Thank you, President Spar, trustees, President Bollinger. Hello, Class of 2012! Congratulations on reaching this day. Thank you for the honor of being able to be a part of it. 谢谢你，斯帕校长，各位董事，博林杰校长。你们好，2012届的毕业生们！祝贺你们迎来这一天。感谢你们给我这个荣幸，让我成为今天这一盛事的一部分。
There are so many people who are proud of you -- your parents, family, faculty, friends -- all who share in this achievement. So please give them a big round of applause. To all the moms who are here today, you could not ask for a better Mother’s Day gift than to see all of these folks graduate. 有那么多人为你们感到骄傲——你们的父母、家人、老师和朋友——所有人都分享了这份成就。所以请给他们热烈的掌声。今天到场的所有母亲们，你们再也找不到比看到孩子们毕业更好的母亲节礼物了。
I have to say, though, whenever I come to these things, I start thinking about Malia and Sasha graduating, and I start tearing up and -- it's terrible. I don't know how you guys are holding it together. 不过我得说，每次参加这样的活动，我就开始想象玛丽亚和萨莎毕业的样子，然后我就忍不住热泪盈眶——太糟糕了。我不知道你们是怎么忍住的。
I will begin by telling a hard truth: I’m a Columbia college graduate. I know there can be a little bit of a sibling rivalry here. But I’m honored nevertheless to be your commencement speaker today -- although I’ve got to say, you set a pretty high bar given the past three years. Hillary Clinton -- Meryl Streep -- Sheryl Sandberg -- these are not easy acts to follow. 首先我要说一个残酷的事实：我是哥伦比亚学院的毕业生。我知道这里可能有点兄弟院校之间的竞争。但尽管如此，我很荣幸今天能做你们的毕业典礼演讲人——不过我得说，过去三年你们把标准定得太高了。希拉里·克林顿——梅丽尔·斯特里普——谢丽尔·桑德伯格——这些可不好超越。
But I will point out Hillary is doing an extraordinary job as one of the finest Secretaries of State America has ever had. We gave Meryl the Presidential Medal of Arts and Humanities. Sheryl is not just a good friend; she’s also one of our economic advisers. So it’s like the old saying goes -- keep your friends close, and your Barnard commencement speakers even closer. There's wisdom in that. 不过我要指出，希拉里作为美国有史以来最出色的国务卿之一，表现非常卓越。我们授予了梅丽尔总统艺术与人文勋章。谢丽尔不仅是我的好朋友，也是我们的经济顾问之一。所以俗话说得好——把朋友放在身边，把巴纳德毕业典礼演讲人放得更近。这话有道理。
Now, the year I graduated -- this area looks familiar -- the year I graduated was 1983, the first year women were admitted to Columbia. Sally Ride was the first American woman in space. Music was all about Michael and the Moonwalk. 我毕业的那一年——这一带看起来很熟悉——我毕业是在1983年，那是哥伦比亚大学招收女学生的第一年。萨莉·赖德是第一位进入太空的美国女性。那时的音乐全都是迈克尔和他的太空步。
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Do it! 观众：来一个！
THE PRESIDENT: No Moonwalking. No Moonwalking today. 总统：不跳太空步。今天不跳太空步。
We had the Walkman, not iPods. Some of the streets around here were not quite so inviting. Times Square was not a family destination. So I know this is all ancient history. Nothing worse than commencement speakers droning on about bygone days. But for all the differences, the Class of 1983 actually had a lot in common with all of you. For we, too, were heading out into a world at a moment when our country was still recovering from a particularly severe economic recession. It was a time of change. It was a time of uncertainty. It was a time of passionate political debates. 我们用的是随身听，不是数字播放器。这附近的一些街道还没那么友善。时代广场还不是适合全家去的地方。我知道这些都是陈年往事了。毕业典礼演讲人絮絮叨叨讲过去的日子，没什么比这更糟糕的了。但尽管有这么多不同，1983届的毕业生和你们其实有很多共同之处。因为我们同样是在国家尚未从一场特别严重的经济衰退中恢复的时候走向世界的。那是一个变革的时代。那是一个充满不确定性的时代。那是一个政治辩论激烈的时代。
You can relate to this because just as you were starting out finding your way around this campus, an economic crisis struck that would claim more than 5 million jobs before the end of your freshman year. Since then, some of you have probably seen parents put off retirement, friends struggle to find work. And you may be looking toward the future with that same sense of concern that my generation did when we were sitting where you are now. 你们对此深有体会，因为就在你们刚开始摸索校园的时候，一场经济危机爆发了，在大一结束前就夺走了五百万个工作岗位。从那以后，你们中有些人可能看到父母推迟了退休，朋友苦苦找不到工作。你们也许正带着和我当年坐在你们现在的位置时一样的那种忧虑，展望未来。
