Fed Chair Jerome Powell delivers remarks at Princeton's 2025 Baccalaureate service

[lostsoul]

Jerome Powell, chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, delivers remarks at Princeton's Baccalaureate service for the Class of 2025. Powell earned his bachelor’s degree in politics from Princeton in 1975.

Baccalaureate, an end-of-year interfaith service that is one of Princeton’s oldest traditions.

[lostsoul]

演讲全文
https://www.federalreserve.gov/newseven ... 50525a.htm

（下文为现场演讲，与上述网站提供的略有不同）
Congratulations to the Princeton University class of 2025 on the tremendous achievement of earning your degree and to the parents, family members, friends, and mentors whose support and encouragement made this day possible. Give yourself a round of applause.

So 50 years ago, I can't believe it, but 50 years ago, almost to the day, I was sitting where you are, and I was listening to a speaker deliver a speech, neither of which I can recall today. So, what I plan to do today is to share some things with you that I believe would have been useful for me to hear back then.

For those of you who are fundamentally unsure of your path, I was you. Rather than studying, I had spent my freshman year with fellow campus musicians playing my Martin D35 acoustic guitar. It was a high school graduation present and one that my parents surely regretted.

While I still play that guitar, my freshman grades said clearly that I needed to get my act together academically and by senior year I had done so. But I had no real plan for life after Princeton. I'd grown up in Washington DC, majored in politics. As you know, Princeton graduates have a long and distinguished record of service to the nation and to humanity. And that left me with a single thought, which was they wanted to have a private sector career, and also serve periodically in government. I was thinking at the time of people like Princeton's George Schultz who was a giant of that era. And there of course countless examples across the political spectrum including presidents, senators, members of Congress, governors, judges. Of course, most of those who serve though are not public figures. I could just as well point to classmates who devoted their working lives to teaching high school kids. For me, there's no higher calling.

Honestly, many of my classmates and friends went straight into prestigious graduate schools, politics, Wall Street. Others went off to global capitals, the military, or the Peace Corps. I had brushed off my parents one academic suggestion, which was to major in economics, which at that time struck as, if I'm being honest, boring and useless. After 13 years at the Federal Reserve, I fully admit that I was completely wrong about that.

So, after graduation, I had no plan and no job. I wound up putting labels on shelves in a warehouse for six months, and I didn't feel great about that. One of my closest friends was getting a master's at Stanford, and I could only think, "Nice going, Jay. You really nailed that." But in hindsight, that time in the warehouse was a blessing and it was exactly what I needed. The next fall, I entered law school and for the first time, I was highly resolved to make the most of the opportunity.

You know what? We all move at our own pace, and that's okay. 50 years later, I can tell you something I did not know then. The vast majority of what you need to know about work, about relationships, about yourself, about life, you have yet to learn. And that itself is a tremendous gift. Over the remainder of your life, you can and you must continue to educate yourself and to grow as a person, becoming more focused on what really matters, more widely knowledgeable, better read, more disciplined, more strategic, but also wiser, kinder, more empathetic, more generous, more loving, more forgiving of others, and not least of yourself. Each of us is a work in progress and the possibilities for self-improvement are limitless which is a wonderful thing.

Another thing I've realized is that while hard work, determination and creativity matter a great deal to success in life, luck plays a big role too. All of us here are tremendously lucky. I know that at a handful of critical times in my life, I got really lucky and that began at birth.

My parents were well educated and they gave the six Powell kids a safe, loving home and they placed a high value on learning. They gave us everything we needed to thrive. That bit of luck led to the good luck that I share with all of you, the chance to earn a degree from America's finest university.

Another thing that I've learned along the way is that as you strive in coming years to reach your full potential, you'll need to take risks and yes, to make mistakes. Everyone, and I mean everyone, makes mistakes. Take it from an expert. But the bigger mistake is to avoid taking risks.

If you're not failing from time to time, you're not asking enough of yourself. Sooner than you think, many of you will be asked to assume leadership roles. It is very, very common to feel, as I once did, that you're not ready. Just know that no one is really ready. All I can say to you is go for it. Throw yourself into the deep end of the pool. Believe in yourself. Take risks. When you fall down, and you will fall down, get up and repeat the cycle. And as you do assume higher responsibility, understand that a big part of your job is to bring along the people behind you. Be the leader that people can learn from, the one that people want to follow.

