It is easy to describe success in terms of money, fame and reputation. But I believe that success is not external. I believe that success comes from within. My definition of success is to be true to yourself, and be true to others. That means, that you must cherish your personal ideal even in the face of adversity. I also believe that success is not discriminatory. Success is not restricted to such a class of people, in fact, it may be achieved by any person irrespective of his race, creed1, gender2 and economic background. A good example of success is that of Beethoven. He is one of the world's most famous composers, yet he was deaf. He could not hear the majestic3 pieces of music that he created. Yet, in the face of this adversity, he was able to maintain his ideals--that of composing music.
To exemplify what success means to me, I pose a question to all of you. What brings us together here today? I believe that it is the beauty of the spoken word. The effect of pause and the sound of rhetoric are unique to the spoken word. I believe the beauty of the spoken word is even stronger for those who have difficulty in expressing themselves. These people are reclusive and had their emotions hidden within them. I once went to Australia and I saw two pictures, Once was
drawn4 by a normal child, the other was drawn by a child with social inhibitions. The picture drawn by the normal child was simple and plain. The other was life-like, full of details and imagination. What this shows is that these are ideas, emotions and feelings that are locked internally in these
children.
My ideal is to be the key, spreading the beauty of the spoken words to these children. These children have been neglected, but I feel that I can and should help these children to find themselves and be able to express themselves.
I realize that this is a difficult task, and there are many obstacles on the way. But I believe in my ideals and I will stick to them--even in the face of adversity. We should never have a premature
abortion5 of ideals--let the child, let our ideals, stand the challenge. For a life without ideals is not living.
Thank you!
译文:成功之我见
用金钱、名誉和声望来描述成功,这很简单。但我相信成功不是外在的,我相信成功来源于自身。我对成功的定义是对已诚实,待人真诚。这就意味着即使面临困境厄运,你都必须坚守自己的理想。我同样相信成功没有偏见,成功不属于某一类人,事实上,不论种族、宗教信仰、性别和经济背景,任何人都能够获得。贝多芬的成功就是个很好的例子。他是世界上最著名的作曲家之一,而他却双耳失聪。他无法听到自己创作出的美妙乐章。然而,身
处如此逆境,他仍然能够坚持自己的理想——作曲。
为了举例说明我对成功的理解,我想给在座的诸位提一个问题。是什么让我们大家今天在此相会?我想是语言世界的美丽让我们走到了一起。停顿的效果和修辞之声是话语世界所独一无二的。我相信那些说话表达困难的人们对话语世界中的美丽体会得更为深刻。这些人都隐遁世间,把自己的感情深藏于心。我曾经去过澳大利亚,在那里看到了两幅画。一幅是正常儿童画的,另一幅是一个社会生活受限制的孩子画的。正常的孩子画的画简单、朴素,
而另一幅却贴近现实生活,充满了细节和想象。这表明这些孩子的思想、情绪和感受都封闭在他们的内心深处。
我的理想是成为向这些孩子传播话语世界美好的钥匙。这些孩子曾被我们忽视,但我觉得我能够也应该帮助他们发现和认识自己,并且能够表达自己的想法。
我知道这是个艰巨的任务,实现起来会遇到许多困难和障碍。但我笃信自己的理想,并将坚守下去——即使逆境重重。我们千万不能对一个理想作出不成熟的弃绝决定——让这些孩子,让我们的理想经受挑战。因为,没有理想的生活是没有生气的。
谢谢!