Bill?Gate’s?speech?at?Harvard

Thank you.

謝謝！

President Bach,former resident Rudenstine,incoming President Faust,members of the Harvard corporaton and the board of overseers,members of the faculty parents and especially the graduates.

尊敬的Bok校長、Rudenstine前校長，即將上任的Faust校長，哈佛集團的各位成員，監(jiān)管理事會的各位理事；各位老師、各位家長、各位同學。

I've been waiting more than 30 years to say this.

有一句話我等了30年，現(xiàn)在終于可以說了——

Dad,I always told you I'd come back and get my degree.

老爸，我總是跟你說，我會回來拿到我的學位了。

I wanna thank Harvard for this honour.

我要感謝哈佛大學給我這個榮譽。

I'll be changing my job next year and it will be nice to finally have a college degree on my resume.

明年，我就要換工作了。我終于可以在簡歷上寫我有一個本科學位，這真是不錯??！

I applaud the graduates for taking a much more direct route to your degrees.

我為今天在座的各位同學感到高興，你們拿到學位可比我簡單多了。

From my part I'm just happy that the Crimson called me Harvard's most successful drop out.

哈佛的校報稱我是“哈佛歷史上最成功的輟學生”。

I guess that makes me valedictorian of my own special class.

我想這大概使我有資格代表我這一類學生發(fā)言。

I did the best of everyone who failed.

在所有的失敗者中，我做的最好。

But I also want to be recognised as the guy who got Steve Balmer to drop out of business school.

但是我還是想要提醒大家的是，我使得Steve Balmer也從哈佛商學院退學了。

I'm a bad influence.

我是個有著惡劣影響力的人。

That's why I was invited to speak at your graduation.

這就是為什么我被邀請來，在你們的畢業(yè)典禮上演講。

If I'd spoken at your orientataion fewer of you might be here today.

如果我在你們的入學歡迎儀式上演講，那么能夠堅持到今天在這里畢業(yè)的人也許會少得多吧。

Harvard was a phenomenal experience for me.

對我來說，哈佛的求學經(jīng)歷是一段非凡的經(jīng)歷。

Academic life was fascinating.

校園生活很有趣。

I used to sit in on lots of classes that I hadn't even signed up for.

我常去旁聽我沒選修的課。

And dorm life was terrific.

哈佛的可愛生活也很棒。

I lived up at Radcliffe,in Courier House.

我在Radcliffe過著逍遙自在的日子

There were always a lot of people in my dorm room late at night discussing things,because everyone knew that I didn't worry about getting up in the morning.

每天我的寢室里總有很多人，一直待到半夜，討論著各種事情。因為每個人都知道，我從不考慮第二天早起。

That's how I came to be the leader of the antisocial group.

這使得我變成了校園里那些不安分學生的頭頭。

We clung each other as a way of validating our rejection of all those social people.

我們互相粘在一起，做出一種拒絕所有正常學生的姿態(tài)。

Radcliffe was a great place to live.

Radcliffe是個過日子的好地方。

There were more women up there and most of the guys were math-science types.

那里的女生比男生多，而且大多數(shù)男生都是理工科的。

The combination offered me the best odds,if you know what I mean.

這種狀況為我創(chuàng)造了最好的機會，如果你們明白我的意思。

That's where I learned the sad lesson that improving your odds doesn't guarantee success.

可惜的是，我正是在這里學到了人生中悲傷的一課——機會大，并不等于你就會成功！

One of my biggest memories of Harvard came in January 1975.

我在哈佛最難忘的回憶之一發(fā)生在1975年1月。

When I made a call from Courier House to a company in Albuquerque,New Mexico,that had begun making the world's first personal computer.

那時我從宿舍樓里給位于Albuquerque的一家公司打了一個電話。那家公司已經(jīng)在著手制造世界上第一臺個人電腦。

I offered to sell them software.

我提出想向他們出售軟件。

I worried they would realize I was just a student in a dorm and hung up on me.

我擔心他們會發(fā)覺我是一個住在宿舍的學生，從而掛斷電話。

Instead they said,we're not quite ready,come see us in a month,which was a good thing because we hadn't written the software yet.

但是他們卻說：“我們還沒準備好，一個月后你再來找我們吧?！边@是個好消息，因為那時軟件還根本沒有寫出來呢。

From that moment I worked day and night on the extra credit project that marked the end of my college education and the beginning of a remarkable journey with Microsoft.

