彼得?泰爾，這位以嘴大敢說話而聞名的企業家之前曾公開表示，大學教育無論對于考上了的、沒考上的，還是對于整個社會，都沒有任何益處。漢密爾頓學院居然會這樣一位曾經炮轟大學教育的仁兄來給畢業生演講，也算是驚世駭俗的選擇了。不過，彼得?泰爾在此次演講中大談探索創新和推動變革，倒也十分應景。以下是他的演講原文。

在漢密爾頓學院2016屆畢業典禮上的演講詞

感謝您的熱情介紹。能在這里演講，我感到無比光榮。

和大多數畢業典禮上的演講嘉賓一樣，貌似我的主要特點就是——你們的父母和老師并不清楚你們的生活究竟過得怎樣，我是少數幾個比父母和老師更不了解情況的人之一。

你們大多數的年紀都在二十一二歲左右，就要開始進入職場了。我已經有21年沒有為別人打工了。如果我非要總結出一個為什么我今天可以站在這里講話的理由，我想說，因為我是靠思考未來而謀生的。這是一次畢業典禮，這也是一次新的開始。作為一名科技領域的投資人，我的工作就是投資于新的開始。對于那些人們從未見過或做到的事情，我有信心。

當年我的職業生涯剛開始的時候，這并不是我最初的想法。1989年，那時的我正坐在你們現在的位子上，我當時最想當的是律師。我并不確切地知道律師整天都要干些什么，但是我知道，他們首先要去法學院讀書，而我對學校很熟悉。

從初中、高中再到大學，我的成績一直都不錯。我知道，考入法學院后，面對的那些考試與我從小到大經歷的考試大同小異，我依然會是一個佼佼者。但我知道，我在法學院參加考試的原因是為了成為一名成熟的職業人士。

我在法學院表現得也足夠出色，畢業后我被紐約的一家大型律師事務所錄取。然而它是一個奇怪的圍城，外面的人想進去，里面的人想出來。

只干了七個月零三天，我就離開了那家事務所，我的同事們都感到十分驚訝。其中一名同事告訴我，他從沒想過居然有人可以“逃出惡魔島”。這話可能聽起來有些奇怪，因為如果你真的想走，你只需要走出大門不要回頭就可以了。不過很多人的確發現那是一個難以脫身的地方，因為當他們殺敗千軍萬馬進入了那家公司以后，他們的身份就在相當程度上與它綁在了一起。

就在我打算離開那家律師事務所的時候，我得到了一次美國最高法院書記員一職的面試機會。作為一名律師，這差不多算是中了頭等獎了。它絕對是競爭的最高舞臺。然而我失敗了。當時我感到徹頭徹尾的沮喪，似乎到了世界末日。

10年后，我遇到了一位老朋友，他曾經幫我準備過最高法院的面試，我已經很多年沒見過他了。他見我的第一句話并不是“你好彼得”或是“最近過得怎樣”之類的寒暄，而是問我：“你難道不為沒得到那個書記員的職位感到慶幸么？”因為如果我不是在那次競爭中失利了，就不可能脫離從中學便開始鋪好的道路，也不會搬到加州與人一起創辦了一家初創公司，更不會開創任何新的事業。

回想當年立志成為律師的雄心壯志，與其說它是我對未來的計劃，不如說是為當下而找的借口。這樣，如果任何人——比如我的父母、同學，最主要還是我自己——問我對未來有何打算時，我就可以用這個借口來解釋，告訴他們不用擔心，我在這條路上走得好著呢。然而回首往事，我當時最大的問題就是，我在走這條路的時候，并沒有真正地認真思考過這條路究竟通向哪里。

當我與人共同創辦了一家科技初創公司時，我們采取了一種截然相反的方法。我們有意地改變著整個世界的前進方向。我們的計劃非常明確，非常龐大，目標就是要建立一種新的數字貨幣，并且用它來取代美元。

當時我們的團隊非常年輕。剛開始創業的時候，我是團隊里唯一一個年齡超過23歲的人。我們發布第一款產品時，第一批用戶僅僅是在我們公司工作的這24名員工。而出了我們這家小公司的門，在全球金融界謀生的人有數百萬之多。當我們把自己的計劃告訴其中一些人時，我們注意到一個明顯的模式：一個人在銀行業滾打的經驗越豐富，他就愈發確信我們的業務絕不會成功。

