Tolerating， knowingly participating in， or securing advantage from institutions and processes that are corrupt not only weakens the fabric of thesociety of which you are a part， it also weakens you. It robs you of your honor， and it diminishes your humanity.
My mother used to say to me，“You know， honey， life isn‘t a dress rehearsal.”It took me years to figure out what she way trying to tell me. I think I get it， finally. I believe she was saying that all of us have but one shot at life. We’re not afforded the opportunity to come back to the starting line to run the race over again. We can‘t right the wrongs we committed the first time around in some future life. This is it.
So， by all means， make the most of life. But live that life-your life， that is-with integrity and conviction. In everything you undertake， do your utmost to conduct yourself honorably-not so that others will think well of you， but because it’s the right thing to do. Trust me on this one： there is no way to live a morally satisfying life without a moral compass. Let honor be that compass.
The last concept I want to touch on today is service. I‘ll skip the exhortation， now so familiar to you all， that as you do well across the long arc of your career， be sure to husband your time and resources so that you can also do good. Working on behalf of others-in whatever way brings you pleasure- is as much a part of your Stanford experience as never going to bed before 2：00 in the morning. You certainly don’t need another lecture from me on the topic at this late date.
I want， in any event， to make a somewhat different point. When you do direct your attention to some socially beneficial activity， I implore you to pick one that will test you to your very core； pick one for which you are less than ideally suited， either by temperament or by training； pick one that at some level gives you the“heeby jeebies，”-one that at first blush makes you want to bend over and throw up on your shoes.
Where， exactly， is he going with this， you may be asking： Let me cut to the chase. The most rewarding experiences I have ever had have beenthose that required me to fight above my weight class-in other words， that demanded of me a level of performance far in excess of anything I had ever demonstrated. This has certainly been the case in my professional life. But it has also guided the choices I have made in terms of public service.
Some of you know that I have twice taken leaves of absence from Stanford to work in Washington， D.C. The first time， when I was in my early thirties， it was to work as a legislative assistant to a U.S. senator-a job， by the way， for which I was objectively unqualified. Despite this fact， I survived and gradually came to understand what was expected of me. And along the way， I learned a lot.
The second time was to serve as special assistant for national security affairs to President Clinton. When a senior member of the President‘s staff called to sound me out about joining the administration， my first instinct was to pretend that I didn’t speak English. My second thought was to chuck the phone out the hotel window where I happened to be staying at the time. I knew a little bit about these positions， and I knew one had to be seriously disordered-deranged， in fact-to accept such a commission.
My reluctance to sign on was based on several considerations， including the incredibly long hours and the nearly complete loss of privacy that are the very essence of these kinds of positions.
But this wasn‘t what concerned me the most； it was something else entirely. The truth is I had no idea how to be a special assistant to the president. There was no manual to read to help me prepare， no clever little 20 minute DVD that I could pop in and watch， secure in the knowledge that I now knew all I needed to know before plunging in.
The night before my first day at the White House I remember thinking，“Of all the stupid things you’ve ever done in your life， this one really takes the cake. How long is it going to take them to figure out that they‘ve made a colossal mistake， that they have， in fact， hired a totalnincompoop.”How long can I last in this job： A month： A week： A day：
I had this image in my head of walking in to brief the president for the first time and suddenly losing consciousness or uttering complete nonsense or tripping on the carpet and splitting my head open on the corner of his desk. I’m not making this up.
The old adage，“That which doesn‘t kill us， makes us stronger，” kept coming to mind as I watched the minutes tick by on my last night as a civilian. I’m pleased to report that my service at the NSC did not kill me. There were times， to be sure， in the moment， when I wished it would， but these became less and less frequent as time went on. It did make me stronger.
And it did change my life-for the better.
The lesson is a simple one. However you choose to serve， make sure it demands more of you than you believe you are capable of giving. Because only by moving beyond our comfort zones can we access that part of us that we didn‘t even know existed. And it is through this processand only through this process， as painful and disorienting as it isthat we grow， that we mature， and that we contribute to the very best of our ability.
So， dear graduates of the Class of 2006， the wait is over. It’s time to stop revving your engines and to get out on the track. Life beckons.
As you set out from this glorious place， please know that all of us who have been a part of your education at Stanford wish you both happiness and success.
If you remember nothing else of what I‘ve said today-and believe me， you won’t remember much-please register and store the following for future reference. Be useful. Be humble. Act honorably. And give of yourself until it hurts.
Thank you very much， and good luck.
汉语回放（段灵芝译）
在毕业纪念日演讲的开头，我想首先祝贺所有在周末圆满毕业的同学--差不多是本届全体同学--并感谢2006届毕业生的演讲邀请。大家现在的姿态让我深受感动，我承诺会尽我所能地跟大家说些有意义的话--如果算不上有意义，至少会是有意思的话。同时我在这里对今天到场的毕业生和毕业生的家人朋友表示欢迎。今天真的是一个非常特殊的日子，一个让我们无法遗忘，并且还能让我们这些有幸多次参加的人深受启发的日子。
