Thank you Chancellor Wiley, distinguished platform party, friends,

感谢威利校长，感谢在座的各位朋友、

guests and the very reason for our presence here today — the members of the class of 2003. 各位嘉宾以及我们今天最重要的主角——威斯康辛大学2003届毕业生们。

Before I start my remarks, I'd like everyone just to do something for me. Very simply

在我正式讲话以前，我想让每个人先做一件小事，一件非常简单的事，

so everyone can kind of just get to know everyone else — on the count of three,

以便使你们能认识其他一些人——当我数到三时，

I'd like everyone to turn around and shake the hand of the person sitting right behind you.

我希望每个人都转过身与坐在你后面的人握握手——

One, two, three — right now, everybody, please do that.

一、二、三，现在，请按我说的做。

So, I guess you still have a few things to learn.

所以，我认为你们仍有一些东西需要学习。

My parents cried when I left for California. Not because I was leaving,

当我动身前往加利福利亚州的时候，我的父母哭了。

(but) rather, I think, because they were afraid I'd be coming back.

我想，他们哭不是因为我要离开了，反而是怕我将会折回。

Not one teacher I ever had in grade school, high school or college would've believed

从小学到高中再到大学的所有老师没有一个会想到

that there was even the slightest chance that one day I would be asked to give the commencement address at a major university.

我能有机会被一所重点大学邀请发表毕业演讲。

Many, given the opportunity, would've bet large sums of money against it, putting up their homes and children as collateral.

如果有机会的话，许多人都会下很大赌注，押大把的钱，甚至以自己的家庭和孩子为抵押。

Actually, I really like the idea of that, not because I'm vindictive

实际上，我很欣赏那种想法，不是因为我心怀仇恨——

although in a few minutes I'm going to read the names of all the people in my life

虽然在几分钟后我将说出一些人名，

who never thought I would amount to anything —but because life should be unpredictable.

这些人从不认为我会做成什么事——而是因为生活难以预测。

And I'm very grateful that I never wasted any time trying to become somebody else's image of what I should be.

我也非常欣慰，因为我没有浪费时间去变成别人认为我应该成为的样子。

So, thirty-one years ago today, I drove from Madison, Wisconsin, to Los Angeles, California.

31年前的今天，我驾车从威斯康辛大学麦迪逊分校驶往加利福利亚州的洛杉矶。

On the way, I passed Camp Randall, where my college graduation ceremony was in progress.

途径兰德尔体育场，当时我们学院的毕业典礼正在那儿举行。

I thought about going to the ceremony, but it meant I would've arrived in Hollywood one day later,

我曾想过去参加毕业典礼，但那就意为着我会迟到一天到好莱坞。

and at the time I just didn't see the point. I wanted to get there.

当时，我不知道什么是重点，我只是想到好莱坞去。

Gertrude Stein once said about Hollywood, "When you get there, there is no 'there' there." That's true.

格特鲁格·斯坦因曾经这样形容好莱坞，“当你到了那儿的时候，在那里没有‘那里’。”她形容非常确切。

However, there will be a swimming pool and tennis court.

但是，那里将会有游泳池和网球场。

In the end, though, it's probably not enough to justify a life's journey.

尽管这最后或许不足以证明生命的旅程是否正当。

Getting there, particularly in show business, is tough enough.

在那里，特别是在娱乐行业闯荡是非常艰难的。

You need a combination of talent, ambition, luck and a willingness to tell actors how beautiful they look today.

你要有才华、野心以及运气，并且还要能心甘情愿地告诉演员们他们今天看上去是多么美丽。

In retrospect, getting there was the easy part. Finding a "there" there is much harder.

回想过去，到达那里相对比较简单，而在这里寻找立足之地就比较困难了。

So today, before you get into your cars and race off to the rest of your lives, I want to give you some advice on how to get there.

因此，今天在你们坐在车里准备驶往未来时，我想给你们提几点建议，告诉你们如何实现自己的梦想。

And I want to help make sure that when you get there, you find a "there" there.

我想确保你们到达那里的时候，可以找到自己的目标，实现自己的梦想。

To that end, I will give you my five rules to think about, quickly forget, but years from now kick yourself for not having listened to.

