Occasionally, life can be undeniably, impossibly difficult. We are facedwith challenges and events that can seem overwhelming, life-destroying to thepoint where it may be hard to decide whether to keep going. But you always havea choice. Jessica Heslop shares her powerful, inspiring journey from the worsttimes in her life to the new life she has created for herself:
Someone said “we are reading the first verse of the first chapter of abook, whose pages are infinite”. I don’t know who wrote these words, but I’vealways liked them as a reminder that the future can be anything we want it tobe. We are all in the position of the farmers. If we plant a good seed ,we reapa good harvest. If we plant nothing at all, we harvest nothing at all.
We are young. “How to spend the youth?” It is a meaningful question. Toanswer it, first I have to ask “what do you understand by the word youth?” Youthis not a time of life, it’s a state of mind. It’s not a matter of rosy cheeks,red lips or supple knees. It’s the matter of the will. It’s the freshness of thedeep spring of life.
A poet said “To see a world in a grain of sand, and a heaven in a wildflower, hold infinity in the palm of your hand, and eternity in an hour. Severaldays ago, I had a chance to listen to a lecture. I learnt a lot there. I’d liketo share it with all of you. Let’s show our right palms. We can see three
lines that show how our love.career and life is. I have a short line oflife. What about yours? I wondered whether we could see our future in this way.Well, let’s make a fist. Where is our future? Where is our love, career, andlife? Tell me.Yeah, it is in our hands. It is held in ourselves.
We all want the future to be better than the past. But the future can gobetter itself. Don’t cry because it is over, smile because it happened. From thepast, we’ve learnt that the life is tough, but we are tougher. We’ve learnt thatwe can’t choose how we feel, but we can choose what about it. Failure doesn’tmean you don’t have it, it does mean you should do it in a different way.Failure doesn’t mean you should give up, it does mean you must try harder.
As what I said at the beginning, “we are reading the first verse of thefirst chapter of a book, whose pages are infinite”. The past has gone. Nothingwe do will change it. But the future is in front of us. Believe that what wegive to the world, the world will give to us. And from today on, let’s be theowners of ourselves, and speak out “We are the world, we are the future.”
有人说“我们正在阅读一本书第一章的第一节，它的页数是无限的”。我不知道这些词是谁写的，但我一直喜欢这些词，以提醒人们未来可以是我们想要的任何东西。我们都处于农民的地位。如果我们种下一颗好种子，我们会收获一个好收成。如果我们什么都不种，我们什么都不收获。
我们很年轻。“如何度过青春?“这是一个有意义的问题。要回答这个问题，首先我必须问“你对青年这个词有什么理解?“青春不是人生的时光，而是一种心态。这不是脸颊红润、嘴唇红润或膝盖柔软的问题。这是意志的问题。这是生命深处春天的新鲜。
一位诗人说:“在一粒沙子里看到一个世界，在一朵野花里看到一个天堂，把握在你手中的是无限，永恒在一个小时内。几天前，我有机会听了一次讲座。我在那里学到了很多。我想和大家分享一下。让我们展示我们的右手掌。我们可以看到三个显示我们的爱情、事业和生活的线条。我的寿命很短。
你的呢?我想知道我们是否可以这样看待我们的未来。好吧，让我们打一拳。我们的未来在哪里?我们的爱情、事业和生活在哪里?告诉我。是的，它在我们手中。这是我们自己的事情。我们都希望未来比过去更美好。但是未来会更好。
不要因为结束而哭泣，微笑吧，因为已经发生了。从过去，我们了解到生活是艰难的，但是我们更艰难。我们已经了解到我们不能选择自己的感受，但是我们可以选择如何去感受。失败并不意味着你没有它，而是意味着你应该以不同的方式去做。失败并不意味着你应该放弃，而是意味着你必须更加努力。
正如我在开头所说，“我们正在阅读一本书第一章的第一节，它的页数是无限的”。过去已经过去了。我们所做的一切都不会改变它。但是未来就在我们面前。相信我们给世界的东西，世界会给我们的。从今天起，让我们成为自己的主人，大声说“我们是世界，我们是未来”。
One of the best things we can do in our lives is this: Begin again。Begin tosee yourself as you were When you were the happiest and strongest you’d everbeen
生命中我们所能为的最好之事莫过于:重新开始。重新开始审视自己,犹如身处曾经有过的最幸福、坚强的时刻。
Begin to remember what worked for you (and what worked against you)，And tryto make things work again。Remember how natural it was when you werea child —To live a lifetime each day
