追求真理需要勇气。在自然科学中，想要推动范式转移的科学家常常被嘲讽，被放逐，甚至经历更大的厄运。在社会科学和人文学科里，学者们常常需要防备来自各个方面的政治攻击。

This search for truth has always required courage, both in the sciences, where those who seek to shift paradigms have often initially met with ridicule, banishment, and worse, and in the social sciences, arts, and humanities, where scholars have often had to defend their ideas from political attacks on all sides.

正因为这样，开创性的的思想和行动往往是从大学校园里开始生长。改变传统思维模式需要巨大的决心和毅力，也需要欢迎对立观点的意愿，需要直面自己错误的勇气。伟大的大学培养这些品质，鼓励人们倾听，鼓励人们发言。不同想法可以切磋，也可以争论，但不会被压制，更不会被禁止。

It is no wonder, then, that transformational thought and action often take root on university campuses. Overturning conventional wisdom takes a remarkable amount of grit and determination, as well as a willingness to welcome contrary views and to risk being proved wrong. Great universities nurture these qualities. They are places where individuals are encouraged both to listen and to speak, where the value of an idea is discussed and debated—not suppressed or silenced.

要坚持真理，我们就必须接受并欣赏思想的多元。对挑战我们思想的人，我们应该欢迎他们到我们中间来，听取他们的意见。最重要的是，我们必须能够敏锐地去理解，但不急于作出评判。

If we stand for truth, we must appreciate diversity in every possible dimension. We must invite into our communities those people who challenge our thinking—and listen to them. Most of all, we must embrace the difficult task of being quick to understand and slow to judge.

我担任哈佛大学校长，还不到一年。但在这短暂的时间里，我们的校园里已经至少六次出现过有争议的问题，引起了热烈的讨论，有时甚至是激烈的争吵和公开的抗议。参加争论的有学生，有教职员工，也有校友和学校的友人。这样的争吵可能会让人感到不快。但它是一个社区健康的标志，是积极的公民参与的象征。事实上，如果有一个学期完全没有发生这样的辩论，那才是不正常的，甚至会让人感到不安。当意见冲突发生时，我们就不得不自问：我们想要一个怎样的社区？而正是这个问题维系并强化着我们的集体，让我们对真理的追求更加深刻。

I have been president of Harvard for less than a year. In that short span of time, no less than half a dozen controversial issues have arisen on our campus, generating impassioned discussions—and even some spirited arguments and public protests—among students, faculty, and staff, as well as alumni and friends of the University. Such arguments can cause discomfort. But they are signs of a healthy community and of active and engaged citizenship. In fact, it would be unusual and, frankly, unsettling if a semester went by without any episode of disagreement. When conflict does arise, it forces us to ask: What kind of community do we want to be? And that question sustains and strengthens us—and enriches our search for truth.

我作为校长的职责往往并不是决定学校“正确”的立场，而是确保讨论渠道的畅通。从远处看，哈佛大学好像有一个统一的声音。但实际上，哈佛是不同声音交响共存的地方。而我们最为重要也最为困难的任务之一，就是让社区的所有成员都觉得他们可以畅所欲言。

In many circumstances, my role as president is not to define the “correct” position of the University but to keep the channels of discussion open. From a distance, Harvard can appear to be a place that speaks in one voice. It is, in fact, a place of many voices. And one of the most important—and most difficult—of our tasks is to ensure that all members of the community feel empowered to speak their minds.

改善我们的社区，改善我们的世界，这是我们大学的职责。目前，哈佛本科学院最热门的课程之一是“中国古典伦理与政治理论”。上个学期有425名本科生选修了这门课。当授课教授被问及对哈佛学生有什么建议时，他说，“我们的世界是由人类活动创造的。如果我们对世界不满意，我们就应该去改变它。千万不要落入危险的思想陷阱，以为世界本来就是这样。世界永远都在改变。”

Changing our communities—changing the world—is our responsibility. One of the most popular classes at Harvard College is an ethical reasoning course called Classical Chinese Ethical and Political Theory—425 undergraduates took it last semester. When the professor who teaches the course was asked if he had any advice for students at Harvard, he said, and I quote, “The world we’re living in has been created by human activities, and if we’re not happy with the world we’re living in, it’s up to us to change it. Never fall into the danger of thinking this just is the way things are. The world is always changing.”

