商界大佬给大学毕业生的话

    亚特兰大是一个种族隔离盛行的城市。除学校外，设于公共场所的自动饮水器、图书馆、卫生间和公共交通——甚至是公园，也不对黑人开放。黑人属于二等公民，被剥夺了应有的权利、机遇和尊重。

    我毕业那年，亚特兰大的学校系统对白人学生的支出是对黑人学生支出的两倍：每名白人学生支出为158美元，而每名黑人学生支出只有74美元。

    十年级之前，我就读的高中根本没有礼堂或体育馆。化学实验室只有一盏本生灯。1951年我上十五年级时，我使用的几何课本是1935年白人学生用过后扔掉的旧书，破烂不堪。

    尽管如此，我们有一位非常了不起的校长，不断指引和激励着我们。我们的老师尽心尽职，在向我们传授知识的同时，也给我们鼓励。学校接受家庭教师协会（PTA）的严格监管，我的母亲则担任着PTA的主席。

    虽然存在着诸多不平等现象，但我们当中还是涌现出了很多成功人士。令我们骄傲和自豪的校友包括黑人运动领袖马丁•路德•金、身价数百万美元的企业家赫尔曼•J•罗素、纽约尼克斯队（New York Knicks）队员沃尔特•弗雷泽、以及两次担任亚特兰大市长的梅那德•杰克逊。

    但是，他们都属于特例。黑人被看作是一个命运失败的群体。黑人种族蔑视制度（Jim Crow system）让我们处于贫困潦倒的境地，也使社会对我们的期望值再次降低。但是，我和我的同学们克服了这些障碍。

    而你们需要面临不同的问题：高期望值。你们2012年从菲尔德斯顿毕业时，社会期望你们走向成功，成为社会的领袖。

    另外，你们还要面临着其他的问题，包括责任、机遇、领导力和服务。你们或许会问自己：我该怎么做才能不辜负这些期望呢？

    你们整装待发之前，我想给你们提出三点基本建议。希望我的建议能照亮你们前进的道路，帮助你们顺利度过生命中将会遭遇的困境，面对人生的成败得失。

    首先，要始终保持诚信。它是指内心始终坚持正确的思想和行动。诚信是人的生命中唯一能够无可争议、完全拥有的东西，它无拘无束，永远不会被抵押。我们可以损失金钱，被解雇；遗产可以挥霍殆尽；企业可以破产；家庭和汽车可以被收回。但是，任何人都无法夺走一个人的诚信。

    塞缪尔•约翰逊曾经写道：“没有知识的诚信软弱无用，缺乏诚信的知识则危险而可怕。”

    第二点是我在小学时学到的。“己所不欲，勿施于人”——这也是印在可口可乐公司（Coca-Cola Company）送给我们的尺子上的一句标语。这句朴实、简单和明了的忠告说尽了待人接物之道。请牢记这句简单的话语，我保证，它会帮你做出生命中最艰难的伦理选择。

    Atlanta was a thoroughly segregated city. Not just schools, but drinking fountains, libraries, restrooms, public transportation--even parks. Black people were second-class citizens, denied rights, opportunities, and respect.

    The year I graduated, the city's school system spent twice as much on white students as on black students: $158 per white student compared to $74 per black student.

    My high school did not have an auditorium or a gymnasium until I was in the tenth grade. The chemistry lab had one Bunsen burner. My eleventh grade geometry textbook in 1951 was a tattered cast-off used by white students in 1935.

    Despite those conditions, we had a remarkable principal who instructed and inspired us. We had dedicated teachers who educated and encouraged us. We had a vigilant PTA, of which my mother was president.

    And despite the disparities, we had some significant success stories. Among our proud alumni are Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.;Herman J. Russell, who became a multimillion-dollar businessman; Walt Frazier, who played for the New York Knicks, and Maynard Jackson, twice the mayor of Atlanta.

    But they were the exceptions. As a group, we were expected to fail in life. Society's low expectations were reinforced by the Jim Crow system designed to keep us down and out. But my classmates and I overcame these burdens.

    You bear a different burden: the burden of high expectations. Graduating from Fieldston in 2012, you are expected to succeed. You are expected to become leaders in our society.

    The burden of responsibility...of opportunity...of leadership...of service. You might rightly wonder to yourself: How can I possibly live up to these expectations?

    I would suggest you take three fundamentals to pack in your suitcase for life. They will help light your path as you proceed through life's twisted corners and broken fields, its inevitable triumphs and defeats.

    The first fundamental is to keep your integrity. I am talking about the inner conviction to think right, act right and do right. Integrity is the only thing in life you own unequivocally--unfettered and unmortgaged. You can lose your money. You can be pink-slipped from your job. Your inheritance can be spent down to zero. Your business can go bankrupt. Your homes and automobiles can be repossessed. But no one can take away your integrity.

    Samuel Johnson wrote: "Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful."

    The second fundamental, I first learned in elementary school. It was emblazoned on the rulers given to us by the Coca-Cola Company (KO). "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." A plain, simple, straightforward injunction for treating people right. Take that simple saying with you, and i promise it will see you through life's most difficult ethical choices.