It is an inspiring speech by Obama @ the graduation ceremony of ASU.

 

I want to say to you today, graduates,that despite having achieved a remarkable milestone in your life, despite the fact that you and your families are so rightfully proud, you too cannot rest on your laurels. You can't rest.For we gather here tonight in times of extraordinary difficulty, for the nation and for the world. For many of you,these chanllenges are so felt in more personal terms.Perhaps you're still looking for a job-or struggling to figure out what career path makes sense in this disrupted economy.

 

Now, in the face of these challenges, it may be tempting to fall back on the formulas for sucess that have been pedaled so frequently in recent years. It goes something like this: You're taught to chase after all the usual brass rings; you try to be on this"who's who" list or that top 100 list; you chase after the big money and you figure out how big your corner office is; you worry about whether you have a fancy enough title or a fancy enough car.That's the message that's sent each and every day, or has been in our culture for too long-that through material possessions, through a ruthless competition pursued only on your own behalf-that's how you will measure sucess.

 

Now,you can take that road-and it may work for some. But at this critical juncture in our nation's history, at this difficult time, let me suggest that such an approach won't get you where you want to go; it dispays a poverty of ambition-that in fact, the elevation of appearance over substance, of celebrity over character, of short-term gain over lasting achievement is precisely what your generation needs to help end.

 

Now, ASU, I want to highlight two main problems with the old, tired, me-first approach. First, it distracts you from what's truly important, and may lead you to compromise your values and your pinciples and commitments. The second problem with the old approach to sucess can lead complacency. It can make you lazy. We too often let the external, the material things serve as indicators that we're doing well, even though something inside us tells us that we're not doing our best; that we're avoiding that which is hard, but also necessary; that we're shrinking from, rather than rising to, the challenges of the age. And the thing is, in to doing what's meaningful to you, what helps others, what makes a difference in the world.

 

.....打得我好辛苦，未完待续。