就是從那個時候起，我日以繼夜地在這個小小的課外項目上工作，這導致了我學生生活的結束以及通往微軟公司的不平凡的旅程的開始。

What I remember above all about Harvard,was being in the midst of so much energy and intelligence.

不管怎樣，我對哈佛的回憶，主要都與充沛的精力和智力活動有關。

It could be exhilarating,intimidating,sometimes even discouraging but always challenging.

哈佛的生活令人愉快，也令人感到有壓力，有時甚至會感到泄氣，但永遠充滿了挑戰(zhàn)性。

It was an amazing privilege and though I left early,I was transformed by my years at Harvard,the friendships I made and the ideas I worked on.

生活在哈佛是一種吸引人的特殊待遇，雖然我離開的比較早，但是我在這里的經(jīng)歷，在這里結識的朋友，在這里發(fā)展起來的一些想法，永遠地改變了我。

But taking a serious look back,I do have one big regret.

但是，如果現(xiàn)在嚴肅地回憶起來，我確實有一個真正的遺憾。

I left Harvard with no real awareness of the awful inequities in the world,the appalling disparities of health and wealth,and opportunity,that condemn millions of people to lives of despair.

我離開哈佛的時候，根本沒有意識到這個世界是多么的不平等。人類在健康、財富和機遇上的不平等大得可怕。它使得無數(shù)的人們被迫生活在絕望之中。

I learned a lot here at Harvard about new idea and economics and politics.

我在哈佛學到了很多經(jīng)濟學和政治學的新思想。

I got great exposure to the advances being made in the sciences.

我也了解了很多科學上的新進展。

But humanities greatest advances are not in its discoveries,but in how those discoveries are applied to reduce inequity.

但是，人類最大的進步，并不來自于這些發(fā)現(xiàn)，而是來自于那些有助于減少人類不平等的發(fā)現(xiàn)。

Whether through democracy,strong public education,quality health care or broad economic opportunity,reducing inequity is the highest human achievement.

不管通過何種手段，民主制度、健全的公共教育體系，高質(zhì)量的醫(yī)療保健還是廣泛的經(jīng)濟機會，減少不平等始終是人類最大的成就。

I left campus knowing little about the millions of young people cheated out of educational opportunities here in this country.

我離開校園的時候，根本不知道，在這個國家里，有幾百萬的年輕人無法獲得接受教育的機會。

And I knew nothing about the millions of people living in unspeakable poverty and disease in developing countries.

我也不知道，發(fā)展中國家里有無數(shù)的人們生活在無法形容的貧窮和疾病中。

It took me decades to find out.

我花了幾十年才明白這些事情。

You graduates came to Harvard at a different time.

在座的各位同學，你們是在與我不同的時代來到哈佛的。

You know more about the world's inequities than the classes that came before.

你們比以前的學生更多地了解世界是怎樣的不平等。

In your years here,I've hope you've had a chance to think about how in this age of accelerating technology we can finally take on these inequities and we can solve them.

在你們的哈佛求學過程中，我希望你們已經(jīng)思考過一個問題，那就是在這個新技術加速發(fā)展的時代，我們怎樣最終應對這種不平等，以及我們怎樣來解決這個問題。

Imagine just for the sake of discussion that you have a few hours a week and a few dollars a month to donate to a cause.

為了討論的方便，請想象——假如你每個星期可以捐獻一些時間，每個月可以捐獻一些錢。

And you wanted to spend that time and money where it would have the greatest impace in saving and improving lives.

你希望這些時間和金錢，可以用到對拯救生命和改善人類生活有最大作用的地方。

Where would you spend it?

你會選擇什么地方？

For Melinda and I,the challenge is the same.

對Melinda和我來說，這也是我們面臨的問題。

How can we do the most good for the greatest number with the resources we have?

我們?nèi)绾文軐⑽覀儞碛械馁Y源發(fā)揮出最大的作用？

During our discussions on this question,Melinda and I read an article about the millions of children who are dying every year in poor countries from diseases that we have long ago made harmless in this country.

在討論過程中，Melinda和我讀到了一篇文章，里面說在那些貧窮的國家，每年有數(shù)百萬的兒童死于那些在美國早已不成問題的疾病——

Measles,malaria,pneumonia,hepatitis-b,yellow fever，one disease that I had never heard of,rotavirus,was killing half a million children each year.

