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I told my wife MacKenzie that I wanted to quit my job and go do this crazy thing that probably wouldn't work since most startups don't, and I wasn't sure what would happen after that. MacKenzie, also a Princeton grad and sitting here in the second row, told me I should go for it. As a young boy, I'd been a garage inventor. I'd invented an automatic gate closer out of cement-filled tires, a solar cooker that didn't work very well, out of an umbrella and aluminum foil, baking-pan alarms to entrap my siblings. I'd always wanted to be an inventor, and she wanted me to follow my passion.
我告诉妻子麦肯琪说我想辞去工作，然后去做这件疯狂的事情，很可能会失败，因为大部分创业公司都是如此，而且我不确定那之后会发生什么。麦肯琪告诉我，我应该放手一搏。她也是从普林斯顿毕业的，现在就坐在第二排那里。在我还是一个男孩儿的时候，我是车库发明家。我曾用水泥填充的轮胎，不太好用的太阳灶，一把雨伞和铝箔以及用来诈骗兄弟姐妹的报警器制作了一个自动关门器。我一直想做一个发明家，麦肯琪支持我追随内心的激情。
I was working at a financial firm in New York City with a bunch of very smart people, and I had a brilliant boss that I much admired. I went to my boss and told him I wanted to start a company selling books on the Internet. He took me on a long walk in Central Park, listened carefully to me, and finally said, "That sounds like a really good idea, but it would be an even better idea for someone who didn't already have a good job."
我当时在纽约一家金融公司工作，同事是一群非常聪明的人，我的老板也很有智慧，我很钦佩他。我告诉我的老板说我想开办一家在网上卖书的公司。他带我到中央公园漫步良久，认真地听我讲完，最后说：“听起来真是一个很好的主意，但是对那些目前没有谋到一份好工作的人来说，这个主意会更好。”
That logic made some sense to me, and he convinced me to think about it for 48 hours before making a final decision. Seen in that light, it really was a difficult choice, but ultimately, I decided I had to give it a shot. I didn't think I'd regret trying and failing. And I suspected I would always be haunted by a decision to not try at all. After much consideration, I took the less safe path to follow my passion, and I'm pround of that choice.
这一逻辑对我而言颇有道理，他说服我在做出最终决定之前再考虑48小时。那样想来，这个选择确实很艰难，但是最终，我决定拼一次。我认为自己不会为尝试后悔，为失败遗憾，倒是有所决定但完全不付诸行动会一直煎熬着我。在深思熟虑之后，我选择了那条不太安全的道路，去追随我内心的激情。我为那个决定感到骄傲。
