Speech at Yale Graduation presented by Tom Hanks
May10,2011
I now many of you were convinced that last night about6o'clock local time,the world was going to come to an end.Just because it hasn't doesn't mean that it's not nearby, because my appearing today at Yale University is surely one of the four horseman of the apocalypse.But listen,today is your day.Please do not turn off your electronic devices, leave your IPhones,your Ipads,your sidekicks,your Droids,your blackberries powered up,recording,photographing,texting out all that emerges from this stage over the next few minute.By the way I'm supporting the hat,it ain't coming off.You know later on today you can compare your tweets,and Facebook comments with those of others to figure out if anything memorable went down,hey you know what tweet that last sentence I just said.It will give you something to do,let your friends know where you are today.Okay take this speech set it to music,then maybe insert some crazy kooky graphics.Star in that video yourself,post it on the web,then if it becomes a viral sensation,you will be equal to any cat playing with a paper bag,any set of twin toddlers talking gibberish to each other, as popular as a cute girl that sings about Fridays,hey you could be the next Sam Tsui. Such are just one of the possibilities in our grave new world,the world you now inherit whether you like it or not,the jig is up,the clock is run out,and the future,with a capital F,now rest with all of you and your goofy hats,and all because you went to Yale. You are now the anointed,the charge holders,the best and the brightest;each of you is shining hope for our nation and the world.You are the new wizards who can finally make
since of all the delta vectors,and the square roots,and the divided byes in the theorem, we call the human race.The generations before you came of age,took on the job,now it's your turn,welcome.
You know I once had a friend,who had a rich uncle,who promised to pay for his college, as long as my friend wished to stay in school."You should stay in school,as long as you can,"the rich uncle said"Because when you get out of college,you got to work for every day for the rest of you life".And you all will come to understand,what that rich uncle meant,just as surely you will someday wonder where the hell you put your reading glasses, and to yell at your own kids to turn the damn music down.On spring days,like today,it's traditional for us to ponder the state of the world and implore you all to help make it a better place,which implies that things are somehow worse today than when we up here are where you are sitting right now.I'm not so sure that planet earth is in worse shape than it was30,no18,no4years ago.But that's not to say it's in better shape either, refraining from waxing nostalgic and comparing our then to your now,and avoiding the any talk of you kids these days with your rap and your hip hop and your snoopy dog daddy with the ditty pops,with your fifty cents,and quarter cents.A sober looks shows that just have the world gotten to be a better place after all;it is also grown a bit worse at the exact same rate.;a one step up,a one step back sort of cosmic balance between forward progress,and cultural retreat,that puts man kind on a bell curve of existence,that shows a small segment of joy,ease,and comfort,while equal proportions struggle on,while with little hope in the fortunes with the remainder either on the rise or on the wane that this confounding tide of so many damn things that we grow oblivious the shifts in the quality of our lives.Graduation day is a proper occasion to put a toe in the global waters and I think the mercury shows that things are much as they always have been.
