众对他的信心People know from experience that an individual who in one year displays knavish characteristics- seldom in the next becomes any different.人们凭经验知道某一年中表现出无赖性格的人不太可能在第二年有任何改观Nor does a thief become a trustworthy employee, or a miser a philanthropist. Nor does a man change and become a liar, coward or traitor at fifty or sixty;小偷也不会变成值得信赖的员工,吝啬鬼也不可能变成慈善家,而且,一个人不会在五六十岁的时候变成谎话精,懦夫或叛徒if he is one then, he has been one ever since his character was formed.如果那时候他是,那么早在他性格形成的时候他就已经是了Big criminals are first little criminals, just as giant oaks are first little acorns.大罪犯最初都是小罪犯,正如大橡树最初都是小橡果
Although man is potentially perfect he is far from being actually so.尽管人类有完美的潜质,但事实上他远远没有达到完美If he were actually perfect there would be nothing for preachers and humanitarians to do; no use for churches, schools, courts and prisons.如果事实上他已经是完美的,那么那些神父,教师和人道主义者便会无事可做,那些教堂,学校,法庭和监狱便会无所用处Therefore while it is impossible to change human nature, it can be studied, controlled and directed, and this should be the supreme function of our religious, educational and social institutions.因此虽然人性是不可能改变的,但是人们可以研究它,控制它和引导它,而且这应该是我们的宗教机构,教育机构和社会机构的最高职能
Man is perfect as a seed is perfect, germinally.人类在胚胎期是完美的,就好比一粒种子在幼芽期是完美的一样The spirit is perfect, but when it inhabits human structures, it participates in the imperfections of the later; and during its association with matter takes on the mortal weakness, desires and limitations.精神是完美的,但它栖居到人类肉体结构中后,便参与其中,表现出后者的不完美,在它与物质的联系过程中呈现出凡人的弱点,欲望和局限But the spirit, the inner man, remains untouched and undefiled by evil.但是精神,也就是人的内在,却仍能免遭邪恶的染指和玷污Only the outer man- the personality and the physical body- becomes imperfect, due to ignorance, wrong thinking and violation of the law of being.只有外在的人,个性和躯体,由于无知,思想错误和违反自然规律而变得不完美The outer man, too, was originally perfect, but man has so desecrated and abused it that today it is a far cry from the original model.外在的人,原本也是完美的,但是由于人类如此的亵渎和滥用,今天,它已经与原型相去甚远
Man's majesty and nobility are taken for granted, although his faults and weaknesses are constantly paraded before our eyes.人们想当然地认为人类是伟大和高尚的,尽管他的过错和弱点不断地暴露在我们面前Only when behavior deviates from the normal does it attract attention.只有当人类行为偏离常规时才会引起人们的注意The good neighbor, the conscientious citizen, the kind father and faithful husband pass unnoticed.人们对好邻居,良民,慈父和贞夫视而不见But the murderer, robber or wife beater is singled out for ublicity, because such conduct is unusual.但杀人犯,抢劫犯或殴打妻子的人却成为公众瞩目的焦点,因为这些行为非同寻常
Man's inherent goodness, moreover, is revealed by his countless acts of heroism, unselfishness and sacrifice.人类固有的优点还体现在不计其数的英雄主义行为,充满无私和牺牲精神的举动上Daily one reads of men saving others at the peril of theirown lives.每天我们都会读到人们冒着生命危险挽救他人生命的事迹One plunges into the surf and rescues a swimmer from drowning;有人跃入水中拯救溺水的泳者another dashes into a burning house and carries a stranger to safety;有人冲进火场将陌生人带出险境others snatch a child from the wheels of death;有人从死亡的车轮下救出孩子many give their blood so that others may live.许多人献出鲜血使他人生命得以延续Countless unnamed and unrecorded men have given their lives for their fellowmen, not only on the battlefront but on the home- front as well.数不胜数的不知姓名,不被记载的人们,不仅在战场上,而且还在战争的大后方,为了他们的同胞献出了生命
Human nature does not and cannot change but unfolds its inherent pattern.人性不会也不能改变,它只展现它固有的模式 Man has a nature and its laws can be known.它有天性而且这种天性的规律是可知的We can only endeavor to understand man as he is.我们只能尽力去了解人类的真实面貌
Unit Ten 危机时代，大学该扮演的角色
Today the academy holds a highly privileged place in American society because of a about the long-standing national consensus about the value of education.今天,由于长期以来美国人对教育价值的共识,大学在美国社会中占有得天独厚的地位One of my predecessors, President Harold Dodds, said in his inaugural address in 1933 that \money for education, public or private, so lavishly as does the United States. Americans have an almost childlike faith in what formal education can do for them.\一位前任校长哈罗德·多兹1933年在就职演说中曾提到，“没有哪个国家像美国这样,不论对公立教育还是私立教育的投入都是如此地慷慨大方,美国人民对正规教育所能起到的作用抱有一种近
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乎天真的信念”That faith is based on a conviction that the vitality of the United States, its creative and diverse cultural life,这一信念是在这样一个深信不疑的基础上确立的,即美国的活力,它富有创造性和多样化的文化生活its is national security and the robustness of its democratic institutions owe much to the quality of institutions of higher education.它具有惊人独创力的经济,它的国家安全以及它健全的民主制度极大地依赖于其高等教育机构的质量