Of course, as young women, you’re also going to grapple with some unique challenges, like whether you’ll be able to earn equal pay for equal work; whether you’ll be able to balance the demands of your job and your family; whether you’ll be able to fully control decisions about your own health. 当然，作为年轻女性，你们还要面对一些独特的挑战，比如能否同工同酬；能否在工作和家庭的双重需求之间取得平衡；能否完全掌控关于自身健康的决策。
And while opportunities for women have grown exponentially over the last 30 years, as young people, in many ways you have it even tougher than we did. This recession has been more brutal, the job losses steeper. Politics seems nastier. Congress more gridlocked than ever. Some folks in the financial world have not exactly been model corporate citizens. 尽管在过去三十年里女性的机会呈指数级增长，但作为年轻人，你们在许多方面比我们当年更加艰难。这次衰退更为残酷，失业更加严重。政治似乎更加肮脏。国会比以往更加僵持。金融界的一些人也算不上模范企业公民。
No wonder that faith in our institutions has never been lower, particularly when good news doesn’t get the same kind of ratings as bad news anymore. Every day you receive a steady stream of sensationalism and scandal and stories with a message that suggest change isn’t possible; that you can’t make a difference; that you won’t be able to close that gap between life as it is and life as you want it to be. 难怪人们对体制的信心降至历史最低，尤其当好新闻再也得不到和坏新闻一样的关注度的时候。你们每天都被源源不断的耸人听闻的丑闻和故事轰炸，这些信息传递着一个消息：改变是不可能的；你无法有所作为；你无法弥合现实生活与理想生活之间的差距。
My job today is to tell you don’t believe it. Because as tough as things have been, I am convinced you are tougher. I’ve seen your passion and I’ve seen your service. I’ve seen you engage and I’ve seen you turn out in record numbers. I’ve heard your voices amplified by creativity and a digital fluency that those of us in older generations can barely comprehend. I’ve seen a generation eager, impatient even, to step into the rushing waters of history and change its course. 我今天的职责就是告诉你们：不要相信这些。因为尽管情况艰难，我深信你们更加坚强。我看到了你们的热忱，看到了你们的服务。我看到了你们的参与，看到了你们以创纪录的人数出动。我听到了你们的声音，被创造力和数字技术素养放大——这是我们老一代人几乎无法理解的。我看到了一代人急切地、甚至迫不及待地想要踏入历史的激流，改变它的走向。
And that defiant, can-do spirit is what runs through the veins of American history. It’s the lifeblood of all our progress. And it is that spirit which we need your generation to embrace and rekindle right now. 那种不屈不挠、敢想敢干的精神，正是流淌在美国历史血脉中的东西。它是我们一切进步的生命线。而这正是我们需要你们这一代人去拥抱和重新点燃的精神。
See, the question is not whether things will get better -- they always do. The question is not whether we’ve got the solutions to our challenges -- we’ve had them within our grasp for quite some time. We know, for example, that this country would be better off if more Americans were able to get the kind of education that you’ve received here at Barnard -- if more people could get the specific skills and training that employers are looking for today. 看吧，问题不在于事情是否会变好——它们总会变好的。问题不在于我们是否拥有应对挑战的解决方案——我们早已将其握在手中。比如说，我们知道，如果更多美国人能够获得你们在巴纳德所受的这种教育——如果更多人能够掌握雇主当今所需的具体技能和培训，这个国家会变得更好。
We know that we’d all be better off if we invest in science and technology that sparks new businesses and medical breakthroughs; if we developed more clean energy so we could use less foreign oil and reduce the carbon pollution that’s threatening our planet. 我们知道，如果我们投资于能催生新企业和医学突破的科学技术；如果我们开发更多清洁能源，从而减少对外国石油的依赖并减少威胁我们星球的碳排放，我们所有人都会过得更好。