麻疹、瘧疾、肺炎、乙型肝炎、黃熱病...還有一種以前我從未聽說過的輪狀病毒。這些疾病每年導致50萬的兒童死亡。

None of them(is)in the United States.

但是在美國一例死亡病例都沒有。

We were shocked.

我們被震驚了。

We had assumed that if millions of children were dying and they could be saved,the world would make it a priority to discover and deliver the medicines to save them,but it did not.

我們想如果幾百萬的兒童正在死亡線上掙扎，而他們是可以被挽救的。那么世界理應將用藥物拯救他們作為頭等大事。但是事實并非如此。

For under a dollar there were interventions that could save lives that just weren't being delivered.

那些價格還不到一美元的救命的藥劑，并沒有送到他們的手中。

If you believe that every life has equal value,it's revolting to learn that some lives are seen as worth saving and others are not.

如果你相信每個生命都是平等的，那么當你發(fā)現(xiàn)某些生命被挽救了，而另一些生命被放棄了，你會感到無法接受。

We said to ourselves this can't be true,buf if it is true it deserves to be the pridoity of?our giving.

我們對自己說，事情不可能如此。如果這是真的，那么它理應是我們努力的頭等大事。

So we begun our work in the same way anyone here would begin it.

所以我們用任何人都會想到的方式開始工作。

We asked,how could the world let these children die?

我們問：“這個世界怎么可以眼睜睜地看著這些孩子死去?！?/p>

The answer is simple and harsh.

答案很簡單，也很令人難堪。

The market did not reward saving the lives of these children and governments did not subsidise it.

在市場經(jīng)濟中，拯救兒童是一項沒有利潤的工作，政府也不會提供補助。

So the children die because their mothers and fathers had no power in the market and no voice in the system.

這些兒童之所以會死亡，是因為他們的父母在經(jīng)濟上沒有實力，在政治上沒有能力發(fā)出聲音。

But you and I have both.

但是，你們和我兩者都具備。

We can make market forces work better for the poor if we can develop a more creative capitalism.

我們可以讓市場更好地為窮人服務，如果我們能夠設計出一種更有創(chuàng)新性的資本主義制度。

If we can stretch the reach of market forces so that more people can make a profit or at least earn a living,serving people who are suffering from the great inequities.

如果我們可以改變市場，讓更多的人可以獲得利潤，這就可以幫到那些正在極端不平等的狀況下受苦的人們。

We can also press governments around the world to spend tax payer money in ways that better reflect,the values of the people who pay the taxes.

我們還可以向全世界的政府施壓，要求他們將納稅人的錢花到更符合納稅人價值觀的地方

If we can find approaches that meet the needs of the poor in ways that generate profits for business and votes for politicians,we will have found a sustainable way to reduce inequity in the world.

如果我們能夠找到一種方法，既可以幫到窮人，優(yōu)客一味商人帶來利潤，為政治家?guī)磉x票，我們就找到了一種減少世界性不平等的可持續(xù)的發(fā)展道路。

Now this task is open ended.

這個任務是無限的。

It can never be finished,but a conscious effort to answer this challenge can change the world.

他不可能被完全完成，但是任何自覺地解決這個問題的嘗試，都將會改變這個世界。

I'm optimistic that we can do it.

在這個問題上，我是樂觀的。

But I talk to skeptics who claim there is no hope.

但是我也遇到過那些感到絕望的懷疑主義者。

They say inequity has been with us since the beginning and will be with us until the end because people just don't care.

他們說：“不平等從人類誕生的第一天就存在，到人類滅亡的最后一天也將存在，因為人類對這個問題根本不在乎！”

I completely disagree.

我完全不能同意這種觀點。

I believe we have more caring than we know what to do with.

我相信，問題不是我們不在乎，而是我們不知道怎么做。

All of us here in this yard,at one time or another,have seen human tragedies that broke our heart.

此刻在這個院子里的所有人，生命中總有這樣或那樣的時刻，目睹人類的悲劇，感到萬分傷心。

And yet we did nothing.

但是我們什么也沒做。

Not because we don't care,but because we didn't know what to do.

并非我們無動于衷，而是因為我們不知道做什么和怎么做。

If we had known how to help,we would have acted.

如果我們知道如何做是有效的，那么我們就會采取行動。

The barrier to change is not too little caring.

改變世界的阻礙，并非人類的冷漠。

It is too much complexity.

