I turned 67 in October. It’s hard to believe I’m that old—in America, most people my age are retired!
今年十月我都已经67岁了。很难相信我已经这么老了——在美国，大部分我这个年龄的人已经退休了！
But I won’t be slowing down anytime soon. I’m still going full speed on the project I began more than two decades ago, which is to give the vast majority of my resources back to society. Although I don’t care where I rank on the list of the world’s richest people, I do know that as I succeed in giving, I will drop down and eventually off the list altogether.
但在可见的未来，我不会放慢脚步。我仍在全速推进二十多年前启动的项目，即把我的绝大部分资源回馈给社会。虽然我并不在乎自己在世界富豪榜上的排名，我知道当我在慈善方面取得成功，我的排名就会不断下降，并且最终从榜单消失。
I’ve always viewed my philanthropy as a way to help reduce the awful inequities I see around the world. I also feel a responsibility to give my wealth back to society in ways that do the most good for the most people. But I started looking at the world through a new lens recently—when my older daughter gave me the incredible news that I’ll become a grandfather next year.
我一直将我的慈善视作一种途径，用以帮助减少我在世界各地所看到的可怕的不平等现象。我也感到有责任将我的财富以对大多数人最有益的方式回馈给社会。不过，最近我开始通过一个新的视角来看待这个世界——当我的大女儿告诉我一个天大的好消息，那就是明年我要当祖父了。
Simply typing that phrase, “I’ll become a grandfather next year,” makes me emotional. And the thought gives a new dimension to my work. When I think about the world my grandchild will be born into, I’m more inspired than ever to help everyone’s children and grandchildren have a chance to survive and thrive.
仅仅是打出“明年我要当祖父了”这句话，就使我情绪激动。而这种想法给我的工作带来了新的维度。当我想到我的外孙或外孙女将要诞生在的世界，我比以往任何时候都更有动力去帮助每个人的子孙后代能有机会去生存和发展。
This is a long-term project that requires patience; in the effort to make the world more equitable, success is measured in years and decades. Maybe age makes it easier to understand this. When I was in my twenties, I didn’t think that anyone my grandparents’ age had anything useful to offer the world at large. As I get older, though, I see how wrong I was.
这是一个需要耐心的长期项目；在使世界更加公平的事业中，成功是以几年甚至几十年的尺度来衡量的。也许年龄使人更容易理解这一点。当我20来岁时，我不觉得我祖父母这个年龄段的人能对整个世界做出有什么有用的贡献。不过随着我年龄的增长，我发现我错得离谱。