当梦想闪现时，抓住它吧！——拉里·佩奇

　　When a really great dream shows up, grab

　　it!

　　How do you change the world? Always work hard on something uncomfortablyexciting!

　　——Larry Page

　　如何改变世界？为了疯狂般的梦想而奋斗终生！

　　——拉里·佩奇

　　背景资料

　　拉里·佩奇（Larry Page, 1973.03.26－），全名劳伦斯·爱德华·佩奇（Lawrence EdwardPage），Google公司的创始人之一，2011年4月4日佩奇正式出任谷歌CEO。截至2013年10月，佩奇的个人财富估值为249亿美元，位居《福布斯》美国富豪排行榜榜单的第13名。

　　When a really great dream shows up, grab it!

　　——Larry Page

　　Class of 2009! I don't think I heard you. Class of 2009! First, I want you to stand up andwave and cheer your supportive family and friends! I am sure you can find them out there. Showyour love! It is a great honor for me to be here today。

　　Now wait a second. I know: that's such a cliche¹ . You're thinking: every graduation speakersays that-It's a great honor. But, in my case, it really is so deeply true being here is more specialand more personal for me than most of you know. I'd like to tell you why. A long time ago, in thiscold September of 1962, there was a Steven's co-op at this very university. That co-op had akitchen with a ceiling that had been cleaned by student volunteers probably every decade or so.

　　Picture a college girl named Gloria, climbing up high on a ladder, struggling to clean thatfilthy ceiling. Standing³ on the floor, a young boarder named Carl was admiring the view. Andthat's how they met. They were my parents, so I suppose you could say I'm a direct result of thatkitchen chemistry experiment, right here at Michigan. My Mom is here with us today, and weshould probably go find the spot and put a plaque⁴ up on the ceiling that says: "Thanks Mom andDad!"

　　Everyone in my family went here to Michigan: my brother, my Mom, my Dad--all of us. MyDad actually got the quantity discount : He got all three and a half of his degrees here. His Ph.D.

　　was in Communication Science because they thought Computers were just a passing fad⁵ when heearned it 44 years ago. He and Mom made a big sacrifice for that degree. They argued at timesover pennies, while raising my newborn brother. Mom typed my Dad's dissertation⁶ by hand, kindof ironic⁷ of those computer science dissertation.

　　This velvet⁸ hood⁹ I'm wearing, this was my Dad's. This diploma , yeah, this diploma I havehere that just like the one you are about to get, this is my Dad's. And my underwear, oh nevermind, sorry. My father's father worked in the Chevy plant in Flint, Michigan. He was an assemblyline worker. He drove his two children here to Anna Arbor¹⁰ and told them: That is where you'regoing to go to college. I know it sounds funny now. Both of his kids actually did graduate fromMichigan. That was the American dream.

　　His daughter, Beverly, is also with us today. My Grandpa used to carry an "Alley¹¹ Oop"hammer, a heavy iron pipe with a big hunk of lead melted on the end. The workers made themduring the sit-down strikes to protect themselves. When I was growing up, we used that hammerwhenever we needed to pound a stake or something into the yard. It is wonderful that most peopledon't need to carry a heavy blunt object for protection anymore. But just in case, I brought it withme. My Dad became a professor at uh…Michigan State, and I was an incredibly lucky boy. Aprofessor's life is pretty flexible, and he was able to spend oodles of time raising me. Could therebe a better upbringing than university brat¹² ?

　　What I'm trying to tell you is that why this is more than just a homecoming for me. It's noteasy for me to express how proud I am to be here, with my Mom, my brother and my wife Lucy,and with all of you, at this amazing institution that is responsible for my very existence. I amthrilled for all of you, and I'm thrilled for your families and friends, as all of us join this great, bigMichigan family I feel I've been a part of all my life. What I'm also trying to tell you is that I knowexactly what it feels like to be sitting in your seat, listening to some old gasbag give a long-windedcommencement speech. Don't worry. I'll be brief. I have a story about following dreams. Ormaybe more accurately¹³, it's a story about finding a path to make those dreams real.