他們錯了。如今，全球每年通過PayPal完成的交易超過2000億美元。我們的確還有一個更大的目標沒能實現——美元仍然是當今世界的主導貨幣。我們沒能成功占領全世界，然而在致力于占領世界的過程中，我們的確建立了一家成功的企業。更重要的是，我們終于明白，雖然做新事物是很難的，但它遠非不可能。

在人生的這一階段，你們面臨的限制、禁忌和恐懼也是人生中最少的階段。所以不要浪費你們的無畏，要勇敢地走出去，做你們的老師和父母認為不可能做到的事，和他們從沒想過的事。

這并不是說，我們就該認為教育和傳統是沒有價值的。我們可以從漢密爾頓學院的一位畢業生、著名詩人艾茲拉?龐德的身上得到啟發。他是1905屆的學生，也是一位預言家，他稱自己的使命只有三個單詞：“Make it new（意為‘推陳出新’）?！碑旪嫷伦非蟆靶隆睍r，他是在與“陳”作比較。他想讓傳統中的精華煥發出新的活力。

無論是漢密爾頓學院，還是美國，乃至整個西方世界，我們都身處一種不尋常的傳統之中。我們所繼承的這種傳統，是創新的傳統，是弗朗西斯?培根的新科學理論，是伊薩克?牛頓發現的那些之前從未被寫進書里的真理。我們的整個大陸都是一個新世界。這個國家的開國之父們創立了他們所稱的“時代的新秩序”。美國是一個前沿國家。如果我們不去探索什么是新，就是不忠于自己的傳統。

那么，我們的進展如何呢？今日又有多“新”？很多人說，我們正處于一個快速變革的時代。這種說法已經濫了。事實上，創新已經日趨停滯，這已經是一個公開的秘密了。如今，計算機的運行速度變得更快，智能手機也是一種比較新的東西了。而另一方面，飛機的速度變慢了，火車故障頻發，房價高企，居民收入陷入停滯。

今天，“科技”一詞已經成了信息技術的代名詞。所謂的“科技行業”主要造的就是電腦和軟件。但在上世紀60年代，“科技”的外延更加廣泛，并非只意味著計算機，還意味著飛機、機械、化肥、材料、太空旅行等各種各樣的事物。那時方方面面的技術都在進步，帶領著整個世界向水下城市、探月旅行等方向發展，能源價格也極為便宜。

我們都聽說過，美國是所謂的發達國家，和發展中國家是不同的。這種描述貌似是中立的，但我發現它其實遠非中立。因為它表明我們創造新事物的傳統已經結束了。當我們說我們是發達國家時，我們的意思其實是：“我們已經完成了發展?！焙孟駥ξ覀儊碚f，歷史已經結束了，每一件要做的事都做完了，唯一要做的事就是等世界上的其他國家趕上來。從這個角度來看，上世紀60年代，人們對未來那美好多姿的暢想其實是錯誤的。

我認為，我們要強烈反對那種認為我們的歷史已經結束的傾向。當然，如果我們認為，我們沒有能力做成任何我們不熟悉的事，這樣悲觀的預期也一定會應驗。但我們不應怨天尤人，這只能是我們自己的錯。

熟悉的路徑和傳統就像陳辭濫調一樣——它們到處都是。有的時候它們可能是正確的，然而更多的時候，它們只是被不斷重復，卻沒有什么證據能證明它們的正確性。在今天演講的最后，請允許我對兩句陳辭濫調提出質疑。

第一句是莎士比亞的名言：“對自我要誠實（To thine own self be true）?！边@句話出自莎翁筆下，卻不是由他直接說出來，而是借其筆下的人物波洛尼厄斯之口說出來的。哈姆雷特準確地將其描述為一個無聊的老傻瓜，雖然波洛尼厄斯是丹麥國王的高級顧問。

所以說，在現實中，莎翁教給了我們兩件事。第一，不要對自我誠實。你怎么知道你還有“自我”這么個東西呢？就和我一樣，你的“自我”可能是在與其他人的競爭中被激發起來的。所以說你需要約束你的自我，去培養它、呵護它，而不是盲從于它。第二，莎翁是說，你應該對別人的意見保持清醒頭腦，哪怕這些意見來自長輩們。在《哈姆雷特》中，波洛尼厄斯可謂對女兒循循善誘，但他的意見卻十分糟糕。在西方傳統中，人們不是盲目地崇古——莎翁此作就是詮釋這一傳統的極佳例子。

