舌尖上的智慧：美国名校最佳毕业演说（第三辑）(txt+pdf+epub+mobi电子书下载)

作者：《新东方英语》编辑部

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舌尖上的智慧：美国名校最佳毕业演说（第三辑）试读：

约翰·传奇，原名约翰·斯蒂芬斯(John Stephens)，生于1978年，是一位曾9次获得过格莱美奖的R&B唱作人、钢琴家。2014年5月，约翰回到自己的母校宾夕法尼亚大学，在该校 2014年毕业典礼上为学生们送上了一场演讲。

由于个人爱好和家庭影响，音乐天赋极高的约翰从小便对演唱和钢琴兴趣浓厚。他4岁加入教堂合唱队，7、8岁时已经开始为唱诗班进行钢琴伴奏。16岁时，约翰离开家乡，进入宾夕法尼亚大学学习，主修英文，专攻美国黑人文学。然而在学习之外，约翰仍然热衷于音乐事业，他录制了自己的音乐专辑，并参加了许多才艺表演。

毕业后，约翰前后参与过许多大牌歌手的专辑录制。2003年，坎耶·韦斯特(Kanye West)正式将他签入自己的唱片公司。2004年12月28日，在坎耶的打造下，约翰的首张专辑Get Lifted正式发行，获得了白金销量的佳绩。由于首张专辑的成功，约翰的事业蒸蒸日上，并参与了很多重要场合的演出，其中包括美国黑人音乐厂牌摩城唱片的白宫庆祝音乐会。在约翰的众多单曲中，最有名的要数他于2013年推出的“All of Me”，这首单曲在2014年5月登上了Billboard Top 100单曲榜第一位。

最难能可贵的是，约翰不仅仅是一个出色的音乐人，更是一个卓越的人道主义者。在其歌唱事业中，约翰一直努力将人们的视线引向全球贫困与教育问题。他举办过很多场慈善音乐会，并成立了Show Me Campaign基金，该基金致力于通过提供教育帮助人们战胜贫困。音  频   视  频

Thank you very much. Thank you to the provost for that introduction. Good morning. And congratulations!

Now I'll try to be brief this morning. As a musician, this is about 10 hours before I normally go to work, so I'm gonna need a nap soon. And you've also got degrees to receive.

And I also have a feeling some of you are already tired of me. The thing about pop radio in America, somehow they've scientifically determined that the public is only capable of liking the same 10 songs at any given time, so they simply play those songs over and over and [1]over and over until you're finally completely exasperated . Then they move on.

I've had a 10-year career as a major label solo artist and none of my songs has ever been one of those 10 songs until this moment. And now "all of you are so over me, you're tired of hearing that I went to Penn. Why'd they bring him back again?" (sung to the tune of "All of Me" chorus)

That was my humble brag way of saying I have the biggest song in the country right now. But, honestly, I am truly humbled and honored and grateful to be here at the commencement of the University of Pennsylvanian, one of the finest universities on the planet. I first visited this campus as a high school senior named John Stephens in 1995—19 years ago—and I would have never thought at that moment that I would be standing here as John Legend, speaking to you today.

The reason I'm here, the reason I've had such a wonderful journey so far, is that I've found love. Yes, love. We were all made to love. And I've found that we live our best lives, we are at our most successful, not simply because we're smarter or because we hustle harder, not because we become millionaires more quickly. The key to success, the key to happiness, is opening your mind and your heart to love, spending your time doing things you love and with people you love.

My life could have gone differently though. At first, I had a pretty good childhood. I grew up in a small blue-collar city called Springfield, Ohio. I was surrounded by family, including two loving parents who cared so much about our education that they home-schooled us for several years during grade school. And they took the time to teach us more than just academics. They taught us about character, about what it meant to live a good life.

My father often talked to us about his definition of success. He told us that it wasn't measured in money and material things, but it was measured in love and joy and the lives you're able to touch—the lives [2]you're able to help. And my parents walked the walk . They gave of themselves to our church. They took in foster kids and helped the homeless, even though we didn't have much money ourselves.

Growing up in the Stephens' house also meant you were immersed in art and music and encouraged to be creative. We had a [3]piano and a drum kit in the house. I begged to take piano lessons when I was 4. I started singing in the church choir and in school plays by the time I was 7. I fell in love with music at a very young age.

