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我几乎从来不翻译文章,因为翻译是一种艺术,不是人人都适合从事翻译工作的。不过,在看到沃伦-巴菲特回答Emory大学商学院学生的这个问题之后,我决定尝试一次。因为这段回答实在太美妙了。如果你原先不尊敬巴菲特,这段回答能让你尊敬他;如果你原先就尊敬巴菲特,这段回答能让你崇拜他。! ~& Y" f. z) Y! ^3 x* }- x
; n; D. j4 S& V' G8 h. t0 `9 X Emory大学学生:
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你怎么定义幸福?你生活中的什么事物使你感觉最幸福?当你做了一笔成功的投资,你会允许自己兴高采烈地享受成功吗?从另一面讲,如果一笔投资失败了,你会不会感觉到同样的失望?或者说,你尝试尽可能地把感情排除出你的工作?& m# k! {! m6 t3 g7 Q. {
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巴菲特:0 H% ]& p( r) N2 y: d" W0 V; z
1 R: L' e" Q$ u/ ]; Q 我享受我做的事情,我每天都跳着踢踏舞去工作。我和我喜欢的人一起工作,做我喜欢的事情。我唯一希望尽可能避免的事情是解雇员工。我把我的时间用来思考未来,而不是过去。未来是激动人心的。正如伯特兰德-罗素说的,“成功是得到自己想要的,快乐是想要自己得到的。”我出生的那天赢得了卵巢彩票(注:指精子发育为受精卵的过程),你们所有人都一样。我们都很成功,聪明,受过教育。专注于那些你没有的东西是一个可怕的错误。在我们人人拥有的天赋之下,如果你仍然不快乐,那是你自己的错误。+ `$ L& r" S$ A2 B( m f5 M5 ]
, h4 u7 M$ \5 K2 ]1 x6 t 我认识一个八十多岁的妇人,她是一个波兰犹太人,曾经和全家一起被赶进集中营,其中有人死在了里面。她说:“我慢慢地开始交朋友,因为我看着人们,脑海中有一个问题:他们会把我藏起来吗?”如果你到了我这个岁数(注:沃伦-巴菲特已经年满77岁),或者年轻一点,而有一大群人愿意把你藏起来,那么你完全可以为自己过去的生活感到骄傲。我认识一些出现在《财富》400富豪排行榜上的人,他们的子女不会把他们藏起来的。(他们的子女会说:)“他在阁楼上面!他在阁楼上面!”其中有些人占据着董事会席位,或者获得名誉学位,借此褒扬自己;但这不会改变事实 ——在他们死了之后,没有人会有一丁点在乎他们。世界上最强大的力量是无条件的爱。把它私藏起来是人生的巨大错误。你给别人的爱越多,你获得的回报就越多。从个人角度来讲,重要的是谁对你有价值,你就一定要对他们有价值。
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7 M1 o N. d5 b4 P- S( l! w 如果你能购买一个同班同学未来收入的10%,你会怎么做?你不会购买那些IQ最高的人,成绩最好的人,等等,但你会买那些给你留下最深刻印象的人。你喜欢那些慷慨的人,尽力而为的人,正直坦率的人。现在想象一下你可以卖空你的一个同班同学的10%。当你开始环顾整个房间的时候,这一般会更有趣。看看那些没有人愿意与之相处的人,那些惹人厌恶或者只顾自己利益的人。如果你有一副500匹马力的引擎却只发挥出了50马力,你会被另外一个拥有300匹马力引擎却发挥出了250马力的人击败。潜在能力和实际发挥之间的区别取决于人的品质。你可以列出你最仰慕的品质,以及你最厌恶的那些。转换一下角色,想想如果这是我对以上品质的反应,这个世界对我会有怎样的反应?你可以学着养成那些你想要的品质,戒掉那些你不想要的品质。你很难察觉由习惯构成的枷锁;一旦你察觉到了,又很难破除它。你不可能到了60岁才去改变;现在就是做一个列表的时候了。( z' o s$ G% O+ K* t+ Q, `3 ~$ E
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原文如下:) D/ a) Z4 ]; p+ C7 a7 p
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Emory:
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How do you define happiness and what about your life makes you most happy? When you make good on an investment, do you allow yourself to enjoy that success by getting excited - and on the flip-side, when an investment turns down, do you find yourself equally disappointed - or do you try to remove emotion from your work, as much as possible?
