By David McCullough Jr.1

So here we are… commencement2… lifes great forward-looking ceremony. Commencement is lifes great ceremonial beginning. And your ceremonial costume… shapeless， uniform， one-size-fitsall.3 Whether male or female， tall or short， scholar or slacker，4 each of you is dressed exactly the same. And your diploma… but for your name， exactly the same.

You are not special. You are not exceptional5. Contrary to what your u9 soccer trophy suggests， your glowing seventh grade report card… youre nothing special.6

Yes， youve been pampered， cosseted， doted upon， helmeted， bubble-wrapped.7 Yes， capable adults with other things to do have held you， kissed you， fed you， wiped your mouth， wiped your bottom， trained you， taught you， tutored you， coached you， listened to you， counseled you， encouraged you. Youve been nudged， cajoled， wheedled and implored.8 Youve been feted and fawned over and called sweetie pie.9 And now youve conquered high school… and， indisputably， here we all have gathered for you， the pride and joy of this fine community.

“走到高處去看看世界，而不是讓世界看到你。”小麥卡洛先生在2012年衛(wèi)斯理高中畢業(yè)典禮上告誡即將走出校園的學(xué)生，正因為人與人各不相同，所以沒有人比其他人更特殊。腳踏實地，埋頭充實自己，或許才是實現(xiàn)人生價值最可靠的途徑。

But do not get the idea youre anything special. Because youre not.

The empirical10 evidence is everywhere. Across the country no fewer than 3.2 million seniors are graduating about now from more than 37，000 high schools. So think about this： even if youre one in a million， on a planet of 6.8 billion， that means therere nearly 7，000 people just like you. And consider for a moment the bigger picture： your planet is not the center of its solar system， your solar system is not the center of its galaxy， your galaxy is not the center of the universe.11 In fact， astrophysicists12 assure us the universe has no center； therefore， you cannot be it.

Neither can Donald Trump… which someone should tell him…

“But， Dave，” you cry， “Walt Whitman tells me Im my own version of perfection！ Epictetus tells me I have the spark of Zeus！”13 And I dont disagree. So that makes 6.8 billion examples of perfection， 6.8 billion sparks of Zeus. You see， if everyone is special， then no one is. If everyone gets a trophy， trophies become meaningless.

In our unspoken but not so subtle Darwinian competition with one another—which springs， I think， from our fear of our own insignificance， a subset of our dread of mortality—we have of late， we Americans， to our detriment， come to love accolades more than genuine achievement.14 No longer is it how you play the game， no longer is it even whether you win or lose， or learn or grow， or enjoy yourself doing it… Now its “So what does this get me？” As a consequence， we cheapen15 worthy endeavors.

Its an epidemic—and in its way， not even dear old Wellesley High is immune… one of the best of the 37，000 nationwide， Wellesley High School.

If youve learned anything in your years here I hope its that education should be for， rather than material advantage， the exhilaration16 of learning. Youve learned， too， I hope， as Sophocles assured us， that wisdom is the chief element of happiness （Second is ice cream… just an fyi）.17 I also hope youve learned enough to recognize how little you know…h(huán)ow little you know now… at the moment… for today is just the beginning. Its where you go from here that matters.

As you commence， then， and before you scatter to the winds18， I urge you to do whatever you do for no reason other than you love it and believe in its importance. Dont bother with work you dont believe in any more than you would a spouse youre not crazy about. Resist the easy comforts of complacency， the specious glitter of materialism， the narcotic paralysis of self-satisfaction.19 Be worthy of your advantages. And read… read all the time… read as a matter of principle， as a matter of self-respect. Read as a nourishing staple of life.20 Develop and protect a moral sensibility and demonstrate the character to apply it. Dream big. Work hard. Think for yourself. Love everything you love， everyone you love， with all your might21. And do so， please， with a sense of urgency， for every tick of the clock subtracts from fewer and fewer； and as surely as there are commencements there are cessations， and youll be in no condition to enjoy the ceremony attendant to that eventuality no matter how delightful the afternoon.22

The fulfilling life， the distinctive life， the relevant life， is an achievement， not something that will fall into your lap because youre a nice person or mommy ordered it from the caterer.23 Youll note the founding fathers took pains to secure your inalienable right to life， liberty and the pursuit of happiness—quite an active verb，“pursuit”—which leaves， I should think， little time for lying around watching parrots roller skate on Youtube.24

The first President Roosevelt， the old rough rider， advocated the strenuous life.25 Mr. Thoreau wanted to drive life into a corner， to live deep and suck out all the marrow.26 The poet Mary Oliver tells us to row， row into the swirl and roil.27 The point is the same： get busy， have at it. Dont wait for inspiration or passion to find you. Get up， get out， explore， find it yourself， and grab hold with both hands.