Our society’s confidence in its institutions of higher education is expressed through the generous investments of the federal and state government in basic and applied research,investment that wisely couple support for research with support for graduate education.我国社会对高等教育机构的信心通过以下几点表现出来,联邦政府和州政府对基础研究和应用研究给予大量投资It is also expresses through federal and state investments that subsidize the cost of higher education for those who cannot afford to pay,这些投资明智地将对研究的支持与对研究生教育的支持结合起来,联邦政府和州政府对无力负担高等教育学费的学生给予资助investments by private foundations and charities who see collegesand universities as the best routes for achieving their strategic goals,一些私人基金会和慈善机构给予投资,他们认为高等院校是达成其战略目标的最佳途径and investments by individuals and by the private sector, who see universities as the incubators of future health and prosperity.一些个人和私人部门给予投资,他们认为高等院校是未来健康发展和富裕繁荣的孵化器 In return for this broad support, society rightfully expects certain things from us.社会当然期望我们能有所作为以回报这种广泛的支持It expects the generation of new ideas and the discovery of new knowledge, the exploration of complex issues in an open and collegial manner and the preparation of the next generation of citizens and leaders.社会期望我们产生新思想,开发新知识,以一种开放和共同协作的方式探索复杂的问题,培养未来一代公民和领导者In times of trouble, it is especially important that we live up to these expectations.当处于困境的时候,我们不辜负这些期望就尤为重要
The medieval image of the university as an ivory tower, with scholars turned inward in solitary contemplation, immunized from the cares of the day,中世纪大学的形象是一座象牙塔,学者们远离社会进行孤独的沉思,不关心窗外之事is an image that has been superseded by the modern university constructed not of ivory, but of a highly porous material, one that allows free diffusion in both directions.这一形象已被现代大学所取代,现代大学不是象牙构筑的,而是高度开放的机构,允许内外自由交流The academy is of the world, not apart from it.高校是属于社会的,而不是游离于社会之外的Its ideals, crafted over many generations, are meant to suffuse the national consciousness.高校的理想,经由多少代人的铸造,旨在渗入国民意识之中Its scholars and teachers are meant to move in and out of the academy in pursuit of opportunities to use their expertise in public service,学者和教师必定要周旋于学院内外以寻觅运用他们的才能为公众服务的机会in pursuit of creative work that will give us illumination and insight and in pursuit of ways to turn laboratory discoveries into useful things.寻觅能给我们带来启发和见识的创造性工作,寻觅把实验室的研究发现转化为实际应用的途径Our students engage the world with a strong sense of civic responsibility, and when they graduate they become alumni who do the same.我们的学生在从事社会活动时怀有一种强烈的公民责任意识,并且当他们毕业若干年后成为老校友时仍然会这样做 This is as it should be.这些都是理所当然的
The search for new ideas and knowledge is not and cannot be motivated by utilitarian concerns.Rather it depends on the ability to think in new and creative ways.探索新思想和新知识不是依靠也不应该依靠功利主义动机,而是依靠以新颖的和创造性的方式进行思考的能力When the Nobel laureate John Nash developed the mathematical concepts underlying non- cooperative game theory as a graduate student at Princeton,当诺贝尔奖获得者约翰·纳什在普林斯顿大学读研究生时推动了构成“非合作博弈论”基础的数学概念的发展时he could not foresee that those concepts would be used today to analyze election strategies and the causes of war and to make predictions about how people will act.他可能根本不会想到这些概念会在今天被用于分析选举策略,战争起因及预测人的行为表现等方面When Professor of Molecular Biology Eric Wieschaus' set out as a young scientist to identify genes that pattern the body plan of the fruit fly embryo,当还是一名年轻科学家的分子生物学教授埃里克·维绍斯着手识别决定果蝇胚胎身体结构模式的基因时he could not know that he would identify genes that play a central role in the development of human cancer.他可能不知道他会识别出在推动对人类癌症的研究中起到关键性作用的基因We have learned that we cannot predict with any accuracy how discoveries and scholarship will influence future generations.由此得知,我们无法准确地预测科学发现及学术成就将如何影响未来一代又一代的人们We also have learned that it is unwise to search only in predictable places,我们也得知,只在可预知的领域来挖掘知识是不明智的for new knowledge often depends upon preparing fertile ground in obscure places where serendipity and good luck, as well as deep intelligence, can sprout.因为新知识往往依赖于在未知领域准备好肥沃的土壤,在那些领域,好运气同深奥的智慧一样能开花结果Freedom of inquiry, which is one of our most cherished organizing
