利比里亞總統瑟利夫夫人畢業留言
harvard graduates, class of XX: 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' club" didn't mean it was right, and i was not deterred. today, an unprecedented number of women hold leadership positions in our country, and we intend to increase that number.
哈佛大學XX屆畢業生，我敦促你們勇敢無畏地面對未來。某件事還沒做成，並不意味着它不能做成。我競選總統時，沒有因爲從無婦女在非洲當過總統，而感到畏縮。不能因爲利比里亞政府總是被男人控制，就說明這是對的，我沒有被嚇住。今天，利比里亞領導崗位上的婦女，數量前所未有，我們還將繼續增加。
as you approach your future, there will be ample opportunity to become jaded and cynical, but i urge you to resist cynicism -- the world is still a beautiful place and change is possible. as i have noted here today, my path to the presidency was never straightforward or guaranteed. prison, death threats, and exile provided every reason to quit, to forget about the dream, yet i persisted, convinced that my country and people are so much better than our recent history indicates. looking back on my life, i have come to appreciate its difficult moments. i believe i am a better leader, a better person with a richer appreciation for the present because of my past.
當你們進入社會，很有可能變得厭倦和偏激，但是我希望你們能夠抵制這種憤世嫉俗的心態。這個世界依然是一個美麗的地方，改變是可能發生的。正如我今天在這裏所說，我的總統之路並不順利，充滿變數。監獄、死亡、流亡，任何一個理由都能使我退出，忘掉自己的夢想，但是我堅持下來了，堅信我的國家和人民絕不應該是那時的樣子，而應該好得多。回顧我的人生，我對那些艱難時刻，反而感到非常珍惜。因爲有了那些過去的痛苦，我才更珍惜現在，它讓我成了一個更好的領導人、更好的人。
the size of your dreams must always exceed your current capacity to achieve them. if your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough. if you start off with a small dream, you may not have much left when it is fulfilled because along the way, life will task your dreams and make demands on you. i am, however, bullish about the future of our world because of you. we share one defining characteristic that prepares us to transform our world -- we are all harvard university graduates. when we add to that the traditional quests for excellence for which we are known, there is no telling what we can accomplish.
你們要敢於懷有大夢想，不要擔心超過自己現在的能力。如果你的夢想不令你感到害怕，那就說明它們不夠大。如果你的夢想很小，當它實現的時候，你會發現人生頓時空空蕩蕩，因爲你的夢想爲人生創造出任務，對你提出要求。不過我相信，你們會令我們的世界有一個更美好的未來，我充滿信心。我們有一個共同的特點，那就是我們都是哈佛大學的畢業生，這使得我們都必須做好去改變世界的準備。當我們接受這種傳統，爲了追求卓越，去開拓那些未知的領域，沒有人能夠預言我們能達到怎樣的成就。
go forth and embrace a future that awaits you.
勇敢向前，未來正在前方等着你們。