Ten years ago,we busied ourselves with trivial stuff imbued with the importance of in came,911,in1991riches were created in new businesses that never existed,then that economic balloon burst.In81,I had a great job on TV,and in82,Bosom Buddies was canceled. In71,color TV in more living rooms that ever showed young Americans still fighting in combat in Vietnam.In61,satellites beamed live images around the world for the very first time,but those images were of the building of the Berlin Wall.Now this ten year grid shows this same"yin-yang thang",and I'm trying to copyright that;yin-yang thang-
copyright Tom Hanks.This shows this same yin-yang thang on graduation day2011.You know we all have these devices that can make a permanent record of revolutionary change on the other side of the globe,as well as hate filled diet tribes from across town.Fewer and fewer in our country go to bed hungry but did you know see how obesity now affects about half our population.No matter how many bargains we find at the local U-Mart,many of us still struggle to pay the rent and the utilities.Our country is no longer at physical or even ideological war with our enemies for most of the last century,but in the eleven and a half years of the third millennium,our armed forces have been fighting in the field for nine of them.Purchasing intellectual property and the work of artists we admire is as simple as clicking a mouse and paying less than a few bucks,which means you may find that there's no guarantee in making a living at your chosen discipline.Now some advantages particular to this age,are not to be denied;boredom has seemed to have been vanquished, there is always something to do,but hasn't this translated into a perpetual distraction in our lives.In the bathroom,at the dinner table,in the backseat,at a wedding,at a brisk,at a graduation day;there's always something to check,something to tweet, something to watch,something to download,something to play,something to share,something to buy,someone on a voicemail,something to yank at our attention span and it's all in the palm of our hand for a small monthly service fee.That same technology,has allowed for a surplus of celebrities,and that is nothing to cheer about.Anyone,although that Sam Tsui he rocks,anyone can enjoy the perks of notoriety now and the duration of fame has been lengthened from Andy Warhal's brief15minutes,to a good15months,if you're willing to do certain things on camera.Though our Willian language is often the vocabulary of official news speak is boogeyman that is the all seen"big brother",has never emerged, unless you live in North Korea,or run a red light in Beverly Hills,or shop online,or have done something stupid in the wrong place or the wrong time in front of someone with a camera in their cell phone,and that is everybody.So pardon my junior college Latin, the vulgest populi has become the all seeing state and if you cross it Google Search will forever display you screw up,so actually there is a big brother,but he's not in the level of fiction,he's actually all of us,but he lives in our search engines.So no matter how many times I do the calculations,I come up with a social draw,the positives balance the negatives,the x's equal the y's,and our hopes weigh as much as our fears,but I hesitate on that last one because,fear,good lord,fear is a powerful physiological force in2011. We here up in the stands,and surrounding you of this graduating class look to you as we
do every year,hoping you will now somehow through your labors,free us from what we have come to fear,and we have come to fear many things,fear has become the commodity that sell as certainly as sex.Fear is cheap,fear is easy,fear gets attention,fear is spread as fast as gossip and just as glamorous,juicy,and profitable.Fear twists facts into fiction that becomes indistinguishable from ignorance.Fear is a profit churning go to with a home market being your whole family.
You know sitting in the house one day,watching the game on TV not long ago,along came this promo for the local nightly news"Are our schools poisoning our children?That story and our summers hottest bikinis tonight at11"In that I had that school age kids at the time,I fear that they might be being poisoned,and summer was still a few weeks away.
I tooned in to get the scoop,and the actual news stories of that news broadcast was this,
a certain supply of hamburger was found to have a bit to much of a particular bacteria in it and for safeties sake,was being taken off the market.That same hamburger was slated for sale to an out of state school system for its cafeterias,but it was recalled in time. So answering that news program's own question then,no,our schools were not poisoning our children,but yes,that summer there would be some very hot bikinis at the beach.
Now the early American naval commander,John Paul Jones said"If fear is cultivated,it will become stronger,if faith is cultivated it will achieve mastery"and this is why I am a big fan of history,because observations of the American colonies over200years ago by a compatriot of Nathan Hale,who lived in that building right over there,translates word for word of the United States in2011For I take that fear to be fear in a large scale, fear itself intimidating and constant.And I take faith to be,what we hold in ourselves, our American ideal of self-determination.Fear is whispered in our ears and shouted in our faces.Faith must be fostered by the man or woman you see every day in the mirror. The former forever snaps at our heels and our synapsis and delays our course,the later could spur our boot heels to be wonderment,stimulate our creativity,and continue to drive us forward.Fear or faith,which will be our master?
Three men found that they could no longer sleep because of their deep seeded fears,this is a story I'm telling.Their lives were in the state of stasis because of their constant worries.So they set out on a pilgrimage to find a wise man,who lived high in the mountains,
so high above the tree line,that no vegetation grew,no animals lived,not even insects could be found so high up in the mountains in that thin air.When they reached his cave, the first of the three said"help me wise man,for my fear has crippled me"
"What is your fear?"asked the wise man
"I fear death"said the pilgrim"I wonder when it is going to come for me"
"Ah,death"said the wise man"Let me take away this fear my friend.Death will not come to call until you are ready for its embrace.Know that and your fear will go away"
Well this calmed that pilgrim's mind and he feared death no longer.