My family was like a model family in our church and local community. My parents were leaders, raising intelligent, talented kids in a loving environment. We even had a little singing group called the "Stephens 5."

But things started to fall apart when I was 10. My maternal grandmother passed away that year when she was only 58 years old, [4]and her death devastated my family. She was our church organist , and on Sundays after church, I would go to her house just to hang out [5]with her. She would make chicken and collard greens and corn [6]bread. And she would teach me how to play gospel piano. She was one of my favorite people on the planet.

She and my mother were also very close, and her death sent my mother into a deep depression that eventually tore our family apart. My mother disappeared into over a decade of drugs and despair after my parents got divorced. And I was confused and disoriented.

After the initial shock of my family breaking apart, my outward [7]response wasn't very emotional. I coped by being stoic and seemingly unaffected. I thought if I didn't expose myself to any more pain and vulnerability, I could never get hurt. If I didn't fall in love, no one could ever betray me like that again.

I busied myself with school work and lots of activities, and tried not to think too much about my family situation, tried to avoid pain whenever possible. A big reason I only applied to colleges on the east coast was to make sure I had no reminders of home in my daily life.

The only thing I allowed myself to really love without reservation was music. I put all of my passion into it. I spent so much of my spare time working on it that I barely got any sleep. At night, I was doing [8]community choir, show choir and musicals in high school; a cappella and a church choir here in college. I wrote my own songs played in talent shows. I put a lot of energy into becoming a better artist, a better writer and a better performer. And in some ways, it made me a better student and a better leader. Because when you actually care about [9]something, you want to lead. Apathy's not so cool any more.

When I graduated from Penn, I had many of the traditional opportunities in front of you now, and I took a job at the Boston Consulting Group as they said. But I couldn't shake my passion for music. I followed the path that the Penn graduate was supposed to take, but I didn't fall in love. I immediately started thinking about how I could leave BCG and become a full-time musician. I spent hours during the day preparing PowerPoint presentations and financial models. And I spent almost as many hours at night writing songs and performing at small gigs around New York and Philadelphia.

I always believed that my big break would come sooner rather than later. In fact, for 6 years, from 1998, while I was still at Penn, to early 2004, I spent each of those six years always thinking that I would get that big record deal within the next few months. I always thought my moment was just around the corner. But I was rejected by all the major labels; some of them rejected me multiple times. I played for all the giants of the business—Clive Davis, L.A. Reid, Jimmy Iovine, you name it, I played for them. And all of them turned me down.

But I did find a young producer from Chicago named Kanye West who believed in me. Kanye happened to be the cousin of my good friend DeVon Harris, a classmate and roommate of mine here at Penn. DeVon introduced me to Kanye in 2001, and we've been working together ever since. Our collaboration has been a huge part of my career, and it had a lot to do with me finally getting a major recording contract in 2004.

Now, Kanye and I have very different personalities, as you might have guessed. But what unites us is our true love for music and art. We love to create, and at no point in our creative process do we stress about what will sell or what's already popular. We think about making something beautiful, something special, something we can be proud of. We truly do this because we love it. We put all of ourselves into it.

And it turns out that love requires that level of commitment from you. Half-doing it is not doing it right. You have to go all in. And yes, your personal relationships require that too.

I know what it's like to be all ego in your 20s. I know what it's like to be selfish and just focus on your immediate wants and desires. I know what it's like to protect your heart from pain and disappointment. [10]I know what it means to be all about the rat race and winning.

But years from now, when you look back on your time here on earth, your life and your happiness will be way more defined by the quality of your relationships, not the quantity. You'll get much more joy out of depth, not breadth. It's about finding and keeping the best relationships possible with the people around you. It's about immersing yourself in your friendships and your family. It's about being there for the people you care about, and knowing that they'll be there for you.

I know. It's not easy to go all in on love. I'm 35 and I'm married and I'm still learning how to do this completely. But I've found someone who makes me want to try, someone who makes me want to take that risk. And it's made all the difference.

