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While my grandmother was crying, my grandfather, who had been driving in silence, pulled over onto the shoulder of the highway. He got out of the car and came around and opened my door and waited for me to follow. Was I in trouble? My grandfather was a highly intelligent, quiet man. He had never said a harsh word to me, and maybe this was to be the first time? Or maybe he would ask that I get back in the car and apologize to my grandmother. I had no experience in this realm with my grandparents and no way to gauge what the consequences might be. We stopped beside the trailer. My grandfather looked at me, and after a bit of silence, he gently and calmly said, "Jeff, one day you'll understand that it's harder to be kind than clever."
我祖母坐在那里一直哭，而我的祖父之前一直在默默開車，他把車停在了高速路邊，走下車來，打開了我的車門，等著我跟他下車。我惹麻煩了嗎？我的祖父是一個充滿智慧而安靜的人。他從來沒有對我說過嚴厲的話，難道這會是第一次？也許他會讓我回到車上跟祖母道歉？我以前跟祖父母從未遇到過這種狀況，因而也無從知曉會有什么后果發生。我們在房車旁停下來。祖父注視著我，沉默片刻，然后輕輕地平靜地說：“杰夫，有一天你會明白，善良比聰明更難做到。”
But what I want to talk to you about today is the difference between gifts and choices. Cleverness is a gift, kindness is a choice. Gifts are easy--they're given after all. Choices can be hard. You can seduce yourself with your gifts if you're not careful, and if you do, it'll probably be to the detriment of your choices.
但是今天我想對你們說的是，天賦和選擇之間的區別。聰明是一種天賦，而善良是一種選擇。天賦得來很容易——畢竟它們與生俱來。而選擇卻頗為艱難。如果一不小心，你可能被天賦所誘惑，這可能會損害到你做出的選擇。
This is a group with many gifts. I'm sure one of your gifts is the gift of a smart and capable brain. I'm confident that's the case because admission is competitive and if there weren't some signs that you're clever, the dean of admission wouldn't have let you in.
在座各位都擁有許多天賦。我確信你們的天賦之一就是擁有精明能干的頭腦。我之所以如此確信，是因為入學競爭十分激烈，如果你們不能表現出聰明智慧，便沒有資格進入這所學校。