而是世界實在太復雜。

To turn caring into action,we need to see a problem,see a solution and see the impact.

為了將關心轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)樾袆?，我們需要找到問題，發(fā)現(xiàn)解決問題的方法，評估后果。

But complexity blocks all three steps.

但是世界的復雜性，使得所有這些步驟都難于做到。

Even with the advent of the internet and 24-hour news,it is still a complex enterprise to get people to truly see the problems.

即使有了互聯(lián)網(wǎng)和24小時直播的新聞臺，讓人們真正發(fā)現(xiàn)問題所在依然十分困難。

When an airplane crashes,officials immediately call a press conference.

當一家飛機墜毀了，官員們會立刻召開新聞發(fā)布會

They promise to investigate,determine the cause and prevent similar crashes in the futures.

他們承諾進行調(diào)查、找到原因，防止將來再次發(fā)生類似事故。

But if the officials were brutally honest,they would say"Of all the people in the world who died today from preventable causes,1 half of 1 percent were on this plane.We're determined to do everything possible to solve the problem that took the lives of the 1 half of 1 percent.".

但是如果那些官員敢說真話，他們就會說：“在今天這一天，全世界所有可以避免的死亡之中，只有0.5%的死者來自于這次空難。我們決心盡一切努力調(diào)查這個0.5%的死亡原因。”

The problem is not just the plane crash but the millions of preventable deaths.

顯然，更重要的問題不是這次空難，而是其他幾百萬可以預防的死亡事件。

We don't read much about these deaths,the media covers what's new and millions of people dying is nothing new.

我們并沒有很多機會了解那些死亡事件，媒體總是報告新聞，而幾百萬人將要死去并非新聞。

So it stays in the background where it's easy to ignore.

如果沒有人報道，那么這些事件就很容易被忽視。

But even when we do see it or read about it,it's difficult to keep our eyes on the problem.

另一方面，即使我們確實目睹了事件本身或者看到了相關報道，我們也很難持續(xù)關注這些事件。

It's difficult to look at suffering if the situation is so complex that we don't know how to help and so we look away.

看到他人受苦是令人痛苦的，何況問題又如此復雜。我們根本不知道如何去幫助他人，所以我們將會顧左右而言他。

If we can really see a problem,which is the first step,we come to the second step.

就算我們真正發(fā)現(xiàn)了問題所在，也不過是邁出了第一步，接著還有第二步。

Cutting through the complexity to find a solution.

那就是從復雜的事件中找到解決方法。

Finding solutions is essential if we want to make the most of our caring.

如果我們要讓關心落到實處，我們就必須找到解決方法。

If we have clear and proven answers any time an organisation or an individual asks,"How can I help?",then we can get action.

如果我們有一個清晰和可靠的答案，那么當任何組織和個人發(fā)出疑問“我如何能提供幫助”的時候，我們就能采取行動。

And we can make sure that none of the caring in the world is wasted.

我們就能夠保證不浪費一丁點全世界人類對他人的關心。

The complexity makes it hard to mark a path of action for everyone who cares and makes it hard for that caring to matter.

但是，世界的復雜性使得很難找到對全世界每一個有愛心的人都有效的行動方法。因此人類對他人的關心，往往很難產(chǎn)生實際效果。

Cutting through complexity to find solutions runs through 4 predictable stages:

從這個復雜的世界中找到解決方法可以分為四個步驟：

Determine a goal.

Find the highest impact approach.

Deliver the technology ideal for that approach and in the mean time use the best application of technology you already have.

1、確定目標

2、找到最高效的方法

3、發(fā)現(xiàn)適用于這個方法的新技術

4、同時最聰明地利用現(xiàn)有的技術。

Whether it's something sophisticated like a new drug or something simple like a bed net.

不管它是復雜的藥物還是最簡單的蚊帳。

The aids epidemic offers an example,the broad goal of course is to end the disease.

艾滋病就是一個例子，總的目標，毫無疑問是消滅這種疾病。

The highest leverage approach is prevention,the ideal technology would be a vaccine that gives life long immunity with a single dose.

最高效的方法是預防，最理想的技術是發(fā)明一種疫苗，只要注射一次，就可以終生免疫。

So governments,drug companies and foundations are funding vaccine research.

所以，政府、制藥公司、基金會應該資助疫苗研究。

But their work is likely to take more than a decade.