开始记起那些曾经助益过你的一切(以及那些曾经牵绊过你的一切),并设法重获魅力。记得你小时候的天真——把每一天当作一生来度过。
Begin to forget about the troubles you have carried with you for years: Theproblems that don’t matter any more, The tears that cried themselves away. Andthe worries that are going to wash away. On the shore of tomorrow’s newbeginnings
开始学着忘掉让你负重多年的烦恼:那些不再重要的问题,那些自然逝去的眼泪,那些即将在崭新的明天被冲刷去的焦虑。
Tomorrow tells us it will be here every new day of our lives;And if we arewise， We will turn away from the problems of the past。And give thefuture —and ourselves —a chance，To become the best of friends，Sometimes all ittakes is a wish in the heart to let yourself Begin again。
明日告诉我们每一个明天都是生命的崭新日;倘若我们清醒明智,我们将会抛却过去的问题。给未来,也给我们自己一个机会,努力成为好朋友。有时所需的一切只是内心一个愿望,好让你自己重新开始。有望在八十高龄告别尘寰时仍觉年轻。
In the flood of darkness, hope is the light. It brings comfort, faith, andconfidence. It gives us guidance when we are lost, and gives support when we areafraid. And the moment we give up hope, we give up our lives. The world we livein is disintegrating into a place of malice and hatred, where we need hope andfind it harder. In this world of fear, hope to find better, but easier said thandone, the more meaningful life of faith will make life meaningful.
在潮水般的黑暗之中，希望是光。它带来舒适、信仰和信心。它在我们迷失时给予指引，在我们恐惧时给予支持。而在我们放弃希望的那一刻，也就放弃了生命。我们生活的世界正瓦解成一个充满恶意和仇恨的地方，在这里我们就更需要希望，却又难以寻得。在这充满恐惧的世界里，找到希望谈何容易，但是，对更好、更有意义的人生的信仰才会让生命有意义。
ladies and gentlemen , good afternoon! i’m very glad to stand here and give you a short speech. today my topic is “youth”. i hope you will like it , and found the importance in your youth so that more cherish it.
first i want to ask you some questions:
1、do you know what is youth?
2、how do you master your youth?
youth
youth is not a time of life, it is a state of mind ; it is not rosy cheeks , red lips and supple knees, it is a matter of the emotions : it is the freshness ; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life .
youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity of the appetite , for adventure over the love of ease. this often exists in a man of 60 more than a boy of 20 . nobody grows old merely by a number of years . we grow old by deserting our ideals.
years wrinkle the skin , but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul . worry , fear , self –distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust .
whether 60 of 16 , there is in every human being ‘s heart the lure of wonders, the unfailing childlike appetite of what’s next and the joy of the game of living . in the center of your heart and my heart there’s a wireless station : so long as it receives messages of beauty , hope ,cheer, courage and power from men and from the infinite, so long as you are young .
when the aerials are down , and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you are grown old ,even at 20 , but as long as your aerials are up ,to catch waves of optimism , there is hope you may die young at 80.
thank you!
The sun has begun to set and I hang up the smile I’ve worn all day, thoughI will make sure it is the first thing I put back on in the morning just in caseit is “that day.” I want her to see me at my very best.
I do the normal routine, eat dinner, clean the house, write—the usualstuff. And then I lay down hoping to fall asleep quickly so my new day willhurry up and arrive. A new day with a brand new sun. But as I lay there and waitfor the world to turn half way around, I think about her. And sometimes I smile,and sometimes that smile will turn into asnicker, and then often that snickerwill turn into a burst of laughter.
