瑟利夫夫人在哈佛大学2011年毕业典礼上的演讲(12)

In the time even before Friendster succumbed to Facebook, our world went through

phases of transformation, and Harvard graduates, students, faculty, and commencement speakers have been key actors, writers, and chroniclers of those changes. In 1947, U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall stood in this very Yard before a graduating class such as this one to announce the plan to salvage Europe after the devastation caused by the Second World War:

甚至在Facebook取代Friendster之前，我们的世界就已经进入了转变的阶段。哈佛的学生、老师、毕业生、毕业典礼演讲者，是这种转变的关键演员、作者和历史学家。1947年，美国国务卿乔治 马歇尔就站在这个院子里，面对像你们这样的毕业生，宣布了一个计划，抢救被二战摧毁的欧洲：

He began, “I need not tell you, gentlemen, (I don’t know where the ladies were) that the world situation is very serious. But to speak more seriously” — Marshall said as he went on to advocate the well-known Marshall Plan. In time, we saw a rebounded Europe, and the subsequent rise of East Asia, have been the catalyzing forces behind Africa’s own recent progress.

他说：”我不必提醒各位，世界形势非常严峻。但是，我还有更严重的话要说”—-马歇尔接下去就倡导了举世闻名的马歇尔计划。然后，一个复兴的欧洲出现了，接着是东亚的崛起，这些都是非洲目前进程背后的催化剂。

When President John F. Kennedy, another Harvard graduate, spoke to this audience in 1956 as the junior senator from Massachusetts, he analyzed the tension between

politicians and intellectuals. Of the politicians, Kennedy said, “We need both the technical judgment and the disinterested viewpoint of the scholar, to prevent us from becoming imprisoned by our own slogans.” In newly democratic societies, where ballots are marked with distinctive icons as well as names since many voters remain illiterate, the danger of sloganeering political populism is only greater, and can lead down the road of war, not just bad policy choices. Kennedy, of course, would go on to launch the Peace Corps, which has impacted the lives of millions throughout the world by bringing Americans across the ocean, teaching students and training teachers, and making our world a smaller place.

1956年，哈佛毕业生肯尼迪总统（那时还是马萨诸塞州参议员），公开发言，分析了政治家和知识分子之间的紧张关系。肯尼迪这样说政治家：”我们需要学者公正的观点，也需要技术性的判断，这样才能防止我们被自己的宣传口号蒙骗。”在新兴的民主国家，许多投票者都是文盲，所以选票上不得不印上各种图案，代表不同的候选人。这种情况下，口号政治和政治民粹主义的危险性只会更大，不仅仅是恶劣的政策问题，它本身就能将国家引向战争。当然，肯尼迪这样说是为了启动和平队项目，让美国人跨越大洋，教育学生、训练教师，影响了全世界几百万人口，让我们的世界变得更小。

Ralph Ellison, speaking at the 1974 Commencement, told the graduates and alumni: “Let us not be dismayed, let us not lose faith simply because the correctives we have set in