为此，我想告诉你们我的5条规则，供你们思考，以便能尽快实现梦想。数年之后，你们懊悔没有认真听我讲，那就只能怪你们自己了。

Don't think about your future, especially right now. You'll miss my speech.

第一，不要思索你们的未来，特别是在现在这个时候。否则你就会错过我的毕业演讲。

There will be plenty of time to contemplate your future right after the ceremony,

毕业典礼后，你们有大把的时间思考未来，

but then you'll miss all the celebrating and adulation.

但那时你们会怀念所有这些欢庆与喝彩。

So just wait until you get home and have a good think about something that will happen in the future that will make you happy.

所以，等到回家后再好好去想未来将会发生的可以让你高兴的事情。

When I graduated from college, I spent a lot of time thinking about how cool it would be to be on the Johnny Carson show.

我大学毕业时，时常想如过能出现在约翰尼·卡尔森的脱口秀节目中该有多酷。

A few years later, it happened. We appeared on the "Tonight" show, Joey Bishop was the guest host. We were dreadful.

几年后，我的这个梦想实现了。我们参加了“今夜秀”，乔伊·比夏普是嘉宾主持。我们的表演糟糕极了。

For years I ran into people who would stop me and say, "Hey, I saw you on the "Tonight" show. Huh... What's Joey Bishop like?"

数年之后，我还会撞见一些人，他们会问我，“嘿，我看你参加了‘今夜秀’，乔伊·比夏普怎么样？”

Eventually I got over the embarrassment, but I never got those years back — years I spent waiting for some future event to make me happy.

最终我走出了这种窘境，但那过去的几年再也回不来了，那几年我只是在等待未来可能会发生某种事情让我感觉高兴。

I had tricked myself into thinking, "As soon as I get there, I'll be OK."

我曾欺骗自己，“只要能到那里，我就会过得很好。”

I work in a business where almost everyone is waiting for the next big thing. Sometimes it comes, and sometimes it doesn't.

我在一个几乎每一个人都在等待一件大事发生是领域奋斗。而这种大事有时会发生，有时则不会发生。

But it doesn't matter that your dream came true if you spent your whole life sleeping.

如果你一生都在睡觉，你的梦想是否实现就无关紧要了。

So get out there and go for it, but don't be caught waiting. It's great to plan for your future.

所以，不要等待，要走出去，去实现你是梦想。规划未来是一件好事，但不要只活在未来，

Just don't live there, because really nothing ever happens in the future.

因为未来的事情实际上还没有发生。

Whatever happens happens now, so live your life where the action is — now. And one more thing:

不管发生什么事情，都只是发生在现在，所以要活在现在。

If you're going to be on television, don't call your friends and tell them to watch until after you've seen it.

我还要告诉你们一件事情，如果你将要录制节目，在你看到这个电视节目前不要打电话告诉你的朋友。

Don't do anything that 30 years from now you'll look back at and say, "Oh, my God, why the hell did I do that?!"

第二，不要做任何会让你在30年后回顾时说：“哦，我的天呐，我到底为什么会干出这种事情？”的事情。

I wish I had a nickel for every time I heard someone start a sentence with, "If only, when I was younger, I would have...."

每次有人以这样的句子开头:“要是...多好，当我年轻的时候...，我们应该...”，我都希望能有5美元可以赏给他们。

So I did a little informal survey for you, and I found out that, amazingly, all these people had the same regret.

所以我为你们做了一点非正式的调查，并且发现，所有的这些人都有着同样的遗憾。

When they graduated from college, sadly, they bought furniture.

悲哀的是，当他们从大学毕业的时候，他们都买了家具。

This probably needs a little explanation.

这个可能需要稍作解释。

Right at this moment in your life, you are in a unique position that you may never ever be in again. 在你人生的这个时候，你处在一个对你来说也许是绝无仅有的独特位置。你没什么可以失去。

You have nothing to lose. Everything you have acquired of value is locked inside you.

你获得的所有有价值的东西都仅仅锁在你的内心。

If you have a dream, now is the time to pursue it, before you buy furniture.