The wise man turned to the second pilgrim and said"What is it you fear my friend?"
"I fear my new neighbors"said the second pilgrim"They are strangers,who observe holy days different than mine.They have way to many kids.They play music that sounds like noise"
"Ah strangers"said the wise man"I will take away this fear my friend.Return to your home and make a cake for your new neighbors.Bring toys to their children.Join them in their songs,and learn their ways,and you will become familiar with these neighbors,and your fear will go away."
The second man saw the wisdom in these simple instructions,and knew he would no longer fear the family who were his neighbors.There in the cave so high in the mountains that nothing could live,the wise man turned to the last pilgrim and asked of his fear.
"Oh wise man,I fear spiders.When I try to sleep at night,I imagine spiders dropping from the ceiling,and crawling upon my flesh,and I cannot rest"
"Ah,spiders"said the wise man"No shit,why do you think I live way up here?"
Fear will get the worst of the best of us,and peddlers of influence count on that. Throughout our nation's constant struggle to create a more perfect union,establish justice, and ensure our domestic tranquility,we battle fear from outside our borders to within our own hearts every day of our history.Our nation came to be despite fear of retribution for treason from a kingdom across the sea.America was made strong and diverse because here people could live free from the fears that made us their daily lives in whatever land they called the old country.Our history books tell of conflicts taken up to free people from fear.Those kept in slavery in our own states,and deliberate home nation from the rule of tyrants and theologies rooted in fear.The American cause at its best has been the cultivation of the faith that declares we will all live in peace,when we are all free to worship as we choose,when we are free to express our hearts,and when we all seek a place free from fear,but we live in a world where to many of us are to ready to believe and fear things that do not exist,conspiracies abound,divisions are constructed,and the differences between us are not celebrated for making us stronger but calculated and programed to set us against each other.Our faith is tested by unpredictable providence, and threatened when common sense in corrupted by specific interests.
Speaking from54years of experience,the work towards a more perfect union is a never ending concern that involves each and every one of us.Evidence that our nation is becoming a better place is everywhere,but each new day,fear is as the Jersey poet says"lurking in the darkness on the edge of town".
Your rising from bed every morning will give fear its chance to grow stronger just as it will afford faith its chance to blossom.You will make the choice to react to one or create the other,and because you are smart enough to earn you place on this college day at Yale University,you will sense the moment,and you will know what to do.
In the meantime ponder this front in the struggle against ceaseless fear and its ceaseless flow.In the coming months and years veterans of war in Iraq and Afghanistan will finally come home for good.After so many tours,and we know this,some after many tours on the body and soul have spilled a great portion of their lives.For all of them after a long time has spent far away in the harsh realm of war,and they return different from what they were when they left.Surely their faith in themselves is shadowed by a fear of not
knowing what is expected of them next.Now no matter what your view of those wars over there,you can affect the future of our nation right here by taking their fears head on. You can imprint the very next pages of the history of our troubled world by reinforcing the faith of those returning veterans,allowing them to rest,aiding in their recovery, if possible their complete recovery.So let those of us who watch the debate of their long deployments serve them now as they served as they were asked and as they were ordered. Let's provide them a place free of fear,by educating them if they can learn,by employing them as they transition from soldier back to citizen,and by empathizing with the new journey they are starting even though we will never fully understand the journey they just completed.We all will define the true nature of our American identity,not by the parades and the welcome home parties,but now we match their time in the service with service of our own.Give it four years,as many years as you just spent here at Yale,in acts both proactive and spontaneous,and do the things that you can to free veterans of the new uncertainty that awaits them,from the mysterious fear they will face the day after they come home.Cultivate in them the faith to carry on and they will do the rest.
