By+Tim+Cook

在演講中，蘋果現(xiàn)任CEO蒂姆·庫(kù)克鼓勵(lì)大家尋找自己的“北極星”，庫(kù)克說(shuō)，他有兩顆指引了人生的北極星。第一顆是馬丁·路德·金。他引導(dǎo)自己學(xué)會(huì)探索自我，明辨是非黑白，樹(shù)立正確的價(jià)值觀。而第二顆就是喬布斯。他徹底顛覆了自己之前的認(rèn)知，讓他開(kāi)始質(zhì)疑一切，并相信只要努力工作，就可以改變世界。

Tim Cooks 2015 Commencement Address at George Washington University1

Hello GW. Thank you very much President Knapp for that kind intro. Trustees， faculty and deans of the university， my fellow honorees，2 and especially you， the class of 2015. Congratulations to you. You made it. Its a privilege， a rare privilege of a lifetime to be with you today.

Before I begin today， they asked me to make a standard announcement. Youve heard this before. About silencing your phones. Those of you with an iPhone， just place it in silent mode. If you dont have an iPhone， please pass it to the center aisle3. Apple has a world-class recycling program.4

You know， this is really an amazing place. And for a lot of you， Im sure that being here in Washington， the very center of our democracy， was a big draw5 when you were choosing which school to go to. This place has a powerful pull6. It was here that Dr. Martin Luther King7 challenged Americans to make real the promises of democracy， to make justice a reality for all of Gods children. And it was here that President Ronald Reagan8 called on us to believe in ourselves and to believe in our capacity to perform great deeds. Id like to start this morning by telling you about my first visit here. In the summer of 1977—yes， Im a little old—I was 16 years old and living in Robertsdale， the small town in southern Alabama that I grew up in. At the end of my junior year of high school Id won essay contest sponsored9 by the National Rural Electric Association. I cant remember what the essay was about， what I do remember very clearly is writing it by hand， draft after draft after draft. Typewriters were very expensive and my family could not afford one.

I was one of two kids from Baldwin County that was chosen to go to Washington along with hundreds of other kids across the country. Before we left， the Alabama delegation took a trip to our state capital in Montgomery10 for a meeting with the governor. The governors name was George C. Wallace11. The same George Wallace who in 1963 stood in the schoolhouse door at the University of Alabama to block African Americans from enrolling12. Wallace embraced the evils of segregation13.

My heroes in life were Dr. Martin Luther King， and Robert F. Kennedy14， who had fought against the very things that Wallace stood for.

So I had to figure out for myself what was right and true. It was a search. It was a process. It drew on the moral sense that Id learned from my parents， and in church， and in my own heart， and led me on my own journey of discovery.

I found books in the public library that they probably didnt know they had. They all pointed to the fact that Wallace was wrong. That injustices like segregation had no place in our world. That equality is a right.

As I said， I was only 16 when I met Governor Wallace， so I shook his hand as we were expected to do. But shaking his hand felt like a betrayal of my own beliefs. It felt wrong. Like I was selling a piece of my soul.

From Montgomery we flew to Washington. It was the first time I had ever been on an airplane. In fact it was the first time that I traveled out of the South. On June 15， 1977， I was one of 900 high schoolers greeted by the new president， President Jimmy Carter on the south lawn of the White House， right there on the other side of the ellipse.15

I was one of the lucky ones， who got to shake his hand. Carter was kind and compassionate； he held the most powerful job in the world but he had not sacrificed any of his humanity16.

In the space of a week， I had come face to face with two men who guaranteed themselves a place in history. They came from the same region. They were from the same political party. But they looked at the world in very different ways. It was clear to me， that one was right， and one was wrong.

Twenty years after my visit to Washington， I met someone who made me question everything， who upended17 all of my assumptions in the very best way. That was Steve Jobs.

Steve had built a successful company. He had been sent away and he returned to find it in ruins. He didnt know it at the time， but he was about to dedicate the rest of his life to rescuing it， and leading it to heights greater than anyone could ever imagine. Anyone， that is， except for Steve.

His vision for Apple was a company that turned powerful technology into tools that were easy to use， tools that would help people realize their dreams. And change the world for the better.

Steve was an idealist. And in that way he reminded me of how I felt as a teenager. In that first meeting he convinced me if we worked hard and made great products， we too could help change the world. And to my surprise， I was hooked18. I took the job and changed my life. Its been 17 years and I have never once looked back.

At Apple we believe the work should be more than just about improving your own self. Its about improving the lives of others as well. Our products do amazing things. And just as Steve envisioned， they empower people all over the world.19

Our commitment goes beyond the products themselves to how theyre made， to our impact on the environment， to the role we play in demanding and promoting equality， and in improving education. We believe that a company that has values and acts on them can really change the world. And an individual can too. That can be you. That must be you. Graduates， your values matter. They are your North Star. And work takes on new meaning when you feel you are pointed in the right direction. Otherwise， its just a job， and life is too short for that. We need the best and brightest of your generation to lead in government and in business， in the science and in the arts， in journalism and in academia20.

So find your North Star. Let it guide you in life， and work， and in your lifes work. Now， I suspect some of you arent buying21 this.

