瑟利夫夫人在哈佛大学2011年毕业典礼上的演讲(13)

motion, and you have set in motion, took a long time.” Ellison believed that despite the challenge, the chance for national regeneration was there.

1974年，Ralph Ellison在毕业典礼上演讲，告诉毕业生和校友：”不要沮丧，不要丧失信念，因为你已经付出的行动，需要很长的时间才能看到效果。”他相信尽管有种种挑战，国家的复兴依然有机会实现。

In the more recent past, Bill Gates, a famous Harvard attendee, has made our world

smaller still by having all of us speak the same dialect, by connecting us electronically and opening doors that just one generation ago seemed to belong to the realm of science fiction. Today, because of him, we are closer to living in a global village.

再后来，著名的哈佛辍学生比尔 盖茨，让我们所有人使用同一种计算机语言，将我们用电子方式联系起来，使世界变得更小，打开了通往未来的大门，前一代人曾经认为那些只是科幻小说的内容。今天，因为他的出现，我们更像生活在一个地球村里。

With the election of Harvard graduate Barack Obama to the presidency of the United

States, the face of American politics has been altered for good. In the sea change that his election represents, let me remind you, America, that Liberia has you beat on one score: We elected our first female president, perhaps 11 years before the United States might do so.

随着哈佛毕业生奥巴马当选为美国总统，美国政治家的形象大大改善。虽然他的当选说明美国正在发生巨大变化，但是让我提醒你们美国人，有一点利比里亚超过了你们，那就是我们选出了第一位女总统，也许比美国早了11年。

Today, I share more than a Harvard background with you. In a way, this is also a

commencement year for me. Just as you end one journey today and begin the next, so too do I in November. As my first term as the president of Liberia comes to an end, I will be standing for re-election. The person who claims to be the strongest opposition

contender is a Harvard graduate. But I want you to know that the incumbent, who is also a Harvard graduate, is determined to win. The relationship between Harvard and Liberia is thus secured and in good hands!

今天，我更多地是以哈佛人的身份与你们交流。某种程度上，今年也是我的毕业年。正如今天你们结束了一段旅程，将要开始下一个旅程，我在今年11月也会如此。我的利比里亚总统的第一个任期即将结束，我将再次投入大选。我最强大的一个竞争对手，也是哈佛毕业生。但是，我想让你们知道，现任的这个哈佛毕业生下定决心，要赢得大选。因此，哈佛与利比里亚的关系完全有保障，非常可靠！

Harvard Graduates, Class of 2011: I urge you to be fearless about the future. Just

because something has not been done yet, doesn’t mean it can’t be. I was never deterred from running for president just because there had never been any females elected head of state in Africa. Simply because political leadership in Liberia had always been a “boys’