So commencements day arrives,your work begins,work that will not always be joyful to you,labor that might not always fulfill you,and days that will seem like one damn thing after the other.It's true,you will now work every day for the rest of your lives.That full time job,your career as human beings,and as Americans,and as graduates of Yale, is to stand on the fulcrum of fear and faith.Fear at your back,faith in front of you. Which way will you lead?Which way will you move?Move forward,move ever forward,and tweet out the picture of your results.It may make you as famous as Sam Tsui.
Transcription on Chinese
汤姆·汉克斯2011年耶鲁大学毕业生演讲
我知道，在座很多人相信昨晚（2011年5月21日）六点是世界末日（笑声）（掌声）。就算没发生，并不表示它远在天边（笑声）。因为我今天在耶鲁现身，简直跟天启四骑士（代表瘟疫、战争、饥荒、死亡）降临差不多（笑声）（掌声）。但听着，今天是你们的大日子，拜托千万不要关掉手中的电子装置（笑声）。请把你们的iPhone、iPad、sidekicks（滑盖式键盘手机）、Droids（Motorola 手机）和黑莓机全都打开，请录音、拍照、传简讯，大力放送我接下来在台上的所有演出（笑声）（欢呼声）。顺带一提，我会好好戴着这顶帽子，绝不让它掉下（欢呼声）（掌声）。
你们知道，毕业典礼后，你们可以比较自己和他人Twitter和Facebook上的贴文，看看我是否说了什么发人深省的话（笑声）。嘿，不如这样，立刻把我刚刚说的话贴上Twitter（笑声）。给你们一个点子，帮你们找点事做，让朋友知道你们现在在哪里（笑声）。好，然后－好，把这场演讲配上音乐，也许加上几张搞笑图片，让自己成为影片主角，放上网络。如果这部影片爆红，你就会像那只玩纸袋的猫（笑声），或用达达语对话的双胞胎兄弟（笑声），或唱“星期五”的可爱女孩一样受欢迎。嘿（笑声），搞不好你会成为下一个Sam Tsui（耶鲁亚裔学生，拍摄过爆红影片）（欢呼声）（掌声）。
这只是我们美好新世界当中的一个可能性，这个你们即将接手的世界，无论你们是否愿意（笑声）。好日子已经结束，时机已到，我们的未来正等着戴着怪帽子的你们开创（笑声）。这都是因为－你们是耶鲁毕业生（欢呼声）（掌声）。你们是被选定的一群，担负重责大任；你们是最杰出、最聪明的人才；在座每个人都是美国和世界的希望之光。你们是新世代的天才，将在三角向量、方根、除法之后，赋予“人类”这个种族最终定义。你们长大成人之前，各个世代肩上背负的重担，现在轮到你们接手。欢迎共襄盛举。
我有个朋友，他有位富有的叔叔，答应替他付大学学费，无论他打算在学校里待多久。“你应该设法在学校里待越久越好，”那位富有的叔叔说。“因为一旦你踏出校门，余生将日复一日地在工作中打转。”（笑声）总有一天，你们会明白那位富有叔叔的意思。就像总有一天，你们会想不起该死的眼镜放在哪里，或对孩子大吼“把那该死的音乐转小声点”。（笑声）