I wont take it personally. Its no surprise that people are skeptical， especially here in Washington.

Silicon Valley22 is a special place. The kind of place where theres no problem that cant be solved. No matter how difficult or complex， thats part of its essential quality， a very sincere sort of optimism. Back in the 90s， Apple ran an advertising campaign we called“Think Different.” It was pretty simple. Every ad was a photograph of one of our heroes. People who had the audacity23 to challenge and change the way we all live. People like Gandhi and Jackie Robinson， Martha Graham and Albert Einstein， Amelia Earhart and Miles Davis.24 These people still inspire us. They remind us to live by our deepest values and reach for our highest aspirations.25

Congratulations Class of 2015. Id like to take one photo of you， because this is the best view in the world. And its a great one. Thank you very much.

1. Tim Cook： 蒂姆·庫(kù)克，蘋果公司現(xiàn)任CEO；commencement：（大學(xué)或高中的）畢業(yè)典禮；George Washington University： 喬治·華盛頓大學(xué)，簡(jiǎn)稱GWU或者GW，美國(guó)著名私立大學(xué)。

2. trustee：（公司、學(xué)院等的）理事/董事，理事會(huì)成員；honoree： 主賓。

3. aisle： 過(guò)道。

4. 蘋果公司有世界一流的回收項(xiàng)目。

5. draw： n. 有吸引力的人（或物）。

6. pull： n. 吸引力。

7. Dr. Martin Luther King： 馬丁·路德·金博士（1929—1968），美國(guó)民權(quán)運(yùn)動(dòng)領(lǐng)袖，1964年獲諾貝爾和平獎(jiǎng)，主張以非暴力抗?fàn)幏?zhēng)取非裔美國(guó)人的基本權(quán)利。1968 年 4 月 4 日，在美國(guó)田納西州孟菲斯遇刺身亡。

8. Ronald Reagan： 羅納德·里根（1911—2004），第40任美國(guó)總統(tǒng)。

9. sponsor： 發(fā)起，舉辦。

10. Montgomery： 蒙哥馬利，阿拉巴馬州（Alabama）的首府。

11. George C. Wallace： 喬治·科利·華萊士（1919—1998），曾三次出任阿拉巴馬州州長(zhǎng)，四次參選美國(guó)總統(tǒng)。在20世紀(jì)60年代的非裔美國(guó)民權(quán)運(yùn)動(dòng)期間，華萊士代表民主黨的南方白人保守勢(shì)力及種族主義，曾為阻擋阿拉巴馬大學(xué)對(duì)黑人開(kāi)放而擋住校門。

12. enroll： 入學(xué)。

13. segregation：（尤指種族）隔離政策。

14. Robert F. Kennedy： 羅伯特·弗朗西斯·肯尼迪（1925—1968），約翰·肯尼迪總統(tǒng)的弟弟，在肯尼迪總統(tǒng)任期內(nèi)曾擔(dān)任美國(guó)司法部長(zhǎng)，在和平解決古巴導(dǎo)彈危機(jī)和促進(jìn)民權(quán)方面發(fā)揮了極大的作用。

15. Jimmy Carter： 吉米·卡特（1924— ），第37任美國(guó)總統(tǒng)；ellipse： 橢圓形，這里指美國(guó)總統(tǒng)的橢圓形辦公室。

16. humanity： 仁慈，博愛(ài)。

17. upend： 顛倒，顛覆。

18. hooked： 對(duì)……上癮（著迷）的。

19. envision： 展望，設(shè)想；empower：給予（某人）權(quán)力，使自主。

20. academia： 學(xué)術(shù)界，（尤指）高等學(xué)府。

21. buy： 相信，接受（尤指不像真的或不合理的事）。

22. Silicon Valley： 硅谷，美國(guó)加州圣塔克拉拉谷（Santa Clara Valley）的別稱，云集了美國(guó)頂尖的高科技公司。

23. audacity： 無(wú)畏，大膽。

24. Gandhi： 圣雄甘地（1869—1948），帶領(lǐng)印度脫離英國(guó)殖民地統(tǒng)治、邁向獨(dú)立；Jackie Robinson：杰基·羅賓森（1919—1972），是美國(guó)職棒大聯(lián)盟現(xiàn)代史上第一位非裔美國(guó)球員；Martha Graham：瑪莎·葛蘭姆（1894—1991），美國(guó)舞蹈家，也是現(xiàn)代舞最早的創(chuàng)始人之一；Amelia Earhart： 阿梅莉亞·埃爾哈特（1897—1937），美國(guó)女飛行員和女權(quán)運(yùn)動(dòng)者，是第一位獨(dú)自飛越大西洋的女性；Miles Davis： 邁爾士·戴維斯（1926—1991），美國(guó)爵士樂(lè)演奏家、作曲家、指揮家，20世紀(jì)最有影響力的音樂(lè)人之一。

25. 他們喚醒了我們內(nèi)心深處的價(jià)值觀，激勵(lì)著我們?nèi)?shí)現(xiàn)最高遠(yuǎn)的人生抱負(fù)。aspiration： 志向，抱負(fù)。