Do you see how absurd this is? But these are the nets that are flung at you, and this is what I mean by the need for courage. And it's a never-ending proc ess. At that Harvard event two years ago, one person said, about my assertion that college students needed to keep rethinking the decisions they've made about their lives, 'We already made our decisions, back in middle school, when we decided to be the kind of high achievers who get into Harvard.' And I thought, who wants to live with the decisions that they made when they were 12? Let me put that another way. Who wants to let a 12-year-old decide what they're going to do for the rest of their lives? Or a 19-year-old, for that matter?

（你看到这些观点是多么荒谬了吗？这就是罩在你们身上的网，就是我说的需要勇气的意思。这是永不停息的过程。在两年前的哈佛事件中，有个学生谈到我说的大学生需要重新思考人生决定的观点，他说“我们已经做出了决定，我们早在中学时就已经决定成为能够进入哈佛的高材生。”我在想，谁会打算按照他在12岁时做出的决定生活呢？让我换一种说法，谁愿意让一个12岁的孩子决定他们未来一辈子要做什么呢？在此问题上，谁又愿意让19岁的孩子做决定呢？）

All you can decide is what you think now, and you need to be prepared to keep making revisions. Because let me be clear. I'm not trying to persuade you all to become writers or musicians. Being a doctor or a lawyer, a scientist or an engineer or an economist—these are all valid and admirable choices. All I'm saying is that you need to think about it, and think about it hard. All I'm asking is that you make your choices for the right reasons. All I'm urging is that you recognize and embrace your moral freedom.
（你能做出的决定是你现在想什么，你需要准备好不断修改自己的决定。让我说得更明白一些。我不是在试图说服你们都成为音乐家或者作家。成为医生、律师、科学家、工程师或者经济学家没有什么不好，这些都是可靠的、可敬的选择。我想说的是你需要思考它，认真地思考。我请求你们做的是根据正确的原因做出你的选择。我在敦促你们的是认识到你的道德自由并热情拥抱它。）

And most of all, don't play it safe. Resist the seductions of the cowardly values our society has come to prize so highly: comfort, convenience, security, predictability, control. These, too, are nets. Above all, resist the fear of failure. Yes, you will make mistakes. But they will be your mistakes, not someone else's. And you will survive them, and you will know yourself better for having made them, and you will be a fuller and a stronger person.
（最重要的是，不要过分谨慎。抗拒我们社会给予最高奖励的那些懦弱的价值观的诱惑：舒服、方便、安全、可预测性、可控制性。这些也都是网。最重要的是，抗拒失败的恐惧。是的，你可能犯错误，但它们是你的错误，不是别人的。你将从错误中幸存下来，将会因为这些错误对自己有更好的认识。你将因此成为更完整和更强大的人。）

It's been said—and I'm not sure I agree with this, but it's an idea that's worth taking seriously—that you guys belong to a 'postemotional' generation. That you prefer to avoid messy and turbulent and powerful feelings. But I say, don't shy away from the challenging parts of yourself. Don't deny the desires and curiosities, the doubts and dissatisfactions, the joy and the darkness, that might knock you off the path that you have set for yourself. College is just beginning for you, adulthood is just beginning. Open yourself to the possibilities they represent. The world is much larger than you can imagine right now. Which means, you are much larger than you can imagine.
（人们常说你们年轻人属于“后情感”一代，我不敢肯定我赞同这个说法，但这是值得认真考虑的一个观点。你们更愿意避免混乱、动荡和强烈的感情，但我想说，不要回避挑战自我，不要否认欲望和好奇心、怀疑和不满、快乐和郁闷，它们可能把你从事先设定的人生道路上打倒。大学不过是人生的开始，成年时代才刚刚开始。张开双臂去迎接成年生活的各种可能性吧。这个世界比你现在能够想象的情况广大得多。这意味着你比你能想象的情况大得多。）