奥普拉在斯坦福大学毕业典礼上的演讲.docx

1、奥普拉在斯坦福大学毕业典礼上的演讲奥普拉在斯坦福大学2008毕业典礼上的演讲英语 2009-07-22 12:18:41 阅读19 评论0 字号：大中小 Thank you, President Hennessy, and to thetrustees and the faculty, to all of the parents and grandparents, to you, the Stanford graduates. Thank you for letting me share this amazing day with you.I need to begin by letting

2、everyone in on a little secret. The secret is that Kirby Bumpus, Stanford Class of 08, is my goddaughter. So, I was thrilled when President Hennessy asked me to be your Commencement speaker, because this is the first time Ive been allowed on campus since Kirbys been here.You see, Kirbys a very smart

3、 girl. She wants people to get to know her on her own terms, she says. Not in terms of who she knows. So, she never wants anyone whos first meeting her to know that I know her and she knows me. So, when she first came to Stanford for new student orientation with her mom, I hear that they arrived and

4、 everybody was so welcoming, and somebody came up to Kirby and they said, Ohmigod, thats Gayle King! Because a lot of people know Gayle King as my BFF best friend forever.And so somebody comes up to Kirby, and they say, Ohmigod, is that Gayle King? And Kirbys like, Uh-huh. Shes my mom.And so the per

5、son says, Ohmigod, does it mean, like, you know Oprah Winfrey?And Kirby says, Sort of.I said, Sort of? You sort of know me? Well, I have photographic proof. I have pictures which I can e-mail to you all of Kirby riding horsey with me on all fours. So, I more than sort-of know Kirby Bumpus. And Im so

6、 happy to be here, just happy that I finally, after four years, get to see her room. Theres really nowhere else Id rather be, because Im so proud of Kirby, who graduates today with two degrees, one in human bio and the other in psychology. Love you, Kirby Cakes! Thats how well I know her. I can call

7、 her Cakes.And so proud of her mother and father, who helped her get through this time, and her brother, Will. I really had nothing to do with her graduating from Stanford, but every time anybodys asked me in the past couple of weeks what I was doing, I would say, Im getting ready to go to Stanford.

8、I just love saying Stanford. Because the truth is, I know I would have never gotten my degree at all, cause I didnt go to Stanford. I went to Tennessee State University. But I never would have gotten my diploma at all, because I was supposed to graduate back in 1975, but I was short one credit. And

9、I figured, Im just going to forget it, cause, you know, Im not going to march with my class. Because by that point, I was already on television. Id been in television since I was 19 and a sophomore. Granted, I was the only television anchor person that had an 11 oclock curfew doing the 10 oclock new

10、s.Seriously, my dad was like, Well, that news is over at 10:30. Be home by 11.But that didnt matter to me, because I was earning a living. I was on my way. So, I thought, Im going to let this college thing go and I only had one credit short. But, my father, from that time on and for years after, was

11、 always on my case, because I did not graduate. Hed say, Oprah Gailthats my middle nameI dont know what youre gonna do without that degree. And Id say, But, Dad, I have my own television show.And hed say, Well, I still dont know what youre going to do without that degree.And Id say, But, Dad, now Im

12、 a talk show host. Hed say, I dont know how youre going to get another job without that degree.So, in 1987, Tennessee State University invited me back to speak at their commencement. By then, I had my own show, was nationally syndicated. Id made a movie, had been nominated for an Oscar and founded m

13、y company, Harpo. But I told them, I cannot come and give a speech unless I can earn one more credit, because my dads still saying Im not going to get anywhere without that degree.So, I finished my coursework, I turned in my final paper and I got the degree.And my dad was very proud. And I know that

14、, if anything happens, that one credit will be my salvation.But I also know why my dad was insisting on that diploma, because, as B. B. King put it, The beautiful thing about learning is that nobody can take that away from you. And learning is really in the broadest sense what I want to talk about t

15、oday, because your education, of course, isnt ending here. In many ways, its only just begun.The world has so many lessons to teach you. I consider the world, this Earth, to be like a school and our life the classrooms. And sometimes here in this Planet Earth school the lessons often come dressed up

16、 as detours or roadblocks. And sometimes as full-blown crises. And the secret Ive learned to getting ahead is being open to the lessons, lessons from the grandest university of all, that is, the universe itself.Its being able to walk through life eager and open to self-improvement and that which is

