔布斯：斯坦福大学，2005
这位企业家、发明家和个人电脑革命的先驱在生活中经历了相当多的起起落落。但让他如此执着的一件事是他对技术的热爱。
"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. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it."
“你必须找到你心之所爱，你的工作是如此，你的爱人也是如此。你的工作将占据你生活的很大一部分，唯一能让你真正感到满足的方法就是去做你认为是伟大的工作。做伟大工作的唯一途径就是热爱你所做的工作。如果你还没有找到，继续找。不要停。全心全意地去做，当你找到它的时候，你就会知道的。”
奥普拉·温弗瑞：2020届虚拟演讲
奥普拉为疫情期间毕业的班级发表了毕业演说，她在最初几个月的混乱中找到了深刻的教训。
"Look who turns out to be essential! Teachers—your teachers!—healthcare workers of course, the people stocking grocery shelves, the cashiers, those who are caring for your grandparents, those who clean the places where we work and shop and carry out our daily lives. We are all here because they, at great and profound risk, are still providing their essential service. What will your essential service be? What really matters to you? How will you use what matters in service to yourself, your community, and the world?"
“看看谁是必不可少的！老师——你们的老师！——当然还有医护人员，还有在杂货店货架上摆放的人、收银员、照顾祖父母的人、打扫我们工作、购物和日常生活场所的人。我们都在这里，因为他们冒着巨大而深刻的风险，仍在提供他们的基本服务。您的基本服务是什么？什么对你来说真正重要？你将如何利用重要的东西来为你自己、你的社区和世界服务？”
乔治·桑德斯：雪城大学，2013
畅销书作家兼教授乔治·桑德斯（George Saunders）为毕业生提供了一个指导原则，无论他们追求什么，都可以在生活中坚持下去。
"Travel, get rich, get famous, innovate, lead, fall in love, make and lose fortunes, swim naked in wild jungle rivers (after first having it tested for monkey poop)—but as you do, to the extent that you can, err in the direction of kindness. Do those things that incline you toward the big questions, and avoid the things that would reduce you and make you trivial. That luminous part of you that exists beyond personality—your soul, if you will—is as bright and shining as any that has ever been."
“旅行、致富、成名、创新、领导、坠入爱河、发财和发财、在野生丛林河流中裸泳（在第一次测试猴屎之后）——但当你这样做时，尽你所能，朝着善良的方向犯错。做那些让你倾向于大问题的事情，避免那些会贬低你、让你变得微不足道的事情。你身上超越人格的发光部分——如果你愿意的话，你的灵魂——与任何以往一样明亮和闪耀。”
托妮·莫里森：韦尔斯利学院，2004
托妮·莫里森（Toni Morrison）是一位美国的著名小说家，她以探讨黑人（尤其是黑人女性）在黑人社区中的经历而闻名。她于1993年获得了诺贝尔文学奖，是第一位获此殊荣的黑人女性。她的代表作有《最蓝的眼睛》、《所罗门之歌》和《宠儿》等，这些小说都反映了美国的种族主义和黑人的历史与文化。
托妮·莫里森驳斥了通常的陈词滥调，即青春是你一生中最美好的时光。相反，她告诉学生，没有什么比在他们面前展开的真正成年更令人满意或满足的了。
"What is now known is not all that you are capable of knowing. You are your own stories and therefore free to imagine and experience what it means to be human without wealth. What it feels like to be human without domination over others, without reckless arrogance, without fear of others unlike you, without rotating, rehearsing and reinventing the hatreds you learned in the sandbox. And although you don't have complete control over the narrative (no author does, I can tell you), you could nevertheless create it."
“现在所知道的并不是你所能知道的全部。你是你自己的故事，因此可以自由地想象和体验没有财富的人意味着什么。作为人类，没有对他人的统治，没有鲁莽的傲慢，没有害怕别人与你不同的人，没有旋转、排练和重塑你在沙盒中学到的仇恨是什么感觉。虽然你不能完全控制叙事（我可以告诉你，没有作者可以），但你仍然可以创造它。
柯南·奥布莱恩：达特茅斯学院，2011
柯南·奥布莱恩（Conan O'Brien）是一位美国的脱口秀主持人、喜剧演员、作家和制作人。他以主持深夜脫口秀节目而闻名。他的主持风格活泼、无厘头，深受全球观众喜爱，曾14次提名艾美奖。他还参演了一些电影和电视剧，如《辛普森一家》、《乐高蝙蝠侠大电影》和《白日梦想家》等。
这位著名的深夜主持人发表了一场搞笑的毕业演讲，每个人都有自己的教训。
"David Letterman wanted to be Johnny Carson and was not, and as a result, my generation of comedians wanted to be David Letterman. And none of us are—my peers and I have all missed that mark in a thousand different ways. But the point is this: It is our failure to become our perceived ideal that ultimately defines us and makes us unique. It's not easy, but if you accept your misfortune and handle it right, your perceived failure can be a catalyst for profound re-invention."