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I enjoy what I do, I tap dance to work every day. I work with people I love, doing what I love. The only thing I would pay to get rid of is firing people. I spend my time thinking about the future, not the past. The future is exciting. As Bertrand Russell says, “Success is getting what you want, happiness is wanting what you get.” I won the ovarian lottery the day I was born and so did all of you. We’re all successful, intelligent, educated. To focus on what you don’t have is a terrible mistake. With the gifts all of us have, if you are unhappy, it’s your own fault.4 Y% E) ^- k1 h t; T3 j# Z
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I know a woman in her 80’s, a Polish Jew woman forced into a concentration camp with her family but not all of them came out. She says, “I am slow to make friends because when I look at people, I have one question in mind; would they hide me?” If you get to be my age, or younger for that matter, and have a lot of people that would hide you, then you can feel pretty good about how you’ve lived your life. I know people on the Forbes 400 list whose children would not hide them. “He’s in the attic, he’s in the attic.” Some of them keep compensating by joining board seats or getting honorary degrees, but it doesn’t change the fact that no one will give a damn when they are gone. The most powerful force in the world is unconditional love. To horde it is a terrible mistake in life. The more you try to give it away, the more you get it back. At an individual level, it’s important to make sure that for the people that count to you, you count to them.6 [" E% _! F) p9 r; v: C. A
9 L; j! J9 _: j. x( s What if you could buy 10% of one of your classmates and their future earnings? You wouldn’t buy the ones with the highest IQ, the best grades, etc, but the most effective. You like people who are generous, go out of their way, straight shooters. Now imagine that you could short 10% of one of your classmates. This part is usually more fun as you start looking around the room. You wouldn’t choose the ones with the poorest grades. Look for people nobody wants to be around, that are obnoxious or like to take all the credit. If you have a 500 HP engine and only get 50 HP out of it, you’ll be beat by someone else that has a 300 HP engine but gets 250 HP output. The difference between potential and output comes from human qualities. You can make a list of the qualities you admire and those you despise. To turn the tables, think if this is the way I react to the qualities on the list, which is the way the world will react to me. You can learn to turn on those qualities you want and turn off those qualities you wish to avoid. The chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken. You can’t change at 60; the time to look at that list is now.
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3 C, B: M0 [, t德克萨斯大学奥斯丁分校学生:0 q5 y8 r8 {; y. u# |
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你拥有商业的成功,巨额的财富,以及崇高的声望,为什么你仍然如此平易近人、如此谦虚?在你的一生中,是否有什么特殊的人,或者学到了什么特殊的经验,使你保持这种生活态度?# |; t9 \& d8 T5 i/ s, {: ]2 i! Q7 r
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巴菲特:" A0 K* Q5 U7 U
0 y9 F2 ]+ s/ q- L. e 我很幸运,成为了一个恰当的英雄。告诉我你们心目中的英雄是谁,我会告诉你你将来会成为什么样的人。你一生中最重要的工作之一将是抚养子女。他们从你这里学到的会比他们从研究生院学到的更多。我的父亲对我造成了巨大的影响,后来格雷厄姆(注:即“华尔街教父”本杰明-格雷厄姆)也出现了。我的英雄从来没有让我失望。6 a4 K$ ]# s G- I0 T3 u- q9 J) S
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我和我自己的成功没有任何关系。我父亲是一个证券经纪人,在大股灾(注:指1929年的股灾)之后,他没有任何可以联系的人。紧接着,我出生在1930年的美国,一个最伟大的资本市场的时代。我和资本资产配置的武器一起出生。我在正确的时间拥有正确的武器。气质是我的一个非常重要的武器。我天生就善于运用气质,并且通过交流反馈了进一步提高它。没有任何傲慢的理由。盖茨说如果我出生的早了一点,我可能早已变成某些动物的午餐了。我不能跑步,我不能攀爬。我会讨论资本配置,而动物会想,“那些人是最好吃的。”你们都赢得了卵巢彩票。没有任何理由感到内疚。
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我从来没有捐献我自己生活必须的哪怕一角钱。有许多人去教堂,把钱放在捐款盘里,这些钱绝对会影响他们的生活方式,影响他们吃什么,他们能给自己的子女买什么礼物。没有必要因为那些你没有控制的事情而趾高气扬。
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Austin:; ]' {9 I, R+ H7 u
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Given your business success, your immense fortune, and your celebrity status, how do you stay so down to earth and humble? Are there specific people or lessons you have learned throughout your life that enable you to maintain this outlook?4 a4 J* m$ c- Z; r# m" ]; H
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I was lucky to have the right heroes. Tell me who your heroes are and I’ll tell you how you’ll turn out to be. One of your most important jobs in life will be raising your children. They will learn more from you than they will in graduate school. My father was a huge influence, and later on Graham came along. I was also never let down by my heroes.
