第一篇：哈佛大學校長北京大學演講2008年

哈佛大學校長北京大學演講2008年

北京大學演講

哈佛大學校長 傅思德

二〇〇八年三月

許校長，各位尊敬的教授，各位同學，各位來賓：

謝謝大家。這是本人第一次訪問北京大學，承蒙如此熱烈的歡迎，深感榮幸。中國的學術傳統源遠流長，在世界首屈一指。尤其今年北大慶祝建校一百一十周年，本人能躬逢其盛，更是與有榮焉。哈佛大學一九二八年創立燕京學社，八十多年來一直十分重視與北大的關系。兩所大學的關系到今天尤其日益密切——大學生互動切磋的課題從儒家思想到微量經濟學，再到卡拉OK；研究生和教授更發展出各種計劃和項目，包括商業，法律，政府，科學，教育，和人文各學科。今天我們一同在此慶祝兩所大學的歷史淵源，也重申我們追求學問和真理的共同使命。

我們是在一個蛻變的時代里作出回顧和前瞻。在哈佛，就像在北大一樣，我們在短短幾十年里看到高等教育戲劇性的轉變。中國教育改革的速度之快，幅度之廣，在在令人吃驚：過去十年里，大學學生人數增加六倍，而今年中國培養的研究生人數將高于世界任何其他國家。

在美國，我們也看到高等教育的類似擴展，雖然這樣的擴展是在較長的時間里顯現出來。二次世界大戰以后，美國二十五歲以上擁有大學學位的人口，從大約5%增加到27%。今天的大學學齡青年有60%左右正接受某種形式的高等教育。這些正在學院和大學就讀的學生人數比例是二十世紀初期的十二倍。

大學教育的擴展有一個非常重要的部分，就是少數族裔，女性，移民，和經濟弱勢者得以接受教育的機會，與日俱增。我個人也是這樣的改變的受惠者之一。我的母親和祖母輩們沒有一位能進大學。我大學就讀的是一所女子學院，而當時多數頭牌學校只招收男生。假如我那時在哈佛上學，我不會被準許進入本科生的圖書館，因為女生被認為會讓一心向學的男生產生“非非之想”，所以必須排除在外。甚至就在一個世代以前，就連想像我有一天能夠成為哈佛大學的校長，或能夠站在諸位的面前的臺上，都還是不可能的事。在哈佛，不論是教授還是學生，有許多人的機運在幾年以前仍然是難以想象的，就像今天在北大許多在座的諸位一樣。哈佛大學本科班現在每年約有130位非洲族裔的畢業生——占畢業生總數的7%到8%。比起一九六〇年代民權運動前，每年只有七到八位畢業生的比例，改變不可謂不大。我們的大學本科生里將近有20%是亞裔子弟——比起一個世代以前，這樣的比例也深具意義。目前我們的學生來自低收入家庭的人數遠遠超過以往，而我們正透過大量的學費補助，務使哈佛——不論是本科還是研究所——成為人人都上得起的學校。今年錄取的大學本科學生里，有四分之一的家庭完全不需花費分文。

這樣全面化的改變對哈佛和北大這樣的學校有什么樣的意義？中美兩國高等教育突飛猛進，原因之一在于我們都理解，知識是經濟成長和民生繁榮的主要動力。更重要的是，當我們的社會、政治、和技術日新月異，當我們置身在這千變萬化的社會和生活里，想要了解人之所以為人的意義的時候，我們就更理解求知和問學對人類的重要性，就像吃飯一樣天經地義。北大和哈佛都是從尊重知識的傳統中所建立的學府。我們和諸位一樣，都在學習如何在新的時代里善用這些傳統。

