这一切本应如此，因为，你们没有任何人是特别的。 (来源：英语杂志 http://www.EnglishCN.com)

　　你并不特别，你并非与众不同；

　　尽管你有U9足球奖杯、辉煌的七年级成绩单；尽管你确信世上必定有肥胖的紫色恐龙、亲切的罗杰斯先生(著名儿童电视节目主持人)和古怪的Sylvia阿姨；无论女蝙蝠侠曾奋不顾身

　　地救过你多少次；你依然没什么特别。

　　Yes, you’ve been pampered, cosseted, doted upon, helmeted, bubble-wrapped.  Yes, capable adults with other things to do have held you, kissed you, fed you, wiped your mouth, wiped your bottom, trained you, taught you, tutored you, coached you, listened to you, counseled you, encouraged you, consoled you and encouraged you again.  You’ve been nudged, cajoled, wheedled and implored.  You’ve been feted and fawned over and called sweetie pie.  Yes, you have.  And, certainly, we’ve been to your games, your plays, your recitals, your science fairs.  Absolutely, smiles ignite when you walk into a room, and hundreds gasp with delight at your every tweet.  Why, maybe you’ve even had your picture in the Townsman! [Editor’s upgrade: Or The Swellesley Report!]

　　是的，你被骄纵、溺爱、宠爱、保护、呵护；是的，忙碌不堪的大人抱着你、亲吻你、喂养你，替你擦嘴、擦屁股；

　　训练你、教导你、指引你、辅导你、倾听你、规劝你、鼓励你、安慰你，并一再地鼓励你。你们被轻拥在怀里，好言哄诱和恳求；你们被赞美讨好，还被称为甜心派。是的，你确实有。当然，我们曾参加你的比赛、戏剧演出、演奏会、科学展览；当然，当你走进房里时，每个人都露出微笑；对你贴出的每一则twitter 讯息发出千百次兴奋的惊叹。为什么？也许你的照片曾登上Townsman(韦斯利高中校内刊物）

　　And now you’ve conquered high school… and, indisputably, here we all have gathered for you, the pride and joy of this fine community, the first to emerge from that magnificent new building…

　　But do not get the idea you’re anything special.  Because you’re not。

　　现在你们已经征服了高中阶段，无疑地，我们全都是为了你们而聚在这里。你们是这个优秀小区的骄傲和喜悦，第一批从那栋宏伟新大楼里走出的人。

　　但不要认为你有什么特别，因为你并不特别。

　　The empirical evidence is everywhere, numbers even an English teacher can’t ignore.  Newton, Natick, Nee… I am allowed to say Needham, yes? …that has to be two thousand high school graduates right there, give or take, and that’s just the neighborhood Ns.  Across the country no fewer than 3.2 million seniors are graduating about now from more than 37,000 high schools.  That’s 37,000 valedictorians… 37,000 class presidents… 92,000 harmonizing altos… 340,000 swaggering jocks… 2,185,967 pairs of Uggs.  But why limit ourselves to high school?  After all, you’re leaving it.  So think about this: even if you’re one in a million, on a planet of 6.8 billion that means there are nearly 7,000 people just like you.  Imagine standing somewhere over there on Washington Street on Marathon Monday and watching sixty-eight hundred yous go running by.  And consider for a moment the bigger picture: your planet, I’ll remind you, is not the center of its solar system, your solar system is not the center of its galaxy, your galaxy is not the center of the universe.  In fact, astrophysicists assure us the universe has no center; therefore, you cannot be it.

　　实证无所不在，这个数字大到连一位英语老师都无法忽视。Newton、Natick、Nee…(均为邻近高中)；我可以提Needham，对吗？总共有两千名高中毕业生－大约这个数目，这只是邻近地区。现在，全国共有不止320万名高中生正从37000多所高中毕业，也就是说，有37000名毕业生代表、37000名学生会长、92000名合唱团团员、34万名趾高气扬的运动健将，和2,185,967双靴子。但为何要局限在高中？毕竟你们即将离开它。所以想想：即使你是百万中选一的菁英，以地球上68亿人口来说，这意味着有将近7000人跟你一样。想象一下，在星期一马拉松大赛时站在华盛顿街某处，观看6800个“你”跑过。再以更宏观的角度来想：我得提醒大家，你的星球不是太阳系的中心；你的太阳系不是

　　银河的中心；你的银河不是宇宙的中心。事实上，天文物理学家肯定地说，宇宙没有中心。因此，你也不会是宇宙的中心。

　　Neither can Donald Trump… which someone should tell him… although that hair is quite a phenomenon。

　　即使唐纳。川普也不会是；应该有人告诉他这件事。

　　“But, Dave,” you cry, “Walt Whitman tells me I’m my own version of perfection!  Epictetus tells me I have the spark of Zeus!”  And I don’t disagree.  So that makes 6.8 billion examples of perfection, 6.8 billion sparks of Zeus.  You see, if everyone is special, then no one is.  If everyone gets a trophy, trophies become meaningless.

　　虽然他的头发确实蔚为奇观。“但Dave，”你喊道，“惠特曼(美国诗人)告诉我，我是自己的完美版本！Epictetus(古希腊哲学家)告诉我，我有宙斯的火花！”我不反对这一点。因此，这代表68亿个完美的例子、68亿个宙斯的火花。你们知道，如果每个人都是特殊的，就没有任何人是特殊的；如果每个人都能拿到奖杯，奖杯就变得毫无意义。