另一句說濫了的老話是“把每天都當成人生的最后一天來活?！边@個建議最好反過來聽：“把每天都當成你會永生一樣活。”也就是說，最重要的是，對身邊的人，要像他們永遠不會離去一樣對待他們。你在今天做出的選擇是很重要的，因為它們產生的影響會越來越大。

這就是為什么愛因斯坦說：“復利是宇宙間最強大的力量?！边@里的復利并非指金融或金錢，而是指如果你投入時間用于建立可靠和長久的友誼，你就將得到最好的回報。

從某種意義上說，你們之所以今天會坐在這里，是因為你們曾被漢密爾頓學院批準在這里學習一套課程，而這套課程現在已經結束了。從另一層意義來說，你們今天之所以坐在這里，是因為你們找到了一群能在人生道路上給予你們支持和幫助的朋友，而且這種友誼還會繼續。如果你能好好培養你們的友誼，它也會在未來的歲月里給你帶來“復利”。

你們到目前為止所做的每一件事，都已經達到了某種正式的結束和完成。你們應該——同時我也希望——你們今天能盡情享受你們已經取得的成就。但你們要記住，今天的畢業典禮并不是另一件將會結束的事情的開始，而是開啟了一段永遠之路。我就不再耽擱你們踏上這段旅程了。謝謝。（財富中文網）

譯者：樸成奎

Hamilton College 2016 Commencement Address

Thank you so much for the kind introduction. It’s a tremendous honor to be here.

Like most graduation speakers my main qualification would seem to be that I am one of the few people who are even more clueless about what is going on in your lives than your parents and your professors.

Most of you are about 21 or 22 years old, you’re about to begin working. I haven’t worked for anybody for 21 years. But if I try to give a reason for why it makes sense for me to speak here today I would say it’s because thinking about the future is what I do for a living. And this is a commencement. It’s a new beginning. As a technology investor, I invest in new beginnings. I believe in what hasn’t yet been seen or been done.

This is not what I set out to do when I began my career. When I was sitting where you are, back in 1989, I would’ve told you that I wanted to be a lawyer. I didn’t really know what lawyers do all day, but I knew they first had to go to law school, and school was familiar to me.

I had been competitively tracked from middle school to high school to college, and by going straight to law school I knew I would be competing at the same kinds of tests I’d been taking ever since I was a kid, but I could tell everyone that I was now doing it for the sake of becoming a professional adult.

I did well enough in law school to be hired by a big New York law firm, but it turned out to be a very strange place. From the outside, everybody wanted to get in; and from the inside, everybody wanted to get out.

When I left the firm, after seven months and three days, my coworkers were surprised. One of them told me that he hadn’t known it was possible to escape from Alcatraz. Now that might sound odd, because all you had to do to escape was walk through the front door and not come back. But people really did find it very hard to leave, because so much of their identity was wrapped up in having won the competitions to get there in the first place.

Just as I was leaving the law firm, I got an interview for a Supreme Court clerkship. This is sort of the top prize you can get as a lawyer. It was the absolute last stage of the competition. But I lost. At the time I was totally devastated. It seemed just like the end of the world.

About a decade later, I ran into an old friend. Someone who had helped me prepare for the Supreme Court interview, whom I hadn’t seen in years. His first words to me were not, you know, “Hi Peter” or “How are you doing?” But rather, “So, aren’t you glad you didn’t get that clerkship?” Because if I hadn’t lost that last competition, we both knew that I never would have left the track laid down since middle school, I wouldn’t have moved to California and co-founded a startup, I wouldn’t have done anything new.

Looking back at my ambition to become a lawyer, it looks less like a plan for the future and more like an alibi for the present. It was a way to explain to anyone who would ask—to my parents, to my peers, and most of all to myself—that there was no need to worry. I was perfectly on track. But it turned out in retrospect that my biggest problem was taking the track without thinking really hard about where it was going.

When I co-founded a technology startup, we took the opposite approach. We consciously set out to change the direction of the world. Very definite, very big plans. Our goal was nothing less than to replace the U.S. dollar by creating a new digital currency.

We had a young team. When we started, I was the only person over 23 years old. When we released our first product, the first users were simply the 24 people who worked at our company. Outside there were millions of people working in the global financial industry, and when we told some of them about our plans we noticed a clear pattern: the more experience someone had in banking, the more certain they were that our venture could never succeed.