過去幾個星期在準備中國之行的時候，我曾有機會和許多人談過話——包括在哈佛求學的中國學生，曾在中國進修的哈佛學生，還有以中國研究為畢生職志的教授們。我多少理解了諸位在中國如何面對新與舊的挑戰，這挑戰始于孔子在《論語》所謂：“溫故而知新，可以為師也。”今天我想和諸位談談我的大學是如何因應新與舊的挑戰——我們如何追求真理，爲人師表，溫故而知新？在巨變的時代裏，這樣的努力對作爲四方表率的大學又意味什麼？

長久以來，哈佛大學和“真理”這個字就有不解之緣。哈佛建校不過數年，“真理”就已經出現在哈佛的校訓裏。“真理”一字其實不出自英文，而是拉丁文——一個更悠遠的歷史和傳統——veritas，也許中文的“真理”庶幾近之。一**三年，哈佛的創校先賢即將“veritas”銘刻于哈佛盾形校徽原始設計上，這一設計有三本開卷造型的書樣。“Veritas”在當時帶有神圣真理的意味，指的是十七世紀新英格蘭清教徒傳統里基督上帝彰顯的智慧。盾形校徽位于下方的書樣原來面朝下，象征人類知識的局限。但是幾個世 1 紀以來，盾形校徽的設計已經有所改變。基督教字匯出現又消失了；原本面朝下的書樣現在朝上了。但“veritas”這個字總也不變。真理長存。然而我們也看到舊的真理改變，形成新的真理。今天，我們對“veritas”的理解和我們的先輩們已有不同——我們的真理是以理性，而不是以信仰，為基礎。就像中國古代的“道”的觀念，我們了解真理的的意義不能局限為知識而已。真理不是坐擁所有，而是一種渴望——一種理解之道。它決不能垂手可得，而是有待不斷追尋。任何的答案總是導向下一個問題。我們必須以挑戰、不安和懷疑的精神持續追尋——不論是智慧科學還是國家歷史，法學倫理，還是健保福利、都市計劃，宇宙源起，還是文學、哲學，藝術對人生本源的追溯。

我知道中國文化經典之一曾對教育有如下的表述:“大學之道，在明明 德。”這也正說明一所大學的宗旨所在。它甚至呼應了中文里“大學”作為高等教育機構的的要義。大學之道：北京大學，哈佛大學的大學之道。

但是我們如何找到“明德”之道？我們如何日新又新的追尋真理？多年以來，美國研究型大學所發展的基本任務之一是：真理的發現和真理的傳授必須相互為用。學術研究和教學的過程早已深深結合。哈佛的學生受教于位居學術前沿的教授，我們也鼓勵學生參與研究過程。我們已經開始重新規劃基礎科學課程，以期學生在實驗室里不僅重復已知的結果，而且也能與他們的教授共同探尋有待解決的問題，從而學得技術與道理。從科學到社會和人文，我們都鼓勵學生從事創新研究，本科學生幾乎有一半在大四寫作畢業論文，在他們的主修領域里尋找原創的問題，探求新的真理。

如果研究是對真理的追求，教學就是這將這一追求發揚光大的方式。我們的教學理念隨著哈佛大學的校史與時并進。在早期，教學強調一成不變的記誦。而當

我們理解真理不是擁有，而是追求，我們的教學也越來越著重叩問，交換，挑戰——為培養學生活到老、學到老的技巧和態度做準備，我們的課程設計也更著重辯論和討論。我們的法、商學院一向以師生在課堂快速意見攻防的傳統為傲。近年大學本科也重新制定課程，創造這類的機會，尤其強調小班師生密切互動。對這些學生而言，我們正在創新課程，以使他們成為有想法，有見解的二十一世紀公民。透過這樣的教程，我們重新肯定博雅教育的重要，強調大學本科不僅止于專業的訓練。相對的，我們要求學生放寬學習的眼界，甚至涉獵與他們日后可能追求的專業相距甚遠的領域。用學生對我們的課程所作的評語來說，我們的目的是“動搖他們先入為主的想法??, 揭示在表象以下，或以外，的事物，擺脫他們原定的方向，再幫助他們重新找到方向。”或者我們可以說，我們的大學之道，也是在“明明德”。真理是從辯論，從反駁，從問題，從疑惑中出現。用一位教授的話說，我們“鼓動學生不僅和老師，也和同學，去思考，去辯論。”一個躍躍欲試的心靈，一個勇于挑戰的心靈，也就是一個開放的創新的心靈，一個勇于應付未來種種變化的心靈。

