瑟利夫夫人在哈佛大学2011年毕业典礼上的演讲(5)

The first Liberian graduate of Harvard did so in 1920, and since then there has been a steady trail of Liberians to Cambridge. Most of them returned home to pursue successful careers.

1920年，第一个利比里亚学生从哈佛大学毕业。此后，一直不断有利比里亚人来到坎布里奇求学。他们中的大多数后来都回国，取得了事业的成功。

Thank you, Harvard, and thank you to the many Mason Program professors, dead and alive, for the compliments you paid when my papers and interventions were top rate, and for the patience you showed when I struggled with quantitative analysis.

感谢你，哈佛大学。感谢许多已故和健在的梅森项目教授，感谢你们对我的论文和其他活动的高度评价，感谢你们在我学习数量分析遇到困难时显示的耐心。

The self-confidence, sometimes called arrogance, that comes from being a Harvard graduate can also lead one down a dangerous path. It did for me. One year after my

return from Cambridge, I was at it again, in a Commencement Address at my high school alma mater. I questioned the government’s failure to address long-standing inequalities in the society. This forced me into exile and a staff position at the World Bank. Other similar events would follow in a life of in and out of country, in and out of jail, in and out of

professional service. There were times when I thought death was near, and times when the burden of standing tall by one’s conviction seemed only to result in failure. But through it all, my experience sends a strong message that failure is just as important as success.

毕业于哈佛，给人带来的自信（有时是自大），也能使人走上一条危险的道路。我就是这样。我从哈佛毕业回国一年后，又不得不再次来到美国。原因是我参加高中母校的毕业典礼，质疑政府在改变社会长期以来不平等方面的完全失败。这使得我不得不流亡海外，在世界银行担任职员。后来又发生了许多类似的事件，使得我回国又出国、入狱又出狱、就业又失业。好几次我觉得离死不远，还有好几次自己的坚定信念看来只会导致失败。但是经过这一切，我的经历表达了一个强烈的信息，那就是失败同成功一样重要。

Today I stand proud, as the first woman president of my country, Liberia. This has allowed me to lead the processes of change, change needed to address a long-standing

environment characterized by awesome challenges: a collapsed economy, huge domestic and external debt arrears, dysfunctional institutions, destroyed infrastructure, poor

regional and international relationships, and social capital destroyed by the scourge of war.

今天我作为我的祖国利比里亚的第一位女总统站在这里，非常骄傲。这个职位允许我领导变革的进程，我的祖国需要变革，来面对现实中长期存在的许多巨大的挑战：崩溃的经济，巨大的国内外逾期债务，丧失功能的各种机构，被摧毁的基础设施，脆弱的地区和国际关系，毁于战火的各种社会资源。

After election, I moved quickly in mobilizing our team, sought support from partners, and tackled the challenges. In five years, we formulated the laws and policies and strategies for growth and development. We removed the international sanctions on our primary