Farewell Address to Graduating Class of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature, National Taiwan University
Professor Lilian Chao
My dear students:
I want to say something to you today which I feel would not be appropriate to say at tomorrow’s dinner that you are going to give in honor of us teachers. Today’s words are not congratulatory, but words of advice and warning.
The time has come for me to retire, not only because I have come to the age of retirement, but also, after forty-five years of teaching, I am physically, mentally, and spiritually exhausted. You are probably the last class I shall ever teach. My hopes for you are high, and it is my fervent prayer that you will not disappoint me. During the past years, I have been deeply unhappy to see many of my students forget the warmth and enthusiasm of their student days only a few years after leaving school. They have become immersed in the sloughs of society and have lost the values and ideals of their youth. What has done this? The pursuit of money and power which has taken hold of their minds and souls.
Truly, money is important, but it does not deserve to be pursued with the best of your abilities. From the history of mankind, we well know that selfish wealth is something which ruins all that is good and beautiful in life. The pursuit of money for yourself will never satisfy you. The more you get, the more you will want. You will never get enough, and you won’t stop pursuing money to the day you draw your last breath.
Experience has taught me that money brings vice and bitterness, not contentment and happiness. Take myself for instance. I was born in a rich family, and when I grew up, I married into an even richer family. But unfortunately, it was wealth that divided my family and lengthened the distance between me and those near and dear to me. Money deprived me of all the happiness in my life. Money brought me nothing but sorrow and bitter regrets. That is why I hope not one of you will become a millionaire, and lose the true blessings of life, for money can easily bring you misfortune.
Money is usually accompanied by power and can buy power. Power is often a great temptation to young people. Perhaps you are still too young to realize how terrible power is. I have seen many promising youths who sought power and were destroyed by power.
It is my hope that each one of you will carry out his own responsibilities and the obligations of his own work to the best of his abilities. Our nation is now going through a life and death struggle; it is the duty of each one of us to do the work best fitted for us, and do it to the utmost of our ability. Each one of you must do your very best for our country and our people. There is an old proverb which says, “A great river is made up of myriads of drops of water.” Each one of you is like a drop of water. Alone you are nothing, together you can form a mighty body of water that will be strong enough to turn the wheels of time and circumstance.
Like young birds, you are soon to leave this nest and fly alone. My hope is that you will not fly too dangerously high, but will fly smoothly and safely through all the storms of life.
The last point I wish to impress upon you is never to depend upon anyone but yourself. Never be lax or careless because you have kind parents, loving friends or powerful relatives to depend upon. Experience has taught me that all these will pass away. In this world of change and uncertainty, what have you to depend on? Nothing, nothing but yourself. You must have strong confidence in yourself, bred from what you have studied and from the experiences gained from your teachers. No one can be by your side always throughout your life. Even though you have a strong family background and influential relatives and friends, they cannot add to or detract from what is truly you. Drink always from the fountain of knowledge, and never be afraid to learn.
Remember that all love is sacrifice. Your life is not your own, but belongs to your country. If you love your country, you must devote yourself to it.
Again I repeat, never rely upon anyone for anything. Remember “God helps those who help themselves.” You are the master of your fate. It is a poor excuse to say that Fate is your master.
My sight becomes more and more blurred as I go farther and farther away from the center of this world, but you are now approaching that which I am now leaving. I do not feel downhearted or unhappy, for what is taking place is a law of great, mysterious nature. There is always some life growing old and fading away while new life is coming into being and growing and becoming stronger and stronger.
I have no gift to give you for your graduation. But my little store of knowledge and experience I now pass on to you. There is one parting thought I wish to leave with you. Wherever you go, and whatever you do, act as a true Chinese should, and be very proud of being a Chinese. Being a Chinese and acting as a true Chinese have been the mainsprings of my life.
I am proud, not of my meager knowledge, but of the chance that I have had to pass it on, small as it is to you, the younger generation. Please make the best use of what I have taught you. I desire that you should devote all your knowledge and ability to your country throughout your lives.
Maybe we shall never meet again in the future, but even so, let whatever I have given you during your school years be used by you in your lives, and thus we will never be parted. A part of me will always be with you and the generations that follow you.