就像我們用新的方法發現真理，我們也在新的場域發現真理。傳統知識發展所界定的學科范疇正在合縱連橫，我們今天越來越積極的跨越知識界限。各種科學正相互改變對方。當我們探尋生物工程或電腦生物學這樣的新興領域，生命和物理科學合而為一。科學也邁出固有領域，進入社會和人文科學，藉以在世界找尋新的定位。當哈佛干細胞研究所成立時，創建者明白它的成員——用他們自己的話說——“不只是包括科學家和物理學家?也該有從事法律，政府，神學，商學，和人文方面的哈佛教授。”最近在一門 “倫理學，生物科技，和人性未來” 的新課里，哈佛干細胞研究計劃的領導者和一位政府和倫理學教授向他們學生提出耐人深思的問題：一對有聽覺障礙的夫婦是否應該被準許懷一個有聽覺障礙的孩子？創造一個人獸混種的生命有沒有錯？人的生命從什么時候開始？

在追求真理的過程里，不僅科學界踏上新的途徑，人文和社會科學領域也同樣致力跨學科研究。反思帝國主義歷史對文學的影響已經產生了“后殖民研究”的豐富成果。法學和經濟學的交會為我們對法律制度和政府政策的理解帶來新意。在法學院一門關于道德和法律論證的的課堂上，師生藉由莎士比亞的《威尼斯商人》文學想象了解死刑的影響。

在二十一世紀追尋真理不僅需要我們跨越學科的疆界，也跨越國家的疆 2 界，就像我今天站在這里就是一個見證。當全球的關系與日俱增，真理的構思也必須帶有國際視野。我們的社會學家對家庭的理解，建筑學家的設計理念都必須與世界接軌；我們商學院的課程專題評估強調對中國、印度、還有其他國家的公司和組織的研究，應該和對美國的研究等量齊觀。我們法學院的新生在第一年就必須修習國際法。公共健康學院的研究員研究中國婦女乳癌的風險，與白人婦女的罹病數據作比較。傳染病研究在不同的背景下有不同的結論，必須在全球的技術上做出判斷。我們的神學院已經有將近四百年的歷史，當初訓練基督教傳教士，如今研究世界宗教——從佛教，伊斯蘭教，印度教，到它本身基督教公理會教派的根源研究。近年以來，實在說近十年以來，我們開始鼓勵大學本科學生出國留學。我們建議他們在哈佛就學間能到美國以外的地區研習。僅僅過去六年，本科生出國留學的人數比例就上升了300%。今年單在中國，就有一百五十名哈佛大學本科生在這里學習，研 4 究，或實習。醫學院的研究生在中國五個定點工作。同時我們也歡迎大批國際學生到哈佛就學。哈佛各學院國際學生的總比例已將近20%，包括了一千四百名來自亞洲的學生。

一百多年以前，當時還是北大創校的初期，哈佛的教授和學生必然與今天大不相同，他們教導，研究，和學習真理的方式也有顯著差別。即使如此，他們必然了解他們是在追求真理和知識，致力于“明明德”。我們今天之所以能在此，也是源自于他們的追求，他們的疑問，他們對更早一代的想法的挑戰，還有他們的發現為世界所帶來的改變。

作為傳統的繼起者和受益者，我們懷有特別的使命。我們不僅是對過去，也對未來，負有責任。我們的責任是讓開放的原則，求知的習性，和獻身學問的態度持續滋長，以待下一個世紀的到來。我們的責任也是讓我今天所描述的的“真理”——veritas——這個字的種種新義, 不斷啟發我們，也定義我們的進步。

