When I was 17, I read a quote（引用） that went something like, "If you live each day as if it was your last, some day you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression（印象） on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I've looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself, "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever（无论何时） the answer has been "no" for too many days in a row（(一)排）, I know I need to change something. Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered（遭遇） to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything, all external（外部的） expectations（期待）, all pride（骄傲）, all fear of embarrassment（窘迫） or failure（失败）, these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly（真实地） important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap（陷阱） of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked（裸体的）.

  There is no reason not to follow your heart. About a year ago, I was diagnosed（诊断） with cancer（癌症）. I had a scan at 7.30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor（瘤） on my pancreas（[解]胰腺）. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable（不能治愈的）, and that I should expect to live no longer than 3 to 6 months. My doctor advised（劝告） me to go home and get my affairs（事情） in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die.

  It means to try and tell your kids everything. You thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them, in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes. I live with that diagnosis（诊断） all day. Later that evening, I had a biopsy where they stuck（刺） an endoscope down my throat（咽喉）, threw my stomach into my intestines（肠）, put a needle（针） into my pancreas and got a few cells（细胞） from the tumor（瘤）.

  I was sedated（给…服镇静剂）, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed（看待） the cells（细胞） under a microscope, the doctors started crying, because it turned out to be a very rare（稀薄的） form of pancreatic（胰的） cancer（癌症） that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery（外科）, and thankfully, I'm fine now. This was the closest I've been to facing（向） death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades（十年）. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty（必然） than when death was a useful but purely（纯粹地） intellectual（智力的） concept. No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven（天堂） don't want to die to get there.

  And yet, death is the destination（目的地） we all share. No one has ever escaped（逃跑） it, and that is as it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life. It's life's change agent（代理人）. It clears（清除） out the old to make way for the new. Right now, the new is you. But someday, not too long from now, you will gradually（逐渐地） become the old and be cleared（清除） away.

  Sorry to be so dramatic（戏剧的）, but it's quite true. Your time is limited（有限的）, so don't waste（浪费） it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown（淹死） out your own inner（内部的） voice. And most important, have the courage（勇气） to follow your heart and intuition（直觉）. They somehow（由于某种原因） already know what you truly（真实地） want to become.

  Everything else is secondary（第二的）. When I was young, there was an amazing publication（公布） called the Whole（整体） Earth Catalog（目录）, which was one of the Bibles of my generation（一代）. It was created by a fellow named Stuart Brand（商品）, not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic（诗的） touch（触）. This was in the late '60s before personal computers and desktop（桌面） publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and Polaroid cameras. It was sort（种类） of like Google in paperback（简装本） form 35 years before Google came along. It was idealistic（理想主义的）, overflowing（溢出） with neat（整洁的） tools and great notions.

  Stuart and his team put out several issues（问题） of the Whole（整体） Earth Catalog（目录）, and then, when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover（盖子） of their final issue（问题） was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking（免费搭乘他人便车） on if you were so adventurous（ 爱冒险的）. Beneath（在……下面） it were the words, "Stay hungry, stay foolish." It was their farewell（告别的） message as they signed off, "Stay hungry, stay foolish." And I have always wished that for myself.

  And now, as you graduate（授予…学位） to begin anew（重新）, I wish that for you. Stay hungry, stay foolish. Thank you all very much.