在像今天这样的场合中，通常我们会反思世界的整体情况，勉励大家贡献心力，让世界得更好；这似乎暗示着这个世界每况愈下。我不确定世界是否真的变得更糟；比起三十年前，不，比起十八年前，不，比起四年前（笑声）。但这也不代表世界变得更好。若不以缅怀过往的方式来比较上一代和这一代的差异，也不提你们这一代像史奴比狗狗（饶舌歌手）那种说话方式和腔调（笑声）（掌声），或不管是像五角（饶舌歌手）还是0.25美分（笑声）。以客观角度来看，这个世界确实变得更好，但同时也变得更糟。前进一步，又倒退一步，彷佛宇宙在科技进步和文化倒退间达成平衡，使人类的进展呈钟形曲线。其中一小部分显示了进步带来的喜悦和安逸，但也显示了相同比例的困境。对于起伏不定的经济和种种混乱局势的不乐观，使我们逐渐忽略生活质量的变化。
毕业典礼是一个谈论全球水资源危机的适当场合，我认为汞污染的情况显示－水资源危机一如往常。
十年前，当我们汲汲营营地为生活打拼时，发生了九一一事件；一九九一年，当各种新兴行业创造
出巨大财富时，美国陷入经济危机；一九八一年，当我准备在电视界大展身手时（笑声），一九八二年，《Bosom Buddies》（汤姆．汉克斯首次展露头角的电视喜剧）惨遭停播（笑声）。一九七一年，当彩色电视逐渐普及时，播出的总是美国青年在越战中出生入死的消息；一九六一年，当卫星首次将实时影像传送到世界各地时，播出的却是柏林围墙开始建造的影像。
这十年当中，世事呈现相同的Yin-Yang Thang（阴阳相生）；我打算为这个说法申请版权（笑声）。阴阳相生，汤姆．汉克斯版权所有（笑声）。在2011年毕业典礼上也显示了相同的阴阳相生，谢谢。我们拥有各种科技设备，能永久记录地球另一端的种种变革，但同时也记录了我国各种充满仇恨的族群。三餐不继的美国人愈来愈少，但你们是否知道，肥胖问题对本国一半的人口造成多大影响？无论我们在本地商场中能找到多少特价品，许多人仍被房租和日常生活开销压得喘不过气来。上世纪大半期间，美国已不再发动实质、或甚至意识形态战争，但迈入千禧年后十一年半的今天，我国军队仍在其中九个战场参战。无论是购买智慧产权物品或我们喜爱的艺术作品，只要点一下鼠标，花点钱就能获得。这意味着你们或许会发现，并不一定能靠自己选择的专业谋生。
这个时代也有其独特的优点，这是无法否认的，例如“无聊”似乎已被击溃（笑声）。人们总是有事可忙，但这不代表总是心不在焉地度日无伤大雅。不论在厕所中、餐桌上、汽车后座、婚礼上，割礼上（笑声）、毕业典礼上，总是有人检视讯息、在Twitter贴文、上网、下载、玩游戏、分享、购物、听语音留言，手中这些每个月仅需付少许服务费的装置占据了我们的注意力。同样的科技也造成名人泛滥现象；这不是什么值得高兴的事（笑声）。任何人－虽然我不得不承认，Sam Tsui确实红得要命（笑声）（欢呼声）－现在，任何人都能享受众所瞩目的滋味，而成名期间，从安迪．沃荷所说的短短十五分钟延长到十五个月，只要你愿意在镜头前做某些事。
虽然我们演艺人员的消息通常由电视上说着正式新闻用语、看起来像“独裁者”的恐怖家伙发布，但这不会造成广大影响；除非我住在北韩，或在比佛利山闯红灯（笑声），或上网购物被发现，或在不合宜的时间、地点做些蠢事，刚好被某人的手机拍下。在座每个人都有机会这么做。忍耐一下我专科程度的拉丁文－舆论在网络上一览无遗，即使你将它删除，搜寻引擎依然能使你做过的蠢事无所遁形。所以，确实有个独裁者，但他不是小说中的虚构人物；事实上，他代表使用搜寻引擎的每一个人。