趙麗蓮教授
臨別贈言(Farewell Address)中譯版
蕭蘭男翻譯
孩子們：
我想把要在明天「謝師宴」贈給你們的一段話，提前在今天給予你們，因為我要說的一些個東西中警惕你們的話要遠比祝福你們的話為多。
今年我決定告別杏壇了，一方面由於我發現我真的已經老得該退休了，另一方面這將近四十五年的教書生涯，也委實使我的身心很倦乏了;所以你們將是我教的最後一班學生，我對你們每個人的期望都很高，我真的不希望你們再讓我失望了。在以往數十年的教書生涯裡，我對大部份我教過的那些孩子們很失望，他們出了校門沒幾年，就把我平日教誨他們的道理拋得遠遠的。你們要知道是什麼毀了他們嗎?對「金錢」與「權勢」的追求，控制了他們整個的身心。
金錢是重要的，但是它絕不值得我們以整個生命去尋求;由歷史裡我們可以得知，「錢財」似乎很少不會破壞了一切美的事物與美的德性，原因很簡單，每當你得到了一筆巨額的錢財，你會希求得到比這更多的錢財，這樣沒有終止的追尋下去，直到生命旅途的終站，你仍舊不會滿足的。我總以為「錢財」所帶給我們的罪惡，要遠比它能帶給我們的幸福為多。就以我本身來作個例證吧，我生長在一個很富有的家庭，長大以後，我嫁到一個更富裕的人家，可是正因為這「錢財」，分散了我自己的家，拉長了我與親朋間的距離，和剝奪了我幸福的一生;除此之外，似乎它什麼也沒有帶給我過。所以孩子們:我永不會希望你們中間能出幾個著名的大富翁，因為它能很輕易的奪去你們一生的幸福。
其次是「權勢」，這也是對青年人誘惑力很大的東西。你們現在還太年輕，也許不會懂「權勢」是多麼的可怕。我曾親眼見過多少有為的青年，因為追求權勢而反為權勢所毀。為什麼不讓我們每個人，只希望好好的盡到自已崗位上的職責呢?在這國家多難之秋，我們每個人應該努力的目標，該是力求把份內的工作做得盡善盡美。西諺說得好:「長江大河是由無數滴小的水珠匯聚而成的。」，孩子們:還有一個多月，你們都要單獨起飛了，我不希望你們飛得太高，我只希望你們都能飛得很平穩就好了。在往後的歲月裡，如果你們只知一味的追求「權勢」，到末了你會發現，你在這世界上一無所有;正因為我不希望你們老年再為此而遺憾，所以我誠摯地希望你們牢牢的記住這一點。
最後我要告訴你們的是:不要依賴任何人。不要因為有父母，有知心的好友，有權勢的親戚可靠，就自由鬆懈了下來。在這一切都在變動的世界上，一切都會很快過去的;如果有那麼一天，你們再去依賴誰呢?孩子們:對自己一定要有堅強的信念，因為在這世界上沒有人可以陪伴你一生的，即使你有了太太，你終究有孤獨的一天;在可能的範圍內，盡可能多多充實自己，並且也要盡可能養成自己的獨立性;你們知道嗎?友誼是一種犧牲，正如同愛也是一種犧牲一樣;千萬不能養成依靠別人的心理，上帝不也只幫助那自已肯幫助自己的人嗎?孩子們:記牢你們自已的命運是由你們自己來掌握和主宰的，相信命運，只不過是弱者的託辭罷了!
人生的視野對於我是越來越模糊了，而你們卻剛要跨入人生這大舞台的中央;孩子們，我並不傷感，因為生命必然是有些在成長、在茁壯;有些在衰退，在慢慢凋謝的。我的這一點點的人生經驗，是我唯一能給予你們每一位的畢業禮物:將來不論你們漂泊到何方，也不論你們做那一項的工作，我希望你們的一舉一動，做得像一個堂堂正正的中國人，並且你們更應該以能做一個中國人為榮。我一點不為個人得到的一點點知識而自豪，我唯一覺得驕傲的是，我能有機會把我所知道的這麼一點點，完完全全的給予你們這年青的一代。你們還有一段不算短促的歲月，我也希望你們都能有機會把你們自己的一點點知識，完完全全的貢獻給多難的國家。我不敢確信我們是否還能再見面，不過，孩子們:只要你們能以我的話，作為你們待人處世的準則，我們不就等於天天見面一樣了嗎?