We know that we’re better off when there are rules that stop big banks from making bad bets with other people’s money and -- when insurance companies aren’t allowed to drop your coverage when you need it most or charge women differently from men. Indeed, we know we are better off when women are treated fairly and equally in every aspect of American life -- whether it’s the salary you earn or the health decisions you make. 我们知道，当有规则阻止大银行拿别人的钱去豪赌的时候——当保险公司不被允许在你最需要的时候取消你的保险，或者对女性和男性收取不同费用的时候，我们的处境会更好。事实上，我们知道当女性在美国生活的各个方面都被公平平等地对待时——无论是你赚的薪水还是你做出的健康决策——我们都会更好。
We know these things to be true. We know that our challenges are eminently solvable. The question is whether together, we can muster the will -- in our own lives, in our common institutions, in our politics -- to bring about the changes we need. And I’m convinced your generation possesses that will. And I believe that the women of this generation -- that all of you will help lead the way. 我们知道这些都是事实。我们知道我们的挑战是完全可以在实践中解决的。问题在于我们能否齐心协力，在我们的个人生活中、在我们的公共体制中、在我们的政治中——汇聚足够的意志力来实现我们需要的变革。我坚信你们这一代人拥有这种意志力。我相信这一代女性——你们所有人——将引领前行之路。
Now, I recognize that’s a cheap applause line when you're giving a commencement at Barnard. It’s the easy thing to say. But it’s true. It is -- in part, it is simple math. Today, women are not just half this country; you’re half its workforce. More and more women are out-earning their husbands. You’re more than half of our college graduates, and master’s graduates, and PhDs. So you’ve got us outnumbered. 我知道，在巴纳德做毕业典礼演讲时，这是一句讨好的掌声引子。说起来很容易。但这是事实。在某种程度上，这是简单的算术。今天，女性不仅占这个国家的一半；你们也占劳动力的一半。越来越多的女性收入超过她们的丈夫。你们在我们的大学生、硕士生和博士中占比超过一半。所以你们在人数上已经超过我们了。
After decades of slow, steady, extraordinary progress, you are now poised to make this the century where women shape not only their own destiny but the destiny of this nation and of this world. 经过数十年缓慢、稳定而非凡的进步，你们现在正处于一个位置，可以让这个世纪成为女性不仅塑造自身命运，更塑造这个国家和这个世界命运的世纪。
But how far your leadership takes this country, how far it takes this world -- well, that will be up to you. You’ve got to want it. It will not be handed to you. And as someone who wants that future -- that better future -- for you, and for Malia and Sasha, as somebody who’s had the good fortune of being the husband and the father and the son of some strong, remarkable women, allow me to offer just a few pieces of advice. That's obligatory. Bear with me. 但你们的领导力能把这个世界带多远，能把这个世界带多远——这取决于你们。你们必须想要它。它不会白白送到你们手中。作为希望为你们、为玛丽亚和萨莎争取那个未来——那个更美好未来的人，作为一个有幸成为一些坚强而杰出女性的丈夫、父亲和儿子的人，请允许我提出几条建议。这是惯例。请耐心听我说。
My first piece of advice is this: Don’t just get involved. Fight for your seat at the table. Better yet, fight for a seat at the head of the table. 我的第一条建议是：不要只是参与其中。要为你在决策桌前的席位而战。更进一步，为坐到桌首的位置而战。
It’s been said that the most important role in our democracy is the role of citizen. And indeed, it was 225 years ago today that the Constitutional Convention opened in Philadelphia, and our founders, citizens all, began crafting an extraordinary document. Yes, it had its flaws -- flaws that this nation has strived to protect (perfect) over time. Questions of race and gender were unresolved. No woman’s signature graced the original document -- although we can assume that there were founding mothers whispering smarter things in the ears of the founding fathers. I mean, that's almost certain. 有人说，在我们的民主制度中，最重要的角色是公民的角色。事实上，正好是225年前的今天，制宪会议在费城召开，我们的缔造者们——全都是公民——开始起草一份非凡的文件。是的，它有缺陷——这个国家在随后的岁月里一直在努力完善这些缺陷。种族和性别的问题没有得到解决。没有女性的签名出现在原始文件上——尽管我们可以假设，有一些缔造者之母在缔造者们的耳边低语了更明智的话语。我是说，这几乎是肯定的。