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principles, is not just a moral imperative, it is a practical necessity.我们最珍视的组织原则之一探索的自由,不仅仅从道德上说是必需的,而且它也是一个实际需要
Just as we have an obligation to search widely for knowledge, so we also have an obligation to ensure that the scholarly work of the academy is widely disseminated,就像我们有义务广泛寻求新知识一样,我们也有义务确保我们的学术研究能够被广泛地传播so that others can correct it when necessary, or build on it, or use it to make better decisions, develop better products or construct better plans.只有这样别人才能对其做出必要的修正,或将其发扬光大,或依据它来作出更好的决定,开发出更好的产品,或构建出更好的规划In the days ahead, I hope that our country's decision-makers will draw on the knowledge that resides on our campuses,在日后的岁月中,我希望我们国家的决策者根据留存于大学的知识来做决定on historians who can inform the present through deep understanding of the past,咨询能通过对过去的深刻理解而洞悉现在的历史学家们philosophers who can provide frameworks for working through issues of right and wrong, 咨询能提供明辨是非原则的哲学家们economists whose insights can help to get the economy back on track,咨询能以其洞察力使经济回归正轨的经济学家们engineers who know how to build safer buildings,咨询知道如何建造更安全建筑的工程师们scientists who can analyze our vulnerabilities to future attack and develop strategies for reducing those vulnerabilities,咨询能分析我们容易招致未来袭击的软肋并能制订出弥补这些弱点的战略的科学家们and scholars in many fields who can help us understand the motivations of those who would commit acts of terrorism here and throughout the world.以及咨询能帮助我们弄清恐怖分子在我国及世界各地实施恐怖行动的动机的多个领域的学者们
Let me now turn to the third obligation that we have to society:the education of the next generation of citizens and leaders.现在请允许我来阐述一下我们应对社会所尽的第三项义务,培育下一代的公民与领导者Princeton's view of what constitutes a liberal arts education was expressed well by Woodrow Wilson, our 13th President,普林斯顿大学所提倡的对大学文科教育的见解,我校第13任校长伍德罗whose eloquent words I read at Opening Exercises:威尔逊曾作过精辟的表述,我在开学典礼上曾诵读过他的雄辩的语句\itself as the spirit of learning.在大学里我们应当努力传授的，与其说是知识本身还不如说是做学问的精神It consists in the power to distinguish good reasoning from bad, in the power to digest and interpret evidence, in the habit of catholic observation and a preference for the non-partisan point of view,它包括:辨别正确推理与错误推理的能力,消化与阐释论据的能力,广泛观察的习惯,in an addiction to clear and logical processes of thought and yet an instinctive desire to interpret rather than to stick to the letter of reasoning,对于持客观见解的偏好,执着于清晰有条理的思维过程,本能地热衷于阐释内涵而不拘泥于推论的字面意思,in a taste for knowledge and a deep respect for the integrity of the human mind.\对知识的鉴赏力,对人类健全心智的无限尊重
Wilson, and the presidents who followed him, rejected the narrow idea of a liberal arts education as preparation for a profession.威尔逊及其继任者们拒绝这一狭隘的观念,即大学文科教育只限于为某种职业做准备While understanding the importance of professional education, they made it clear that at Princeton we should first and foremost cultivate the qualities of thought and discernment in our students in the belief that this will be most conducive to the health of our society.他们在了解职业教育重要性的同时,更清楚在普林斯顿首先应该培养学生的思考能力和洞察力,坚信这才最有益于社会健全发展Thus we distinguish between the acquisition of information, something that is essential for professional training, and the development of habits of mind that can be applied in any profession.因此我们对以下两方面做了区分,对职业素质的培养有重要作用的信息获取和能够应用于任何职业的思维习惯的发展Consequently we celebrate when the classics scholar goes to medical school, the physicist becomes a member of Congress, or the historian teaches primary school.所以当古典文学家走进医学院,物理学家成为国会议员或历史学家执教小学的时候,我们便感到庆幸If we do our job well as educators, each of our students will take from a Princeton education a respect and appreciation for ideas and values, intellectual openness and rigor, practice in civil discourse and a sense of civic responsibility.如果我们作为教育家做好我们的工作,我们的每一个学生将从普林斯顿的教育中学会尊重和欣赏各种理念与价值,思维的开放与严谨,社交实践与公民责任感During these troubled times, our students and our alumni will be called upon to exercise these qualities in their professions, their communities and their daily lives.在这困难重重的年代,我们将号召我们的学生和校友们在他们的职业中,在他们的团体和日常生活中实践这些品质By so doing, and through their leadership, their vision and their courage, they will help to fulfill Princeton's obligation to society通过这样做,通过他们的领导力,洞察力和勇气,他们将帮助履行普林斯顿对社会的义务and bring true meaning to our motto, \all nations.\和实践我们的座右铭“普林斯顿—为国家服务,为世界服务”
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