分享两篇文章
Simon 七月 6th, 2008
奥巴马在“上帝使徒教堂”的发言
这篇文章让我想到两件事情，第一，国外，尤其是西方国家，教会在社会生活中对于价值观的传递和教育非常重要，而在中国，除了学校，还有什么地方可以传递正确的价值观？而且就算学校的环境是否传递了正确的价值观？ 第二，终于找到empathy这个词。我希望自己的孩子学习而且能学会。
两段话，提醒我自己。
The second thing we need to do as fathers is pass along the value of empathy to our children. Not sympathy, but empathy – the ability to stand in somebody else’s shoes; to look at the world through their eyes. Sometimes it’s so easy to get caught up in “us,” that we forget about our obligations to one another. There’s a culture in our society that says remembering these obligations is somehow soft – that we can’t show weakness, and so therefore we can’t show kindness.
But our young boys and girls see that. They see when you are ignoring or mistreating your wife. They see when you are inconsiderate at home; or when you are distant; or when you are thinking only of yourself. And so it’s no surprise when we see that behavior in our schools or on our streets. That’s why we pass on the values of empathy and kindness to our children by living them. We need to show our kids that you’re not strong by putting other people down – you’re strong by lifting them up. That’s our responsibility as fathers.
原文在此：http://www.barackobama.com/2008/06/15/remarks_of_senator_barack_obam_78.php
哈佛校长给2008届本科毕业生的毕业演讲
其实大学毕业面临的挑战，可能在工作了很多年之后还在面对，我自己经历了将近二十年的职业生涯，碰了很多壁，遇到很多挫折，才想明白，也才更加会心地理解Faust校长的那句话。生活和工作中，年轻的人总期待一个魔术般的答案，而无法想象所谓的答案如果来自他人的，只能是一个启发，诱导你思考，真正的答案只能来自自己的努力，It is earned, through harder work. 所以只要开卷有益就已经可以赞美生活了。更何况我的学士学位毕业典礼上，我没有记得有任何给我未来带来启迪的话语，也许我那是太不用心了。
也摘录两段，给自己：
I think you are worried because you want your lives not just to be conventionally successful, but to be meaningful, and you are not sure how those two goals fit together. You are not sure if a generous starting salary at a prestigious brand name organization together with the promise of future wealth will feed your soul.
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.
原文在此：http://www.president.harvard.edu/speeches/faust/080603_bacc.html