原文

约翰·罗伯茨 ｜ 现任美国首席大法官

约翰·罗伯茨，2005年9月由小布什总统提名，参议院批准通过，就任美国联邦最高法院的第17任首席大法官，是美国两个世纪以来最年轻的首席大法官。

“人们唯有遭遇不公时，才知道公正的价值”，约翰·罗伯茨大法官，在他儿子初中毕业典礼上的致辞，引起美国社交平台上刷屏并讨论。

#####《华盛顿邮报》在评论中说：“罗伯茨大法官本年度最好的作品，不是某个案子的判决书，而是在儿子毕业典礼上的致辞。”

Rain, somebody said, is like confetti from heaven. So even the heavens are celebrating this morning, joining the rest of us at this wonderful commencement ceremony.
Before we go any further, graduates, you have an important task to perform because behind you are your parents and guardians. Two or three or four years ago, they drove into Cardigan, dropped you off, helped you get settled and then turned around and drove back out the gates. It was an extraordinary sacrifice for them. They drove down the trail of tears back to an emptier and lonelier house. They did that because the decision about your education, they knew, was about you. It was not about them. That sacrifice and others they made have brought you to this point. But this morning is not just about you. It is also about them, so I hope you will stand up and turn around and give them a great round of applause. Please.
Now when somebody asks me how the remarks at Cardigan went, I will be able to say they were interrupted by applause. Congratulations, class of 2017. You’ve reached an important milestone. An important stage of your life is behind you. I’m sorry to be the one to tell you it is the easiest stage of your life, but it is in the books. While you’ve been at Cardigan, you have all been a part of an important international community as well. And I think that needs to be particularly recognized.
[Roberts gave brief remarks in other languages.]
Now around the country today at colleges, high schools, middle schools, commencement speakers are standing before impatient graduates. And they are almost always saying the same things. They will say that today is a commencement exercise. ‘It is a beginning, not an end. You should look forward.’ And I think that is true enough, however, I think if you’re going to look forward to figure out where you’re going, it’s good to know where you’ve been and to look back as well. And I think if you look back to your first afternoon here at Cardigan, perhaps you will recall that you were lonely. Perhaps you will recall that you were a little scared, a little anxious. And now look at you. You are surrounded by friends that you call brothers, and you are confident in facing the next step in your education.
It is worth trying to think why that is so. And when you do, I think you may appreciate that it was because of the support of your classmates in the classroom, on the athletic field and in the dorms. And as far as the confidence goes, I think you will appreciate that it is not because you succeeded at everything you did, but because with the help of your friends, you were not afraid to fail. And if you did fail, you got up and tried again. And if you failed again, you got up and tried again. And if you failed again, it might be time to think about doing something else. But it was not just success, but not being afraid to fail that brought you to this point.
Now the commencement speakers will typically also wish you good luck and extend good wishes to you.
通常，毕业典礼的演讲嘉宾都会祝你们好运并送上祝福。
I will not do that, and I’ll tell you why.
但我不会这样做，让我来告诉你为什么。
From time to time in the years to come, I hope you will be treated unfairly, so that you will come to know the value of justice.
在未来的很多年中，我希望你被不公正地对待过，唯有如此，你才真正懂得公正的价值。
I hope that you will suffer betrayal because that will teach you the importance of loyalty.
我希望你遭受背叛，唯有如此，你才领悟到忠诚之重要。
Sorry to say, but I hope you will be lonely from time to time so that you don’t take friends for granted.
很抱歉，我会祝福你时常感到孤独，唯有如此，你才不会把良朋益友视为人生中的理所当然。
I wish you bad luck, again, from time to time so that you will be conscious of the role of chance in life and understand that your success is not completely deserved and that the failure of others is not completely deserved either.
我祝福你人生旅途中时常运气不佳，唯有如此，你才意识到概率和机遇在人生中扮演的角色，
进而理解你的成功并不完全是命中注定，而别人的失败也不是天经地义。
And when you lose, as you will from time to time, I hope every now and then, your opponent will gloat over your failure. It is a way for you to understand the importance of sportsmanship.
当你失败的时候，时不时地，我希望你的对手会因为你的失败而幸灾乐祸，
唯有如此，才能让你意识到有风度的竞争精神之重要。
I hope you’ll be ignored so you know the importance of listening to others,
我祝福你会被忽视，唯有如此，你才会意识到倾听他人的重要性。
and I hope you will have just enough pain to learn compassion.
我祝福你遭受切肤之痛，唯有如此，才能让你感同身受，从而对别人有同情的理解。
Whether I wish these things or not, they’re going to happen.
无论我是否送上这些“祝福”，这些都将在生命中必然发生。
And whether you benefit from them or not will depend upon your ability to see the message in your misfortunes.
而你能否从中获益，取决于你是否能从你的不幸中领悟到想要传递给你的信息。
Now commencement speakers are also expected to give some advice. They give grand advice, and they give some useful tips. The most common grand advice they give is for you to be yourself.
毕业典礼的致辞者习惯给出很多建议。……最常见的建议是“做自己”。