第二篇：哈佛大學校長離職演講

Good bye and good luck!

by Lawrence H.Summers, President of Harvard University

Today, I speak from this podium a final time as your president.As I depart, I want to thank all of youwith whom I have been privileged to work over these past years.Some of us have had our

disagreements, but I know that which unites us transcends that which divides us.I leave with a full heart, grateful for the opportunity I have had to lead this remarkable institution.Since I delivered my inaugural address, 56 months ago, I have learned an enormous amount—about higher education, about leadership, and also about myself.Some things look different to me than they did five years ago.The world that today’s Harvard’s graduates are entering is a profoundly different one than the world administrators entered.It is a world where opportunities have never been greater for those who know how to teach children to read, or those who know how to distribute financial risk;never greater for those who understand the cell and the pixel;never greater for those who can master, and navigate between, legal codes, faith traditions, computer platforms, political viewpoints.It is also a world where some are left further and further behindbut desperately in need of wisdom.Now, when sound bites are getting shorter, when instant messages crowd out essays, and when individual lives grow more frenzied, college graduates capable of deep reflection are what our world needs.For all these reasons I believedin the unique and irreplaceable mission of universities.Universities are where the wisdom we cannot afford to lose is preserved from generation to generation.Among all human institutions, universities can look beyond present norms to future possibilities, can look through current considerations to emergent opportunities.And among universities, Harvard stands out.With its great tradition, its iconic

reputation, its remarkable network of 300,000 alumni, Harvard has never had as much potential as it does now.And yet, great and proud institutions, like great and proud nations at their peak, must surmount a very real risk: that the very strength of their traditions will lead to caution, to an inward focus on prerogative and to a complacency that lets the world pass them by.And so I say to you that our University today is at an inflection point in its history.At such a moment, there is temptation to elevate comfort and consensus over progress and clear direction, but this would be a mistake.The University’s matchless resourcesdemand that we seize this moment with vision and boldness.To do otherwise would be a lost opportunity.We can spur great deeds that history will mark decades and even centuries from now.If Harvard can find the courage to change itself, it can change the world.

第三篇：哈佛大學校長辭職演講

哈佛大學校長的告別演講

作者：news發表時間：2011年02月22日(1周前)

美文于我，從來不意味著華麗辭藻的堆砌，更不是平仄工整的秩序，美文應是一種思想的折射，一種語言之上的光華，簡單，簡潔，卻又是一個謎，一種挑戰，一種意味深長。套用張愛玲那句常用的詩句：于千萬人之中，遇見你要遇見的人。于千萬年之中，時間無涯的荒野里，沒有早一步，也沒有遲一步，遇上了也只能輕輕地說一句：“你也在這里嗎？” 希望我選的文章也能給你帶來如此感覺，于愿足矣。

Good bye and good luck!

by Lawrence H.Summers, President of Harvard University

Today, I speak from this podium a final time as your president.As I depart, I want to thank all of youwith whom I have been privileged to work over these past years.Some of us have had our disagreements, but I know that which unites us transcends that which divides us.I leave with a full heart, grateful for the opportunity I have had to lead this remarkable institution.Since I delivered my inaugural address, 56 months ago, I have learned an enormous amount—about higher education, about leadership, and also about myself.Some things look different to me than they did five years ago.The world that today’s Harvard’s

graduates are entering is a profoundly different one than the world administrators entered.It is a world where opportunities have never been greater for those who know how to teach children to read, or those who know how to distribute financial risk;never greater for those who understand the cell and the pixel;never greater for those who can master, and navigate between, legal codes, faith traditions, computer platforms, political viewpoints.It is also a world where some are left further and further behindbut desperately in need of wisdom.Now, when sound bites are getting shorter, when instant messages crowd out essays, and when