　　You know what it's like, to wake up in the middle of the night with a vivid dream? And youknow how, if you don't have a pencil and pad by the bed, it will be completely gone by the nextmorning. I had one of those dreams when I was 23. When I suddenly woke up, I was thinking:

　　what if we could download the whole web, and just keep the links and… I grabbed a pen andstarted writing! Sometimes it is important to wake up and stop dreaming. I spent the middle of thatnight scribbling¹⁴ out the details and convincing myself it would work.

　　Soon after, I told my adviser¹⁵, Terry Winograd, it would take a couple of weeks for me todownload the web, he nodded knowingly, fully¹⁶ aware it would take much longer but wise enoughnot to tell me. The optimism of youth is often underrated ! Amazingly, at that time, I had nothought of building a search engine. The idea wasn't even on the radar¹⁷. Much later we happenedupon a better way of ranking and we made a really great search engine, and Google was born.

　　When a really great dream shows up, grab it! When I was here at Michigan, I had actually beentaught how to make dreams real!

　　I know it sounds funny, but that is what I learned in a summer camp converted into a trainingprogram called Leader shape. Yes, we've got a few out there. Their slogan is to have a "healthydisregard for the impossible". That program encouraged me to pursue a crazy idea at the time. Iwanted to build a personal rapid transit¹⁸ system on campus to replace the buses. Yeah, you're stillworking on that I hear. It was a futuristic way of solving our transportation problem. I still think alot about transportation. You never lose a dream, it just incubates as a hobby. Many things thatpeople labor¹⁹ hard to do now, like cooking, cleaning and driving will require much less human timein the future. That is, if we "have a healthy disregard for the impossible" and actually build newsolutions.

　　I think it is often easier to make progress on mega-ambitious dreams. I know that soundscompletely nuts. But, since no one else is crazy enough to do it, you have little competition. Infact, there are so few people this crazy that I feel like I know them all by first name. They all travelas if they are pack dogs and stick to each other like glue. The best people want to work on the bigchallenges. That is what happened with Google. Our mission is to organize the world'sinformation and make it universally accessible and useful. How can that not get you excited? Butwe almost didn't start Google actually because my co-founder Sergey and I were too worried aboutdropping out of our Ph.D. Program. None of you have that issue it seems. You are probably on theright track if you feel like a sidewalk worm during a rainstorm! That is about how we felt after wemaxed out three credit cards buying hard disks off the back of a truck. That was actually the firsthardware for Google.

　　Parents and friends: more credit cards always help. What is the one sentence summary of howyou change the world? Always work hard on something uncomfortably exciting! As a Ph. D.

　　student, I actually had three projects I wanted to work on. Thank goodness my adviser said, "Whydon't you work on the web for a while?" He gave me some seriously good advice because the webwas growing with people and activity, even in 1995! Technology and especially the Internet canreally help you be lazy. Lazy? What I mean is a group of three people can write software thatmillions can use and enjoy. Can three people answer the phone a million times? Find the leveragein the world, so you can be truly lazy! Overall, I know it seems like the world is crumbling²⁰ outthere, but it is actually a great time in your life to get a little crazy, follow your curiosity and beambitious about it. Don't give up on your dreams. The world needs you all!

　　So here's my final story: On a day like today, you might feel exhilarated —like you've justbeen shot out of a cannon²¹ at the circus and even invincible²² . Don't ever forget that incrediblefeeling. But also always remember that the moments we have with friends and family, the chanceswe have to do things that might make a big difference in the world, or even to make a smalldifference to the ones we love, all those wonderful chances that life gives us, life also takes away.

　　It can happen fast, and a whole lot sooner than you think. In late March 1996, soon after I hadmoved to Stanford for graduate school, my Dad had difficulty breathing and drove to the hospital.

　　Two months later, he died. I was completely devastated²³ . Many years later, after a startup , afterfalling in love, and after so many of life's adventures , I found myself thinking about my Dad.