Now, I've already talked about the power of love in your work and your personal lives. But I also want to talk about how love changes the world. There are 7 billion other people out there, 7 billion strangers. I want you to consider what it means to love them too. What does it mean to love people we don't know, to see the value in every single person's life?

Think about that. It's a pretty radical notion. It means your daughter or son, your neighbor's daughter or son and the daughters and sons of people who live thousands of miles away, all deserve the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It means we let go of fear and we see each other's humanity. It means we don't see Trayvon [11]Martin as a walking stereotype, a weaponized human. We see him as a boy who deserves the chance to grow into a man, even if he makes boyish mistakes along the way. It means that American lives don't count more than Iraqi lives. It means we see a young Palestinian [12]kid not as a future security threat or demographic challenge, but as a future father, mother and lover. It means that the nearly 300 kidnapped girls in Nigeria aren't just their problem. They're "our" girls too. It's actually quite a challenge for me and a quite challenge for you to love humankind in this way.

Professor Cornel West gives us a word for what this kind of love looks like in public. That word is justice.

If you're committed to loving in public, it requires that you believe in justice, that you open your eyes to injustice, that you see the world through the eyes of another. This is not a passive activity. You have to read. You have to travel to other neighborhoods, other parts of the [13]world. You may have to get your hands dirty . You have to allow people to love you, and you have to love them back.

My team and I met a young girl named Rose from a small, impoverished village in Ghana. When you're working with development organizations and visiting the communities they work in, you're not [14]really supposed to single out one child to fall in love with. You're supposed to stick to the program and focus on the interventions that lift the community as a whole. But we couldn't help it. We fell in love with Rose. Something about the spark in her eyes and her indomitable spirit made us want to go the extra mile to help her. So we decided to use our own funds to sponsor her tuition to secondary school.

We've stayed in touch with her over the past 7 years, and we're so proud of what she's done individually. But we're also happy that she inspired us to formalize and expand our scholarship program to many girls in communities like hers throughout Africa, communities where the parents often invest in the boys' secondary education, but don't do the same for the girls.

In my travels around the world, I've looked in the eyes of many young girls and boys from Africa to Southeast Asia to South Central to Harlem, kids who had big dreams and needed someone to believe in them and invest in their future, in their education.

What would our schools look like if we were committed to love in public? If we cared about every kid in our school system, we would make sure they didn't go to school hungry. We would make sure they had proper health care and counseling. We would make sure they had excellent teachers in every classroom. We would make sure we weren't unfairly suspending them and criminalizing them for minor behavioral problems. We'd make sure all of them had the resources they need.[15]

Every religion has this idea of philanthropy , love for mankind, at its core. But you shouldn't do this just to make sure you get into the "pearly gates." Look at the work of Marty Seligman here at Penn, who has literally written the book on happiness. Look at the work of Adam Grant, whom I hear is the most highly rated professor here Penn: He has the data to show that giving works. There's an increasing body of research and knowledge that tells us that living a life of love and compassion is the true path to success and contentment.

So what's going to stop you? What's going to stand in your way? What's going to keep you from achieving your success? What will prevent you from going all in on love?

We're taught when we're young that the opposite of love is hate. But it's not. Hate is a byproduct. Hate is a result. Being a hater isn't cool. Nobody wants that. But hate comes from one thing: fear. And fear is the opposite of love. It's not a coincidence that when we talk [16][17]about bigotry , we often talk in terms of fear: homophobia , [18]xenophobia . Fear is what blinds us. Fear is corrosive. Fear makes us hold back. It whispers to us, tells us that we'll fail. It tells us that our differences are too much to overcome. Fear locks us in place. It starts fights. It causes wars.

And fear keeps us from loving. Even though we're made to love, we're often afraid to love. We're afraid of being hurt deeply, afraid of feeling the pain I went through when my parents divorced. But you're never going to really love something or someone unless you put those fears aside. Don't hold back. Being in love means being ready to give freely and openly, and being ready to risk something, risking pain and disappointment, conquering your fears, and becoming anew.[19]

Alice Walker once said, "The more I wonder, the more I love." Love calls you to open your eyes, to seek, to search, to wonder.

Love is all-consuming—it infiltrates your body, it allows you to experience bliss, joy and true friendship. You'll be more disappointed when something goes wrong. You might fall harder. But the only way you'll reach any height in life and in love is by taking that chance that you might fall.