individual lives grow more frenzied, college graduates capable of deep reflection are what our world needs.For all these reasons I believedin the unique and irreplaceable mission of universities.Universities are where the wisdom we cannot afford to lose is preserved from generation to generation.Among all human institutions, universities can look beyond present norms to future possibilities, can look through current considerations to emergent opportunities.And among universities, Harvard stands out.With its great tradition, its iconic reputation, its remarkable network of 300,000 alumni, Harvard has never had as much potential as it does now.And yet, great and proud institutions, like great and proud nations at their peak, must

surmount a very real risk: that the very strength of their traditions will lead to caution, to an inward focus on prerogative and to a complacency that lets the world pass them by.And so I say to you that our University today is at an inflection point in its history.At such a moment, there is temptation to elevate comfort and consensus over progress and clear direction, but this would be a mistake.The University’s matchless resourcesdemand that we seize this moment with vision and boldness.To do otherwise would be a lost opportunity.We can spur great deeds that history will mark decades and even centuries from now.If Harvard can find the courage to change itself, it can change the world.【中文譯文】：

再見，好運！

哈佛大學校長 勞倫斯 薩默斯

今天，我將以校長的身份，最后一次在這個講臺上演講。即將離任前，我要感謝諸位學生、教師、校友和員工，而且非常榮幸在過去的5年里能與你們共事。我們中的一些人意見不盡相同，但是，我知道，我們的共識遠遠超越分歧。我心滿意足的離開哈佛，感激你們給我機會領導這所杰出的學府。

自從56個月前我發表上任講話以來，我學到了很多——關于高等教育，關于領導藝術，也關于自我完善。在我看來，現在與5年前不同了。今天的哈佛畢業生正在進入的世界和管理人員當年所進入的世界相比已是大相徑庭了。

現今世界，機遇對于這些人來說是空前的：他們知道如何教子女閱讀；他們知道如何組合投資；他們懂得基本存儲單元和像素概念；他們能掌握各種法典、傳統信仰、計算機平臺、政治觀點并在其中游刃有余。

同時，現今世界，一些人越來越落后于時代。這些人沒受過教育、深陷于貧窮和暴力、平等機遇對他們而言，僅是一句空話。

科技進步正在使我們能夠探索宇宙的邊陲、物質最基本的成分及生命的奇跡。

與此同時，今天，人類所做的及沒能做到的事情，不僅危害到這個星球上的生命，也危害到該星球的壽命。

全球化正在使地球變得愈來愈小、愈來愈快和愈來愈富有。盡管如此，9/

11、禽流感及伊朗提醒我們，更小更快的世界決不意味著其更安全。

我們正處于一個知識爆炸的世界之中，不過，迫切需要智慧。現在，在（新聞采訪的）原聲摘要播出變得愈來愈短，即時信息淘汰了雜記文，個人生活變得如癡如狂之際，這個世界還是需要能夠深思的大學生。

考慮到這些理由，我過去信仰，而今天甚至更加強烈地信仰大學獨特的、無可取代的使命。大學是人類把不可或缺的智慧世代流傳的殿堂。就人類所有公共機構而言，僅僅大學，能夠超越當前的準則，注意到未來的可能性；能通過目前的判斷，注意到突發的機遇。

哈佛在大學中間，鶴立雞群。憑其偉大的傳統、因襲聲譽及其非凡的300000校友網，哈佛的潛力前所未有。

可是，就像偉大和自豪的國家在其鼎盛時期一樣，它們必須克服一個完全不能掉以輕心的危險因素：它們傳統的絕對強勢將會導致謹小慎微、追求內部特權及自滿，這將使它們不能與時俱進.今天，哈佛正處于其歷史的轉折點。此時此刻的自然傾向是，把貪圖舒適和隨波逐流留凌駕于進步和方向性之上，但，這可能是錯誤的。大學無與倫比的資源 ——人力、物力、財力——要求我們遠見卓識和勇敢地抓住這個時機，否則，將會坐失良機。我們能推動將會被歷史永世銘記的偉大的事業。如果哈佛能找到勇氣來改變自己，它就能改變世界