但是，這樣的研究工作很可能十年之內(nèi)都無法完成。

So in the mean time we have to work with what we have in hand and the best prevention approach we have now is getting people to avoid risky behavior.

因此，與此同時，我們必須運用現(xiàn)有的技術。目前最有效的預防方法就是設法讓人們避免那些危險的行為。

Pursuing that goal starts the 4 step cycle again.

要實現(xiàn)這個新目標，有可以用新的四步循環(huán)。

This is the pattern.

這是一種模式。

The crucial thing is to never stop thinking and working.

關鍵的東西是永遠不要停止思考和行動。

And never do what we did with malaria and tuberculosis in the 20th century.

我們千萬不能再犯上個世紀在瘧疾和肺結核上犯過的錯誤。

Which is to surrender to complexity and quit.

那時我們因為它們太復雜而放棄了采取行動。

The final step after seeing the problem and finding an approach,is to measure the impact of the work and to share that,success or failure,so that others can learn from the efforts.

在發(fā)現(xiàn)問題和找到解決方法之后，就是最后一步，評估工作結果。將你的成功或者失敗經(jīng)驗傳播出去，這樣其他人就可以從你的努力中有所收獲。

You have to have the statistics,of course.

當然，你必須有一些統(tǒng)計數(shù)字。

You have to be able to show for example that a program is vaccinating millions more children.

你必須讓他人知道你的項目，為幾百萬兒童新接種了疫苗。

You have to be able to show for example a decline in the number of children dying from the diseases.

你也必須讓他人知道，兒童因病死亡人數(shù)下降了多少。

This is essential not just to improve the program but also to help draw more investment from business and government.

這些都是很關鍵的，不僅有利于改善項目效果，也有利于從商界和政府得到更多的幫助。

But if you want to inspire people to participate,you have to show more than numbers.?

但是，如果你想鼓勵其他人參加你的項目，你就必須拿出更多的統(tǒng)計數(shù)字。

You have to convey the human impact of the work.

你必須展示你的項目的人性因素。

So people can feel what saving a life means to the families affected.

這樣其他人才會感受到，拯救一個生命，對那些處在困境中的家庭到底意味著什么。

I remember going to the World Economic Forum some years back and sitting on a lobal health panel that was discussing ways to save millions of lives.

幾年前，我去瑞士達沃斯旁聽一個全球健康問題論壇，會議的內(nèi)容有關于如何拯救幾百萬條生命

Millions!

是幾百萬！

Think of the thrill if you could save just one person's life,then multiply that by millions.

想一想吧，拯救一個人的生命已經(jīng)讓人何等激動。

Yet,this was the most boring panel I had ever been on.Ever!

但是，不幸的是，這是我參加過的最最乏味的論壇。從未(這么乏味過)！

So boring that even I couldn't stand it.

乏味到我無法強迫自己聽下去。

What made that experience especially striking was that I had just come from an event where we were introducing version 13 of some piece of software,and we had people jumping and shouting with excitement.

那次經(jīng)歷之所以讓我難忘，是因為之前我們剛剛發(fā)布了一個軟件的第13個版本，我們讓觀眾激動地跳了起來，喊出了聲。

I love getting people excited about software.

我喜歡人們因為軟件而感到激動。

But why can't we generate even more excitement for saving lives.

那么我們?yōu)槭裁床荒軌蜃屓藗円驗槟苣軌蛘壬械礁蛹幽兀?/p>

You can't get people excited unless you can help them see and feel the impact.

除非你能夠讓人們看到或者感受到行動的影響力，否則你無法讓人們激動。

The way to do that is another complex question.

如何做到這一點并不是一件簡單的事。

Still,I'm optimistic.

同前面一樣，在這個問題上我依然是樂觀的。

Yet inequity has been with us forever,but the new tools we have to cut through complexity have not been with us forever.

不錯，人類的不平等有史以來一直存在，但是那些能夠化繁為簡的新工具卻是最近才出現(xiàn)的。

They are new.

他們是新工具。

They can help us make the most of our caring.

這些新工具可以幫助我們將人類的同情心發(fā)揮最大的作用。

And that's why the future can be different from the past.

這就是為什么將來同過去是不一樣的。

The defining and ongoing innovations of this age,biotechnology,the personal computer and the internet give us a chance we've never had before.

這個時代無時無刻不在涌現(xiàn)出新的革新，生物技術，計算機，互聯(lián)網(wǎng)給了我們一個從未有過的機會。