寻找你的“北极星”

By+Tim+Cook

在演講中，苹果现任CEO蒂姆·库克鼓励大家寻找自己的“北极星”，库克说，他有两颗指引了人生的北极星。第一颗是马丁·路德·金。他引导自己学会探索自我，明辨是非黑白，树立正确的价值观。而第二颗就是乔布斯。他彻底颠覆了自己之前的认知，让他开始质疑一切，并相信只要努力工作，就可以改变世界。

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·库克，蘋果公司现任CEO；commencement：（大学或高中的）毕业典礼；George Washington University： 乔治·华盛顿大学，简称GWU或者GW，美国著名私立大学。

2. trustee：（公司、学院等的）理事/董事，理事会成员；honoree： 主宾。

3. aisle： 过道。

4. 苹果公司有世界一流的回收项目。

5. draw： n. 有吸引力的人（或物）。

6. pull： n. 吸引力。

7. Dr. Martin Luther King： 马丁·路德·金博士（1929—1968），美国民权运动领袖，1964年获诺贝尔和平奖，主张以非暴力抗争法争取非裔美国人的基本权利。1968 年 4 月 4 日，在美国田纳西州孟菲斯遇刺身亡。

8. Ronald Reagan： 罗纳德·里根（1911—2004），第40任美国总统。

9. sponsor： 发起，举办。

10. Montgomery： 蒙哥马利，阿拉巴马州（Alabama）的首府。

11. George C. Wallace： 乔治·科利·华莱士（1919—1998），曾三次出任阿拉巴马州州长，四次参选美国总统。在20世纪60年代的非裔美国民权运动期间，华莱士代表民主党的南方白人保守势力及种族主义，曾为阻挡阿拉巴马大学对黑人开放而挡住校门。

12. enroll： 入学。

13. segregation：（尤指种族）隔离政策。

14. Robert F. Kennedy： 罗伯特·弗朗西斯·肯尼迪（1925—1968），约翰·肯尼迪总统的弟弟，在肯尼迪总统任期内曾担任美国司法部长，在和平解决古巴导弹危机和促进民权方面发挥了极大的作用。

15. Jimmy Carter： 吉米·卡特（1924— ），第37任美国总统；ellipse： 椭圆形，这里指美国总统的椭圆形办公室。

16. humanity： 仁慈，博爱。

17. upend： 颠倒，颠覆。

18. hooked： 对……上瘾（着迷）的。

19. envision： 展望，设想；empower：给予（某人）权力，使自主。

20. academia： 学术界，（尤指）高等学府。

21. buy： 相信，接受（尤指不像真的或不合理的事）。

22. Silicon Valley： 硅谷，美国加州圣塔克拉拉谷（Santa Clara Valley）的别称，云集了美国顶尖的高科技公司。

23. audacity： 无畏，大胆。

24. Gandhi： 圣雄甘地（1869—1948），带领印度脱离英国殖民地统治、迈向独立；Jackie Robinson：杰基·罗宾森（1919—1972），是美国职棒大联盟现代史上第一位非裔美国球员；Martha Graham：玛莎·葛兰姆（1894—1991），美国舞蹈家，也是现代舞最早的创始人之一；Amelia Earhart： 阿梅莉亞·埃尔哈特（1897—1937），美国女飞行员和女权运动者，是第一位独自飞越大西洋的女性；Miles Davis： 迈尔士·戴维斯（1926—1991），美国爵士乐演奏家、作曲家、指挥家，20世纪最有影响力的音乐人之一。

25. 他们唤醒了我们内心深处的价值观，激励着我们去实现最高远的人生抱负。aspiration： 志向，抱负。