第四篇：哈佛大學校長演講

Good afternoon.My remarks at this moment in our Commencement rituals are officially titled a“Report to the Alumni.” The first time I delivered them, in 2008, I was the only obstaclebetween all of you and J.K.Rowling.I looked out on a sea of eager children, costumedDumbledores, and Quidditch brooms waving impatiently in the air.Today, you await MarkZuckerberg, whose wizardry takes a different form, one that has changed the world, andalthough he doesn't seem to have inspired an outbreak of hoodies, we certainly do have somecostumes in this audience today.I see we are now handing out blankets.This is a day of joy and celebration, of happy endings and new beginnings, of families andfriends, of achievements and hopes.It is also a day when we as a university perform our mostimportant annual ritual, affirming once again the purposes that animate us and the values thatdirect and inspire us.I want to speak today about one of the most important – and in recent months, mostcontested – of these values.It is one that has provoked debate, dissent, confrontation, andeven violence on campuses across the country, and one that has attracted widespread publicattention and criticism.I am, of course, talking about issues of free speech on university campuses.The meaning andlimits of free speech are questions deeply embedded in our legal system, in interpretations ofthe First Amendment and its applications.I am no constitutional lawyer, indeed no lawyer atall, and I do not intend in my brief remarks today to address complex legal doctrines.Nor,clearly, can I in a few brief minutes take on even a fraction of the arguments that have beenadvanced on this issue.Instead, I speak as one who has been a university president for adecade in order to raise three questions:

First: Why is free speech so important to and at universities? Second: Why does it seem under special challenge right now?

And, third: How might we better address these challenges by moving beyond just defensivelyprotecting free speech – which, of course, we must do – to actively and affirmatively enabling itand nurturing environments in which it can thrive?