You have to give your all.

Yes, I've been not-so-subtly working in my song lyrics and my speak today. And some might think it's all a bit too much. Here I am, this R&B singer with an album called Love in the Future, who's recently married and wrote the biggest love song of the year, and what did I [20]choose to talk about? Love. It's so corny , isn't it? It's much cooler to [21]be detached and apathetic, right? We all like a little snark and cynicism and irony, especially from our favorite artists and comedians and writers. I get it.

But that cool detachment only gets you so far. Passion gets you a lot further. It makes you a better entrepreneur, a better leader, a better philanthropist, a better friend, a better lover.

I want you to live the best life you can. You can be world-changers. When you leave here today, you're going to look for a lot of things: security, money, friendships, sex, all kinds of things. But the most important thing you'll find is love.

So love yourself, love your work, love the people around you. Dare to love those who are different from you, no matter where they're from, what they look like, and who they love. Pursue this life of love with focus and passion and ambition and courage. Give it your all. And that will be your path to true success.

Congratulations to the Class of 2014 and thank you so much! Thank you. Thank you very much.一切为了爱 —— 约翰·传奇在宾夕法尼亚大学2014年毕业典礼上的演讲

非常感谢。谢谢教务长的介绍。大家早安。祝贺你们！

今天上午我会尽量讲得简短一些。作为一名音乐人，现在离我平时开始工作的时间还有差不多十个小时，所以之后我需要小睡一会儿。另外你们也还要领学位证。

此外，我能感觉到，你们中有些人已经对我感到厌倦了。这都是美国的流行音乐广播干的好事，不知他们用了什么科学方法得出结论：无论什么时候，听众们都只能爱上相同的十首歌，于是他们就没完没了、一遍一遍地放那些歌，直到大家最后彻底听腻了为止。然后他们才会换歌。

我作为一家大唱片公司的独唱歌手已经十年了，直到此刻，我的歌曲才第一次成功打入到那十首之中。而现在“你们已对我如此厌倦，听够了我是宾大校友之事，又为何还要请我回来？”(以“All of Me”副歌的旋律唱出)

以上是我对自己拥有时下全国最热门歌曲的一点小小的自吹自擂。不过，真的，能够在世界上最优秀的大学之一宾夕法尼亚大学的毕业典礼上做演讲，我深感荣幸与感激。19年前，也就是1995年，我第一次来这所学校参观时，还是一个名叫约翰·斯蒂芬斯的高中四年级学生。那时，我绝不会想到，今天我会以约翰·传奇的身份站在这里，为你们做演讲。

我今天之所以能站在这里，之所以到目前为止能拥有一段如此精彩的人生，是因为我发现了爱。是的，爱。我们每个人都是为爱而生。我意识到，我们之所以能够活出最精彩的人生、取得最大的成功，并不仅是因为我们比别人更聪明或更努力，也不是因为我们比别人更早成为百万富翁。获得成功和幸福的诀窍，是敞开心扉拥抱爱，是花时间做自己爱做的事，以及与自己所爱的人在一起。

然而，我的人生其实也可能是另外一番景象。我的童年起初过得颇为幸福。我在俄亥俄州一座蓝领小城斯普林菲尔德长大，在家人环抱中成长。我有一对慈爱的父母，他们非常重视儿女的教育，因此在小学阶段，有几年的时间我们都是在家接受教育。在此期间，我的父母不仅指导我们学习，还教会了我们如何塑造个人品行，并告诉我们生活幸福意味着什么。

我的父亲经常和我们谈起他对成功的定义。他告诉我们，成功不是由金钱或物质来衡量的，而是由爱和喜悦，以及你带给别人的感动和帮助来衡量的。我的父母正是这样身体力行的。他们热心为教堂服务，收留寄养的儿童，帮助无家可归者，尽管我们自己也并不富裕。

生长在斯蒂芬斯家还意味着你会沉浸在艺术和音乐中，生活在鼓励创新的氛围之中。我家有一架钢琴和一套架子鼓。4岁时，我就央求父母让我学钢琴。7岁时，我开始在教堂唱诗班和学校的戏剧演出中演唱。我从很小的时候就爱上了音乐。

