|
（U2乐队主唱Bono在哈佛大学毕业典礼上的演说） "I am rebelling against the idea that the world is the way the world is, and there"s not a damned thing I can do about it." Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for that introduction. First, I should say a few words about who I am and what on earth I"m doing up here. My name is Bono, and I am a rock star. I tell you this not as a boast but more as a kind of confession. Because in my view the only thing worse than a rock star is a rock star with a conscience, a celebrity with a cause -- oh, dear; oh, dear. But worse yet is a singer with a conscience, a placard-waving, knee-jerking, fellow-traveling activist with a Lexus and a swimming pool shaped like his head. I'm a singer. You know what a singer is. A singer is someone with a hole in his heart almost as big as the size of his ego. When you need 20,000 people screaming your name in order to feel good about your day, you know you're a singer. I'm a singer. I'm a songwriter. I'm also a father four times over -- just last week. I am a friend to God, a sworn enemy of the saccharine and a believer in grace over karma. I talk too much when I"m drunk and sometimes even when I am not. I am not drunk right now. These are not sunglasses; these are protection. But I must tell you that I owe more than my spoiled lifestyle to rock music -- I owe my worldview. Music was like an alarm clock for me as a teenager and still keeps me awake from falling asleep in the comforts of my freedom. Rock music to me is rebel music. But rebelling against what? In the 50"s it was ***ual mores and double standards. In the 60"s it was the Vietnam War and racial and social inequality. What are we rebelling against now? If I am honest, I"m rebelling against my own indifference. I am rebelling against the idea that the world is the way the world is and there"s not a damned thing I can do about it. So I"m trying to do a damned thing. But fighting my indifference is my own problem. | 