伟大的大学不仅坚持真理，而且追求卓越。在我的就职演说中，我特别强调了哈佛师生卓越的天赋和惊人广泛的学术与事业追求。才华不仅绽放在课堂和实验室里，也飞扬在餐桌、操场和舞台上。和伙伴们共同学习生活为他们创造了改变和成长的机会，而这些机会，也许只有在这样的环境里才能存在。多样性之所以重要，是因为我们能够从我们的差别中受益。我们很容易想象，如果所有人的背景、兴趣、经验和想法都一样，大学只会变得沉闷无趣。

Great universities stand not just for truth, but for excellence. At my inauguration, I focused on the remarkable array of pursuits to which students and faculty apply their considerable talents. Brilliance is demonstrated not only in classrooms and laboratories, but also around dinner tables, on playing fields, and on the stage. Living and learning with others creates opportunities to change and grow, opportunities that may not exist in other contexts. It is important to embrace diversity because we learn from our differences. Universities would be dull places indeed if everyone shared the same backgrounds, interests, experiences, and ideas.

人们常常问我哈佛成功的秘诀。我们所有的成功，都是在他人的帮助下实现的。如果没有全球其他优秀高等院校的挑战和激励，如果不能向同行学习、与他人合作，我们绝不会像现在这么成功。仅仅在美国，就有四千余所大专院校。它们惊人地多样，有的专注于本科教育，有的兼顾本科生、研究生和职业教育；有的专注于艺术和音乐等单个学术领域，有的同时推动多学科的发展。它们都在为人才和资源竞争；但它们又都以其他学校为榜样，谋求自己的进步。

I am often asked to share the secret of Harvard’s excellence. Whatever we accomplish, we accomplish with the help of others. Without the world’s other excellent institutions of higher education to challenge and inspire us, without others to learn from and work with, we could not be nearly as successful as we are. The United States alone is home to some four thousand colleges and universities, and they are remarkably diverse. Some are devoted entirely to undergraduate education, others to undergraduate, graduate, and professional studies. Some are focused on a single academic area—art or music, for example—while others advance a wide variety of fields and disciplines. Each of them competes for talent and resources; all of them look to one another for examples of where and how they might improve.

哈佛也不例外。我们向或远或近的邻居们学习。我们正在和麻省理工学院的合作伙伴们一起探索如何通过技术让更多的人享受我们的教育资源。我们的联合在线教育平台 edX 已经为超过一千八百万名学习者提供了教育机会，而这一数字还在增加。与此同时，这些学习者们也为我们提供了教育科学的新视角。

Harvard is no exception. We learn from our neighbors near and far. We are exploring with partners at MIT the opportunities to improve access to our educational resources through technology. EdX, our joint online learning platform, is opening up educational opportunities to more than 18 million learners and counting. They, in turn, offered us new insights into the science of learning.

从2013年开始，北大也加入了我们的平台。在参加 HarvardX 课程的同时，学生同样可以选修 PekingX 课程。从民俗和语法，到音乐和药物发现，再到营养学和机器人，这些课程包罗万象。北大的听课学生，因此增加了几十万人。更广泛地共享知识的宝藏，是我对哈佛和其他所有高等院校的期望。我们能够而且应该用我们的卓越来帮助那些也许永远没有机会踏入我们校园的人们，让他们的世界也变得更好。

Along with HarvardX courses, such students take PekingX courses that have covered everything from folklore, grammar, and music to drug discovery, nutrition, and robotics since Beida joined our effort in 2013. You have reached hundreds of thousands more people than you would have otherwise. Sharing the riches of learning more broadly is one of my aspirations for Harvard and for all of higher education. Our excellence can—and should—help to make the world better for individuals who may never set foot on our campuses.