And then there are times I get that lump in my throat and that tightfeeling in my chest, and sometimes that feeling overwhelms me and begins to turninto a tear, and often that tear multiplies itself and I can no longer fight thefeeling and I lose the battle. Then somehow through either the joy or thesadness I drift and find myself asleep. Then the dreams begin and keep mecompany until my new day arrives.
I have a few candles stored in a drawer in my dining room. They’re meantfor romantic dinners and special occasions, but since the arrival of our threechildren they have lain unnoticed among the napkins and other things. They arewaiting to be taken out and lit to share their glow with anyone who will takethe time to bask in their brilliance.
Are not our souls like those candles, patiently waiting for someone to comeand let us be ourselves? We are all waiting for our own moments to shine; weeach have a special light, unmatched by any other.
Candles are made up of wax and a wick; we have bodies, but our essence liesin our minds and souls. Candles are unique in their colors, shapes and designs.Our life histories and experiences are the backdrops of who we are, but ourminds are like candle wicks, and make our passions flame. Unlike the candles inmy drawer, who get used or not used depending on my whims, we control our ownthoughts, and how brightly we will burn or dimly we will shine.
Is your soul candle dimmed by circumstance or lack of passion anddirection? Is it hidden in a drawer of stress, worry or resentment? Make achoice to let yourself shine the way you were meant to shine.
在我餐厅的抽屉里放着几根蜡烛。它们会用于浪漫的晚餐和一些特殊的场合，但是自从我的三个孩子出生之后，它们便被遗忘在餐巾纸和其他杂物之间了。它们一直在等待着被拿出抽屉，被点亮，以和任何一个愿意花费时间去感受它们温暖的人分享那些光亮。
我们的灵魂不也像蜡烛么?耐心地等待有人来发掘我们，让我们发光发亮。我们一直等待着发光发亮的一刻;我们都有自己独特的光亮，是别人所不能匹及的。
蜡烛由蜡状物和蜡烛心组合而成;人类有肉体，而我们的本质却存在于精神和灵魂中。蜡烛有它们独一无二的颜色、形状和图案。我们生命的历史和经历是决定我们是谁的大背景，但是只有我们的心灵才是蜡烛心，使热情形成火焰。与在抽屉里等着别人一时的兴致来决定是否被点燃的蜡烛不同，我们可以决定自己的思想，决定自己能够发光发亮还是黯淡无光。
你心中的那支蜡烛是否因环境或者缺少激情，没有方向感而黯淡无光?它是否藏匿于压力、担忧和怨恨的抽屉里?做出选择吧，以自己注定的方式去发光。
We are the world ,we are the future!
Someone said “we are reading the first verse of the first chapter of abook, whose pages are infinite”. i don’t know who wrote these words, but i’vealways liked them as a reminder that the future can be anything we want it tobe. we are all in the position of the farmers. if we plant a good seed ,we reapa good harvest. if we plant nothing at all, we harvest nothing at all.
We are young. “how to spend the youth?” it is a meaningful question. toanswer it, first i have to ask “what do you understand by the word youth?” youthis not a time of life, it’s a state of mind. it’s not a matter of rosy cheeks,red lips or supple knees. it’s the matter of the will. it’s the freshness of thedeep spring of life.
A poet said “to see a world in a grain of sand, and a heaven in a wildflower, hold infinity in the palm of your hand, and eternity in an hour. severaldays ago, i had a chance to listen to a lecture. i learnt a lot there. i’d liketo share it with all of you. let’s show our right palms. we can see three linesthat show how our love.career and life is. i have a short line of life. whatabout yours? i wondered whether we could see our future in this way. well, let’smake a fist. where is our future? where is our love, career, and life?” tellme.yeah, it is in our hands. it is held in ourselves.
