Ben Shalom Bernanke，Chairman Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Princeton University，June 2nd，2013
Does the fact that our lives are so influenced by chance and seemingly small decisions and actions mean that there is no point to planning，to striving？
我们的人生受到偶然性和各种看似微小的决定和行动左右，这是否意味着不需要规划和奋斗呢？
Ben Shalom Bernanke
背景故事
本·伯南克是谁？他是美国经济学家，曾任美国联邦储备局主席。而伯南克在普林斯顿大学2013年毕业典礼上的演讲非常幽默，同时也给予了2013届普林斯顿毕业生10条人生建议，他所有的建议几乎都来自《阿甘正传》。如此喜欢一部电影的人物，究竟是一个怎样的人物，他又秉持怎样的精神呢？
演讲中伯南克对普林斯顿大学的学生提出了十条建议。建议涉及毕业生们的人生、事业、价值观等多方面，以在现实世界中的亲身经历和实际观察而对学生们叮咛嘱咐。最后，伯南克特别提到找终生伴侣，要找一个除了外表美丽之外，更重要的是找一个能够与你相互提供支持和慰藉的人，而且强调成功后不要忘记常和父母联系。
名人简介
本·伯南克（Ben Shalom Bernanke，1953年12月13日-），美国犹太裔经济学家，曾任美国联邦储备委员会主席。伯南克在普林斯顿大学执教17年，并曾担任经济学系主任。
2002年被美国总统小布什任命为美联储理事。2005年6月，担任美国总统经济顾问委员会主席。10月接替格林斯潘被任命为美国联邦储备委员会主席。2009年，因为在带领美国度过大萧条以来最恶劣的经济危机中的突出表现，被《时代杂志》评选为“年度风云人物”。
演讲赏析
Give’em Hell
Ben Shalom Bernanke，Chairman Board of Governors of
the Federal Reserve System
Princeton University，June 2nd，2013
It‘s nice to be back at Princeton.I find it difficult to believe that it’s been almost 11years since I departed these halls for Washington.I wrote recently to inquire about the status of my leave from the university，and the letter I got back began，“Regrettably，Princeton receives many more qualified applicants for faculty positions than we can accommodate.”
I‘ll extend my best wishes to the seniors later，but first I want to congratulate the parents and families here.As a parent myself，I know that putting your kid through college these days is no walk in the park.Some years ago I had a colleague who sent three kids through Princeton even though neither he nor his wife attended this university.He and his spouse were very proud of that accomplishment，as they should have been.But my colleague also used to say that，from a financial perspective，the experience was like buying a new Cadillac every year and then driving it off a cliff.I should say that he always added that he would do it all over again in a minute.So，well done，moms，dads.
This is indeed an impressive and appropriate setting for a commencement.I am sure that，from this lectern，any number of distinguished spiritual leaders have ruminated on the lessons of the Ten Commandments.I don’t have that kind of confidence，and，anyway，coveting your neighbor‘s ox or donkey is not the problem it used to be，so I thought I would use my few minutes today to make Ten Suggestions，or maybe just Ten Observations，about the world and your lives after Princeton.Please note，these points have nothing whatsoever to do with interest rates.My qualification for making such suggestions，or observations，besides having kindly been invited to speak today by President Tilghman，is the same as the reason that your obnoxious brother or sister got to go to bed later-I am older than you.All of what follows has been road-tested in real-life situations，but past performance is no guarantee of future results.
Number1：The poet Robert Burns once said something about the best-laid plans of mice and men ganging aft agley，whatever“agley”means.A more contemporary philosopher，Forrest Gump，said something similar about life and boxes of chocolates and not knowing what you are going to get.They were both right.Life is amazingly unpredictable；any 22-year-old who thinks he or she knows where they will be in 10years，much less in 30，is simply lacking imagination.Look what happened to me：A dozen years ago I was minding my own business teaching Economics 101in Alexander Hall and trying to think of good excuses for avoiding faculty meetings.Then I got a phone call……In case you are skeptical of Forrest Gump’s insight，here‘s a concrete suggestion for each of the graduating seniors.Take a few minutes the first chance you get and talk to an alum participating in his or her 25th，or 30th，or 40th reunion-you know，somebody who was near the front of the P-rade.Ask them，back when they were graduating 25，30，or 40years ago，where they expected to be today.If you can get them to open up，they will tell you that today they are happy and satisfied in various measures，or not，and their personal stories will be filled with highs and lows and in-betweens.But，I am willing to bet，those life stories will in almost all cases be quite different，in large and small ways，from what they expected when they started out.This is a good thing，not a bad thing；who wants to know the end of a story that’s only in its early chapters？Don‘t be afraid to let the drama play out.
2.Does the fact that our lives are so influenced by chance and seemingly small decisions and actions mean that there is no point to planning，to striving？Not at all.Whatever life may have in store for you，each of you has a grand，lifelong project，and that is the development of yourself as a human being.Your family and friends and your time at Princeton have given you a good start.What will you do with it？Will you keep learning and thinking hard and critically about the most important questions？Will you become an emotionally stronger person，more generous，more loving，more ethical？Will you involve yourself actively and constructively in the world？Many things will happen in your lives，pleasant and not so pleasant，but，paraphrasing a Woodrow Wilson School adage from the time I was here，“Wherever you go，there you are.”If you are not happy with yourself，even the loftiest achievements won’t bring you much satisfaction.