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( D$ X% B+ L! D% t3 s3 [ I had nothing to do with my own success. My father was a securities broker and after the Great Crash, he had no one to call. Consequently, I was born in 1930 in the United States during the time of one of the greatest capital markets. I was born with the wiring for capital asset allocation. I had the right wiring at the right time. Temperament is a large part of my wiring. I was naturally good at it, and I used some feedback to develop it better. There is nothing to be arrogant about. Gates says if I had been born earlier, I would’ve been some animal’s lunch. I can’t run, I can’t climb. I’d be talking about allocating capital and the animal would think, “Those are the kind that taste the best.” You have all won the ovarian lottery. There is no reason to feel guilty about it.
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/ n; A) M4 i* i t; F E- a I have never given away a dime that has any meaning on how I live. There are people that go to church and they put money in the offering plate that truly makes a difference in how they will live their lives, what they will eat, what presents they will buy for their children. There’s no reason to get puffed up over things you didn’t control.5 K. H3 V7 g2 R6 u. n
f/ A9 }4 S0 y4 Y, y/ M以下问题是这个问答中最后一个有趣的问题(巴菲特回答所有投资问题都非常无趣,你可以在他的信里找到相关章节,哪一年的无所谓,反正每年的信几乎都长的一样),也是最后一个问题。
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德克萨斯大学奥斯丁分校学生:
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总是有人提到你的成功应该部分归功于没有陷入华尔街的狂热情绪,因为你住在奥马哈——你认为在工作和生活之间保持恰当的平衡有多重要?你怎样保持恰当的平衡?0 l/ B. s3 d1 `
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巴菲特:
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: b# e2 I8 A- X) l 在工作之外我有太多的乐趣。我做自己想做的,去自己想去的地方——乘坐小船,等等。我的妻子负责抚养子女。我们两个对这种安排都没有问题,而且它符合亚当-斯密的“劳动分工”理论。这对于女性来说是一个更加艰难的选择,而且总是有那么一点不公平。在我的个人生活中我几乎不参加自己不想做的活动或会议。在我成年之后的商业生活中,我从来没有被迫选择在职业和个人生活之间进行交换。我拥有简单的乐趣。我每个星期在网上玩12个小时的桥牌。比尔(注:即比尔- 盖茨)和我一起玩,他的代号是"chalengr", 而我是"tbone".
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在哈佛的一场讲座之后,我告诉他们为自己最仰慕的人工作,结果他们都成了自由职业者(自我雇佣)。为你仰慕的某个人或某个组织工作是很重要的。我很少见到男性被迫做出艰难的选择。但是女性会面临艰难的情形。
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Austin:/ F, \2 f. d, e
& `* c* e6 N% g4 a+ X6 Q9 P2 l There is always mention that some of your success could be attributed to not buying in to the Wall Street mania b/c you are in Omaha—what importance do you give to balance as it pertains to work and life and what do you do to maintain your appropriate balance?
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I have so much fun that it’s not work. I get to do what I want, where I want – on a boat, wherever. My wife was responsible for bringing up the children. Neither of us had problems with that arrangement, and it made sense from an Adam Smith “division of labor” perspective. It will be a much tougher choice for women, and always be somewhat unequal. In my own life I did virtually no social functions or meetings that I didn’t want to do. In my adult business life I have never had to make a choice of trading between professional and personal. I have simple pleasures. I play bridge online for 12 hours a week. Bill and I play, he’s “chalengr” and I’m “tbone”.* w: _. @1 F# c- J U, b0 Z3 }8 P1 h
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After a talk at Harvard, I told them to work for who they admired the most, so they all become self-employed. It’s important to go to work for someone or some organization you admire. I’ve not seen many males having to make tough choices. But women are the ones who have tough situations.
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Emory大学和德克萨斯大学奥斯丁分校可能存有本次演讲的原始记录。 |
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