評論
打印
My address will follow the classical sonata form of commencement addresses. The first movement, just presented, were light-hearted remarks. This next movement consists of unsolicited advice, which is rarely valued, seldom remembered, never followed. As Oscar Wilde said, “The only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on. It is never of any use to oneself.” So, here comes the advice. First, every time you celebrate an achievement, be thankful to those who made it possible. Thank your parents and friends who supported you, thank your professors who were inspirational, and especially thank the other professors whose less-than-brilliant lectures forced you to teach yourself. Going forward, the ability to teach yourself is the hallmark of a great liberal arts education and will be the key to your success. To your fellow students who have added immeasurably to your education during those late night discussions, hug them. Also, of course, thank Harvard. Should you forget, there’s an alumni association to remind you. Second, in your future life, cultivate a generous spirit. In all negotiations, don’t bargain for the last, little advantage. Leave the change on the table. In your collaborations, always remember that “credit” is not a conserved quantity. In a successful collaboration, everybody gets 90 percent of the credit.
畢業典禮演講都遵循古典奏鳴曲的結構，我的演講也不例外。剛才是第一樂章——輕快的閑談。接下來的第二樂章是送上門的忠告。這樣的忠告很少被重視，幾乎注定被忘記，永遠不會被實踐。但是，就像王爾德說的：“對于忠告，你所能做的，就是把它送給別人，因為它對你沒有任何用處。”所以，下面就是我的忠告。第一，取得成就的時候，不要忘記前人。要感謝你的父母和支持你的朋友，要感謝那些啟發過你的教授，尤其要感謝那些上不好課的教授，因為他們迫使你自學。從長遠看，自學能力是優秀的文理教育中必不可少的，將成為你成功的關鍵。你還要去擁抱你的同學，感謝他們同你進行過的許多次徹夜長談，這為你的教育帶來了無法衡量的價值。當然，你還要感謝哈佛大學。不過即使你忘了這一點，校友會也會來提醒你。第二，在你們未來的人生中，做一個慷慨大方的人。在任何談判中，都把最后一點點利益留給對方。不要把桌上的錢都拿走。在合作中，要牢記榮譽不是一個守恒的量。成功合作的任何一方，都應獲得全部榮譽的90%。
Jimmy Stewart, as Elwood P. Dowd in the movie “Harvey” got it exactly right. He said: “Years ago my mother used to say to me, ‘In this world, Elwood, you must be … she always used to call me Elwood … in this world, Elwood, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant.’” Well, for years I was smart. ... I recommend pleasant. You may quote me on that.
電影《Harvey》中，Jimmy Stewart扮演的角色Elwood P. Dowd，就完全理解這一點。他說：“多年前，母親曾經對我說，‘Elwood，活在這個世界上，你要么做一個聰明人，要么做一個好人。’”我做聰明人，已經做了好多年了。……但是，我推薦你們做好人。你們可以引用我這句話。
My third piece of advice is as follows: As you begin this new stage of your lives, follow your passion. If you don’t have a passion, don’t be satisfied until you find one. Life is too short to go through it without caring deeply about something. When I was your age, I was incredibly single-minded in my goal to be a physicist. After college, I spent eight years as a graduate student and postdoc at Berkeley, and then nine years at Bell Labs. During that my time, my central focus and professional joy was physics.
我的第三個忠告是，當你開始生活的新階段時，請跟隨你的愛好。如果你沒有愛好，就去找，找不到就不罷休。生命太短暫，如果想有所成，你必須對某樣東西傾注你的深情。我在你們這個年齡，是超級的一根筋，我的目標就是非成為物理學家不可。本科畢業后，我在加州大學伯克利分校又待了8年，讀完了研究生，做完了博士后，然后去貝爾實驗室待了9年。在這些年中，我關注的中心和職業上的全部樂趣，都來自物理學。
Here is my final piece of advice. Pursuing a personal passion is important, but it should not be your only goal. When you are old and gray, and look back on your life, you will want to be proud of what you have done. The source of that pride won’t be the things you have acquired or the recognition you have received. It will be the lives you have touched and the difference you have made.
我還有最后一個忠告，就是說興趣愛好固然重要，但是你不應該只考慮興趣愛好。當你白發蒼蒼、垂垂老矣、回首人生時，你需要為自己做過的事感到自豪。你的物質生活和得到的承認，都不會產生自豪。只有那些你出手相助、被你改變過的人和事，才會讓你產生自豪。
After nine years at Bell labs, I decided to leave that warm, cozy ivory tower for what I considered to be the “real world,” a university. Bell Labs, to quote what was said about Mary Poppins, was “practically perfect in every way,” but I wanted to leave behind something more than scientific articles. I wanted to teach and give birth to my own set of scientific children.
在貝爾實驗室待了9年后，我決定離開這個溫暖舒適的象牙塔，走進我眼中的“真實世界”——大學。我對貝爾實驗室的看法，就像別人形容電影Mary Poppins的話，“實際上完美無缺”。但是，我想為世界留下更多的東西，不只是科學論文。我要去教書，培育我自己在科學上的后代。
Ted Geballe, a friend and distinguished colleague of mine at Stanford, who also went from Berkeley to Bell Labs to Stanford years earlier, described our motives best:
我在斯坦福大學有一個好友兼杰出同事Ted Geballe。他也是從伯克利分校去了貝爾實驗室，幾年前又離開貝爾實驗室去了斯坦福大學。他對我們的動機做出了最佳描述：
“The best part of working at a university is the students. They come in fresh, enthusiastic, open to ideas, unscarred by the battles of life. They don't realize it, but they're the recipients of the best our society can offer. If a mind is ever free to be creative, that's the time. They come in believing textbooks are authoritative, but eventually they figure out that textbooks and professors don't know everything, and then they start to think on their own. Then, I begin learning from them.”
“在大學工作，最大的優點就是學生。他們生機勃勃，充滿熱情，思想自由，還沒被生活的重壓改變。雖然他們自己沒有意識到，但是他們是這個社會中你能找到的最佳受眾。如果生命中曾經有過思想自由和充滿創造力的時期，那么那個時期就是你在讀大學。進校時，學生們對課本上的一字一句毫不懷疑，漸漸地，他們發現課本和教授并不是無所不知的，于是他們開始獨立思考。從那時起，就是我開始向他們學習了。”
My students, post doctoral fellows, and the young researchers who worked with me at Bell Labs, Stanford, and Berkeley have been extraordinary. Over 30 former group members are now professors, many at the best research institutions in the world, including Harvard. I have learned much from them. Even now, in rare moments on weekends, the remaining members of my biophysics group meet with me in the ether world of cyberspace.
我教過的學生、帶過的博士后、合作過的年輕同事，都非常優秀。他們中有30多人，現在已經是教授了。他們所在的研究機構有不少是全世界第一流的，其中就包括哈佛大學。我從他們身上學到了很多東西。即使現在，我偶爾還會周末上網，向現在還從事生物物理學研究的學生請教。