在教堂和当地社区中，我的家庭堪称模范。我的父母作为一家之主，在充满爱的环境中培养出了聪明又多才多艺的孩子们。我们甚至还组成了一支名为“斯蒂芬斯五人组”的演唱小组合。

但是，在我10岁那年，我的世界开始崩塌。我的外婆在那年过世了，年仅58岁。她的离世对我的家庭造成了致命的打击。外婆生前是教堂的风琴师，周日做完礼拜后，我都会去她那里和她一起共度周末。外婆会做鸡肉、羽衣甘蓝和玉米面包给我吃，还会教我弹福音钢琴曲。她是我在世上最爱的人之一。

外婆和我母亲的感情也很深，她的去世让母亲陷入了深深的抑郁，并最终导致了家庭的破裂。在我的父母离婚后，母亲有十多年的时间一直沉溺于毒品和绝望之中。我则感到茫然失措。

在父母离异的最初打击过后，我并没有表现得十分情绪化。我对于这场家庭变故的处理方法是默默忍受、故作坚强。我认为如果不让自己再触碰痛苦和脆弱之处，就不会再受到伤害。如果我不再去爱，就不会再受到这样的背叛。

我埋头于学校的功课，还参加了许多课外活动，尽量不去想家里发生的事，尽量逃避痛苦的侵袭。我只申请了东岸的大学，其中一个重要原因就是为了确保在日常生活中，不再出现家的影子。

唯一一样我允许自己毫无保留地去爱的东西就是音乐。我对音乐付出了全部的激情。我把大量的业余时间用来做音乐，几乎到了不眠不休的地步。中学时期，我会在晚上参加社区合唱团，为舞台剧伴唱，并参与音乐剧的演出；上大学后，我则参加了无伴奏合唱和教堂唱诗班的活动。我自己写歌，参加选秀比赛。为了成为更好的音乐家、创作者和表演者，我投入了大量精力。某种程度上，这也使我成了更好的学生和更好的领导者。因为当你真正在乎一件事时，你会希望自己能够主导。冷漠在这时就失去用武之地了。从宾大毕业时，摆在我面前的有许多常规的就业机会，就像你们现在的情况一样。正如传闻所说的那样，我进入了波士顿咨询公司工作。但是我无法停止对音乐的热爱。我选择了一条宾大毕业生应选的道路，却并没有感受到那份热爱。很快，我就开始考虑如何离开公司，成为一名全职音乐人。白天在班上，我花费数小时准备幻灯简报、制作财务模型。而到了晚上，我会拿出几乎同样多的时间用于写歌，以及在纽约和费城参加小型演出。

我一直相信自己很快就会迎来事业上的重大突破。实际上，有6年的时间——从1998年我还在宾大的时候，到2004年初——我都一直认为自己不出几个月就能拿到一份大的唱片合约。我一直认为成功指日可待。但是所有的大唱片公司都将我拒之门外，有几家公司甚至拒绝过我好几次。我为业内所有的大人物表演过——克莱夫·戴维斯、L. A.里德、吉米·艾欧文，凡是你能叫得出名字的，我都为他们表演过。而他们全都拒绝了我。

不过，我最终还是找到了一位相信我的年轻制作人——来自芝加哥的坎耶·韦斯特。坎耶刚好是我在宾大的同窗室友兼好友德文·哈里斯的表兄弟。德文2001年介绍我和坎耶认识，从那以后，我们一直合作至今。与他合作是我音乐生涯中非常重要的一部分，而我能够在2004年最终拿到一纸重要的唱片合约，与此也有很大关系。

大家也许猜到了，坎耶和我的个性差异很大。但是对音乐和艺术的热爱将我们团结在了一起。我们热爱创作，而且在创作过程中，我们从不会过多考虑什么样的音乐会畅销，什么样的音乐正当红。我们一心只想创作出美好、特别、能令我们为之自豪的作品。我们这样做完全是出于热爱，我们为此全身心地投入。