　　Lucy and I were far away in a steaming hot village walking through narrow streets. Therewere wonderful friendly people everywhere, but it was a desperately²⁴ poor place. People used thebathroom inside and it flowed out into the open gutter²⁵ and straight into the river. We touched aboy with a limp leg, the result of paralysis²⁶ from polio . Lucy and I were in rural India, one of thefew places where polio still exists. Polio is transmitted fecal to oral, usually through filthy² water.

　　Well, my Dad had polio. He went on a trip to Tennessee in the first grade and he caught it. He washospitalized for two months and had to be transported by military DC-3 back home, his first flight.

　　My Dad wrote, "Then, I had to stay in bed for over a year, before I started back to school."That is actually a quote from his fifth grade autobiography²⁷. My Dad had difficulty breathing in hiswhole life, and the polio are what took him from us too soon. He would have been very upset, thatpolio still persists even though we have a vaccine²⁸ . He would have been equally upset that back inIndia we had polio virus on our shoes from walking through the contaminated gutters²⁹ that spreadthe disease. We were spreading the virus with every footstep, right under beautiful kids playingeverywhere. The world is on the verge³⁰ of eliminating polio, with 328 people infected so far. Let'sget it eradicated³¹ soon. Perhaps one of you will do that。

　　My Dad was valedictorian of Flint Mandeville High School class of 1956 about 90 kids. Ihappened across his graduating speech recently, and it blew me away. 53 years ago my Dad said:

　　"…we are entering a changing world, one of automation and employment change where educationis an economic necessity. We will have increased periods of time to do as we wish, as our workweek and retirement³² age continue to decline and we wish that were true. We shall take part in, orwitness, developments in science, medicine, and industry that we can only dream of today. It issaid that the future of any nation can be determined³³ by the care and preparation given to its youth.

　　If all the youths of America were as fortunate in securing an education as we have been, then thefuture of the United States would be even more bright than it is today." If my Dad were alivetoday, the thing I think he would be most happy about is that Lucy and I have a baby in thehopper. I think he would have been annoyed that I hadn't gotten my Ph. D. yet. Thanks, Michigan!

　　Dad was so full of insights , of excitement about new things, that to this day, I often wonderwhat he would think about some new development. If he were here today. Well, it would be one ofthe best days of his life. He'd be like a kid in a candy store. For a day, he'd be young again. Manyof us are fortunate enough to be here with family. Some of us have dear friends and family to gohome to. And who knows, perhaps some of you, like Lucy and I, are dreaming about futurefamilies of your own. Just like me, your families brought you here, and you brought them here。

　　Please keep them close and remember: they are what really matters in life. Thanks, Mom.

　　Thanks, Lucy. And thank you, all, very much。

　　参考译文

　　当梦想闪现时，抓住它吧！

　　——拉里·佩奇

　　09届的同学们！给我来点激情的回应。各位同学，我希望大家站起来向支持你们的亲朋好友挥手致意。你们一定能在人群中找到他们，借此机会表达你们的爱吧！能站在这里我感到非常荣幸。

　　等等，大家可能觉得有点矫情。“我很荣幸”这句话都说烂了。但真的是大实话，大家不知道：我对密歇根大学有特殊的感情。我可以告诉大家原因。很久以前，1962年9月，天很冷，在密歇根大学里有一家餐厅，学生志愿者负责打扫厨房的天花板，大约十年才会打扫一次。

　　想象一下：有个叫格洛丽亚的女学生，爬上了高高的梯子，努力地打扫脏兮兮的天花板。而一个叫卡尔的寄宿生在下面为该情景钦佩不已，这是他俩的初次邂逅，他们就是我父母。所以我想你们会说，我是地地道道从密歇根大学厨房里造出来的，我母亲今天也来了。我想找到当年那个厨房，在天花板挂个匾，刻上“感谢父母”！