What made this document special was that it provided the space -- the possibility -- for those who had been left out of our charter to fight their way in. It provided people the language to appeal to principles and ideals that broadened democracy’s reach. It allowed for protest, and movements, and the dissemination of new ideas that would repeatedly, decade after decade, change the world -- a constant forward movement that continues to this day. 这份文件的特别之处在于，它为那些被排除在宪章之外的人提供了空间和可能性，让他们为自己争取一席之地。它赋予了人民一种语言，可以诉诸于原则和理想，从而扩大民主的范围。它允许了抗议、运动和新思想的传播，这些在随后的数十年间反复改变着世界——一种持续至今的不断前进的运动。
Our founders understood that America does not stand still; we are dynamic, not static. We look forward, not back. And now that new doors have been opened for you, you’ve got an obligation to seize those opportunities. 我们的缔造者们明白，美国不是停滞不前的；我们是充满活力的，而非一成不变的。我们向前看，不向后看。既然新的大门已经为你们打开，你们就有义务去抓住这些机会。
You need to do this not just for yourself but for those who don’t yet enjoy the choices that you’ve had, the choices you will have. And one reason many workplaces still have outdated policies is because women only account for 3 percent of the CEOs at Fortune 500 companies. One reason we’re actually refighting long-settled battles over women’s rights is because women occupy fewer than one in five seats in Congress. 你们需要这样做，不仅是为了自己，也是为了那些尚未享有你们所拥有的和将要拥有的选择权的人。许多工作场所仍然有过时的政策，原因之一是女性在财富五百强企业的首席执行官中仅占百分之三。我们之所以还在重打早已解决的女性权利之争，原因之一是女性在国会中所占席位不到五分之一。
Now, I’m not saying that the only way to achieve success is by climbing to the top of the corporate ladder or running for office -- although, let’s face it, Congress would get a lot more done if you did. That I think we’re sure about. But if you decide not to sit yourself at the table, at the very least you’ve got to make sure you have a say in who does. It matters. 我并不是说获得成功的唯一途径就是爬到企业阶梯的顶端或者竞选公职——不过，说实话，如果你们这样做了，国会能办成的事会多得多。这一点我想我们是确定的。但如果你决定不坐到那张桌子旁，至少你要确保自己有发言权决定谁来做。这很重要。
Before women like Barbara Mikulski and Olympia Snowe and others got to Congress, just to take one example, much of federally-funded research on diseases focused solely on their effects on men. It wasn’t until women like Patsy Mink and Edith Green got to Congress and passed Title IX, 40 years ago this year, that we declared women, too, should be allowed to compete and win on America’s playing fields. 举例来说，在芭芭拉·米库尔斯基、奥林匹亚·斯诺等女性进入国会之前，联邦政府资助的疾病研究主要只关注对男性的影响。直到帕齐·明克和伊迪丝·格林这样的女性进入国会并在40年前的今年通过了教育法第九条，我们才宣告女性也应该被允许在美国的赛场上竞争并获胜。
Until a woman named Lilly Ledbetter showed up at her office and had the courage to step up and say, you know what, this isn’t right, women weren’t being treated fairly -- we lacked some of the tools we needed to uphold the basic principle of equal pay for equal work. 直到一个名叫莉莉·莱德贝特的女性走进办公室，鼓起勇气站出来说，你知道吗，这不对，女性没有得到公平对待——我们才拥有了维护同工同酬这一基本原则所需的一些工具。
So don’t accept somebody else’s construction of the way things ought to be. It’s up to you to right wrongs. It’s up to you to point out injustice. It’s up to you to hold the system accountable and sometimes upend it entirely. It’s up to you to stand up and to be heard, to write and to lobby, to march, to organize, to vote. Don’t be content to just sit back and watch. 所以不要接受别人构建的那套关于事情应该怎样的说法。纠正错误，靠的是你们。指出不公，靠的是你们。追究体制的责任，有时甚至彻底推翻它，靠的是你们。站起来发出自己的声音，靠的是你们。去写信，去游说，去游行，去组织，去投票。不要甘于袖手旁观。
Those who oppose change, those who benefit from an unjust status quo, have always bet on the public’s cynicism or the public's complacency. Throughout American history, though, they have lost that bet, and I believe they will this time as well. But ultimately, Class of 2012, that will depend on you. Don’t wait for the person next to you to be the first to speak up for what’s right. Because maybe, just maybe, they’re waiting on you. 反对变革的人，从不公正的现状中获益的人，总是押注于公众的犬儒主义或公众的麻木。然而纵观美国历史，他们总是输掉这个赌注，我相信这一次也不例外。但归根结底，2012届的毕业生们，这取决于你们。不要等着身边的人先站出来为正确的事情发声。因为也许，仅仅是也许，他们在等着你。