Climb the mountain not to plant your flag， but to embrace the challenge， enjoy the air and behold the view.28 Climb it so you can see the world， not so the world can see you. Go to Paris to be in Paris， not to cross it off your list and congratulate yourself for being worldly. Exercise free will and creative， independent thought not for the satisfactions they will bring you， but for the good they will do others， the rest of the 6.8 billion—and those who will follow them. And then you too will discover the great and curious truth of the human experience is that selflessness is the best thing you can do for yourself.

The sweetest joys of life， then， come only with the recognition that youre not special. Because everyone is.

1. David McCullough Jr.： 小大衛(wèi)·麥卡洛，美國作家、普利策獎得主及知名歷史學(xué)家David McCullough之子，也是衛(wèi)斯理高中資深英語教師。

2. commencement： 畢業(yè)典禮。

3. 你們的畢業(yè)禮服肥肥大大，款式統(tǒng)一，只有一個尺碼。one-size-fits-all： 均碼，一刀切。

4. scholar： 獎學(xué)金獲得者；slacker： 偷懶、逃避職責(zé)的人，此處指成績不好的學(xué)生。

5. exceptional： 不同尋常的，出類拔萃的。

6. 盡管你有u9足球獎杯、輝煌的七年級成績單……但你其實并無特別之處。 u9： under 9，指9歲以下。

7. pamper： 縱容；cosset： 過度保護(hù)；dote upon：溺愛；helmeted： 被保護(hù)的；bubble-wrapped：被泡泡包圍著的，形容被關(guān)愛、保護(hù)著。

8. nudge： 輕推，刺激；cajole： // 勸誘；wheedle： 用甜言蜜語哄騙；implore：懇求。

9. fete： 盛情款待；fawn over： 奉承討好。

10. empirical： 以經(jīng)驗（或觀察）為依據(jù)的。

11. 再來想想一個更宏觀的場景：你生活的星球不是太陽系的中心，太陽系也不是銀河系的中心，銀河系也不是宇宙的中心。

12. astrophysicist： 天體物理學(xué)家。

13. 沃爾特·惠特曼告訴我“我是自己的完美版本！”，古希臘畫家愛比克泰德也說“我有宙斯的火花！”Walt Whitman： 沃爾特·惠特曼（1819—1892），美國著名詩人；Epictetus： 愛比克泰德，希臘陶工兼畫家，作品嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)雅致。

14. 達(dá)爾文的物競天擇理論鮮被談及，卻一直顯而易見，我認(rèn)為這樣的理論來源于人類對自身渺小的懼怕，而這又可以追溯到人類對死亡的恐懼，我們美國人最近這一段時間總是偏愛贊美而不是真實的成就，然而這樣的心態(tài)對我們有害無利。subset： 子集，子范疇；mortality： 死亡；detriment：損害，有害物；accolade： 榮耀，稱贊。

15. cheapen： 貶低。

16. exhilaration： 興奮感，激動心情。

17. 正如希臘悲劇詩人索?？死账垢嬲]我們的，智慧是快樂的首要因素（第二是冰淇淋……僅供參考）。Sophocles：索?？死账梗?96？—406BC），古希臘三大悲劇詩人之一，一生共寫有123部劇本；fyi： = for your information，供參考。

18. scatter to the winds： 隨風(fēng)飄散，這里指畢業(yè)生各自踏上不同的道路。

19. 不要志得意滿，不要被物質(zhì)主義華而不實的光芒蒙蔽雙眼，也不要被自我滿足所麻痹。complacency： 驕傲自滿；specious： 華而不實的；narcotic：致幻的，麻醉的；paralysis： 癱瘓，麻痹。

20. nourishing： 滋養(yǎng)的，富于營養(yǎng)的；staple： 日常必需品。

21. might： 力量。

22. 請盡快行動吧，因為時間正一分一秒滴答流逝；正如凡事有開始必有結(jié)束，無論今天下午你們過得多么愉快，這場典禮終究會結(jié)束。subtract： 減少；commencement： 開始；cessation：停止。

23. fall into ones lap： 得來全不費工夫；caterer：備辦食物者。

24. 你會注意到，開國元勛們費盡心力地確保你不可剝奪的權(quán)利，包括生命、自由和對幸福的追求；而“追求”是一個非常積極的動詞，我想，躺在那兒在Youtube上看鸚鵡溜冰應(yīng)該不算吧。inalienable：不可剝奪的。

25. advocate： 提倡；strenuous： 繁重的，奮力拼搏的。

26. 梭羅先生盡力簡化生活，希望活得深刻，汲取生命的精髓。Thoreau： 梭羅（1817—1862），美國作家、哲學(xué)家，超驗主義代表人物，也是一位廢奴主義及自然主義者，崇尚簡樸、自然的生活方式；marrow： 精華，精髓。

27. 詩人瑪麗·奧利弗告訴我們向前劃，劃入漩渦和湍流當(dāng)中。Mary Oliver： 瑪麗·奧利弗（1935— ），當(dāng)代美國詩人，以書寫自然著稱；roil： 洶涌的急流。

28. 爬山不是為了插上旗幟，而是為了迎接挑戰(zhàn)，呼吸新鮮空氣，欣賞眼前的美景。behold：看。