　　我的家人都毕业于密歇根大学：我哥、我父母、还有我。我爸在文凭数量上更胜一筹：他在这获得了三个半学位，其中一个是通信工程的博士。44年前，他们认为计算机火不了多久。为取得这个学位，爸妈做出了很大的牺牲。为了抚养刚出生的哥哥，省吃俭用。堂堂计算机博士，论文是我妈逐字敲出来的，讽刺吧？

　　我身上这套博士服是我爸的，还有这张毕业证，跟你们即将拿到手的一样，也是我爸的。还有我的内裤，呃……算了。我的祖父曾在密歇根的雪佛兰汽车厂工作，他曾开车带两个孩子来到安娜堡，告诉他们：你们以后要上这所大学！我知道现在听起来很好笑，不过两个孩子确实都进了密歇根大学，这就是我们家的“美国梦”。

　　我姑姑贝弗利今天也来了。爷爷以前经常扛着一个大铁锤，铁管上铸着大铅坨的那种。那是用来在静坐罢工时，保护自己的武器。小时候，我们常用它在后院打桩子。现在世道好了，大家不需要铁锤保护自己了。但以防万一，我还是把它带来了。后来我的父亲成为了一名教授，密歇根州立大学的教授，我很走运，因为教授的工作比较灵活，有大量的时间陪我。还有比这更棒的吗？

　　我想要告诉大家的是：这次回来，意义非凡！我不知道该如何表达我站在此地的骄傲之情。今天和家人还有你们相聚在此，我无比激动！因为这里造就了我，我为你们感到骄傲，也为你们的家人和朋友感到骄傲，因为我们都是密歇根大家庭的一员，它是我生命中不可或缺的一部分。同时，我也知道你们现在坐在台下的感受：听我们这些老家伙做一个冗长的毕业典礼演讲。别担心，我不是话痨。我给大家讲个追梦的故事，确切地说是一个将梦想变为现实的故事。

　　想想看：午夜你从一个逼真的美梦中醒来，如果你床边没有铅笔或者平板电脑把它记下来，第二天早上准会把昨晚的美梦忘个精光。我23岁时，就做过这样的美梦。我猛然惊醒，想把所有的网络内容下载下来，通过链接的方式保存。于是，我抓起笔就开始写。还好我把握住机会，从梦里及时醒来，花了一整晚研究出实现方案，并确信那是可以做得到的。

　　我对导师Terry Winograd说：下载整个网络需要几周时间。他点点头，其实他心里清楚需要更久。但他很明智，没打击我。年轻人的乐观精神不可小视！不过那时，创造一个搜索引擎，对我而言是天方夜谭。我从没动过这个念头。很久以后，我们偶然找到了更好的排序方式，并做出了一个非常好的搜索引擎，谷歌就这么诞生了。所以，当梦想闪现时，抓住它吧！我在这儿念书时，曾学过如何梦想成真。

　　听起来有点扯，但我确实从“塑造领导力”夏令营中得到了启发。看，真的有人参加过的吧。他们的口号是“世上无难事只怕有心人”！我们被要求去实现自己看似疯狂的梦想。

　　我想建立个人快速交通系统来替代公交，我知道你们还在研究，没准是今后解决交通问题的好方法。我时不时还在考虑交通问题，梦想不会消失，会变成习惯！我们现在花费精力做的事情，比如做饭、打扫、开车，今后占用的时间会越来越少，也就是说如果我们“理性地藐视不可能，并确实找到新的解决方案的话。”

　　我认为，自古精英出狂人。这话听起来完全是一派胡言，但正因为别人没你疯狂，你的对手就很少。事实上，狂人屈指可数，碰巧我都认识，他们比狗仔队还忙，比亲戚还走得近，乐于接受一个又一个挑战。谷歌就有这样一帮人，我们的任务是整合全世界的信息，使其随手可得，随时可用。这难道不会让大家兴奋吗？但谷歌差一点夭折，因为我和我的搭档Sergey担心丢了博士学位。好在你们已经毕业。当时我们坚信自己是一只暴风雨里的小小鸟，总有一天会飞得很高。即使刷爆了三张信用卡，买来谷歌的第一批硬盘，也不曾后悔。

