不要出卖自己的灵魂 ——卡莉·菲奥莉娜

（单词翻译）

 

Never selling your soul

——Carly Fiorina

My fellow job seekers : I am honored to be among the first to congratulate you oncompleting your years at North Carolina A&T. But all of you should know: as Mother's Day giftsgo, this one is going to be tough to beat in the years ahead.

But as you may have heard, I don't have that job anymore. After the news of my departurebroke, I called the school and asked: do you still want me to come and be your commencementspeaker?

Chancellor¹ Renick put my fears to rest. He said, "Carly, if anything, you probably have morein common with these students now than you did before." And he's right. After all, I've beenworking on my resume . I've been lining² up my references . I bought a new interview suit. Ifthere are any recruiters here, I'll be free around Novermber.

I want to thank you for having me anyway. This is the first public appearance I've madesince I left HP. I wanted very much to be here because this school has always been set apart bysomething that I've believed very deeply; something that takes me back to the earliest memories Ihave in life.

One day at church, my mother gave me a small coaster with a saying on it. During my entirechildhood, I kept this saying in front of me on a small desk in my room. In fact, I can still showyou that coaster today. It says: "What you are is God's gift to you. What you make of yourself isyour gift to God."

Those words have had a huge impact on me to this day. What this school and I believe invery deeply is that when we think about our lives, we shouldn't be limited by other people'sstereotypes or bigotry⁴ . Instead, we should be motivated by our own sense of possibility. Weshould be motivated by our own sense of accomplishment⁵ . We should be motivated by what webelieve we can become. Jesse Jackson has taught us; Ronald McNair taught us; the GreensboroFour taught us; that the people who focus on possibilities achieve much more in life than peoplewho focus on limitations .

The question for all of you today is: how will you define what you make of yourself? To me,what you make of yourself is actually two questions. There's the "you" that people see on theoutside. And that's how most people will judge you, because it's all they can see. But then, there'sthe invisible you, the "you" on the inside. For 25 years, when people have asked me for careeradvice, what I always tell them is don't give up what you have inside. Never sell your soul ,because no one can ever pay you back.

What I mean by not selling your soul is don't be someone you're not, don't be less than youare, don't give up what you believe, because whatever the consequences that may seem scary orbad-whatever the consequences of staying true to yourself are-they are much better than theconsequences of selling your soul.

You have been tested mightily⁶ in your life to get to this moment. And all of you know muchbetter than I do: from the moment you leave this campus, you will be tested. You will be testedbecause you won't fit some people's pre-conceived notions or stereotypes³ of what you're supposedto be, of who you're supposed to be. People will have stereotypes of what you can or can't do, ofwhat you will or won't do, of what you should or shouldn't do. But they only have power over youif you let them have power over you. They can only have control if you let them have control, ifyou give up what's inside.

At every step along the way, your soul will be tested. Every test you pass will make youstronger. But let's not be naive⁷. Sometimes, there are consequences to "not selling your soul".

Sometimes, there are consequences to "staying true to what you believe". And sometimes, thoseconsequences are very difficult. But as long as you understand the consequences and accept theconsequences, you are not only stronger. As a result, you're more at peace.

Many people have asked me how I feel now that I've lost my job. The truth is, I'm proud ofthe life I've lived so far, and though I've made my share of mistakes, I have no regrets . The worstthing I could have imagined happened. I lost my job in the most public way, and the press had afield day with it all over the world. And guess what? I'm still here. I am at peace and my soul isintact . I could have given it away and the story would be different. But I heard the word ofScripture in my head: "What benefit will it be to you if you gain the whole world, but lose yoursoul?"

When people have stereotypes of what you can't do, show them what you can do. When theyhave stereotypes of what you won't do, show them what you will do. Every time you pass thesetests, you learn more about yourself. Every time you resist someone else's smaller notion of whoyou really are, you test your courage and your endurance . Each time you endure and stay true toyourself, you become stronger and better.

Never sell your education short. And the fact that this school believed in you means youshould never sell yourself short. What I have learned in 25 years of managing people is thateveryone possesses more potential than they realize. Living life defined by your own sense ofpossibility, not by others' notions of limitations, is the path to success.

Starting today, you are one of the most promising⁸ things America has to offer: you are anAggie with a degree.

My hope is that you live life defined by your own sense of possibility, your own sense ofworth, your own sense of your soul. Define yourself for yourself, not by how others are going todefine you, and then stick to it. Find your own internal compass. I use the term compass, becausewhat does a compass do? When the winds are howling, and the storm raging, and the sky is socloudy you have nothing to navigate⁹ by, a compass tells you where true North is. And I thinkwhen you are in a lonely situation; you have to rely on that compass. Who am I? What do Ibelieve? Do I believe I am doing the right thing for the right reason in the best way that I can?

Sometimes, that's all you have. And always, it will be enough.

Most people will judge you by what they see on the outside. Only you and God will knowwhat's on the inside. But at the end of your life, if people ask you what your greatestaccomplishment was, my guess is, it will be something that happened inside you, that no one elseever saw, something that had nothing to do with outside success, and everything to do with howyou decide to live in the world.

What you are today is God's gift to you. What you make of yourself is your gift to God. He iswaiting for that gift right now. Make it something extraordinary .