My next point is closely related and that is that a little bit of initiative at the right time can make all the difference. Initiative is the rocket fuel of life. Now, I'm no entrepreneur. I didn't start a major tech company. But as I look back, many of the most important developments in my life trace back to a few occasions where I showed just a little bit of initiative.

I'll give you one example out of many. I was a very junior associate and the man who ran my firm, Nicholas F. Brady, was a former United States senator whose career had spanned the private sector and public service. I wanted to meet him, but realized ultimately I was going to have to make that happen. So one day I finally forced myself to walk up the stairs to his corner office. I asked for an audience and was ushered in. I was very nervous. The meeting was very brief. And as I walked down those stairs afterward, I was thinking, well, at least I tried. To my great surprise, two months later, Nick Brady asked me to work on a project with him. And a year or so after that, he became the secretary of treasury of the United States. And in time, he asked me to serve under him as an assistant secretary of the Treasury. That enormously challenging role whet my appetite for further public service and ultimately proved to be a gateway for my appointment to the Federal Reserve Board. So, if I hadn't forced myself to walk up those stairs and take what I saw as a risky and potentially awkward step, I wouldn't be standing here today.

I can think of long-term friendships and one marriage, my own, that turn on a moment's initiative. On occasions like that, we risk failure, awkwardness, embarrassment, and rejection. But that's how we create the career opportunities, the great friendships, and the loves that make life worth living.

So the combination of luck, the courage to make mistakes, and a little initiative can lead to much success. But know this, the world needs more from you than personal achievements and individual success. I strongly urge you to find time in your careers for public service.

Since the founding of this great democracy 250 years ago, generation upon generation have assumed the burden and the honor of moving us closer to the ideal that all are created equal. Now it's your turn. I ask you to take a minute and realize how the quest for these values has led us to this point in our history. We lead the world in so many ways, including in scientific innovation and economic dynamism. Our great universities are the envy of the world and a crucial national asset. Look around you and I urge you to take none of this for granted. When you look back in 50 years, you will want to know that you've done whatever it takes to preserve and strengthen our democracy and bring us ever closer to the founders timeless ideals.

Those of you who are not enter entering the military or other public service may wonder what's so great about public service. And I'll give you a recent example. In my 13 years at the Fed, the global economy has experienced a fair amount of turbulence and one outright crisis, the acute phase of the CO 19 pandemic. With little warning, economies around the world came to a hard stop. Critical financial markets were near collapse. The possibility of a long severe global depression was staring us in the face. Everyone turned to the government and to the Federal Reserve in particular as a key first responder. Career civil servants at the Fed who were veterans of previous crises stepped forward and said, "We got this." We took a range of aggressive measures to supply credit to the economy, many of them unprecedented, while the financial sector recovered. Others in government and the private sector did their part, too. Through the joint efforts of many, we avoided the worst outcomes. It is hard to imagine the pressure that people feel at a time like that. Their collective efforts saved our economy and the career civil servants involved deserve a respect and gratitude. It is my great honor to serve alongside them. That's what public service is like.

So with that luck that I mentioned comes great responsibility. You may recognize from the Gospel of Luke this quotation. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded.

As you navigate the world of bright possibilities that awaits you, I urge you to take on the challenge and the opportunity to serve your fellow citizens. You will never regret that choice.

I have one last uh uh and key point. Your life matters not just to you, but to the people who love you. 50 years from now, you want to be able to look in the mirror and know that you did what you thought was right in every part of your life. At the end of the day, our integrity is all we have. Guard it carefully.

Thank you for your time and congratulations to the great class of 2025.

[牛大春]

最后这段说的不错：
“I have one last uh uh and key point. Your life matters not just to you, but to the people who love you. 50 years from now, you want to be able to look in the mirror and know that you did what you thought was right in every part of your life. At the end of the day, our integrity is all we have. Guard it carefully.”

[lostsoul]

和川总决裂了

最后这段说的不错：
“I have one last uh uh and key point. Your life matters not just to you, but to the people who love you. 50 years from now, you want to be able to look in the mirror and know that you did what you thought was right in every part of your life. At the end of the day, our integrity is all we have. Guard it carefully.”

[牛大春]

有最高法保驾护航，腰杆硬了。

和川总决裂了

最后这段说的不错：
“I have one last uh uh and key point. Your life matters not just to you, but to the people who love you. 50 years from now, you want to be able to look in the mirror and know that you did what you thought was right in every part of your life. At the end of the day, our integrity is all we have. Guard it carefully.”

[Lilyamao]

妈蛋、这个堕落的世界总算有好人