美联储主席鲍威尔 2025普林斯顿大学毕业演讲

摘要：Congratulations to the Princeton University class of 2025 on the tremendous achievement of earning your degree and to the parents,

Congratulations to the Princeton University class of 2025 on the tremendous achievement of earning your degree and to the parents, family members, friends, and mentors whose support and encouragement made this day possible.

祝贺普林斯顿大学2025届的同学们取得了获得学位的巨大成就，同时也感谢家长、家人、朋友和导师们的支持和鼓励，让这一天成为可能。

Give yourself a round of applause.

给自己鼓掌一下。

So, 50 years ago... I can't believe it.

所以，50年前……真不敢相信。

But 50 years ago, almost to the day, I was sitting where you are, and I was listening to a speaker deliver a speech, neither of which I can recall today.

但是50年前，几乎就在同一天，我坐在你们现在的位置上，听一位演讲者发表演讲，这两件事我现在都记不起来了。

So what I plan to do today is to share some things with you that I believe would've been useful for me to hear back then.

所以今天我打算分享一些我认为当时听一听会很有用的东西。

For those of you who are fundamentally unsure of your path, I was you.

对于你们中那些根本不确定自己道路的人，我就是曾经的你们。

Rather than studying, I had spent my freshman year with fellow campus musicians playing my Martin D-35 acoustic guitar.

与其说我在学习，倒不如说我大一那年是和校园里的其他音乐人一起演奏我的马丁D-35民谣吉他度过的。

It was a high school graduation present and one that my parents surely regretted.

这是一份高中毕业礼物，我父母肯定后悔送了这份礼物。

While I still played that guitar, my freshman grades said clearly that I needed to get my act together academically, and by senior year I had done so.

虽然我依然弹着吉他，但我大一的成绩清楚地表明我需要在学术上振作起来，到了大四那年，我已经做到了。

But I had no real plan for life after Princeton.

但我对普林斯顿大学毕业后的人生并没有明确的规划。

I'd grown up in Washington, DC, majored in politics.

我是在华盛顿特区长大的，主修政治学。

As you know, Princeton graduates have a long and distinguished record of service to the nation and to humanity, and that left me with a single thought, which was I wanted to have a private-sector career and also serve periodically in government.

你们都知道，普林斯顿的毕业生一直有着为国家和人类服务的卓越传统，这让我产生了一个想法：我想从事私营部门的工作，同时定期参与政府服务。

I was thinking at the time of people like Princeton's George Shultz, who was a giant of that era.

我当时想到的是像普林斯顿大学的乔治·舒尔茨这样的人，他是那个时代的巨人。

And there are, of course, countless examples across the political spectrum, including presidents, senators, members of Congress, governors, judges.

当然，在整个政治光谱中，有无数的例子，包括总统、参议员、国会议员、州长和法官。

Of course, most of those who serve, though, are not public figures.

当然，大多数投身公共服务的人并不是公众人物。

I could just as well point to classmates who devoted their working lives to teaching high school kids.

我也同样可以提到那些同学，他们毕生致力于教授高中生。

For me, there's no higher calling, honestly.

说实话，对我而言，没有比这更高的使命了。

Many of my classmates and friends went straight into prestigious graduate schools, politics, Wall Street.

我的许多同学和朋友直接进入了着名的研究生院、政界或华尔街工作。

Others went off to global capitals, the military, or the Peace Corps.

其他人则前往世界各地的首都，加入军队或和平队。

I had brushed off my parents' one academic suggestion, which was to major in economics, which at that time struck me as, if I'm being honest, boring and useless.

我忽视了父母提出的唯一一个学术建议，那就是主修经济学，因为在那时，坦白说，我觉得这既无聊又无用。

After 13 years at the Federal Reserve, I fully admit that I was completely wrong about that.

在美联储工作了13年后，我完全承认我当时完全错了。

So after graduation, I had no plan and no job.

毕业后，我既没有计划，也没有工作。

I wound up putting labels on shelves in a warehouse for six months, and I didn't feel great about that.