如果你拥有梦想，现在就去追随梦想的时刻，在买家具之前先去实现你的梦想。

I was one of the lucky ones. I graduated from the University of Wisconsin with no employable skills, unless you count jury duty.

我算是一个比较幸运的人。我从威斯康辛大学毕业却没有职业技能，除非你把做义务陪审员也算进去。

It meant I had to start from scratch and figure out where I fit in.

那意味着我必须白手起家并且得弄清楚我适合什么行业。

I didn't have money, but I could afford to fail, and there were many failures.

我没有钱，但我可以承受失败，而且失败过很多次。

But I found out what I was good at. I found something I loved. And now I have furniture — lots of furniture.

但我找到了我所擅长的领域。我找到了我钟爱的事业。并且现在我也有了家具，有很多家具。

Mrs. Zubatsky's law. One day when I was a kid, our house caught on fire in Milwaukee.

第三，Zubatsky夫人的定律。当我还是小孩子的时候，有一天，我们在密尔沃基的房子着火了。

A large section of the wood shingle roof was burning as the fire trucks pulled up.

当消防车赶到的时候，一大片的木屋正在燃烧着。

The firemen ran into the back yard with a large hose and began assembling their metal ladders and positioning them against the house.

消防员拿着一个很大的水管跑进后院然后开始组装他们的金属梯子并且靠房子固定住。

Mrs. Zubatsky was our next door neighbor and, at the time, she was standing on her upstairs porch taking in the laundry. Zubatsky

夫人是我们隔壁的一个邻居，当时她正站在她家楼上的走廊收衣服。

She watched anxiously as the firemen struggled with their ladders.

她焦急地看着消防员们努力地组装梯子。

Suddenly she leaned over the balcony and shouted down to the professional firefighters,

突然间她在阳台上探出身并且向那些专业的消防员大声喊：

"Forget the ladders! Just point the hose at the fire!"

“不要用梯子了！把水管对准火焰喷！”

The firemen, to their credit, responded immediately.

值得称道的是，这些消防员立即响应了。

They dropped their ladders, pointed the hose at the fire and extinguished the blaze in about 40 seconds.

他们扔掉了梯子，拿起消防水管对准火焰喷洒，结果只用了大概40秒就把大火给熄灭了。

There are two morals to this story. One, never assume that just because it's someone's job, they know how to do it.

这个故事有两个寓意。第一，绝对不要认为是别人的工作，我们就肯定知道怎么做。

And two, don't let yourself be intimidated by professionals or their uniforms.

第二，不要让自己被别人的职业和制服吓坏了。

Growing up in Wisconsin, I never knew anyone in the movie business. I never even knew anyone who knew anyone in the movie business.

在威斯康辛长大，我当时不认识任何电影行业的人。我甚至不认识一个在电影行业有熟人的人。

That world had a mystique that made it seem unattainable to me.

电影世界当时对我来说似乎有一种不可企及的奥秘。

But, like Mrs. Zubatsky, I sat on my porch and I watched someone else do it, and I said, "I have a better idea."

但是，像 Zubatsky 夫人一样，我坐在走廊上并且观察者别人在做这个事情，然后说：“我有一个更好的想法。”

And like her, I seized the moment.

并且，像她一样，我把握住了机会。

If you have a better idea, if your plan makes more sense, if you have a vision, then put down your laundry and scream a little bit.

如果你有更好的想法，如果你的计划更有意义，如果你有一个设想，那就放下手中的衣服并且喊出来，宣布加入，

Throw your hat into the ring and never let professionals or their uniforms prevent you from telling anyone where to point their hose.

绝不要让他们的职业或者制服阻止你告诉任何人，他们应该吧水管指向什么地方。

If you're going to fail, fail big. If you don't, you're never going to make a difference.

第四，如果你将要失败了，那就败得更厉害一点。

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.

如果你不这样做，你将永远不能做出改变。创造力允许你自己犯错。艺术就是知道该留下哪些，

Ask yourself one question: If I didn't have to do it perfectly, what would I try?