事实证明，爱就是需要这种程度的付出。三心二意是行不通的。你必须全力以赴。在生活中与别人交往的时候也是如此。

我了解人在20多岁时一切以“我”字当先的那种感觉。我了解自私自利、只关注眼前的需要和欲望的那种感觉。我了解自我保护、不愿为痛苦和失望所伤害的那种感觉。我了解满脑子只想着同别人激烈竞争、一心求胜的那种感觉。

但是多年以后，当你回顾自己的一生，你会发现，决定你的人生和幸福的更多的是你与别人交往的层次，而非你生命中过客的数量。比起泛泛而交，深层次的交往会带给你更多的快乐。要尽量和身边的人处好关系。对待朋友和家人要全心全意。为你在乎的人默默守候，并且要知道当你需要的时候，他们也会是你的依靠。

我知道，为爱全力以赴并不是件容易事。我今年35岁，已经结婚，却仍在学习如何真正做到这一点。但是，我找到了这样一个人，让我愿意去努力尝试，愿意为此承担风险。从此一切都大不相同了。

现在，我已经讲了爱在工作和个人生活中发挥的力量。不过，我还想谈一谈爱能如何改变世界。全世界有70亿人，对我们而言，是70亿个陌生人。我希望你们能考虑一下，同样去爱这些人意味着什么。去爱那些我们不认识的人、看到每个人的人生价值，意味着什么？

想想看。这是一个非常基本的理念。这意味着你的子女、你邻居的子女，以及相隔千里之外的那些人们的子女，同样有生存的权利，同样有享受自由和追求幸福的权利。这意味着我们放下恐惧，在彼此身上看到人性的光辉。这意味着我们不会依据思维定式就给特雷冯·马丁贴上标签，把他当成手持武器的危险人物。我们会把他看做一个本应有机会长大成人的男孩，即使他曾经犯过这样那样孩子气的错误。这意味着美国人的生命并不比伊拉克人的生命更宝贵。这意味着我们不会把巴勒斯坦儿童当做未来的安全威胁或人口负担，而是知道他们将来也会为人父母、为人爱侣。这意味着在尼日利亚发生的近300名女孩遭绑架的事件，并不仅仅要靠当地人来解决，因为她们同样也是我们的孩子。的确，用这样的胸怀去爱人类，无论对于我还是对于你们，都是一个不小的挑战。

科内尔·韦斯特教授将这种施于公众的爱用一个词描述了出来，这个词就是“公正”。

如果你想拥有一颗博爱的心，就必须要相信公正，要能看到不公之处，要能从别人的角度看这个世界。这个过程并不会自然而然地发生。你需要阅读，需要去世界上其他的地方旅行以增长见闻。你也许得亲力亲为。你必须允许别人爱你，且一定要回报他们以爱。

我和我的工作团队在加纳一个贫穷的小村庄里认识了一位名叫罗斯的女孩。在与发展组织合作、探访他们工作的社区时，你确实不应该只偏心爱上一个孩子。你应该做好分内的事，致力于改善社区的整体状况。但是我们情不自禁，我们爱上了罗斯。看着她眼中闪动的光芒，感受着她不屈不挠的精神，我们不禁想要为她再多做点事。于是我们决定自己出资，帮助她完成中学学业。

过去7年来，我们一直和她保持着联系，并为她个人取得的进步感到骄傲。同样令我们高兴的是，她还给了我们灵感。在她的启发下，我们把奖学金计划正规化，并将其扩展到全非洲与她所在的社区相类似的社区，用以资助那里的女孩上学。在那些地方，家长通常愿意花钱供男孩读中学，却不肯让女孩接受同等教育。

我去过世界很多地方，从非洲到东南亚，从中南美洲到哈莱姆，我曾凝视许多年轻男孩和女孩的眼睛，这些孩子怀有远大的理想，需要有人相信他们，为他们的教育和未来提供资助。

如果我们能够一视同仁地去爱所有人，我们的学校将会变成什么样子？如果我们关心教育体制中的每一个孩子，就能确保他们不会饿着肚子上学。我们将保证他们享有适当的医疗保障和咨询服务。我们将保证每个班级都由优秀的教师执教。我们将保证，不会只因一点轻微的行为不当，就不公正地给予他们停学处分并将他们视为罪犯。我们将保证他们每一个人都能得到所需的资源。

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