我最后在仓库给货架上的标签工作了六个月，对此我感觉不太好。

One of my closest friends was getting a master's at Stanford, and I could only think, "Nice going, Jay, you really nailed that." But in hindsight, that time in the warehouse was a blessing, and it was exactly what I needed.

我最要好的朋友在斯坦福读研，我当时只能想， “干得漂亮，杰伊，你真牛。 ” 但事后看来，在仓库那段时光其实是个福分，正是我所需要的。

The next fall, I entered law school, and for the first time, I was highly resolved to make the most of the opportunity.

第二年秋天，我进入了法学院，第一次我下定决心要充分利用这个机会。

You know what?

你知道什么？

We all move at our own pace, and that's okay.

我们每个人都有自己的节奏，这没有问题。

50 years later, I can tell you something I did not know then: The vast majority of what you need to know, about work, about relationships, about yourself, about life, you have yet to learn.

50年后的今天，我可以告诉你们一些我当时并不知道的事情：关于工作、人际关系、自我认知以及生活，你们需要了解的绝大部分内容，都还有待学习。

And that itself is a tremendous gift.

而这一点本身就是一个巨大的礼物。

Over the remainder of your life, you can, and you must, continue to educate yourself and to grow as a person, becoming more focused on what really matters, more widely knowledgeable, better read, more disciplined, more strategic.

在你们余生中，你们可以也必须继续自我教育，个人成长，更加关注真正重要的事物，知识更加广博，阅读更多书籍，更有纪律性，更具战略性。

But also wiser, kinder, more empathetic, more generous, more loving, more forgiving of others, and not least, of yourself.

但也要更明智、更善良、更有同理心、更慷慨、更充满爱意、更能原谅他人，以及同样重要的是，原谅自己。

Each of us is a work in progress, and the possibilities for self-improvement are limitless, which is a wonderful thing.

我们每个人都在不断进步，自我提升的可能性是无限的，这真是太好了。

Another thing I've realized is that while hard work, determination, and creativity matter a great deal to success in life, luck plays a big role too.

我还意识到，虽然努力工作、决心和创造力对生活中的成功至关重要，但运气也起着重要作用。

All of us here are tremendously lucky.

我们所有人在这里都极其幸运。

I know that at a handful of critical times in my life, I got really lucky, and that began at birth.

我知道，在我生命中的少数几个关键时刻，我运气非常好，而这种好运从我出生时就开始了。

My parents were well-educated, and they gave the six Powell kids a safe, loving home, and they placed a high value on learning.

我的父母受过良好教育，他们给了六个波韦尔孩子一个安全、充满爱的家，并且非常重视学习。

It gave us everything we needed to thrive.

它给了我们所需的一切，让我们能够茁壮成长。

That bit of luck led to the good luck that I share with all of you: the chance to earn a degree from America's finest university.

那一点幸运带来了我与你们共有的好运气：有机会从美国最好的大学获得学位。

Another thing that I've learned along the way is that as you strive in coming years to reach your full potential, you'll need to take risks, and yes, to make mistakes.

我在人生旅途中领悟到的另一件事是，当你们在未来几年努力发挥自己的全部潜能时，你们需要勇于冒险，是的，也要敢于犯错。

Everyone, and I mean everyone, makes mistakes.

每个人，我是说每个人，都会犯错。

Take it from an expert.

听听专家的意见吧。

But the bigger mistake is to avoid taking risks.

但更大的错误是避免冒险。

If you're not failing from time to time, you're not asking enough of yourself.

如果你不时而不失败，那就说明你对自己的要求还不够高。

Sooner than you think, many of you will be asked to assume leadership roles.

很快，你们中的许多人就会被要求承担领导角色。

It is very, very common to feel, as I once did, that you're not ready.

感到自己还没有准备好，这是非常非常常见的。

Just know that no one is really ready.

要知道，没有人真的准备好了。

All I can say to you is, go for it.

我只能说，加油，放手一搏。

Throw yourself into the deep end of the pool.

把自己扔进深水区。

Believe in yourself.

相信自己。

Take risks.

冒险。

When you fall down, and you will fall down, get up and repeat the cycle.

