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WeareWhatWeChoose选择比天赋更重要RemarksbyJeffBezos,asdeliveredtotheClassof2010Baccalaureate(贝索斯在普林斯顿大学2010年学士毕业典礼上的演讲)May30,2010(2010年5月30日)Asakid,IspentmysummerswithmygrandparentsontheirranchinTexas.Ihelpedfixwindmills,vaccinatecattle,anddootherchores.Wealsowatchedsoapoperaseveryafternoon,especiallyDaysofourLives.MygrandparentsbelongedtoaCaravanClub,agroupofAirstreamtrailerownerswhotraveltogetheraroundtheU.S.andCanada.Andeveryfewsummers,we'djointhecaravan.We'dhitchuptheAirstreamtrailertomygrandfather'scar,andoffwe'dgo,inalinewith300otherAirstreamadventurers.在我还是一个孩子的时候，我的夏天总是在德州祖父母的农场中度过。我帮忙修理风车，为牛接种疫苗，也做其它家务。每天下午，我们都会看肥皂剧，尤其是《我们的岁月》。我的祖父母参加了一个房车俱乐部，那是一群驾驶Airstream拖挂型房车的人们，他们结伴遍游美国和加拿大。每隔几个夏天，我也会加入他们。我们把房车挂在祖父的小汽车后面，然后加入300余名Airstream探险者们组成的浩荡队伍。IlovedandworshippedmygrandparentsandIreallylookedforwardtothesetrips.Ononeparticulartrip,Iwasabout10yearsold.Iwasrollingaroundinthebigbenchseatinthebackofthecar.Mygrandfatherwasdriving.Andmygrandmotherhadthepassengerseat.Shesmokedthroughoutthesetrips,andIhatedthesmell.我爱我的祖父母，我崇敬他们，也真心期盼这些旅程。那是一次我大概十岁时的旅行，我照例坐在后座的长椅上，祖父开着车，祖母坐在他旁边，吸着烟。我讨厌烟味。Atthatage,I'dtakeanyexcusetomakeestimatesanddominorarithmetic.I'dcalculateourgasmileage--figureoutuselessstatisticsonthingslikegroceryspending.I'dbeenhearinganadcampaignaboutsmoking.Ican'trememberthedetails,butbasicallytheadsaid,everypuffofacigarettetakessomenumberofminutesoffofyourlife:Ithinkitmighthavebeentwominutesperpuff.Atanyrate,Idecidedtodothemathformygrandmother.Iestimatedthenumberofcigarettesperdays,estimatedthenumberofpuffspercigaretteandsoon.WhenIwassatisfiedthatI'dcomeupwithareasonablenumber,Ipokedmyheadintothefrontofthecar,tappedmygrandmotherontheshoulder,andproudlyproclaimed,Attwominutesperpuff,you'vetakennineyearsoffyourlife!在那样的年纪，我会找任何借口做些估测或者小算术。我会计算油耗还有杂货花销等鸡毛蒜皮的小事。我听过一个有关吸烟的广告。我记不得细节了，但是广告大意是说，每吸一口香烟会减少几分钟的寿命，大概是两分钟。无论如何，我决定为祖母做个算术。我估测了祖母每天要吸几支香烟，每支香烟要吸几口等等，然后心满意足地得出了一个合理的数字。接着，我捅了捅坐在前面的祖母的头，又拍了拍她的肩膀，然后骄傲地宣称，“每天吸两分钟的烟，你就少活九年!”Ihaveavividmemoryofwhathappened,anditwasnotwhatIexpected.Iexpectedtobeapplaudedformyclevernessandarithmeticskills.Jeff,you'resosmart.Youhadtohavemadesometrickyestimates,figureoutthenumberofminutesinayearanddosomedivision.That'snotwhathappened.Instead,mygrandmotherburstintotears.Isatinthebackseatanddidnotknowwhattodo.Whilemygrandmothersatcrying,mygrandfather,whohadbeendrivinginsilence,pulledoverontotheshoulderofthehighway.Hegotoutofthecarandcamearoundandopenedmydoorandwaitedformetofollow.WasIintrouble?Mygrandfatherwasahighlyintelligent,quietman.Hehadneversaidaharshwordtome,andmaybethiswastobethefirsttime?OrmaybehewouldaskthatIgetbackinthecarandapologizetomygrandmother.Ihadnoexperienceinthisrealmwithmygrandparentsandnowaytogaugewhattheconsequencesmightbe.Westoppedbesidethetrailer.Mygrandfatherlookedatme,andafterabitofsilence,hegentlyandcalmlysaid,Jeff,onedayyou'llunderstandthatit'shardertobekindthanclever.我清晰地记得接下来发生了什么，而那是我意料之外的。我本期待着小聪明和算术技巧能赢得掌声，但那并没有发生。相反，我的祖母哭泣起来。我的祖父之前一直在默默开车，把车停在了路边，走下车来，打开了我的车门，等着我跟他下车。我惹麻烦了吗?我的祖父是一个智慧而安静的人。他从来没有对我说过严厉的话，难道这会是第一次?还是他会让我回到车上跟祖母道歉?我以前从未遇到过这种状况，因而也无从知晓会有什么后果发生。我们在房车旁停下来。祖父注视着我，沉默片刻，然后轻轻地、平静地说：“杰夫，有一天你会明白，善良比聪明更难。”WhatIwanttotalktoyouabouttodayisthedifferencebetweengiftsandchoices.Clevernessisagift,kindnessisachoice.Giftsareeasy--they'regivenafterall.Choicescanbehard.Youcanseduceyourselfwithyourgiftsifyou'renotcareful,andifyoudo,it'llprobablybetothedetrimentofyourchoices.今天我想对你们说的是，天赋和选择不同。聪明是一种天赋，而善良是一种选择。天赋得来很容易——毕竟它们与生俱来。而选择则颇为不易。如果一不小心，你可能被天赋所诱惑，这可能会损害到你做出的选择。Thisisagroupwithmanygifts.I'msureoneofyourgiftsisthegiftofasmartandcapablebrain.I'mconfidentthat'sthecasebecauseadmissioniscompetitiveandifthereweren'tsomesignsthatyou'reclever,thedeanofadmissionwouldn'thaveletyouin.在座各位都拥有许多天赋。我确信你们的天赋之一就是拥有精明能干的头脑。之所以如此确信，是因为入学竞争十分激烈，如果你们不能表现出聪明智慧，便没有资格进入这所学校。Yoursmartswillcomeinhandybecauseyouwilltravelinalandofmarvels.Wehumans--ploddingasweare--willastonishourselves.We'llinventwaystogeneratecleanenergyandalotofit.Atombyatom,we'llassembletinymachinesthatwillentercellwallsandmakerepairs.Thismonthcomestheextraordinarybutalsoinevitablenewsthatwe'vesynthesizedlife.Inthecomingyears,we'llnotonlysynthesizeit,butwe'llengineerittospecifications.Ibelieveyou'llevenseeusunderstandthehumanbrain.JulesVerne,MarkTwain,Galileo,Newton--allthecuriousfromtheageswouldhavewantedtobealivemostofallrightnow.Asacivilization,wewillhavesomanygifts,justasyouasindividualshavesomanyindividualgiftsasyousitbeforeme.你们的聪明才智必定会派上用场，因为你们将在一片充满奇迹的土地上行进。我们人类，尽管跬步前行，却终将令自己大吃一惊。我们能够想方设法制造清洁能源，也能够一个原子一个原子地组装微型机械，使之穿过细胞壁，然后修复细胞。这个月，有一个异常而不可避免的事情发生了——人类终于合成了生命。在未来几年，我们不仅会合成生命，还会按说明书驱动它们。我相信你们甚至会看到我们理解人类的大脑，儒勒·凡尔纳，马克·吐温，伽利略，牛顿——所有那些充满好奇之心的人都希望能够活到现在。作为文明人，我们会拥有如此之多的天赋，就像是坐在我面前的你们，每一个生命个体都拥有许多独特的天赋。Howwillyouusethesegifts?Andwillyoutakeprideinyourgiftsorprideinyourchoices?你们要如何运用这些天赋呢?你们会为自己的天赋感到骄傲，还是会为自己的选择感到骄傲?IgottheideatostartAmazon16yearsago.IcameacrossthefactthatWebusagewasgrowingat2,300percentperyear.I'dneverseenorheardofanythingthatgrewthatfast,andtheideaofbuildinganonlinebookstorewithmillionsoftitle