智予书简：第三周——后生可畏

正在长大的声音

孔子说：“后生可畏。”我喜欢这句话，因为他不是随口夸年轻人，而是真的把年轻人当回事。他在说：年纪小，不等于心里空；阅历还不多，也不等于没有资格开口。

一个人可以年轻，同时已经看清某些事情；一个人可以还在学习，同时已经拥有自己的声音。

2013年7月12日，马拉拉在联合国发表演讲，那一天是她十六岁生日。她没有把自己装成什么都懂的大人，只是从一个清楚的信念出发：孩子应该拥有受教育的权利。在那次演讲里，她说书和笔是有力量的武器。她声音里的力量，不来自年龄，而来自清楚。

很多学生沉默，并不是因为没有想法，而是怕自己的想法还不成熟。

怕说得不完美，怕被笑，怕被误解，怕别人评价。于是，为了安全，就把观点又放回心里。

可是，如果一个人非要等到每句话都完美才开口，他可能永远不会真正开始表达。

表达不是表演完美，而是让自己的想法进入世界，并接受练习。

你不需要变得咄咄逼人，才算有自己的声音。你完全可以继续礼貌、谨慎，同时保留判断。

班级讨论时，可以说：“我觉得也许还有另一种看法。”和同学讲题时，可以说：“这一步我还没有完全被说服。”听到一种流行观点时，可以问：“它的依据是什么？”

这些话不喧哗，但有力量。它们是独立思考的开始。

这一周，试着在一个你平时可能沉默的地方，留下一句清楚的话。

你不用变成房间里最能说的人，只需要慢慢成为那个一开口，就说真话的人。

出处说明

开头依据《论语·子罕》：“后生可畏，焉知来者之不如今也？”英文为本文原创翻译。马拉拉案例依据2013年7月12日她在联合国发表的十六岁生日演讲，马拉拉基金会保存的演讲文本记录了她关于“书和笔”的表述。

Week 3｜The Young Are Worthy of Respect

A Voice That Is Still Growing

Confucius said, “The young are worthy of awe.” I like this sentence because it does not flatter young people. It takes them seriously. It says that being young does not mean being empty, and having less experience does not mean having no right to speak.

A person may be young and still see something clearly. A person may still be learning and yet already have a voice.

On July 12, 2013, Malala Yousafzai spoke at the United Nations on her sixteenth birthday. She did not speak like someone pretending to know everything. She spoke from a clear belief: children should have the right to education. In that speech, she called books and pens powerful weapons. The strength of her voice did not come from age. It came from clarity.

Many students remain silent not because they have no thoughts, but because they fear their thoughts are not mature enough. They worry about saying something imperfect. They worry about being laughed at, misunderstood, or judged. So they choose safety. They put their views back into themselves.

But if a person waits until every sentence is perfect before speaking, he may never truly begin to speak. Expression is not a performance of perfection. It is a way of letting your mind enter the world and accept practice.

You do not need to be aggressive in order to have a voice. You can remain polite and careful while still keeping your judgment. In a class discussion, you may say, “I think there may be another way to see this.” When solving a problem with a classmate, you may say, “I am not fully convinced by this step.” When hearing a popular opinion, you may ask, “What is the evidence?”

These sentences are not loud, but they are strong. They are the beginning of independent thought.

This week, try to leave one clear sentence in a place where you would usually stay silent. You do not need to become the most talkative person in the room. You only need to become someone whose words, when spoken, are true.

Source Notes

The opening idea comes from The Analects, Zihan: “后生可畏，焉知来者之不如今也？” The English rendering in this article is original. The Malala example is based on Malala Yousafzai’s United Nations speech on July 12, 2013, her sixteenth birthday; the Malala Fund transcript records her statement that books and pens are powerful weapons.

作者：云贵人