当你跌倒时——你们肯定会跌倒的——站起来，然后重复这个过程。

And as you do, assume higher responsibility, understand that a big part of your job is to bring along the people behind you.

并且在做的过程中，承担更高的责任，明白你的一个重要任务是带动身后的人。

Be the leader that people can learn from, the one that people wanna follow.

成为人们能从中学习的领导者，成为人们愿意追随的那个人。

My next point is closely related, and that is that a little bit of initiative at the right time can make all the difference.

我接下来要讲的与此密切相关，那就是在恰当的时机稍加主动行动，就能带来天壤之别。

Initiative is the rocket fuel of life.

主动性是生命中的火箭燃料。

Now, I'm no entrepreneur, I didn't start a major tech company, but as I look back, many of the most important developments in my life trace back to a few occasions where I showed just a little bit of initiative.

现在，我可不是企业家，我没有创办过大型科技公司，但当我回顾过去时，我发现生活中许多最重要的发展都源于几次我稍微展现了一些主动性的时候。

I'll give you one example out of many.

我给你们举一个例子，当然这样的例子还有很多。

I was a very junior associate, and the man who ran my firm, Nicholas F. Brady, was a former United States senator whose career had spanned the private sector and public service.

我是一名非常初级的助理，而我的公司的负责人尼古拉斯·F·布雷迪曾是美国参议员，他的职业生涯横跨私营部门和公共服务领域。

I wanted to meet him but realized, ultimately, I was gonna have to make that happen.

我想见他，但最终意识到，我得主动促成这件事。

So one day, I finally forced myself to walk up the stairs to his corner office.

于是有一天，我终于强迫自己走上楼梯，来到他位于角落的办公室。

I asked for an audience and was ushered in.

我请求会面，随即被引见入内。

I was very nervous.

我非常紧张。

The meeting was very brief.

会议非常简短。

And as I walked down those stairs afterward, I was thinking, "Well, at least I tried." To my great surprise, two months later, Nick Brady asked me to work on a project with him, and a year or so after that, he became the Secretary of Treasury of the United States.

当我走下那些楼梯后，我在想，“好吧，至少我试过了” 。令我大吃一惊的是，两个月后，尼克·布雷迪邀请我和他一起做一个项目，大约一年后，他成为了美国的财政部长。

And in time, he asked me to serve under him as an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.

后来，他问我是否愿意在他的手下担任财政部助理部长。

That enormously challenging role whet my appetite for further public service and ultimately proved to be a gateway for my appointment to the Federal Reserve Board.

那个极具挑战性的角色激起了我进一步从事公共服务的渴望，最终证明是通往美联储理事会任命的一扇门。

So if I hadn't forced myself to walk up those stairs and take what I saw as a risky and potentially awkward step, I wouldn't be standing here today.

所以，如果当初我没有强迫自己走上那段楼梯，迈出在我看来充满风险、可能令人尴尬的一步，今天我就不会站在这里。

I can think of long-term friendships and one marriage, my own, that turned on a moment's initiative.

我可以想到长期的友谊和一段婚姻，我自己的婚姻，都是在某个时刻因为主动而形成的。

On occasions like that, we risk failure, awkwardness, embarrassment, and rejection.

在类似场合，我们可能会遭遇失败、尴尬、窘迫，甚至被拒绝的风险。

But that's how we create the career opportunities, the great friendships, and the loves that make life worth living.

但正是这样，我们才创造了让自己值得拥有的事业机会、珍贵友谊和让人生充满意义的爱情。

So the combination of luck, the courage to make mistakes, and a little initiative can lead to much success.

因此，运气、敢于犯错的勇气和一点主动性相结合，可以带来巨大的成功。

But know this: the world needs more from you than personal achievements and individual success.

但请记住：世界对你们的期望远不止于个人成就和单打独斗的成功。

I strongly urge you to find time in your careers for public service.

我强烈建议你们在职业生涯中抽出时间从事公共服务。

Since the founding of this great democracy 250 years ago, generation upon generation have assumed the burden and the honor of moving us closer to the ideal that all are created equal.