They were wrong. People around the world now rely on PayPal to move more than $200 billion every year. We did fail at our greater goal. The dollar’s still dominant. We didn’t succeed in taking over the whole world, but we did create a successful company in the process. And more importantly we learned that, while doing new things is difficult, it is far from impossible.

At this moment in your life you know fewer limits, fewer taboos, and fewer fears than you will ever in the future. So do not squander your ignorance. Go out and do what your teachers and parents thought could not be done, and what they never thought of doing.

Now this is not to say that we should assume there is no value in teaching and tradition. And here we can take inspiration from a graduate of Hamilton College, the illustrious Ezra Pound, class of 1905. Pound was a poet, and he was also a prophet of sorts, and he announced his mission in three words: “Make it new.” When Pound said “make it new,” he was talking about the old. He wanted to recover what was best in tradition, and render it fresh.

Here at Hamilton, in America, and that part of the world called the West, we are all part of an unusual kind of tradition. The tradition we’ve inherited is itself about doing new things. The new science of Francis Bacon and Isaac Newton discovered truths that had never been written down in books. Our whole continent is a new world. The founders of this country set out to create what they called a new order for the ages. America is the frontier country. We are not true to our own tradition unless we seek what is new.

So how are we doing? How much is new today? It is a cliché to say that we are living through a time of rapid change, but it is an open secret that the truth is closer to stagnation. Computers are getting faster and smartphones are somewhat new. But on the other hand, jets are slower, trains are breaking down, houses are expensive, and incomes are flat.

Today the word “technology” means information technology. The so-called tech industry builds computers and software. But in the 1960s, “technology” had a more expansive meaning and meant not just computers, but also airplanes, medicines, fertilizers, materials, space travel—all sorts of things. Technology was advancing on every front and leading to a world of underwater cities, vacations on the moon, and energy too cheap to meter.

We’ve all heard America described as a developed country, setting it apart from countries that are still developing. This description pretends to be neutral. But I find it far from neutral. Because it suggests that our tradition of making new things is over. When we say we are developed, we’re saying, “That’s it.” That for us, history is over. We are saying that everything there is to do has already been done, and now the only thing left is for others in the world to catch up. And in this view, the 1960s vision of a fantastic and far better future was just a mistake.

I think we should strongly refuse this temptation to assume that our history is over. Of course if we choose to believe that we’re powerless to do anything that is not familiar, we will be right, but only in a sort of self-fulfilling way. We should not, however, blame nature. It will only be our own fault.

Familiar tracks and traditions are like clichés—they are everywhere, they may sometimes be correct, but often they are justified by nothing except constant repetition. Let me end today by questioning two clichés in particular.

The first comes from Shakespeare who wrote this well-known piece of advice: “To thine own self be true.” Now Shakespeare wrote that, but he didn’t say it. He put it in the mouth of a character named Polonius, who Hamlet accurately describes as a tedious old fool, even though Polonius was senior counselor to the King of Denmark.

And so, in reality, Shakespeare is telling us two things. First, do not be true to yourself. How do you know you even have such a thing as a self? Your self might be motivated by competition with others, like I was. You need to discipline your self, to cultivate it and care for it. Not to follow it blindly. Second, Shakespeare’s saying that you should be skeptical of advice, even from your elders. Polonius is a father speaking to his daughter, but his advice is terrible. Here Shakespeare’s a faithful example of our western tradition, which does not honor what is merely inherited.

The other cliché goes like this: “Live each day as if it were your last.” The best way to take this as advice is to do exactly the opposite. Live each day as if you will live forever. That means, first and foremost, that you should treat the people around you as if they too will be around for a very long time to come. The choices that you make today matter, because their consequences will grow greater and greater.

That is what Einstein was getting at when he supposedly said that compound interest is the most powerful force in the universe. This isn’t just about finance or money, but it’s about the idea that you’ll get the best returns in life from investing your time in building durable friendships and long-lasting relationships.

In one sense, all of you are here today because you were approved by the admissions office of Hamilton to pursue a course of study, which is now over. In another sense you are here because you found a group of friends to sustain you along the way, and those friendships will continue. If you take care of them, they will compound in the years ahead.

Everything that you have done so far has had some kind of formal ending, some kind of graduation. You should, and I hope that you will, take time today to celebrate all that you’ve achieved so far. But remember that today’s commencement is not the beginning of one more thing that will end. It is the beginning of forever. And I won’t delay you any further in getting on with it. Thank you.