参考译文

不要出卖自己的灵魂

——卡莉·菲奥莉娜

亲爱的毕业生们，我很荣幸成为首批恭贺你们顺利完成学业的人之一。大家必须明白：随着母亲节礼物的远离，在未来的岁月里，等待你们的将是艰难坎坷的日子。

你们也许已经听说了，我已经丢掉了现在的工作。在我离职的消息曝出以后，我给学校打电话问：你们还愿意让我来毕业典礼上发言吗？

Renick校长打消了我的顾虑。他说：“卡莉，如果要说你现在与以前有什么不同的话，那就是你现在和这些毕业生们的共同性更多了。”确实如此。毕竟，我已经着手制作我的简历了。我已经开始投简历了。我还买了一件新的面试装。如果这儿有招聘人员的话，我大概11月的时候就自由了。

无论如何，我要感谢大家听我的演讲，这是我离开惠普之后的首次公开露面。我非常希望来到这里，因为这个学校由于我所坚信的一些东西而显得与众不同，这些东西把我带回到我生命中最初的记忆中去。

记得有一天，在教堂，母亲给了我一个小盘子，上面有一条谚语。在我整个童年时期，我将那条谚语摆放在房间的小书桌上，今天还可以把那个盘子拿给你们看。上面写着：“你是什么由上帝决定，而你成为什么则是你献给上帝的礼物。”

这些话至今仍然对我有着巨大的影响。这个学校与我同样深信的是，当我们思考自己的生命时，不应该受到其他人的陈词滥调或偏见好恶的限制；相反，我们应该坚持自己对未来发展的判断，坚持自己对成就大业的把握，坚持对自己能有所作为的信念。JesseJackson的经历告诉我们，Ronald McNair的经历告诉我们，Greensboro Four的经历也告诉我们，注重发展性的人比注重局限性的人在生活中获得的要多得多。

今天大家都面临着一个问题：如何定义自己是什么样的人？在我看来，你想成为什么样的人实际上涉及两个问题。一个是人们从表面上看到的“你”。多数人会以此来评判你，因为那是他们所能看到的全部。不过还有一个看不见的你，一个内在的“你”。25年来，人们向我求教职业建议时，我总是告诉他们不要放弃你的内在本性，不要出卖你的灵魂，因为没有人能够支付得起。

我所说的不要出卖灵魂是指，不要违背自己的本性，不要掩盖自己的天赋，也不要放弃自己的信念，因为不论后果看上去如何可怕或糟糕，无论保持自己的本色会产生怎样的后果——这总比出卖灵魂好得多。

大家到达人生这一刻之前已经饱经考验。你们心里都比我清楚，从离开校园的这一刻起，你们还要面临考验。有的考验是由于你们不符合一些人预想的观念，不符合他们对你们本该做什么工作、成为什么样的人的模式化的看法。人们对你们的能力高低、意愿、以及什么该做什么不该做都有模式化的看法。不过除非你们屈服，否则他们对你们没有任何影响力。除非你们让他们控制，放弃你们的内在本性，否则他们无法控制你们。

在人生的每一步，灵魂都会受到考验。每通过一次考验你都会变得更加坚强。但是我们也不能幼稚。有时不出卖灵魂会影响你们。有时坚持自己的信念也会影响你们。有时这些影响使你们非常为难。然而只要你们理解并接受这些影响，你们不仅会更加坚强，而且会更加心安……

很多人问我如今失去了工作有何感受。说实话，到目前为止我对自己的生活经历引以为豪，虽然也犯过错误，但是我毫不遗憾。我能想象到的最糟糕的事发生了。我在众目睽睽之下丢了工作，全世界媒体大肆报道。大家猜怎么着了？我依旧在这里。我心安理得，灵魂完整无缺。我本可以出卖灵魂，那么我的故事就会改写。可是我的脑海里响起了《圣经》的话：“如果你得到整个世界却失去自己的灵魂，那有什么好处？”

当人们对你抱有成见，认为你无法做某事时，你就让他们看看你能做什么。当他们认为你不愿做某事时，你就要向他们展现自己愿意做的事。每次你通过这种考验，你对自己的认识就加深了一层。每当你抵制别人贬低真实的你的时候，你就在考验自己的胆量和耐力。每当你坚持下来，保持自我，你就更加坚强和优秀。

不要低估你所受教育的价值。这所学校对你们有信心，你们就不能低估自身的价值。

我从事人力管理工作25年，我的心得是每个人都具有自身不曾意识到的潜能。按自己对未来发展的设想去生活，不要被别人的观念束缚住手脚，这才是成功之道。

从今天开始，你们就是美国培养出的最有前途的人：获得学位的农学院毕业生。

我希望大家能够按照自己对未来的设想、对价值的把握、对自己灵魂的坚持来生活。

为自己制定目标，不要因别人如何界定你就做出改变，要坚持这个目标不放松。找到自己内心的指南针。我用指南针这个词，指南针是做什么的？狂风大作、暴雨倾盆、阴云密布之时，你没有任何可以用来导航的东西，指南针就能告诉你真正的北方在哪里。我想当你孤独无助之时，你必须要依靠这个指南针。我是谁？我相信什么？我认为自己正在为正确的目标，以尽可能好的方式做正确的事吗？有时这就是你所拥有的全部。而且它本身往往就够用了。

大多数人凭外在的表现来评判你。只有你和上帝才知道你的内在本性。然而在生命最后一刻，假如人们问起你最大的成就，我猜那将是发生在你内心的某些体验，谁都不曾见过，与外在的成功也毫无关系，那不过是你对如何在这个世界生活所做出的决定。

你们现在是什么是上帝的馈赠，你将来成为什么是对上帝的回报。此刻上帝正在等待你的回报。让你的回报非同凡响吧！