最后，伟大的大学意味着机会。我的父母是作为难民来到美国的。我的父亲幼年时为了逃离迫害从东欧移民美国。我的母亲是奥斯维辛集中营的幸存者。他们在饱经丧乱之后远渡重洋，通过自己的努力获得了进学求知的机会。他们认识到教育在他们新的国家的重要性，并支持我升学深造。如果没有他们的支持和教育的帮助，我今天不可能来到这里，和你们畅谈我的感悟。和无数其他人的经历一样，上大学让我能够成功。我希望中国以及世界各地的青年们都能理解这样一个简单的道理：如果你想要有所成就，教育将帮你实现梦想。

Finally, great universities stand for opportunity. My parents came to the United States as refugees. My father arrived as a child after escaping the pogroms of Eastern Europe. My mother survived the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz. As new immigrants in a foreign country, they saw clearly the importance of education and, having worked hard themselves to gain an education, encouraged me in my own studies. Without education, I would not be here today speaking with all of you. Attending college enabled my success, just as it has enabled the success of countless other people. I want to ensure that young people in China and every part of the world understand a simple truth: If you want to get ahead, education is the vehicle that will take you there.

我们的大学必须继续坚持这些让我们在历史的长河中与众不同的价值：真理，卓越，和机会。我们必须维护和强化我们之间的学术交流，让我们能够携手共进、引领世界。

Our institutions must continue to stand for those values which have distinguished us throughout our long histories: truth, excellence, and opportunity. And we must sustain and strengthen the collegial bonds that enable our work together on behalf of the entire world.

最后，我引用中国伟大的现代诗人阿布都热依木.吾提库尔的诗结束这次演讲：

漫漫人生路上，我寻觅真理，

向往正义的途中，我苦思冥想。

我时时刻刻祈望着倾诉的机会，

用哪些充满意义和魅力的词语。

来吧，我的朋友们，

让我们畅所欲言，各抒胸臆。

I wish to leave you today with the words of one of China’s great modern poets, Abdurehim Ötkür:

Along life’s road I have always sought truth,
In the search for verity, thought was always my guide.
My heart yearned without end for a chance of expression,
And longed to find words of meaning and grace.
Come, my friends, let our dialogue joyfully begin.

哈佛大学和北京大学正在共同的道路上前行。我们的师生们维系并拓展着我们的联系，继续探索研究，增进善意。让我们继续相互学习，在知识和智慧中成长！再次感谢你们的热情欢迎。来到北大是我的荣幸。愿我们两校的师生在未来的对话中继续畅所欲言，各抒胸臆。

Harvard University and Peking University are on the same road together. We will continue to seek meaning and grace through relationships created and nurtured by our faculty and our students. May we continue to learn from one another and grow in knowledge and wisdom. Thank you, again, for welcoming me so warmly today. It has truly been an honor—and my pleasure. May our dialogue joyfully endure.

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, eak-word !important; FONT-SIZE: 15px; MAX-WIDTH: 100%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; LETTER-SPACING: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px">I wish to leave you today with the words of one of China’s great modern poets, Abdurehim Ötkür:

Along life’s road I have always sought truth,
In the search for verity, thought was always my guide.
My heart yearned without end for a chance of expression,
And longed to find words of meaning and grace.
Come, my friends, let our dialogue joyfully begin.

哈佛大学和北京大学正在共同的道路上前行。我们的师生们维系并拓展着我们的联系，继续探索研究，增进善意。让我们继续相互学习，在知识和智慧中成长！再次感谢你们的热情欢迎。来到北大是我的荣幸。愿我们两校的师生在未来的对话中继续畅所欲言，各抒胸臆。

Harvard University and Peking University are on the same road together. We will continue to seek meaning and grace through relationships created and nurtured by our faculty and our students. May we continue to learn from one another and grow in knowledge and wisdom. Thank you, again, for welcoming me so warmly today. It has truly been an honor—and my pleasure. May our dialogue joyfully endure.

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