We all want the future to be better than the past. but the future can gobetter itself. don’t cry because it is over, smile because it happened. from thepast, we’ve learnt that the life is tough, but we are tougher. we’ve learnt thatwe can’t choose how we feel, but we can choose what about it. failure doesn’tmean you don’t have it, it does mean you should do it in a different way.failure doesn’t mean you should give up, it does mean you must try harder.
As what i said at the beginning, “we are reading the first verse of thefirst chapter of a book, whose pages are infinite”. the past has gone. nothingwe do will change it. but the future is in front of us. believe that what wegive to the world, the world will give to us. and from today on, let’s be theowners of ourselves, and speak out “we are the world, we are the future.”
Saying goodbye to childhood，we step into another important time in the pace of young，facing new situations，dealing with different problems.....
everyone has his ownunderstanding of young，it is a period of time of beauty and wonders，only after you have
experienced the sour ，sweet ，bitter and salty can you really become a person of significance.thre time of young is limitted，it may pass by without your attention，and when you discover what has happened ，it is always too late.grasping the young well means a better time is waiting for you in the near future，or the situation may be opposite .
having a view on these great men in the history of hunmanbeing，they all made full use of their youth time ，to do things that are useful to society，to the whole mankind，and as a cosquence ，they are remembered by later
generations，admired by everyone.so do something in the time of young，although you may not get achievements as these greatmen did ，though not for the whole word，just for youeself，for those around!
the young is just like blooming flowers，they are so beautiful when blooming，they make people feel happy，but with time passing by，after they withers ，moet people think they are ugly.and so it is the same with young，we are enthusiastic when we are young，then we may lose our passion when getting older and older.so we must treasure it ，don't let the limitted time pass by ，leaving nothing of significance.
译文：
告别童年，我们步入了另一个重要的时间，在年轻的步伐，面对新的情况，处理不同的问题的时候了
每个人都有自己观点的年轻人，这是一段美丽和奇迹，只有在你
经历了酸，甜，苦，咸，你真的能成为青年significance.thre时间人实业公司，它可能没有经过你注意，当你发现发生了什么事，它总是太late.grasping年轻也意味着一个更好的时间是在不久的将来等着你，或情况可能是相反的。
在过去这些伟大的人的观点，他们都充分利用了自己的青春时光，做一些对社会是有益的，对整个人类，作为一个cosquence，他们被后来的
代，由everyone.so钦佩做好在青年的时候，虽然你可能不会得到成就这些greatmen做，但不是整个世界，只为自己，为周围的人!
年轻就像盛开的花朵，他们是如此美丽盛开的时候，他们让人们感到满意，但随着时间的推移，后肩，酩的人认为他们是ugly.and所以它是对青年一样，我们的热情我们年轻的时候，那么我们可能失去我们的激情在逐渐老化，older.so我们一定要珍惜它，不要让有限的时间过去了，没有留下任何的意义。
It is such an honor and pleasure for me to be back at Yale, especially onthe occasion of the 300th anniversary. I have had so many memories of my timehere, and as Nick was speaking I thought about how I ended up at Yale LawSchool. And it tells a little bit about how much progress we’ve made.
What I think most about when I think of Yale is not just the politicallycharged atmosphere and not even just the superb legal education that I received.It was at Yale that I began work that has been at the core of what I have caredabout ever since. I began working with New Haven legal services representingchildren. And I studied child development, abuse and neglect at the Yale NewHaven Hospital and the Child Study Center. I was lucky enough to receive a civilrights internship with Marian Wright Edelman at the Children’s Defense Fund,where I went to work after I graduated. Those experiences fueled in me a passionto work for the benefit of children, particularly the most vulnerable.
When I was thinking about running for the United States Senate-which wassuch an enormous decision to make, one I never could have dreamed that I wouldhave been making when I was here on campus-I visited a school in New York Cityand I met a young woman, who was a star athlete.
I was there because of Billy Jean King promoting an HBO special about womenin sports called “Dare to compete.” It was about Title IX and how we finally,thanks to government action, provided opportunities to girls and women insports.