17、going to best help you evolve, cause thats really why were here, to evolve as human beings. To grow into more of ourselves, always moving to the next level of understanding, the next level of compassion and growth.I think about one of the greatest compliments Ive ever received: I interviewed with a

18、reporter when I was first starting out in Chicago. And then many years later, I saw the same reporter. And she said to me, You know what? You really havent changed. Youve just become more of yourself.And that is really what were all trying to do, become more of ourselves. And I believe that theres a

19、 lesson in almost everything that you do and every experience, and getting the lesson is how you move forward. Its how you enrich your spirit. And, trust me, I know that inner wisdom is more precious than wealth. The more you spend it, the more you gain.So, today, I just want to share a few lessonsm

20、eaning threethat Ive learned in my journey so far. And arent you glad? Dont you hate it when somebody says, Im going to share a few, and its 10 lessons later? And, youre like, Listen, this is my graduation. This is not about you. So, its only going to be three.The three lessons that have had the gre

21、atest impact on my life have to do with feelings, with failure and with finding happiness.A year after I left college, I was given the opportunity to co-anchor the 6 oclock news in Baltimore, because the whole goal in the media at the time I was coming up was you try to move to larger markets. And B

22、altimore was a much larger market than Nashville. So, getting the 6 oclock news co-anchor job at 22 was such a big deal. It felt like the biggest deal in the world at the time.And I was so proud, because I was finally going to have my chance to be like Barbara Walters, which is who I had been trying

23、 to emulate since the start of my TV career. So, I was 22 years old, making $22,000 a year. And its where I met my best friend, Gayle, who was an intern at the same TV station. And once we became friends, wed say, Ohmigod, I cant believe it! Youre making $22,000 and youre only 22. Imagine when youre

24、 40 and youre making $40,000!When I turned 40, I was so glad that didnt happen.So, here I am, 22, making $22,000 a year and, yet, it didnt feel right. It didnt feel right. The first sign, as President Hennessy was saying, was when they tried to change my name. The news director said to me at the tim

25、e, Nobodys going to remember Oprah. So, we want to change your name. Weve come up with a name we think that people will remember and people will like. Its a friendly name: Suzie.Hi, Suzie. Very friendly. You cant be angry with Suzie. Remember Suzie. But my name wasnt Suzie. And, you know, Id grown u

26、p not really loving my name, because when youre looking for your little name on the lunch boxes and the license plate tags, youre never going to find Oprah.So, I grew up not loving the name, but once I was asked to change it, I thought, well, it is my name and do I look like a Suzie to you? So, I th

27、ought, no, it doesnt feel right. Im not going to change my name. And if people remember it or not, thats OK.And then they said they didnt like the way I looked. This was in 1976, when your boss could call you in and say, I dont like the way you look. Now that would be called a lawsuit, but back then

28、 they could just say, I dont like the way you look. Which, in case some of you in the back, if you cant tell, is nothing like Barbara Walters. So, they sent me to a salon where they gave me a perm, and after a few days all my hair fell out and I had to shave my head. And then they really didnt like

29、the way I looked.Because now I am black and bald and sitting on TV. Not a pretty picture.But even worse than being bald, I really hated, hated, hated being sent to report on other peoples tragedies as a part of my daily duty, knowing that I was just expected to observe, when everything in my instinc

30、t told me that I should be doing something, I should be lending a hand.So, as President Hennessy said, Id cover a fire and then Id go back and Id try to give the victims blankets. And I wouldnt be able to sleep at night because of all the things I was covering during the day.And, meanwhile, I was tr

31、ying to sit gracefully like Barbara and make myself talk like Barbara. And I thought, well, I could make a pretty goofy Barbara. And if I could figure out how to be myself, I could be a pretty good Oprah. I was trying to sound elegant like Barbara. And sometimes I didnt read my copy, because somethi

32、ng inside me said, this should be spontaneous. So, I wanted to get the news as I was giving it to the people. So, sometimes, I wouldnt read my copy and it would be, like, six people on a pileup on I-40. Oh, my goodness.And sometimes I wouldnt read the copybecause I wanted to be spontaneousand Id come across a list of words I didnt know and Id mispronounce. And one day I was reading copy and I called Canada ca nada. And I decided, this Barbara things not going too w