Cleverness is a gift, kindness is a choice

完整一段話為：「Cleverness is a gift, kindness is a choice.  Gifts are easy — they’re given after all. Choices can be hard. You can seduce yourself with your gifts if you’re not careful, and if you do, it’ll probably be to the detriment of your choices. 」

亞馬遜創辦人貝佐斯(Jeff Bezos)在普林斯頓大學 2010 年學士畢業典禮演講上，指出天賦和選擇不同，而選擇比天賦更重要。他說：「聰明是一種天賦，而善良是一種選擇。天賦得來很容易——畢竟它們與生俱來。而選擇則頗為不易。如果一不小心，你可能被天賦所誘惑，這可能會損害到你做出的選擇。」

貝佐斯小時曾有一件事故，他的祖父告訴了他：「有一天，你會了解善良比聰明更困難。」他那一段演講的用意為提醒大家，生活中不要利用聰明而去傷害他人，善良是一種選擇，人生做出對的選擇比擁有聰明更為重要。

演講的結尾為一段要學生思考的話：

Tomorrow, in a very real sense, your life — the life you author from scratch on your own — begins.

How will you use your gifts? What choices will you make?

Will inertia be your guide, or will you follow your passions?

Will you follow dogma, or will you be original?

Will you choose a life of ease, or a life of service and adventure?

Will you wilt under criticism, or will you follow your convictions?

Will you bluff it out when you’re wrong, or will you apologize?

Will you guard your heart against rejection, or will you act when you fall in love?

Will you play it safe, or will you be a little bit swashbuckling?

When it’s tough, will you give up, or will you be relentless?

Will you be a cynic, or will you be a builder?

Will you be clever at the expense of others, or will you be kind?

注：swashbuckling即有闖蕩、冒險精神。

relentless即堅持不懈。

Cynic與builder可以指兩種相對的角色。Cynic是冷嘲世情、憤世嫉俗者，老是找別人的錯誤、把他人當作一種手段、沒有為長遠著想。Cynic不信任別人，認為做甚麼都不值得。而builder則是建造者，知道稱讚別人、會有同理心(empathy)、行動前先策畫(plan)。Builder願意開始建造，而不是甚麼都不做。