So, dare to compete, yes, but maybe even more difficult, dare to care. Dareto care about people who need our help to succeed and fulfill their own lives.There are so many out there and sometimes all it takes is the simplest ofgestures or helping hands and many of you understand that already. I know thatthe numbers of graduates in the last 20 years have worked in communityorganizations, have tutored, have committed themselves to religiousactivities.
Community service and religious involvement being up. But if you look atthe area of voting among 18 to 29 year olds, the numbers tell a far moretroubling tale. Many of you I know believe that service and communityvolunteerism is a better way of solving the issues facing our country thanpolitical engagement, because you believe-choose one of the following multiplesor choose them all-government either can’t understand or won’t make the rightchoices because of political pressures, inefficiency, incompetence or big moneyinfluence.
Well, I admit there is enough truth in that critique to justify feelingdisconnected and alienated. But at bottom, that’s a personal cop-out and anational peril. Political conditions maximize the conditions for individualopportunity and responsibility as well as community. Americorps and the PeaceCorps exist because of political decisions. Our air, water, land and food willbe clean and safe because of political choices. Our ability to cure disease orlog onto the Internet have been advanced because of politically determinedinvestments. Ethnic cleansing in Kosovo ended because of political leadership.Your parents and grandparents traveled here by means of government built andsubsidized transportation systems. Many used GI Bills or government loans, as Idid, to attend college.
Now, I could, as you might guess, go on and on, but the point is to remindus all that government is us and each generation has to stake its claim. And, asstakeholders, you will have to decide whether or not to make the choice toparticipate. It is hard and it is, bringing change in a democracy, particularlynow. There’s so much about our modern times that conspire to lower our sights,to weaken our vision-as individuals and communities and even nations.
It is not the vast conspiracy you may have heard about; rather it’s asilent conspiracy of cynicism and indifference and alienation that we see everyday, in our popular culture and in our prodigious consumerism.
And I leave these graduates with the same message I hope to leave with mygraduate. Dare to compete. Dare to care. Dare to dream. Dare to love. Practicethe art of making possible. And no matter what happens, even if you hear shoutsbehind, keep going.
Thank you and God bless you all.
Saying goodbye to childhood,we step into another important time in the pace of young,facing new situations,dealing with different problems.....
everyone has his ownunderstanding of young,it is a period of time of beauty and wonders,only after you have
experienced the sour ,sweet ,bitter and salty can you really become a person of significance.thre time of young is limitted,it may pass by without your attention,and when you discover what has happened ,it is always too late.grasping the young well means a better time is waiting for you in the near future,or the situation may be opposite .
having a view on these great men in the history of hunmanbeing,they all made full use of their youth time ,to do things that are useful to society,to the whole mankind,and as a cosquence ,they are remembered by later
generations,admired by everyone.so do something in the time of young,although you may not get achievements as these greatmen did ,though not for the whole word,just for youeself,for those around!
the young is just like blooming flowers,they are so beautiful when blooming,they make people feel happy,but with time passing by,after they withers ,moet people think they are ugly.and so it is the same with young,we are enthusiastic when we are young,then we may lose our passion when getting older and older.so we must treasure it ,don't let the limitted time pass by ,leaving nothing of significance.
Everything about my future was ambiguously assumed. I would get into debtby going to college, then I would be forced to get a job to pay off that debt,while still getting into more and more debt by buying a house and a car. Itseemed like a never-ending cycle that had no place for the possibility of adream.
I want more—but not necessarily in the material sense of personal wealthand success. I want more out of life. I want a passion, a conceptual dream thatwouldn’t let me sleep out of pure excitement. I want to spring out of bed in themorning, rain or shine, and have that zest for life that seemed so intrinsic inearly childhood.
Failing is what makes us grow, it makes us stronger and more resilient tothe aspects of life we have no control over. The fear of failure, although, iswhat makes us stagnant and sad. So even though I couldn’t see the future asclearly as before, I took the plunge in hopes that in the depths of fear andfailure, I would come out feeling more alive than ever before.