第1个回答 2013-11-28
芭芭拉.布什: 在 Wellesley College 授学位典礼上的讲话一届毕业典礼上的讲话.
Thank you. Thank you, very much. Thank you very, very much, President
Keohane. Mrs. Gorbachev, Trustees, Faculty, Parents, and I should say, Julia
Porter, class president, and certainly my new best friend, Christine Bicknell --
and, of course, the Class of 1990. I am really thrilled to be here today, and
very excited, as I know you all must be, that Mrs. Gorbachev could join us.
These are exciting times. They're exciting in Washington, and I have really
looked forward to coming to Wellesley. I thought it was going to be fun. I never
dreamt it would be this much fun. So, thank you for that.
More than ten years ago, when I was invited here to talk about our
experiences in the People's Republic of China, I was struck by both the natural
beauty of your campus and the spirit of this place.
Wellesley, you see, is not just a place but an idea -- an experiment in
excellence in which diversity is not just tolerated, but is embraced. The
essence of this spirit was captured in a moving speech about tolerance given
last year by a student body president of one of your sister colleges. She
related the story by Robert Fulghum about a young pastor, finding himself in
charge of some very energetic children, hits upon a game called "Giants,
Wizards, and Dwarfs." "You have to decide now," the pastor instructed the
children, "which you are -- a giant, a wizard or a dwarf?" At that, a small girl
tugging at his pants leg, asked, "But where do the mermaids stand?" And the
pastor tells her there are no mermaids. And she says, "Oh yes there are. I am a
mermaid."
Now this little girl knew what she was, and she was not about to give up on
either her identity, or the game. She intended to take her place wherever
mermaids fit into the scheme of things. Where do the mermaids stand? All of
those who are different, those who do not fit the boxes and the pigeonholes?"
"Answer that question," wrote Fulghum, "And you can build a school, a nation, or
a whole world." As that very wise young woman said, "Diversity, like anything
worth having, requires effort. Effort to learn about and respect difference, to
be compassionate with one another, to cherish our own identity, and to accept
unconditionally the same in others.
You should all be very proud that this is the Wellesley spirit. Now I know
your first choice today was Alice Walker -- guess how I know! -- known for The
Color Purple. Instead you got me -- known for the color of my hair! Alice
Walker's book has a special resonance here. At Wellesley, each class is known by
a special color. For four years the Class of '90 has worn the color purple.
Today you meet on Severance Green to say goodbye to all of that, to begin a new
and very personal journey, to search for your own true colors.
In the world that awaits you, beyond the shores of Lake Waban, no one can say
what your true colors will be. But this I do know: You have a first class
education from a first class school. And so you need not, probably cannot, live
a "paint-by-numbers" life. Decisions are not irrevocable. Choices do come back.
And as you set off from Wellesley, I hope that many of you will consider making
three very special choices.
The first is to believe in something larger than yourself, to get involved in
some of the big ideas of our time. I chose literacy because I honestly believe
that if more people could read, write and comprehend, we would be that much
closer to solving so many of the problems that plague our nation and our
society.
And early on I made another choice which I hope you'll make as well. Whether
you are talking about education, career, or service, you're talking about life
-- and life really must have joy. It's supposed to be fun!
One of the reasons I made the most important decision of my life, to marry
George Bush, is because he made me laugh. It's true, sometimes we've laughed
through our tears. But that shared laughter has been one of our strongest bonds.
Find the joy in life, because as Ferris Bueller said on his day off, "Life moves
pretty fast; and ya don't stop and look around once in a while, ya gonna miss
it!"
(I am not going to tell George ya clapped more for Ferris than ya clapped for
George.)
The third choice that must not be missed is to cherish your human
connections: your relationships with family and friends. For several years,
you've had impressed upon you the importance to your career of dedication and
hard work. And, of course, that's true. But as important as your obligations as
a doctor, a lawyer, a business leader will be, you are a human being first. And
those human connections --- with spouses, with children, with friends -- are the
most important investments you will ever make.
At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more
test, winning one more verdict, or not closing one more deal. You will regret
time not spent with a husband, a child, a friend or a parent.
We are in a transitional period right now, fascinating and exhilarating
times, learning to adjust to changes and the choices we, men and women, are
facing. As an example, I remember what a friend said, on hearing her husband
complain to his buddies that he had to babysit. Quickly setting him straight, my
friend told her husband that when it's your own kids, it's not called
babysitting.
Now, maybe we should adjust faster; maybe we should adjust slower. But
whatever the era whatever the times, one thing will never change: fathers and
mothers, if you have children, they must come first. You must read to your
children. And you must hug your children. And you must love your children. Your
success as a family, our success as a society, depends not on what happens in
the White House, but on what happens inside your house.
For over fifty years, it was said that the winner of Wellesley's annual hoop
race would be the first to get married. Now they say, the winner will be the
first to become a C.E.O. Both of those stereotypes show too little tolerance for
those who want to know where the mermaids stand. So I want to offer a new
legend: the winner of the hoop race will be the first to realize her dream --
not society's dreams -- her own personal dream.
And who knows? Somewhere out in this audience may even be someone who will
one day follow in my footsteps, and preside over the White House as the
President's spouse.
I wish him well!
Well, the controversy ends here. But our conversation is only beginning. And
a worthwhile conversation it has been. So as you leave Wellesley today, take
with you deep thanks for the courtesy and the honor you have shared with Mrs.
Gorbachev and with me. Thank you. God bless you. And may your future be worthy
of your dreams.本回答被网友采纳