问你自己一个问题：如果我不是必须做得完美，那我还努力什么呢？

For many of you, the biggest obstacle to getting there will be a fear that you have carried with your since childhood

—.对于你们当中许多人来说，达到目标的最大障碍将是一种你们从孩童时期

the fear of humiliation, of embarrassment, of ridicule. That is SO stupid! Oh ... sorry.

就有的恐惧，害怕遭到羞辱，害怕遭遇尴尬，害怕被人嘲笑。

But really, you have to stop caring about that, which brings me to Travolta's law.

真是太愚蠢了！很抱歉这样说，但是，你真的必须停止这些担心，这就让我不得不说特拉沃尔塔的定律。

My brother David and Jim Abrahams and I were having pie at Rumpelmeyer's Coffee Shop in New York on the day after our third movie, "Top Secret," opened.

在我们的第三部电影《笑破铁幕》上映第二天，我和我的兄弟戴维还有吉姆·亚伯拉罕当时正在纽约 Rumpelmeyer 咖啡店里吃苹果派。

The reviews were terrible and it was bombing at the box office.

人们对这部电影的评价很糟，售票处像被轰击过一样，空空如也。

We were really getting into some serious moping and self-flagellation when John Travolta walked in.

我们当时很极其消沉，不断自责，这时约翰?特拉沃尔塔走了进来。

We knew him from the Paramount lot and he could see right away that we were in a funk.

我们在派拉蒙公司的时候就认识了他。他一眼就看出我们极度恐惧。

We immediately poured out our heart to him, explaining the pain of our humiliating misfortune. 于是我们立即向他倾诉心声，告诉他遭遇了这样令人感觉羞辱的不幸我们有多痛苦。

I'm not sure what we were expecting, but John just smiled and said,

我也不知道我们当时期盼得到什么样的安慰，但约翰只是笑了笑，然后说：

"Guys, the thing you have to remember is (that) nobody else is paying as much attention to your failures as you are.

“伙计们，你们必须记住一点，没有人会像你自己那样对自己的失败那么在意。

You're the only ones who are obsessed with the importance of your own life.

你是唯一沉湎于你自己重要性的人。

To everyone else, it's just a blip on the radar screen, so just move on. By the way, are you going to finish that pie?"

对于其他所有人来说，你只是雷达荧光屏上一个光点。所以，只管前行吧。顺便问一下，你们要吃完那个苹果派吗？”

I found that advice very liberating — that the only one who my big failure was truly big for was me.

那个建议让我释然，我的重大失败的严重性只是对我个人而言。

So I thanked him and told him how beautiful he looked today, and now when I fail big, I just go out and have a piece of apple pie and I move on.

因此我非常感激他，并告诉他那天看起来很英俊。现在，当我遭遇重大失败的时候，我就会走出去吃个苹果派，然后继续前行。

And I always save a little piece for John Travolta. Amazingly, more often than not he shows up to eat it.

每次我都会给约翰?特拉沃尔塔留一小块，令人惊讶的是，他通常都会出现并吃掉它。

The next time you go into a restaurant, please don't look at the waitress and say, "Can I get some ketchup?" You're supposed to say,

下一次你去一个餐厅到时候，请不要盯着服务员说，“能给我点番茄酱吗？”你应该说，

"May I please have some ketchup?" Sorry — that doesn't count. Just a personal pet peeve of mine.

“请你帮我拿些番茄酱好吗？”不好意思，那个不算一个规则。这只是我个人的怪癖。

Don't overuse the word "love."

第五，不要过度使用“爱”这个字。

Everyone overuses the word "love." "I love your shoes." "I just love the new Justin Guarini CD." 每个人都过度使用“爱”这个字。“我爱你的鞋。”

"I really love those little things they put on the chicken sandwiches at Subway."

“我只爱贾斯汀·古安瑞尼的新专辑。”“我真的很爱地铁里他们放在鸡肉三明治上的东西。”

In Hollywood, they say "Love ya, babe!" So, OK, I get it.