　　家长们，同学们，事实证明：多几张信用卡总是有用的，如果用一句话总结：如何改变世界？为了疯狂般的梦想而奋斗终生！其实在读博期间，我想参加三个项目。还好导师建议道：“为什么不先研究网络呢？”他给了我一些非常好的建议，因为1995年网络就开始了迅猛发展。科技，尤其是网络，确实能让人变“懒”。变懒？你看三个人做的软件，能解决上百万人的需求问题，你让三个接线员回答上百万人的问题试试？找到能撬起地球的杠杆，才能让人成功变懒。世界正在瞬息万变，但对你而言，这是个绝佳的时机，你们可以再疯狂一点！你可以不顾一切地追寻奇思，雄心勃勃地实现妙想，不要放弃梦想，世界需要你们！

　　我还想说个故事：如果某天你如现在这般欣喜若狂，就像从马戏团的炮口轰了出来，一头冲向蓝天。请铭记那一刻的美妙，同时请铭记那些和家人朋友共处的时光，铭记每一个上天赋予你改造世界的机遇，铭记为所爱的人做出的改变，铭记生活赋予的一切美好机会，但生活同样也能轻易将它夺走。世事瞬息万变，比你设想的要快得多，1996年3月下旬，我到斯坦福大学读研不久，我的父亲便因呼吸困难住进了医院。两个月以后，他去世了。我当时几乎崩溃，许多年后，我创业，恋爱，历经生命的种种后，我发现自己还总会想起我的父亲。

　　我和Lucy去过一个偏远又炎热的村庄，在狭窄的街道上散步。那里的人很友好，却极度贫穷。污水不经处理就排放到路边排水沟并径直流入河水，我们遇到一个因小儿麻痹而瘸腿的小男孩。那是在印度村庄，少数还存在小儿麻痹症的地方。这种病主要归罪于污染的水源，我的父亲也有小儿麻痹症，他一年级去田纳西州旅行时患病，住院两个月后，由军用航班DC-3送回家，这是他第一次乘飞机。

　　他在五年级的日记里写道：我必须在床上躺一年，不能上学。父亲一辈子呼吸困难，小儿麻痹症使他过早离开我们。他一定会非常沮丧地看到，现在即使有了疫苗，小儿麻痹症依然肆虐。在印度，脚上的鞋子也会传播小儿麻痹症，穿过那被污染的携带着病毒的水沟，每走一步都在传播病毒，病毒横行于孩子们玩耍的每个角落，人类正在努力消灭小儿麻痹症。到目前为止，还有328例感染病例。让我们加速这一进程吧，也许你们中就有人能够实现这个目标。

　　1956年我父亲曾作为学生代表在毕业典礼上致辞。我最近看到他的毕业演讲，震住了。53年前他说，这是一个瞬息万变的时代，一个科学技术和人才就业在不断变革的时代，教育成为发展的必需品。我们有更多的时间做想做的事，工时减少，退休提前，我们期待这一刻的到来。参与或见证科学、医学、工业的飞速发展。人们说，一个国家的未来取决于对年轻人培养。

　　如果所有美国青年能像我们一样接受教育，美国的前景会更加光明；如果父亲还在世，我想他最开心的莫过于看到我，Lucy和我们的孩子在一起，也会因为我没获得博士学位而恼怒。感谢密歇根大学！

　　他对于新事物总有着敏锐的观察，并充满热情。我时常幻想，他会如何看待现在的变化。如果他还在，这会是他人生中最美好的时光。他会像在糖果店的孩子那样开心。我们大部分人都很幸运，有家人为伴，有朋友相随。可能有些人正在憧憬和另一半的未来。当初家人带你来此读书，如今他们见证你毕业。

　　请务必珍惜！记住——他们才是你们生命中最重要的人！谢谢你妈妈！谢谢你Lucy！

　　谢谢大家！

 

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