金融、華爾街，“招聘”一詞已經成了這種博弈的符號，代表著比僅僅選擇一條職業道路更廣更深的一系列問題。這些問題早晚將面臨著你們每個人——如果你是從醫學院畢業，你將選擇一個具體從醫方向——做私人醫生還是專攻皮膚病，如果你學的是法律，你將決定是用你的法律知識為一個公司法人賣命還是成為公眾的正義化身，或是在 “教育美國人”兩年後你決定是否繼續從教。你們之所以擔憂，是因為你們想擁有充滿價值的同時又是成功的人生；你們知道，你們被教育要有大的作為，不僅僅是為了個人，為了自己生活地舒適，而是要讓周圍的世界因此而改變。因此你們才不得不思考怎樣才能讓其成為可能。
i think there is a second reason you are worried — related to but not entirely distinct from the first. you want to be happy. you have flocked to courses like “positive psychology” — psych 1504 — and “the science of happiness” in search of tips. but how do we find happiness? i can offer one encouraging answer: get older. turns out that survey data show older people — that is, my age — report themselves happier than do younger ones. but perhaps you don't want to wait.
我認為你們之所以擔憂有第二個原因——和第一個有關係但不是完全一樣。你們希望過得幸福。你們蜂擁著去修“積極心理學”這門課——課程代號“心1504”——和“幸福的科學”這門課，不就是為了聽點人生“小貼士”？可是，我們怎樣才能獲得幸福？在這兒，我可以提供一個啟發性的答案：變老。調查數據顯示年長的人——也就是我這把年紀的人——覺得自己比年輕人更幸福。不過，很可能你們沒有人願意去等著去看這個答案。
i have listened to you talk about the choices ahead of you, i have heard you articulate your worries about the relationship of success and happiness — perhaps, more accurately, how to define success so that it yields and encompasses real happiness, not just money and prestige. the most remunerative choice, you fear, may not be the most meaningful and the most satisfying. but you wonder how you would ever survive as an artist or an actor or a public servant or a high school teacher? how would you ever figure out a path by which to make your way in journalism? would you ever find a job as an english professor after you finished who knows how many years of graduate school and dissertation writing?
在聊天時我聽過你們談到你們目前所面臨的選擇，我聽到你們一字一句地說出你們對於成功與幸福的關係的憂慮——也許，更精確地講，怎樣去定義成功才能使它具有或包含真正的幸福，而不僅僅是金錢和榮譽。你們害怕，報酬最豐厚的選擇，也許不是最有價值的和最令人滿意的選擇。但是你們也擔心，如果作為一個藝術家或是一個演員，一個人民公僕或是一個中學老師，該如何才能生存下去？然而，你們可曾想過，如果你的夢想是新聞業，怎樣才能想出一條通往夢想的道路呢？難道你會在讀了不知多少年研，寫了不知多少畢業論文終於畢業後，找一個英語教授的工作？
the answer is: you won't know till you try. but if you don't try to do what you love — whether it is painting or biology or finance; if you don't pursue what you think will be most meaningful, you will regret it. life is long. there is always time for plan b. but don't begin with it.