在好莱坞，他们说“爱你，宝贝！”所以，我明白了，

It's just the way people talk and it's probably harmless, but you shouldn't forget the real thing. 这只是人们聊天的方法并且也许并没有什么坏处，但你不应该忘记真正的爱。

The real thing is great. It's just not so easy with actual human beings,

真正的爱是伟大的。做人不容易，

but if you work at it and you get it right, it will make you happier than anything else you do in your life.

但是如果能为人生不断奋斗，并且朝着正确的方向前进，你就会比做其他任何事情更感觉幸福。

Think of the world as a big glass of water with some salt in it. You have a choice.

把这个世界想象成一大杯放了盐的水。

You can try to pick out all the salt or you can keep pouring in more water so eventually it gets less bitter.

你可以做出选择，你可以把里面所有的盐都挑出来，你也可以往里面倒入更多的水使其不那么苦涩。

As you begin your new journey, you can try to remove everything that you find distasteful in the world, or you can just pour in more love.

就像你开始一段新的旅程一样，你可以费力去把所有令人不快的东西都清除掉，也可以倾注更多的爱。

It's the only thing that the more you give away, the more you have.

付出越多，得到的就越多，这是唯一的真理。

So take all that warm, fuzzy stuff you've been hiding and spread it around a little.

所以，带着所有你一直深藏着的温暖而模糊的爱并把爱传播给周围的人。

And then judge yourself not by your accomplishments, but by the happiness of the people around you.

然后以你周围的人的快乐程度而不要用你所取得的成就来评价自己。

If you do that, you can do anything, you can go anywhere, you can fail at anything,

如果你能做到这一点，你就可以做成任何事，你可以到任何地方，你能承受任何失败，

and wherever you are, you will find a "there" there, because you'll bring it with you.

无论你在哪里，你都能找到“目标”，因为你将把它带在身边。

I would like to conclude with a sad, but true, story from my childhood.

我想以童年时一个悲伤但真实的故事结束我的演讲。

When I was a young boy of only 7, it was decided that I should take piano lessons.

当时我只有七岁，经过决定我应该去上钢琴课。

This is a true story, by the way. I swear.

我发誓，这是一个真实的故事。

I studied piano for three years and learned to play one song poorly, which actually turned out to be an improvement over high school.

我学了三年钢琴，但只会弹一首曲子，而且弹得很糟，这种情况到高中结束后才有了改善。

Nobody was willing to tell me that I had no musical talent whatsoever.

没人愿意告诉我我没有音乐天赋。

Finally, after three years, I was invited by my piano teacher, Mr. Dillman, to play in a recital.

结果，三年后，我的钢琴老师迪尔曼先生邀请我在一个独奏会上演奏。

I was told recently that Mr. Dillman twitched visibly when my name was mentioned at his funeral. 最近我被告知，在迪尔曼先生的葬礼上，当提及我的名字的时候，他明显抽搐了。

I can't answer for others, but I was very excited that I was at last going to play my song in front of an audience.

我不能达到别人的标准，但当时我非常兴奋因为我终于有机会在观众面前弹奏我的歌曲了。

The day of the recital arrived. That morning, I got the chicken pox and, tragically, I never got to play my song.

独奏会的日子终于到来了，可是偏偏在那天早晨，我得了水痘，悲惨的是，我再未有机会演奏我的歌曲。

But today I've taken the liberty of bringing with me a small keyboard and,

但是今天我擅自带了一个小键盘，

with your permission, I will finally get to play my song in front of an audience.

如果你们允许的话，我最终将能在观众面前演奏我的歌曲。

I swear to you (that) this is the song that I learned to play after three years — the only song I know how to play on the piano.

我向你们发誓这是一首我学了三年的歌曲，是我唯一能弹奏的一首钢琴曲。

I think you will see that the lesson is patience. There comes a time for everything.

我想你们将会明白这是关于耐心的课程。得到一切的时机就要来临了。

Congratulations! Welcome to real life! You graduated from the University of Wisconsin! You can do anything! Thank you.

最后，再一次祝贺你们！欢迎来到真实的生活！你们从威斯康辛大学毕业了！你们能做任何事情！谢谢你们！

奥巴马英语演讲稿Thank you Chancellor Wiley