It is an odd piece of advice to give people dressed identically, but you should — you should be yourself. But you should understand what that means. Unless you are perfect, it does not mean don’t make any changes. In a certain sense, you should not be yourself. You should try to become something better.
但你得明白其中真意。如果你并非足够完美，就必须作出改变。这时，你就不能光想着做自己，必须不断自我完善。
People say ‘be yourself’ because they want you to resist the impulse to conform to what others want you to be. But you can’t be yourself if you don’t learn who are, and you can’t learn who you are unless you think about it.
别人说“做自己”，是希望你抵制按他人意愿随波逐流的冲动。但如果连你都不知道自己要成为什么样的人，是不可能“做自己”的，而如果不思考这些，你也不可能知道自己想成为什么样的人。
The Greek philosopher Socrates said, ‘The unexamined life is not worth living.’ And while ‘just do it’ might be a good motto for some things, it’s not a good motto when it’s trying to figure out how to live your life that is before you. And one important clue to living a good life is to not to try to live the good life. The best way to lose the values that are central to who you are is frankly not to think about them at all. So that’s the deep advice.
希腊哲人苏格拉底说过，“未经自省的人生没有意义。”对某些事情而言，“just do it ”是不错的座右铭，但在你想明白自己想要什么样的人生之前，这个座右铭可不咋滴。
Now some tips as you get ready to go to your new school. Other the last couple of years, I have gotten to know many of you young men pretty well, and I know you are good guys. But you are also privileged young men. And if you weren’t privileged when you came here, you are privileged now because you have been here. My advice is: Don’t act like it. When you get to your new school, walk up and introduce yourself to the person who is raking the leaves, shoveling the snow or emptying the trash. Learn their name and call them by their name during your time at the school.
Another piece of advice: When you pass by people you don’t recognize on the walks, smile, look them in the eye and say hello. The worst thing that will happen is that you will become known as the young man who smiles and says hello, and that is not a bad thing to start with.You’ve been at a school with just boys. Most of you will be going to a school with girls. I have no advice for you. The last bit of advice I’ll give you is very simple, but I think it could make a big difference in your life. Once a week, you should write a note to someone. Not an email. A note on a piece of paper. It will take you exactly 10 minutes. Talk to an adult, let them tell you what a stamp is. You can put the stamp on the envelope. Again, 10 minutes, once a week. I will help you, right now. I will dictate to you the first note you should write. It will say, ‘Dear [fill in the name of a teacher at Cardigan Mountain School].’ Say: ‘I have started at this new school. We are reading [blank] in English. Football or soccer practice is hard, but I’m enjoying it. Thank you for teaching me.’ Put it in an envelope, put a stamp on it and send it. It will mean a great deal to people who — for reasons most of us cannot contemplate — have dedicated themselves to teaching middle school boys. As I said, that will take you exactly 10 minutes a week. By the end of the school year, you will have sent notes to 40 people. Forty people will feel a little more special because you did, and they will think you are very special because of what you did. No one else is going to carry that dividend during your time at school.
Enough advice. I would like to end by reading some important lyrics. I cited the Greek philosopher Socrates earlier. These lyrics are from the great American philosopher, Bob Dylan. They’re almost 50 years old. He wrote them for his son, Jesse, who he was missing while he was on tour. It lists the hopes that a parent might have for a son and for a daughter. They’re also good goals for a son and a daughter. The wishes are beautiful, they’re timeless. They’re universal. They’re good and true, except for one: It is the wish that gives the song its title and its refrain. That wish is a parent’s lament. It’s not a good wish.
So these are the lyrics from Forever Young by Bob Dylan:
May God bless you and keep you always
愿上帝庇佑，护你前路；
May your wishes all come true
愿你美梦均可成真；
May you always do for others And let others do for you
愿你与人为善，相互扶持；
May you build a ladder to the stars And climb on every rung
愿你建成通往群星的天梯；稳妥沿它而上；
And may you stay forever young
愿你永远年轻；
May you grow up to be righteous
愿你成为正直之人；
May you grow up to be true
愿你成就真实自我；
May you always know the truth And see the lights surrounding you
愿你永远感知真理，看向身边无尽光明；
May you always be courageous Stand upright and be strong
愿你勇敢无惧，坚强可靠；
And may you stay forever young
愿你永远年轻,拥有纯洁之心；
May your hands always be busy May your feet always be swift
愿你双手永远忙碌，愿你脚步永远轻盈；
May you have a strong foundation When the winds of changes shift
在变故横生之时，愿你根基牢靠；
May your heart always be joyful May your song always be sung
愿你心中永远充满快乐，愿你的歌声永远嘹亮；
And may you stay forever young.
愿你永远年轻。”
Thank you.

思考

人生本就是一场逐光的旅行，但是如飞蛾一般的身体，总是不可避免地遭受各种的磨难与苦痛。
我们应该学会倾听，珍惜友谊，重视公平，对人忠诚，所谓己所不欲，勿施于人。被强行加诸于自己的痛苦，这终归是只有自己才能品尝的酒，醇香且灼烈。