所以，无论我怎么计算，结果总是不分胜负。正面和负面的发展达成平衡；x和y相等（笑声）；希望和恐惧比例相当。但后者的发展令我忧心，因为恐惧－天哪！恐惧已成为2011年一股强大的势力。看台上围绕着各位毕业生的我们，对每一届毕业生都有相同的期待，希望你们能尽一己之力，使我们免于恐惧。我们面临许多恐惧，恐惧成了轻易就能售出的商品，就像性一样。恐惧廉价、容
易取得；恐惧引人注目、如八卦般传播迅速，也如八卦般耸动、吸引人、有利可图。恐惧能扭曲事实，令人变得无知。恐惧彷佛国内混乱的经济，逐渐波及到所有家庭。
不久前某天，我坐在家里观赏电视球赛转播，看见一则夜间新闻预告：“学校毒害我们的孩子？本专题和夏日最火辣比基尼特辑将于今晚十一点播出。”（笑声）当时我家刚好有学龄孩童，我担心他们可能会在学校里遭到毒害，而夏天还要好几周才会来临，所以－（笑声）我转到新闻台，看看是怎么回事。这则新闻的实际内容是，某家厂商供应的汉堡被验出某种细菌含量偏高，为了安全起见，这批汉堡将全面停售。这批汉堡原本预定出售给它州学校餐厅，所幸及时回收。所以，这则新闻所质疑的问题，答案是－不（笑声），学校并没有毒害学生（笑声）。但没错，那年夏天海边确实出现一些超辣的比基尼（笑声）。
美国前海军指挥官John Paul Jones曾说，“恐惧经过培养将会变得更强大；信念经过培养将会更坚定不移。”这就是历史吸引我的原因。因为观察200多年前Nathan Hale在美国独立战争中的事迹－他曾经住过那栋大楼（欢呼声）（掌声）－逐一对照2011年的美国；在我看来，恐惧本身就是一个令人恐惧的存在，恐惧本身充满威胁、阴魂不散。而我认为，信念深植于我们心中，蕴含在我们独立自主的美国理想中。恐惧无时无刻地在我们耳边窃窃私语、在我们眼前高声呐喊；而信念必须由你们每天在镜中看到的自己培养。前者总是紧追在我们身后、纠缠不休、令我们停滞不前；后者则激励我们、带给我们惊喜、刺激我们的创造力、驱使我们不断地前进。恐惧或信念，何者将成为我们的主宰？
有三个人，某天发现他们再也无法安然入眠，因为他们怀着极深的恐惧－这是我要说的故事（笑声）。他们的人生因为无时无刻的担忧而停滞不前，于是他们展开一趟朝圣之旅，寻访一位住在深山里的智者。那座山高耸入云，草木不生，没有任何动物的踪迹。在如此高耸的深山中，甚至连昆虫也无法生存。当他们抵达智者所住的洞穴时，第一个人说，“请帮助我，智者，我的恐惧令我寝食难安。”
“你的恐惧是什么？”智者问道。
“我恐惧死亡，”朝圣者说，“我不知道死神何时会将我带走。”
“啊，死亡，”智者说。“让我替你消除恐惧吧，朋友。除非你准备投入死亡的怀抱，它才会来找你。只要明白这个道理，你的恐惧就会消失无踪。”
这段话令朝圣者放下心来，他从此不再恐惧死亡。
智者转向第二位朝圣者说，“你恐惧的是什么，朋友？”
“我恐惧我的新邻居，”第二位朝圣者说。“他们是外地人，过着跟我不同的宗教节日；他们的孩子太多，老是演奏一些听起来像噪音的音乐。”
“啊，外地人，”智者说。“我会替你消除恐惧，朋友。回家之后，替你的新邻居烤个蛋糕，送他们孩子一些玩具，加入他们欢唱的行列，了解他们的习俗，这样你就能跟邻居打成一片，恐惧会因此而消失无踪。”
第二位朝圣者领悟到这些简单指示中蕴含的智慧，知道他再也不必对邻居感到恐惧。
这个洞穴位于高耸入云的深山中，没有任何生物能在此生存。
智者转向最后一位朝圣者，询问他的恐惧是什么。
“喔，智者，我害怕蜘蛛（笑声）。每当我准备入睡时，总会想象蜘蛛从天花板垂下，爬上我的身体，令我难以入眠。”