Which brings me to my second piece of advice: Never underestimate the power of your example. The very fact that you are graduating, let alone that more women now graduate from college than men, is only possible because earlier generations of women -- your mothers, your grandmothers, your aunts -- shattered the myth that you couldn’t or shouldn’t be where you are. 这就引出了我的第二条建议：永远不要低估你们自身榜样的力量。你们能够毕业这一事实本身——更不用说如今大学毕业的女性已经多于男性——之所以成为可能，是因为前几代女性——你们的母亲、祖母、姑姨——粉碎了你们不能或不应该身处此地的神话。
I think of a friend of mine who’s the daughter of immigrants. When she was in high school, her guidance counselor told her, you know what, you’re just not college material. You should think about becoming a secretary. Well, she was stubborn, so she went to college anyway. She got her master’s. She ran for local office, won. She ran for state office, she won. She ran for Congress, she won. And lo and behold, Hilda Solis did end up becoming a secretary -- she is America’s Secretary of Labor. 我想到了我的一位朋友，她是移民的女儿。上高中时，她的升学顾问告诉她，你知道吗，你不是上大学的料。你应该考虑当个秘书。好吧，她很倔强，还是上了大学。她拿到了硕士学位。她竞选地方公职，赢了。她竞选州级公职，赢了。她竞选国会议员，赢了。果不其然，希尔达·索利斯确实当上了秘书——只不过是美国劳工部长。
So think about what that means to a young Latina girl when she sees a Cabinet secretary that looks like her. Think about what it means to a young girl in Iowa when she sees a presidential candidate who looks like her. Think about what it means to a young girl walking in Harlem right down the street when she sees a U.N. ambassador who looks like her. Do not underestimate the power of your example. 想一想，当一个年轻的拉丁裔女孩看到一位和她长得像的内阁部长时，这意味着什么。想一想，当艾奥瓦州的一个小女孩看到一位和她长得像的总统候选人时，这意味着什么。想一想，当哈莱姆街头的一个小女孩看到一位和她长得像的联合国大使时，这意味着什么。不要低估你们自身榜样的力量。
This diploma opens up new possibilities, so reach back, convince a young girl to earn one, too. If you earned your degree in areas where we need more women -- like computer science or engineering -- reach back and persuade another student to study it, too. If you're going into fields where we need more women, like construction or computer engineering -- reach back, hire someone new. Be a mentor. Be a role model. 这张文凭开启了新的可能，所以回过头去，说服一个小女孩也去争取一张。如果你在需要更多女性的领域获得了学位——比如计算机科学或工程学——回过头去，说服另一个学生也来学习。如果你要进入需要更多女性的领域，比如建筑业或计算机工程——回过头去，雇佣新人。做一名导师。做一个榜样。
Until a girl can imagine herself, can picture herself as a computer programmer, or a combatant commander, she won’t become one. Until there are women who tell her, ignore our pop culture obsession over beauty and fashion -- and focus instead on studying and inventing and competing and leading, she’ll think those are the only things that girls are supposed to care about. Now, Michelle will say, nothing wrong with caring about it a little bit. You can be stylish and powerful, too. That's Michelle’s advice. 除非一个女孩能够想象自己、能够把自己设想为一名计算机程序员或一名作战指挥官，否则她不会成为那样的人。除非有女性告诉她，别管我们流行文化对外貌和时尚的痴迷——转而专注于学习、发明、竞争和领导——否则她会以为女孩只应该关心那些事情。当然了，米歇尔会说，稍微关心一下也没关系。你既可以时尚，也可以强大。这是米歇尔的建议。
And never forget that the most important example a young girl will ever follow is that of a parent. Malia and Sasha are going to be outstanding women because Michelle and Marian Robinson are outstanding women. So understand your power, and use it wisely. 永远不要忘记，一个小女孩会追随的最重要的榜样是她的父母。玛丽亚和萨莎会成为出色的女性，因为米歇尔和玛丽安·罗宾逊是出色的女性。所以请明白你们的力量，并明智地运用它。
My last piece of advice -- this is simple, but perhaps most important: Persevere. Persevere. Nothing worthwhile is easy. No one of achievement has avoided failure -- sometimes catastrophic failures. But they keep at it. They learn from mistakes. They don’t quit. 我最后一条建议——很简单，但也许是最重要的：坚持。坚持。值得做的事从来都不容易。没有任何一个有成就的人能避免失败——有时是灾难性的失败。但他们坚持到底。他们从错误中学习。他们绝不放弃。
