徐小平纯英文结业演讲：生命因给予而繁盛

成功的秘诀是什么?勤奋，坚毅，聪颖，好运气……可能都是必备要素之一。但 40 岁才见事业起步的徐小平老师有本身的成功秘诀。

30 年前，他来到加拿大萨斯喀彻温大学，获得全额奖学金攻读音乐系硕士。

20 年前，结业即失业，在音乐公司创业失败、做过披萨外卖员之后，他回国加入新东方。

10 年前，新东方上市之后，他转身成为“第一天使”，帮手有志向创业的年轻人实现本身的梦想。

30 年后，他回到母校萨斯喀彻温大学，被授予荣誉法学博士学位，并以导师大卫·卡普兰博士命名、捐赠设立音乐系奖学金和音乐系首席讲师。

在 6 月 7 日举办的结业典礼上，他与结业生们分享了这一系列跌宕起伏的人生经历留给他最名贵的成功秘诀—— “生命以获取而续存，却因给予而繁盛”。

以下为演讲内容：

尊敬的校监 Romanow 先生、校长 Stoicheff 先生、政府代表、出席嘉宾、教师代表、结业生、伴侣、女士们、先生们：

这是一份无与伦比的荣誉，我由衷地体现感激。谢谢你们!

Ladies and gentlemen. Chancellor Romanow， President Stoicheff， government representatives， distinguished guests， members of the faculty， graduates and friends： This honor means everything to me. I am truly grateful. Thank you so very much.

我的新学位使我成为了 2017 年结业生中光荣的一员。在这个美好的日子里，请允许我向各位同学们，以及你们的家人、伴侣们献上一句简单的祝福，我要向你们了不起的成就体现热烈祝贺!

My new degree makes me a proud member of this Class of 2017. To my classmates， your parents， your families， may I offer a simple message： For the great achievement you share on this wonderful day， Congratulations!

法学博士的头衔实在是一个让我被宠若惊的荣誉。这里有一个故事。很久以前在我获得音乐硕士学位之后，我仍然不知道本身想要干什么。于是我想到了学习法律，我也确实去上了一节合同法课，就一节。(笑声)当时我就明白了，我真不是读法学院的料(笑声)。然而，就上过这一节法学课的我，现在却获得了令人艳羡的法学博士学位(笑声+掌声)。对于那些寒窗苦熬、熬到今天终成正果的法学院结业生们来说，你们有理由心生感慨：生活并不总是那么公平(笑声)!

For me， it is especially flattering to be called a Doctor of Laws.  Let me tell you why.  Long ago， after I earned my Master’s Degree in music， I still didn’t know what to do. So I considered studying at the College of Law.  I attended exactly one class， in contract law.  Right then and there， I knew that law school just wasn’t for me. One class – and yet here I am with this beautiful， impressive degree as a Doctor of Laws.  Those of you graduating from the law school today， who worked and struggled for your degrees， would be entitled to reflect that life is not always fair.

确实，总有一些人，得到的比他付出的多。对此我有切身体验，因为我从萨斯喀彻温大学所得到的一切都证明了这一点。母校给了我很高的荣誉，但是，从心底里，我今天来是为了赞颂我的母校。

Sometimes we get more than we deserve. I know this， because it is how I have always felt， about what I received from the University of Saskatchewan. The university has honored me， but really， I am here today to honor the university. 

30 年前的 1987 年，我和我妻子和我决定走出国门，看看外边的世界。如果你在北京的地下室住过，巴望换一种风景，没有什么比加拿大辽阔的草原风光，会给你带来更震撼的体验(笑声)。

Exactly thirty years ago in 1987， my wife Ling and I decided that we were ready to see the world beyond China. If you had lived in a basement in Beijing， and desire a change of scenery， it doesn’t get any more different than the Canadian prairie. 

我妻子申请了这里的音乐系，立即得到了录取。而我，却不得不耐心等待。兜里装着全部家当一百美元，我去了美国华盛顿打工。这样，我妻子一个人生活在萨斯卡通，与她的小提琴为伴。而我，在离她三千公里之外一家叫“春卷先生”的中餐厅，当了一名厨房小工(笑声)。

Ling applied to study music here and was immediately accepted. I， on the other hand， had to wait. I went to Washington， D.C.， with a hundred dollars in my pocket， and found a job. So my wife was alone with her violin in Saskatoon. I was three thousand kilometers away on the kitchen staff of Mr. Eggroll.