So first: Why is free speech so important to and at universities? This is a question I took upwith the newly arrived first-year students in the College when I welcomed them at Convocationlast fall.For centuries, I told them, universities have been environments in which knowledge hasbeen discovered, collected, studied, debated, expanded, changed, and advanced through thepower of rational argument and exchange.We pursue truth unrelentingly, but we must neverbe so complacent as to believe we have unerringly attained it.Veritas is inspiration andaspiration.We assume there is always more to know and discover so we open ourselves tochallenge and change.We must always be ready to be wrong, so being part of a universitycommunity requires courage and humility.Universities must be places open to the kind ofdebate that can change ideas and committed to standards of reason and evidence that formthe bases for evaluating them.Silencing ideas or basking in intellectual orthodoxy independent of facts and evidenceimpedes our access to new and better ideas, and it inhibits a full and considered rejection ofbad ones.From at least the time of Galileo, we can see how repressing seemingly hereticalideas has blinded societies and nations to the enhanced knowledge and understanding on whichprogress depend.Far more recently, we can see here at Harvard how our inattentiveness to thepower and appeal of conservative voices left much of our community astonished –blindsided by the outcome of last fall's election.We must work to ensure that universities donot become bubbles isolated from the concerns and discourse of the society that surroundsthem.Universities must model a commitment to the notion that truth cannot simply be claimed, butmust be established – established through reasoned argument, assessment, and evensometimes uncomfortable challenges that provide the foundation for truth.The legitimacyof universities' claim to be sources and validators of fact depends on our willingness toactively and vigorously defend those facts.And we must remember that limiting some speechopens the dangerous possibility that the speech that is ultimately censored may be our own.Ifsome words are to be treated as equivalent to physical violence and silenced or evenprosecuted, who is to decide which words? Freedom of expression, as Justice Oliver WendellHolmes famously said long ago, protects not only free thought for those who agree with us butfreedom for the thought we hate.We need to hear those hateful ideas so our society is fullyequipped to oppose and defeat them.Over the years, differences about the implementation of the University's free speech principleshave often provoked controversy.And we haven't always gotten it right.As long ago as 1939,an invitation from a student group to the head of the American Communist Party generatedprotest and the invitation was ultimately canceled by the Corporation.Bertrand Russell'sappointment as William James Lecturer just a year later divided the Corporation, but PresidentConant broke the tie and Russell came.Campus conflicts over invited speakers are hardly new.Yet the vehemence with which these issues have been debated in recent months, not just oncampuses but in the broader public sphere, suggests there is something distinctive about thismoment.Certainly, these controversies reflect a highly polarized political and socialenvironment – perhaps the most divisive since the era of the Civil War.And in these alreadyfractious circumstances, free speech debates have provided a fertile substrate into whichanger and disagreement could be planted to nourish partisan outrage and generate mediaclickbait.But that is only a partial explanation.Universities themselves have changed dramatically in recent years, reaching beyond theirtraditional, largely homogeneous populations to become more diverse than perhaps anyother institution in which Americans find themselves living together.Once overwhelminglywhite, male, Protestant, and upper class, Harvard College is now half female, majorityminority, religiously pluralistic, with nearly 60 percent of students able to attend because offinancial aid.Fifteen percent are the first in their families to go to college.Many of our studentsstruggle to feel full members of this community – a community in which people like them haveso recently arrived.They seek evidence and assurance that – to borrow the title of a powerfultheatrical piece created by a group of our African-American students – evidence andassurance that they, too, are Harvard.The price of our commitment to freedom of speech is paid disproportionately by thesestudents.For them, free speech has not infrequently included enduring a questioning oftheir abilities, their humanity, their morality – their very legitimacy here.Our values and ourtheory of education rest on the assumption that members of our community will take the riskof speaking and will actively compete in our wild rumpus of argument and ideas.It requiresthem as well to be fearless in face of argument or challenge or even verbal insult.And itexpects that fearlessness even when the challenge is directed to the very identity – race,religion, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, nationality – that may have made themuncertain about their right to be here in the first place.Demonstrating such fearlessness ishard;no one should be mocked as a snowflake for finding it so.Hard, but important and attainable.Attainable, we believe, for every member of ourcommunity.But the price of free speech cannot be charged just to those most likely tobecome its target.We must support and empower the voices of all the members of ourcommunity and nurture the courage and humility that our commitment to unfettereddebate demands from all of us.And that courage means not only resilience in face ofchallenge or attack, but strength to speak out against injustices directed at others as well.Free speech doesn't just happen and require intervention when it is impeded.It is not aboutthe freedom to out-shout others while everyone has their fingers in their ears.For free speechto flourish, we must build an environment where everyone takes responsibility for the rightnot just to speak, but to hear and be heard, where everyone assumes the responsibility totreat others with dignity and respect.It requires not just speakers, but, in the words of JamesRyan, dean of our Graduate School of Education, generous listeners.Amidst the current soul-searching about free speech, we need to devote more attention to establishing the conditions inwhich everyone's speech is encouraged and taken seriously.Ensuring freedom of speech is not just about allowing speech.It is about actively creating acommunity where everyone can contribute and flourish, a community where argument isrelished, not feared.Freedom of speech is not just freedom from censorship;it is freedom toactively join the debate as a full participant.It is about creating a context in which genuinedebate can happen.Talk a lot, I urged the Class of 2020 last fall;listen more.Don't stand safely on the sidelines;take the risk of being wrong.It is the best way to learn and grow.And build a culture ofgenerous listening so that others may be emboldened to take risks, too.A community in ashared search for Veritas – that is the ideal for which Harvard must strive.We need it nowmore than ever.

