书城励志震撼世界的声音:名人励志演讲集萃
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第2章 Let the Dream Come True(1)

Lawrence Edward Page,CEO of Google.

The University of Michigan,May,2009.

You never lose a dream,it just incubates as a hobby.

梦想不会消失,会变成习惯!

Lawrence Edward Page

背景故事

谷歌的故事,是一个传奇。拉里·佩奇和谢尔盖·布林两个博士没读完的辍学生在硅谷的车库里创业,最后建成了市值超过IBM的IT巨擎的传奇故事。谷歌里面有令无数打工族垂涎万尺的企业文化:牛仔裤、T-shirt衫的随意穿着,美餐、中餐、印度餐等一应俱全的大食堂,免费就医、洗衣、洗车的服务,甚至可以带上狗狗和滑板车一起上班……

20几岁的年轻人,梦想大得不可想象,要组合世界上所有的知识,为人人所用,随时可用,他做到了。追随梦想,充满激情,让梦想成真。

虽然拉里·佩奇已是成功典范,但并没有夸夸其谈,他用诚挚的语言讲述自己家庭背景和人生经历,他讲的故事也很感人,一开始拿出爸爸的东西,后面谈到爸爸过世,专门去和爸爸患有同样疾病的印度村庄,谈到要珍惜亲人,告诉大家人生中最宝贵的两样东西——梦想和亲友。

名人简介

最鼓舞人心的英文读物,跟随伟人学习英语!精挑细选的最有影响力的名人励志演讲,改变全球上万人的人生轨迹。

拉里·佩奇(Larry Page,1973.03.26-),全名劳伦斯·爱德华·佩奇(Lawrence Edward Page),Google搜索引擎的创始人之一,2011年4月4日佩奇正式出任谷歌CEO。拉里·佩奇出生在美国密歇根州东兰辛市的一个犹太家庭,为美国密歇根大学安娜堡分校的毕业生,拥有理工科学士学位;因其出色的领导才能获得过多项荣誉,以奖励他对工学院的贡献。他曾担任密西根大学Eta Kappa Nu荣誉学会的会长。其指导教授是Terry Winograd博士。Google就是由Page在斯坦福大学发起的研究项目转变而来的。在斯坦福大学中,佩奇遇到了谢尔盖·布林。吃了无数个闭门羹之后佩奇和布林决定自己创业,但他们手中仅有的一点现金都因购买大量的数据盘和储存器作研究而花光了。他们的一位教师,也是SUN微系统的创始人之——安迪·别赫托希姆在关键时刻给予他们很大帮助。别赫托希姆确是个很有远见的人,在看完他们的演示后,立马开了张10万美元的支票帮助成立Google公司。之后两人又从家人朋友那里到处借钱,筹得100万美元作为最初投资。1998年9月7日,Google公司在加利福尼亚州的曼罗帕克成立。

布林和佩奇两人合作得很好,并且吸引了一大批有能力且忠实的员工。创业之初办公室虽然简陋,他们仍尽可能为员工创造宽松的工作环境,他们在屋外的草坪上种上蘑菇,养了条狗,专门请厨师为员工做饭,每星期举行两次曲棍球比赛。公司现在已经拥有2000多名员工。布林说,他们必须让办公室成为员工们乐意呆的地方,因此现在每天为员工提供什么餐点甚至都成了两人的重大决策之一。

演讲赏析

Let the Dream Come True.

Lawrence Edward Page,CEO of Google.

The University of Michigan,May,2009.

Class of 2009!I don’t think I heard you.Class of 2009!First I‘d like you to stand up,and wave and cheer your supportive family and friends!I’m sure you can find them out there.Show your love!It is a great honor for me to be here today.

Now wait a second.I know:that‘s such a cliche.You’re thinking:every graduation speaker says that-It‘s a great honor.But,in my case,it really is so deeply true being here is more special and more personal for me than most of you know.I’d like to tell you why.A long time ago,in this cold September of 1962,there was a Steven‘s co-op at this very university.That co-op had a kitchen with a ceiling that had been cleaned by student volunteers probably every decade or so.Picture a college girl named Gloria,climbing up high on a ladder,struggling to clean that filthy ceiling.Standing on the floor,a young boarder named Carl was admiring the view.And that’s how they met.They were my parents,so I suppose you could say I‘m a direct result of that kitchen chemistry experiment,right here at Michigan.My Mom is here with us today,and we should probably go find the spot and put a plaque up on the ceiling that says:“Thanks Mom and Dad!”

Everyone in my family went here to Michigan:my brother,my Mom,my Dad—all of us.My Dad actually got the quantity discount:He got all three and a half of his degrees here.His Ph.D.was in Communication Science because they thought Computers were just a passing fad when he earned it 44years ago.He and Mom made a big sacrifice for that degree.They argued at times over pennies,while raising my newborn brother.Mom typed my Dad’s dissertation by hand,kind of ironic of those computer science dissertations.This velvet hood I‘m wearing,this was my Dad’s.This diploma,yeah,this diploma I have here that just like the one you are about to get,this is my Dad‘s.And my underwear,oh never mind,sorry.My father’s father worked in the Chevy plant in Flint,Michigan.He was an assembly line worker.He drove his two children here to Ann Arbor,and told them:That is where you‘re going to college.I know it sounds funny now.Both of his kids actually did graduate from Michigan.That was the American dream.

His daughter,Beverly,is also with us today.My Grandpa used to carry an“Alley Oop”hammer,a heavy iron pipe with a big hunk of lead melted on the end.The workers made them during the sit-down strikes to protect themselves.When I was growing up,we used that hammer whenever we needed to pound a stake or something into the yard.It is wonderful that most people don’t need to carry a heavy blunt object for protection anymore.But just in case,I brought it with me.My Dad became a professor at uh……Michigan State,and I was an incredibly lucky boy.A professor‘s life is pretty flexible,and he was able to spend oodles of time raising me.Could there be a better upbringing than university brat?

What I’m trying to tell you,this is WAY more than a homecoming for me.It‘s not easy for me to express how proud I am to be here,with my Mom,my brother and my wife Lucy,and with all of you,at this amazing institution that is responsible for my very existence.I am thrilled for all of you,and I’m thrilled for your families and friends,as all of us join this great,big Michigan family I feel I‘ve been a part of all my life.What I’m also trying to tell you is that I know exactly what it feels like to be sitting in your seat,listening to some old gasbag give a long-winded commencement speech.Don‘t worry.I’ll be brief.I have a story about following dreams.Or maybe more accurately,it‘s a story about finding a path to make those dreams real.You know what it’s like to wake up in the middle of the night with a vivid dream?And you know how,if you don‘t have a pencil and pad by the bed,it will be completely gone by the next morning?