“啊，蜘蛛，”智者说。“该死的，你认为我干嘛要住在这种鬼地方？”
（笑声）（掌声）
恐惧会引发我们内心最脆弱的一面，并将这个影响传播出去。美国藉由不屈不挠地奋斗，创造一个更完美的联邦；维护正义、确保国家安宁。历史上的每一天，我们都不断地与外在和内在的恐惧抗争。美国不畏对岸帝国（英国）以扫除叛乱之名进行报复；美国强大、兼容并蓄。因为在这里，人民能免于所谓“祖国”（英国）赋予他们的恐惧煎熬。我们的历史典籍记载了为使人民免于恐惧而引发的种种抗争，例如对抗主张蓄奴制度者，及蓄意使国家陷入扎根于恐惧的暴政和神学政权统治中的人。
美国用所有努力培养出一个信念：当所有人都能自由地选择宗教信仰；当所有人都能自由地表达心中想法；当所有人都能居住在免于恐惧的地方时，我们将生活在和平中。但我们生活的这个世界，太多人宁可相信及恐惧不存在的事物。阴谋论盛行；分化对立日益严重；族群间的差异并没有使我们变得更强大，反而被有心人利用，造成彼此对立的情况。我们的信念面临无法预知的考验，利益
挂帅的现象扭曲了大众认知，使信念遭受威胁。
我以五十四年的人生经验告诉大家，建立一个更完美的联邦需要不懈的努力，这是每个人的责任。美国正逐渐成为更好的国家，证据随处可见。但日复一日地恐惧就像某位泽西诗人（指著名歌手Bruce Springsteen）所说的，“潜伏在城市的黑暗角落。”（欢呼声）（掌声）
每当新的一天开始，恐惧都有机会成长茁壮，信念也一样有机会开花结果。你们将面临屈服于恐惧或建立信念的抉择。因为你们拥有足以为自己在耶鲁毕业典礼上取得一席之地的智慧，你们将意识到这个抉择时刻，到时你们将明白该怎么做。在这个时刻来临之前，请深思如何与无止尽的恐惧和它无孔不入的影响力抗争。
不久的将来，从伊拉克和阿富汗战场上退役的军人终于能返回家乡。历经如此艰辛的旅程－（掌声）我们知道这一点（掌声），我们知道确实如此。有些人历经无数身心煎熬，耗尽了他们大半生命力。对他们来说，离乡背井多年、处于艰苦的战争中彻底改变了他们。确实，他们的信念因恐惧而蒙上阴影，不确定将会面临什么样的挑战。无论你们对战争有什么看法，你们可以影响美国的未来－让这些军人免于恐惧；你们可以为这个纷乱世界的历史烙下新的一页。加强这些归国军人的信念，让他们静心休养，帮助他们复原－如果他们真能完全复原的话。
目睹他们在受命之下长驻战场所引发的争议，及他们为国家的付出，让我们为他们提供一个免于恐惧的环境。当他们从军人身份转换成一般百姓时，如果他们有意愿学习，请提供他们教育机会；请提供他们就业机会；以同理心看待他们即将展开的新旅程，即使我们无法完全体会他们刚经历过的旅程。
我们将确立美国精神的本质－并非在于举办欢迎他们归国的游行或派对，而在于如何用我们的付出回报他们的贡献。请你们用四年时间，相当于你们在耶鲁求学的期间，主动、自发地付出，尽己所能地扫除等待着那些退伍军人的障碍，消除他们归国后必定会面临的未知恐惧，培养他们勇往直前的信念，他们会靠自己的力量迈向未来。
你们即将毕业，未来的工作即将展开。并非所有工作都能让你乐在其中，付出的结果并非总是能尽如人意，你们或许会日复一日地饱受煎熬。确实如此。从现在开始，你们终身都将背负着一份责任，这是你们的终身使命，是你们身为人类、美国人和耶鲁毕业生的职责，就是站在恐惧和信念的杠杆支点上。恐惧在你后方，信念在你前方。你会往哪个方向倾斜？你会往哪个方向移动？请勇往直前，一路勇往直前，然后用Twitter大肆宣扬你努力的成果（笑声）。搞不好你会像Sam Tsui一样名满天下（笑声）。
谢谢大家，恭喜各位。