1.奥巴马就职演说（节选）
Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions；greater than all differences of birth or wealth or faction.
This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous， powerful nation on Earth.Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began.Our minds are no less inventive.Our goods and services are no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year.Our capacity remains undiminished.But our time of standing pat， of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions-that time has surely passed.Starting today， we must pick ourselves up， dust our selves off， and begin again the work of remarking America.
For everywhere we look， there is work to be done. The state of our economy calls for action， bold and swift， and we will act-not only to create new jobs， but to lay a new foundation for growth.We will build the roads and bridges， the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together.We will restore science to its rightful place and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost.We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories.And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age.All this we can do.All this we will do.
为了我们能够过上更好的生活，我们的先辈们前仆后继，历尽艰辛，无私奉献，不辞辛苦，直至双手结起层层老茧。在他们看来，美国的强盛和伟大超越了个人雄心，也超越了个人的出身、贫富和派别差异。
今天，我们踏上了这一未竟的旅程。美国依然是地球上最繁荣最强大的国家。我们劳动人民的生产能力并没有因为眼前的这场经济危机而减弱。我们的头脑依然像以往那样善于发明创新。我们的产品与服务仍旧很有市场，我们的实力丝毫无损。但是，安于现状、保护小利益集团，不能正视那些令人不快的决定的时代无疑已成为过去。从今天起，我们必须振作起来，拍掉我们身上的灰尘，重新开启振兴美国的事业。
无论我们把目光投向何处，都有工作等待着我们去完成。经济形势要求我们果敢而迅速地行动，我们将不辱使命—不仅要创造新的就业机会，而且要为经济增长打下一个新的基础。我们将兴建道路和桥梁，架设电网，还要铺设承载我们的商务并把我们紧密联系起来的数字网络。我们将回归科学，利用高新技术的奇迹提高医疗保健质量并降低其成本。我们将利用太阳能、风能和地热能为汽车和工厂提供能源。我们还将改革中小学和高等院校，以应对新时代的挑战。这一切我们都能做到。这一切我们必将做到。
2.比尔·盖茨在哈佛大学毕业典礼上的讲话（节选）
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.Don't let complexity stop you.Be activists.Take on the big inequities.It will be one of the great experiences of your lives.
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.Knowing what you know， how could you not？
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.
同这个时代的期望一样，我也要向今天各位毕业的同学提出一个建议：你们要承担一个复杂的问题，一个有关人类社会极度不平等的问题，然后你们要成为这个问题的专家。如果你们能让这个问题成为你们职业的核心，那么你们就是杰出的人才。但是，你们不必非要做那些有影响力的大事。每周只需花上几个小时，你就可以通过强大的互联网获取相关信息，找到志同道合的朋友，发现困难所在，并找到解决的途径。不要让世界的复杂性阻碍你前进的步伐。要成为一个积极的践行者。将解决人类的不平等视为己任，它将成为你生命中最伟大的经历之一。
各位毕业生们，你们生在了一个不平凡的时代。在你们离开哈佛的时候，你们掌握了我们毕业时尚未发明的技术。你们了解了世界的不公平，我们当时对这些还知之甚少。因为你们知道了事实，如果对那些你们能帮助的人们漠不关心，可能会受到良心的谴责。只需一点小小的努力，你们就可以改变他们的生活。比起我们，你们拥有更强的能力；你们必须尽快行动起来，尽可能地坚持下去。知道了这一切，你们怎能不采取行动呢？
希望30年后你们还会重返哈佛，回想你们曾经用自己的天赋和能力所做的一切。希望那时，你们评价自己的标准，不仅是你们的专业成就，还包括你们为改变这个世界的极端不平等所做出的努力，以及你们如何善待那些远隔千山万水，与你们素昧平生的人们，他们与你们唯一的共同点就是同为人类。
3.史蒂夫·乔布斯在斯坦福大学毕业典礼上的演讲（节选）
This was the closest I've been to facing death， and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it， I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept.
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there.And yet death is the destination we all share.No one has ever escaped it.And that is as it should be， because Death is very likely the single best invention of life.It is life's change agent.It clears out the old to make way for the new.Right now the new is you， but someday not too long from now， you will gradually become the old and be cleared away.Sorry to be so dramatic， but it is quite true.
Your time is limited， so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma-which is living with the result of other people's thinking.Don't let the noise of others'opinions drown out your inner voice.And most important， have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.They somehow already know what you truly want to become.Everything else is secondary.
那一刻我与死亡离得如此之近，但愿今后的几十年里它能远离我。经历过死亡之后，现在我可以更加确定地讨论它，而不仅仅是纸上谈兵。我想说的是：
没有人愿意死，即使是那些想上天堂的人，也不会为了去那里而死。但是死亡是我们每个人共同的终点，无人可以逃脱。我们注定会死，因为死亡就是生命最好的发明之一。它是生命的原动力，除旧布新。现在你们就是新的，但在不久的将来，你们也会逐渐变老，然后被清除掉。原谅我说话这么夸张，不过这是千真万确的。
你们的时间有限，所以不要按照别人的意愿去生活。不要被教条束缚，那意味着你不得不接受他人的思考结果。不要被他人观点的聒噪声掩盖了你内心的声音。最重要的是，你要有勇气去倾听你的直觉和心灵的指引——因为在某种程度上，它们知道你想要成为什么人，除此之外，其他都是次要的。
读书笔记
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