You know, when I first arrived on this campus, it was with little money, fewer options. But it was here that I tried to find my place in this world. I knew I wanted to make a difference, but it was vague how in fact I’d go about it. But I wanted to do my part to do my part to shape a better world. 你们知道，当我初次来到这个校园时，我没什么钱，选择也不多。但正是在这里，我试图寻找自己在这个世界上的位置。我知道我想有所作为，但具体该怎么做却很模糊。但我想尽自己的一份力量，去塑造一个更美好的世界。
So even as I worked after graduation in a few unfulfilling jobs here in New York -- I will not list them all -- even as I went from motley apartment to motley apartment, I reached out. I started to write letters to community organizations all across the country. And one day, a small group of churches on the South Side of Chicago answered, offering me work with people in neighborhoods hit hard by steel mills that were shutting down and communities where jobs were dying away. 所以，即使毕业后我在纽约做了几份并不令人满意的工作——我就不一一列举了——即使我从一间简陋的公寓搬到另一间简陋的公寓，我仍在主动出击。我开始给全国各地的社区组织写信。终于有一天，芝加哥南区的一小群教会给了我回复，让我去和那些因钢铁厂关闭而遭受重创的社区、工作机会日渐消失的人们一起工作。
The community had been plagued by gang violence, so once I arrived, one of the first things we tried to do was to mobilize a meeting with community leaders to deal with gangs. And I’d worked for weeks on this project. We invited the police; we made phone calls; we went to churches; we passed out flyers. The night of the meeting we arranged rows and rows of chairs in anticipation of this crowd. And we waited, and we waited. And finally, a group of older folks walked in to the hall and they sat down. 那个社区一直饱受帮派暴力之苦，所以我一到那里，我们首先想做的就是召集社区领袖开会，共同应对帮派问题。我为这个项目忙了好几个星期。我们邀请了警察；我们打了电话；我们去了教堂；我们发了传单。开会那天晚上，我们摆好了一排又一排的椅子，等待着人群的到来。我们等啊，等啊。最后，一群老年人走进了大厅，坐了下来。
And this little old lady raised her hand and asked, “Is this where the bingo game is?” It was a disaster. Nobody showed up. My first big community meeting -- nobody showed up. 一位小个子老太太举起了手问道："宾果游戏是在这里吗？"简直是一场灾难。没有一个人来参加。我的第一次大型社区会议——没有一个人来。
And later, the volunteers I worked with told me, that's it; we’re quitting. They'd been doing this for two years even before I had arrived. They had nothing to show for it. And I’ll be honest, I felt pretty discouraged as well. I didn't know what I was doing. I thought about quitting. And as we were talking, I looked outside and saw some young boys playing in a vacant lot across the street. And they were just throwing rocks up at a boarded building. They had nothing better to do -- late at night, just throwing rocks. And I said to the volunteers, “Before you quit, answer one question. 后来，和我一起工作的志愿者们告诉我，够了，我们不干了。在我来之前他们已经干了两年了。他们什么成果也没有。说实话，我也感到非常沮丧。我不知道自己在做什么。我想过放弃。正当我们交谈时，我望向窗外，看到几个小男孩在街对面的一片空地上玩耍。他们只是在朝一栋钉了木板的建筑扔石头。他们无事可做——大半夜的，就在扔石头。我对志愿者们说："在你们放弃之前，回答一个问题。"
What will happen to those boys if you quit? Who will fight for them if we don’t? Who will give them a fair shot if we leave? 如果你们放弃了，那些男孩会怎样？如果我们不为他们奋斗，谁来为他们奋斗？如果我们离开，谁来给他们一个公平的机会？
And one by one, the volunteers decided not to quit. We went back to those neighborhoods and we kept at it. We registered new voters, and we set up after-school programs, and we fought for new jobs, and helped people live lives with some measure of dignity. And we sustained ourselves with those small victories. We didn’t set the world on fire. Some of those communities are still very poor. There are still a lot of gangs out there. But I believe that it was those small victories that helped me win the bigger victories of my last three and a half years as President. 一个接一个地，志愿者们决定不放弃了。我们回到那些社区，继续坚持。我们登记了新的选民，建立了课后辅导项目，为新的就业机会而战，帮助人们有尊严地生活。我们靠那些小小的胜利来支撑自己。我们并没有惊天动地。那些社区有些至今仍然非常贫困。那里仍然有很多帮派。但我相信，正是那些小小的胜利帮助我在过去三年半的总统生涯中赢得了更大的胜利。
