Not a small topic this is， fi nding happiness. But in some ways I think it"s the simplest of all. Gwendolyn Brooks wrote a poem for her children. It"s called"Speech to the Young：Speech to the Progress-Toward."And she says at the end， "Live not for battles won./Live not for the-end-of-the-song./Live in the along."She"s saying， like Eckhart Tolle， that you have to live for the present. You have to be in the moment. Whatever has happened to you in your past has no power over this present moment， because life is now.
But I think she"s also saying， be a part of something. Don"t live for yourself alone. This is what I know for sure：In order to be truly happy， you must live along with and you have to stand for something larger than yourself. Because life is a reciprocal exchange. To move forward you have to give back. And to me， that is the greatest lesson of life. To be happy， you have to give something back.
I know you know that， because that"s a lesson that"s woven into the very fabric of this university. It"s a lesson that Jane and Leland Stanford got and one they"ve bequeathed to you. Because all of you know the story of how this great school came to be， how the Stanfords lost their only child to typhoid at the age of 15.They had every right and they had every reason to turn their backs against the world at that time， but instead， they channeled their grief and their pain into an act of grace. Within a year of their son"s death， they had made the founding grant for this great school， pledging to do for other people"s children what they were not able to do for their own boy.
The lesson here is clear， and that is， if you"re hurting， you need to help somebody ease their hurt. If you"re in pain， help somebody else"s pain. And when you"re in a mess， you get yourself out of the mess helping somebody out of theirs. And in the process， you get to become a member of what I call the greatest fellowship of all， the sorority of compassion and the fraternity of service.
The Stanfords had suffered the worst thing any mom and dad can ever endure， yet they understood that helping others is the way we help ourselves. And this wisdom is increasingly supported by scientifi c and sociological research. It"s no longer just woo-woo soft-skills talk. There"s actually a helper"s high， a spiritual surge you gain from serving others. So， if you want to feel good， you have to go out and do some good.
But when you do good， I hope you strive for more than just the good feeling that service provides， because I know this for sure， that doing good actually makes you better. So， whatever fi eld you choose， if you operate from the paradigm of service， I know your life will have more value and you will be happy.
I was always happy doing my talk show， but that happiness reached a depth of fulfi llment， of joy， that I really can"t describe to you or measure when I stopped just being on TV and looking at TV as a job and decided to use television， to use it and not have it use me， to use it as a platform to serve my viewers. That alone changed the trajectory of my success.
So， I know this-that whether you"re an actor， you offer your talent in the way that most inspires art. If you"re an anatomist， you look at your gift as knowledge and service to healing. Whether you"ve been called， as so many of you here today getting doctorates and other degrees， to the professions of business， law， engineering， humanities， science， medicine， if you choose to offer your skills and talent in service， when you choose the paradigm of service， looking at life through that paradigm， it turns everything you do from a job into a gift. And I know you haven"t spent all this time at Stanford just to go out and get a job.
You"ve been enriched in countless ways. There"s no better way to make your mark on the world and to share that abundance with others. My constant prayer for myself is to be used in service for the greater good.
So， let me end with one of my favorite quotes from Martin Luther King. Dr. King said， "Not everybody can be famous."And I don"t know， but everybody today seems to want to be famous.
But fame is a trip. People follow you to the bathroom， listen to you pee. It"s just-try to pee quietly. It doesn"t matter；they come out and say， "Ohmigod， it"s you. You peed."
That"s the fame trip， so I don"t know if you want that.
So， Dr. King said， "Not everybody can be famous. But everybody can be great， because greatness is determined by service."Those of you who are history scholars may know the rest of that passage. He said， "You don"t have to have a college degree to serve. You don"t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You don"t have to know about Plato or Aristotle to serve. You don"t have to know Einstein"s theory of relativity to serve. You don"t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love."
In a few moments， you"ll all be offi cially Stanford"s"08.
You have the heart and the smarts to go with it. And it"s up to you to decide， really， where you will now use those gifts， You"ve got the diploma， so go out and get the lessons， because I know great things are sure to come.
You know， I"ve always believed that everything is better when you share it， so before I go， I wanted to share a graduation gift with you. Underneath your seats you"ll fi nd two of my favorite books. Eckhart Tolle"s A New Earth is my current book club selection. Our New Earth webcast has been downloaded 30 million times with that book. And Daniel Pink"s A Whole New Mind：Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future has reassured me I"m in the right direction.
I really wanted to give you cars but I just couldn"t pull that off！Congratulations， "08！
译文参考
感觉、失败及寻找幸福——奥普拉·温弗瑞在斯坦福大学的演讲
非常感谢，Hennessy校长，委托人和全体教员们，家长和斯坦福的毕业生们，感谢你们邀请我与你们一起来分享这美好的一天。
我决定透漏一个小秘密给大家作为开场白。这个秘密就是关于Kirby Bumpus的故事，她是斯坦福2008年的毕业生，也是我的教女。所以当Hennessy校长让我来做演讲时，我受宠若惊，因为自从Kirby来这上学以来，这是我第一次被允许到斯坦福来。
