祝福的话太容易说了,太多脱口而出的好意,在中国催生了一代又一代的巨婴。
祝你好运,祝你幸福,祝你健康,祝你万事如意……
正确无意义的善良,有效维持了人际秩序,但这改变不了它的本质,那就是“事不关己,高高挂起”。
所以看见下面这则号称“全球最佳”的毕业致辞,很受启发。
在“五四”这样一个本就诞生于危时的纪念日,格外想要跟小伙伴们分享:我们需要去直面生活,感受磨难,经历不公,处理背叛,体验孤独。
站到人生的暗面,反思“美德”的价值和“幸福”的来之不易。
就像视频里说的,我们要祝各位青年“不幸,而痛苦”。
点击视频观看

这位演讲者来头不小。他是在美国拥有极高地位的首席大法官,约翰·罗伯茨。
2017年6月,他在16岁的儿子杰克所在的卡迪根高中毕业典礼上,发表了这样的讲话:
“在未来的很多年中,
我希望你被不公正地对待过,
唯有如此
你才真正懂得公正的价值。”
From time to time in the years to come, I hope you will be treated unfairly, so that you will come to know the value of justice.
“我希望你遭受背叛,
唯有如此
你才领悟到忠诚之重要。”
I hope that you will suffer betrayal because that will teach you the importance of loyalty.
“抱歉的说,
我会祝福你时常感到孤独,
唯有如此
你才不会把良朋益友视为人生中的理所当然。"
Sorry to say, but I hope you will be lonely from time to time so that you don’t take friends for granted.
“我祝福你人生旅途中时常运气不佳,
唯有如此
你才意识到概率和机遇在人生中扮演的角色,
进而理解你的成功并不完全是命中注定,
而别人的失败也不是天经地义。"
I wish you bad luck, again, from time to time so that you will be conscious of the role of chance in life and understand that your success is not completely deserved and that the failure of others is not completely deserved either.
“当你失败的时候,
时不时地,
我希望你的对手会因为你的失败而幸灾乐祸,
唯有如此
才能让你意识到有风度的竞争精神之重要。”
And when you lose, as you will from time to time, I hope every now and then, your opponent will gloat over your failure. It is a way for you to understand the importance of sportsmanship.
“我祝福你会被忽视,
唯有如此
你才会意识到倾听他人的重要性。”
I hope you’ll be ignored so you know the importance of listening to others,
“我祝福你遭受切肤之痛,
唯有如此
才能让你感同身受,从而对别人有同情的理解。”
and I hope you will have just enough pain to learn compassion.
“无论我怎么想,
这些都将在生命中必然发生。
而你能否从中获益,
取决于你是否能从你的不幸中领悟到想要传递给你的信息。”
Whether I wish these things or not, they’re going to happen.And whether you benefit from them or not will depend upon your ability to see the message in your misfortunes.
每个家长都希望自己孩子顺利和幸福。尤其是像卡迪根这样精英二代云集的学府,每个孩子的起步,都太顺利。他们可能对“公正”“挑战”这些概念有所了解,但却没有过切身的体认。
所以罗伯茨的致辞,对于这些孩子尤为珍贵。但他说的并不是简单的苦难教育,而是更走心的人生良言:
人的一生没有那么容易,世界也没有这么完美,人总会遭遇挫折和失败。
不要把权利和幸福当做理所当然。公正和幸福都需要争取,而且来之不易。
除了这一连串的“I hope you will”的“负能量”,在致辞尾声,罗伯茨还引用了鲍勃迪伦写给儿子的歌Forever Young,歌词里充满暖意。
May God bless and keep you always,
May your wishes all come true,
May you always do for others
And let others do for you.
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.
May you grow up to be righteous,
May you grow up to be true,
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you.
May you always be courageous,
Stand upright and be strong,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.
May your hands always be busy,
May your feet always be swift,
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift.
May your heart always be joyful,
May your song always be sung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.
歌词里说:
愿你与人为善,相互扶持;
愿你建成通往群星的天梯;
稳妥沿它而上;愿你永远年轻;
愿你成为正直之人;愿你成就真实自我;
愿你永远感知真理,看向身边无尽光明;
愿你勇敢无惧,坚强可靠;
愿你永远年轻
—END—
每日一刻,尽在友邻一刻

这一刻,用英语看见世界
不喧哗,自有声
往期
点击左下角“阅读原文”,试听友邻优课
继续阅读
阅读原文