And I wish I could say that this perseverance came from some innate toughness in me. But the truth is, it was learned. I got it from watching the people who raised me. More specifically, I got it from watching the women who shaped my life. 我多希望能说这种坚韧来自我内在的某种刚强。但事实是，这是学来的。我从养育我的人身上学到了它。更具体地说，我从塑造了我人生的那些女性身上学到了它。
I grew up as the son of a single mom who struggled to put herself through school and make ends meet. She had marriages that fell apart; even went on food stamps at one point to help us get by. But she didn’t quit. And she earned her degree, and made sure that through scholarships and hard work, my sister and I earned ours. She used to wake me up when we were living overseas -- wake me up before dawn to study my English lessons. And when I’d complain, she’d just look at me and say, “This is no picnic for me either, buster.” 我在一个单身母亲的抚养下长大，她为了自己上学和维持生计而苦苦挣扎。她的婚姻失败了；甚至一度靠食品券来帮我们度日。但她没有放弃。她拿到了学位，并确保通过奖学金和勤奋努力，我和妹妹也拿到了我们的学位。我们在海外生活时，她会在天亮前把我叫醒学习英语。当我抱怨的时候，她只是看着我说："我过得也不轻松，小子。"
And my mom ended up dedicating herself to helping women around the world access the money they needed to start their own businesses -- she was an early pioneer in microfinance. And that meant, though, that she was gone a lot, and she had her own struggles trying to figure out balancing motherhood and a career. And when she was gone, my grandmother stepped up to take care of me. 后来，我母亲投身于帮助世界各地的女性获得创业所需的资金——她是小额信贷领域的早期先驱。但这意味着她经常不在家，她也在如何平衡母亲角色和事业之间挣扎。当她不在的时候，我的外祖母就担起了照顾我的责任。
She only had a high school education. She got a job at a local bank. She hit the glass ceiling, and watched men she once trained promoted up the ladder ahead of her. But she didn’t quit. Rather than grow hard or angry each time she got passed over, she kept doing her job as best as she knew how, and ultimately ended up being vice president at the bank. She didn’t quit. 她只有高中学历。她在当地一家银行找到了工作。她撞上了玻璃天花板，眼看着她曾经培训过的男性在她前面升迁。但她没有放弃。每次被忽视时，她没有变得刻薄或愤怒，而是尽她所知把工作做到最好，最终成为了银行的副总裁。她没有放弃。
And later on, I met a woman who was assigned to advise me on my first summer job at a law firm. And she gave me such good advice that I married her. And Michelle and I gave everything we had to balance our careers and a young family. But let’s face it, no matter how enlightened I must have thought myself to be, it often fell more on her shoulders when I was traveling, when I was away. I know that when she was with our girls, she’d feel guilty that she wasn’t giving enough time to her work, and when she was at her work, she’d feel guilty she wasn’t giving enough time to our girls. 后来，我遇到了一位被指派来指导我在律师事务所第一份暑期工作的女性。她给了我非常好的建议，好到我把她娶回了家。米歇尔和我倾尽所有来平衡事业和年幼的家庭。但说实话，不管我自认为多么开明，当我出差在外的时候，更多的担子还是落在她的肩上。我知道，当她陪伴女儿们的时候，她会因为没有给工作足够的时间而内疚；当她在工作的时候，她又会因为没有给女儿们足够的时间而内疚。
And both of us wished we had some superpower that would let us be in two places at once. But we persisted. We made that marriage work. 我们俩都希望自己有某种超能力，能同时出现在两个地方。但我们坚持了下来。我们把这段婚姻经营好了。
And the reason Michelle had the strength to juggle everything, and put up with me and eventually the public spotlight, was because she, too, came from a family of folks who didn’t quit -- because she saw her dad get up and go to work every day even though he never finished college, even though he had crippling MS. She saw her mother, even though she never finished college, in that school, that urban school, every day making sure Michelle and her brother were getting the education they deserved. Michelle saw how her parents never quit. 米歇尔之所以有力量兼顾一切、忍受我并最终面对公众的聚光灯，是因为她也来自一个从不放弃的家庭——因为她看到她的父亲尽管从未完成大学学业，尽管患有多发性硬化症，每天仍然起身去上班。她看到她的母亲虽然从未完成大学学业，每天在那所学校里、在那所城区学校里，确保米歇尔和她的弟弟得到他们应得的教育。米歇尔亲眼看到她的父母从不放弃。