自这个伟大的民主国家成立250年以来，一代又一代的人肩负起了推进所有人平等的理想的责任与荣誉。

Now it's your turn.

现在轮到你们了。

I ask you to take a minute and realize how the quest for these values has led us to this point in our history.

我请求你们花一分钟想想，对这些价值的追求是如何引领我们走到历史上的这一刻的。

We lead the world in so many ways, including in scientific innovation and economic dynamism.

我们在诸多领域引领世界，包括科学创新和经济活力。

Our great universities are the envy of the world and a crucial national asset.

我们伟大的大学是全世界羡慕的对象，也是国家至关重要的资产。

Look around you, and I urge you to take none of this for granted.

看看周围，我敦促你们不要把这一切视为理所当然。

When you look back in 50 years, you will want to know that you've done whatever it takes to preserve and strengthen our democracy and bring us ever closer to the Founders' timeless ideals.

回首五十年后，你会希望确认自己已竭尽所能，守护并强化我们的民主制度，使之更趋近于建国者们永恒的理想。

Those of you who are not entering the military or other public service may wonder: "What's so great about public service?" And I'll give you a recent example.

对于那些不打算参军或其他公共服务领域的同学，你们可能会问：“公共服务有什么了不起的？ ” 让我给你们举一个最近的例子。

In my 13 years at the Fed, the global economy has experienced a fair amount of turbulence and one outright crisis: the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.

在我供职于美联储的13年间，全球经济经历了相当多的动荡，并遭遇了一次彻底的危机：COVID-19疫情的高峰期。

With little warning, economies around the world came to a hard stop.

全球经济几乎毫无预警地陷入了停滞。

Critical financial markets were near collapse.

关键的金融市场濒临崩溃。

The possibility of a long, severe global depression was staring us in the face.

全球长期严重萧条的可能性正逼视着我们。

Everyone turned to the government, and to the Federal Reserve in particular, as a key first responder.

每个人都把政府，特别是美联储，视为关键的首要应对者。

Career civil servants at the Fed, who were veterans of previous crises, stepped forward and said, "We got this." We took a range of aggressive measures to supply credit to the economy, many of them unprecedented, while the financial sector recovered.

美联储的资深文职官员，曾经历过之前危机的老将们走上前来说：“我们来处理。 ” 我们采取了一系列激进措施为经济提供信贷，其中许多措施前所未有，同时金融部门也逐步恢复。

Others in government and the private sector did their part too.

政府和其他私营部门的人也做出了他们的贡献。

Through the joint efforts of many, we avoided the worst outcomes.

通过大家的共同努力，我们避免了最糟糕的结果。

It is hard to imagine the pressure that people feel at a time like that.

很难想象人们在那样的时刻会感受到多大的压力。

Their collective efforts saved our economy, and the career civil servants involved deserve our respect and gratitude.

他们的共同努力拯救了我们的经济，参与其中的职业公务员值得我们尊敬和感谢。

It is my great honor to serve alongside them.

我很荣幸能与他们共事。

That's what public service is like.

公共服务就是这样。

So with that luck that I mentioned comes great responsibility.

所以，伴随着我提到的幸运，也带来了重大的责任。

You may recognize from the Gospel of Luke this quotation: "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded." As you navigate the world of bright possibilities that awaits you, I urge you to take on the challenge and the opportunity to serve your fellow citizens.

你或许从《路加福音》中听过这句话：“凡有的，还要加给他；凡没有的，连他所有的也要夺去。” 在你们即将面对充满无限可能的世界时，我敦促你们勇于承担服务同胞的挑战与机遇。

You will never regret that choice.

你永远不会后悔那个选择。

I have one last and key point.

我还有一个最后而且关键的观点。

Your life matters, not just to you, but to the people who love you.

你的生命很重要，不仅对你自己而言，也对你所爱的人而言。

50 years from now, you'll wanna be able to look in the mirror and know that you did what you thought was right in every part of your life.

50年后，你想要能够对着镜子知道，在生活的每一个部分，你都做了认为正确的事情。

At the end of the day, our integrity is all we have.

归根结底，我们的诚信就是我们所拥有的一切。

Guard it carefully.