比尔．盖茨在哈佛大学毕业典礼上的演讲

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，新技术将引发一场革命，让尽可能多的人与世界接轨，科技不仅为政府，也为大学、企业、小团体甚至个人带来了机会，而今这些机构和个人能够运用科技找到有效的解决60年前乔治•马歇尔谈到的饥荒、贫困和绝望。

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员，你们是世界上少有的精英。我们为什么要上哈佛？

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?
毫无疑问，我们的教员、学生、校友都曾尽其所能改善全球人类的生活。我们还能更进一步吗？哈佛能够为不知道哈佛名气的陌生人奉献智慧，伸出援助之手吗？

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?
请院长和教授接受我的不情之请，各位哈佛大学的精英领导者们，在你们雇用新教员、授予教授终身教职、评估课程安排和决定学位要求时，请问自己一个问题：最优秀的人才是否应该致力于解决人类的困境？

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?
哈佛是否应该鼓励教授解决世界上存在的严重不平等？哈佛的学生是不是应该多关注一些全球贫富不均、粮食短缺、水资源稀缺、女童辍学的问题？以及那些因无法接受有效治疗而死亡的孩子？

Should the world’s most privileged people learn about the lives of the world’s least privileged?
世界上最衣食无忧的人是否应该了解那些挣扎在死亡边缘的人们的生活？

These are not rhetorical questions – you will answer with your policies.
这并非言语修辞，这些问题只能用行动回答。

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.”
我的母亲一直为我考上哈佛而自豪，也一直督促我回报社会。我结婚的前几天的仪式上，她高声朗读自己写给我妻子的信。当时我母亲已经是癌症晚期，但她坚持要用这个机会表达自己的观点。信的最后 她念道：“获益越多，责任越大。”

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.
想想我们获得了什么——天赋，特权，机遇——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.
我希望每位毕业生承担起这样一种责任—— 参与解决人类不平等的问题，如果你献身这项事业，你的影响力将会是惊人的。既便不打算以此为业，你一样可以有所作为。每周只需要花几个小时，就可以利用互联网获取信息、找到志同道合的朋友、设法解决一两个问题。

Don't let complexity stop you. Be activists. Take on the big inequities. It will be one of the great experiences of your lives.
不要畏难，尽管放手去做。它将是你生命中最宝贵经历。

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.
这是一个神奇的时代。今天的科技是我年轻时不曾体验的。你们对不平等现象的认识远远超过我们这代人。面对这种不平等，你们更容易受良心的谴责。行动起来，时不我待。

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年后当你再次回到哈佛的时候，我希望看到你用自己的天赋和精力做了哪些事。不仅用专业成就来衡量成功，还要看你是如何解决人类根深蒂固的不平等问题。你是怎样对待那些与你相隔万里、迥然不同的人的。

Good luck.
同学们，祝你们好运！