They never indulged in self-pity, no matter how stacked the odds were against them. They didn't quit. 无论胜算多么不利于他们，他们从不沉溺于自怜。他们没有放弃。
Those are the folks who inspire me. People ask me sometimes, who inspires you, Mr. President? Those quiet heroes all across this country -- some of your parents and grandparents who are sitting here -- no fanfare, no articles written about them, they just persevere. They just do their jobs. They meet their responsibilities. They don't quit. I'm only here because of them. They may not have set out to change the world, but in small, important ways, they did. They certainly changed mine. 这些人才是激励我的人。有时人们问我，总统先生，谁激励着你？遍布这个国家的那些默默无闻的英雄——你们中一些人的父母和祖父母就坐在这里——没有鲜花掌声，没有文章报道他们，他们只是在坚持。他们只是做好自己的工作。他们履行自己的责任。他们不放弃。我之所以能站在这里，全是因为他们。他们或许没有想过改变世界，但在微小而重要的方面，他们做到了。他们确实改变了我的人生。
So whether it’s starting a business, or running for office, or raising a amazing family, remember that making your mark on the world is hard. It takes patience. It takes commitment. It comes with plenty of setbacks and it comes with plenty of failures. 所以无论是创办企业、竞选公职，还是养育一个了不起的家庭，请记住：在这个世界上留下自己的印记是艰难的。这需要耐心。这需要投入。这伴随着许多挫折和许多失败。
But whenever you feel that creeping cynicism, whenever you hear those voices say you can’t make a difference, whenever somebody tells you to set your sights lower -- the trajectory of this country should give you hope. Previous generations should give you hope. What young generations have done before should give you hope. Young folks who marched and mobilized and stood up and sat in, from Seneca Falls to Selma to Stonewall, didn’t just do it for themselves; they did it for other people. 但每当你感到那悄然蔓延的犬儒主义时，每当你听到那些声音说你无法有所作为时，每当有人告诉你要把目标定低一点时——这个国家的发展轨迹应该给你希望。前人的努力应该给你希望。年轻一代曾经做到的事情应该给你希望。那些曾经游行和动员、站起来和静坐下来的年轻人，从塞内卡瀑布到塞尔玛到石墙，他们不仅仅是为了自己；他们是为了他人。
That’s how we achieved women’s rights. That's how we achieved voting rights. That's how we achieved workers’ rights. That's how we achieved gay rights. That’s how we’ve made this Union more perfect. 我们正是这样争取到了女性权利。我们正是这样争取到了投票权。我们正是这样争取到了工人权利。我们正是这样争取到了同性恋权利。我们正是这样让这个合众国变得更加完美。
And if you’re willing to do your part now, if you're willing to reach up and close that gap between what America is and what America should be, I want you to know that I will be right there with you. If you are ready to fight for that brilliant, radically simple idea of America that no matter who you are or what you look like, no matter who you love or what God you worship, you can still pursue your own happiness, I will join you every step of the way. 如果你们现在愿意尽自己的一份力，如果你们愿意向上伸手，弥合美国现状与美国应有面貌之间的差距，我想让你们知道，我会和你们站在一起。如果你们准备好为那个辉煌的、根本上简单的美国理念而战——无论你是谁、长得怎样，无论你爱的是谁、信仰什么神，你都可以追求自己的幸福——我会一路与你们同行。
Now more than ever -- Now more than ever, America needs what you, the Class of 2012, has to offer. America needs you to reach high and hope deeply. And if you fight for your seat at the table, and you set a better example, and you persevere in what you decide to do with your life, I have every faith not only that you will succeed, but that, through you, our nation will continue to be a beacon of light for men and women, boys and girls, in every corner of the globe. 此刻比以往任何时候都更需要——此刻比以往任何时候都更需要，美国需要2012届的你们所能贡献的一切。美国需要你们志存高远、深怀希望。如果你们为在决策桌前的席位而战，树立更好的榜样，在你们决定一生从事的事业中坚持不懈，我完全相信你们不仅会成功，而且通过你们，我们的国家将继续成为全世界每一个角落的男人和女人、男孩和女孩的灯塔。
So thank you. Congratulations. God bless you. God bless the United States of America. 谢谢。祝贺你们。愿上帝保佑你们。愿上帝保佑美利坚合众国。