第五篇：哈佛大學校長勞倫斯·薩默斯教授在北京大學的演講

閔校長、許校長，感謝你們熱情彌漫的講話，感謝你們對我所表示的熱情友好，也感謝你們對哈佛大學代表團表示出的熱情友好。

我相信，哈佛大學代表團這次北京之行是有史以來我們訪問中國最大的代表團。我以為，這表明了中國在21世紀的世界舞臺上的重要性。這也表明了我們共同的努力：尋求知識，教書育人。能來到中國和全球最好的大學之一訪問，我感到萬分激動。更令我興奮的是我能有機會與這么多的學子談談他們將要繼續的這個世界。

假如你們認真思考我們在大學所做的一切，假如你們能認真思考全球化這一現象，我想我們今天的特殊地位和全球化現象已清楚地表明全球正在進行一種深進的轉變。這就是：與之前相比，知識對人類活動的每方面來講都變得越來越重要。想想我們四周的一些例子。我堅信，兩個世紀以后，當今天所發生的一切被載進史冊的時候，柏林墻的倒塌和冷戰的結束只能在歷史書中被放在第二位。被放在第一位的應當是二十世紀后五十年中，十幾億或是近二十億人邁進了現代化的社會;是十年之內人們的生活水平雙倍的增長，而且又是在十年之內億萬人們的生活水平發生了增長。我相信，在人類歷史的第二個千年，這一事件足以與文藝復興和產業革命相媲美。

這些增長的中心是甚么?這個中心是中國。中國在近兩個世紀以來，發生了巨大的變化。這個中心也是知識，是知識的傳播和分散，由于在歐洲和北美洲根本找不到一個國家能象中國一樣在上一個十年當中和上上一個十年中有如此快的增長速度。

這反映了現代科技為融會提供了巨大的機會。這也反映了知識的氣力。有些事是值得我們思考的：我們現在生活在這樣一個人類歷史階段，科學有能弄明白疾病產生進程的潛力。在我們在坐的人能看到的日子里，科學有潛力在每個份子的層面上弄明白是甚么地方出了毛病，是甚么讓人類痛苦和死亡，并且能發現一些可操縱的方式，找到治療這些疾病的辦法。在我們活著的這一時代，我們能夠比其它任何人類歷史上的時代更有能看到醫學進步發展的潛力。

這一切還與甚么有關呢?它還與知識的增加有關。我們知道知識是在不斷增加，知道學術研究的進程，也知道知識在尋覓其實在不明顯的用處的進程。我們知道善于發現新奇事物這類天賦的作用;我們也知道各種機構的作用。

讓我對知識進行一個總的評論，這就是，你根本沒有辦法說出最有用的知識是從何而來的，你沒法猜測它來自何處;你也沒法設計一些程序來找到最有用的知識的情勢是甚么。

讓我給大家舉兩個截然不同的例子。或許從某些方面來講，我們在大學教授的最抽象的科目是數學。或許在數學領域中被應用的最少的是數字理論，即對數字的研究。你們中間任何一個發過email的人都會從在近二十五年中發現的數字理論中獲益，由于關于素數(譯者注，術語：只能被1和該數本身整除的數)的研究是編碼計算程序的基礎，這類計算程序是今天每方面的電子通訊和電子交換的基礎。這些，都來自于我們所具有的最抽象的一類知識。

我再給大家舉一個與此完全不同的例子。這個例子來自于局勢很困難的那部份世界，而且，從某種意義上來講，今天我們舉這個例子仿佛有些希奇。這些年來，美國對世界和平所做出的巨大貢獻之一就是1978年在戴維營就中東沖突在以巴雙方達成的協議。很明顯，我們實在不是今天中東地區和平的唯一途徑，但是那是通向穩定的重要的一步，據參與過這次談判的人說，我們的總統所具有的一種能力是他能促進以巴和平的關鍵。這類能力就是他能從每個被爭議地點的《圣經》名稱及其在《圣經》中的作用談起。對宗教的研究和對2000年前歷史的研究，看來抽象和深奧，然而，這些知識對一個關鍵的、實際的成績來講是很重要的。