“大卫·莱特曼想成为约翰尼·卡森，但不是，因此，我们这一代喜剧演员想成为大卫·莱特曼。而我们都没有——我和我的同龄人都以一千种不同的方式错过了这个标记。但关键是：正是我们未能成为我们感知的理想，最终定义了我们，使我们独一无二。这并不容易，但如果你接受你的不幸并正确处理它，你感知到的失败可以成为深刻重塑的催化剂。”
约翰·肯尼迪：美利坚大学，1963
在60年代初的动荡中，美国时任总统约翰·肯尼迪向进入世界的学生发出了集结号：选择和平。
"Let us not be blind to our differences, but let us also direct attention to our common interests and to the means by which those differences can be resolved. And if we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal."
“让我们不要对我们的分歧视而不见，但也让我们把注意力引向我们的共同利益和解决这些分歧的手段。如果我们现在不能结束我们的分歧，至少我们可以帮助使世界变得安全。因为，归根结底，我们最基本的共同点是我们都居住在这个小星球上。我们都呼吸着同样的空气。我们都珍惜孩子的未来。我们都是凡人。”
谢丽尔·桑德伯格：加州大学伯克利分校，2016
谢丽尔·桑德伯格（Sheryl Sandberg）在加州大学伯克利分校毕业典礼上发表主题演讲。这位Facebook的前首席运营官为毕业生提供了对未来生活的现实看法，以及如何度过困难时期。
"Some of you have already experienced the kind of tragedy and hardship that leave an indelible mark. The question is not if some of these things will happen to you. They will. Today I want to talk about what happens next. The easy days ahead of you will be easy. It is the hard days—the times that challenge you to your very core—that will determine who you are. You will be defined not just by what you achieve but by how you survive."
“你们中的一些人已经经历过那种悲剧和艰辛，留下了不可磨灭的印记。问题不在于这些事情是否会发生在你身上。它们会的。今天我想谈谈接下来会发生什么。你面前的轻松日子会很容易。正是那些艰难的日子——那些挑战你内心深处的时代——将决定你是谁。你不仅会被你所取得的成就所定义，还会被你如何生存所决定。”
比尔·盖茨：哈佛大学，2007
谁不会接受Microsoft创始人的建议？
"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... don't let complexity stop you. Be activists. Take on big inequities. I feel sure it will be one of the great experiences of your lives."
“根据这个时代的承诺，我想劝告这里的每一位毕业生去面对一个问题——一个复杂的问题，一个深刻的不平等，并成为这个问题的专家。如果你把它作为你职业生涯的重点，那将是非凡的。但你不必这样做就能产生影响......不要让复杂性阻止你。成为活动家。应对巨大的不平等。我相信这将是你们一生中最伟大的经历之一。”
蒂姆·库克：杜兰大学，2019
蒂姆·库克（Tim Cook）在谈到毕业演讲的主题时，对他已故的前任史蒂夫·乔布斯（Steve Jobs）采取了类似的方法。
"There's a saying that if you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life. At Apple, I learned that's a total crock. You'll work harder than you ever thought possible, but the tools will feel light in your hands. As you go out into the world, don't waste time on problems that have been solved... Look for the rough spots, the problems that seem too big, the complexities that other people are content to work around. It's in those places that you will find your purpose. It's there that you can make your greatest contribution."
“有句话说，如果你做自己喜欢的事情，你这辈子就永远不会工作一天。在苹果，我了解到这完全是一团糟。你会比你想象的更努力地工作，但工具在你手中会感觉很轻。当你走向世界时，不要把时间浪费在已经解决的问题上......寻找粗糙的地方，看似太大的问题，其他人满足于解决的复杂性。正是在那些地方，你会找到你的目标。在那里，你可以做出最大的贡献。”
图源：Midjourney
