记者：您怎样打发自己的空闲时间呢？很明显，您以前是一名运动员。

　　Smith: I always loved to play sports and that was the biggest avocation I had as a youngster. I suspect that I was unusual in the amount of reading I did. I loved to read when I was young, I love to read today. I still spend a tremendous amount of time doing that.

　　史密斯：我喜欢运动，那也是我年轻的时候最大的业余爱好。我甚至怀疑自己在阅读量方面有些不正常。我年轻的时候喜欢阅读，我现在仍然喜欢阅读，我仍然会花很多的时间在阅读上。

　　Reporter: Are there any other useful and influential books that come to your mind from your childhood?

　　记者：您能想起童年的时候还读过一些什么样的有用的或是有影响力的书呢？

　　Smith: I remember reading a biography of General Lee, of course, which was obligatory for any kid from the South. Perhaps he was working for not a very good cause, but the way the man conducted his affairs and managed his life were exemplary. I think that had a very big effect on me.

　　史密斯：我记得我还读过一本有关于李将军的传记，当然那对于南部的孩子来说是必读的一本书。也许他的事业并非正义的，但他处理事务以及管理自己的人生的方式都是值得我们学习。我认为，那对我有很大的影响。

　　Reporter: How did you get along with your classmates?

　　记者：您怎样与班级的同学们相处呢？

　　Smith: I was okay in that regard. I had a lot of buddies， and got in my share of scrapes and jams, the same way everybody does. The occasional schoolyard tussle and pulling a prank every once in a while，nothing really serious.

　　史密斯：我在那方面做得很好。像其他学生一样，我有很多能够与我同甘共苦的伙伴。偶尔也会参加一些校园的争斗，进行一些恶作剧等，但那些都不是严重的事情。

　　Reporter: When did you know what you wanted to do with your life?

　　记者：您什么时候有了自己生活的目标的呢？

　　Smith: I didn’t really decide that until I was in the Marine Corps and decided that I wanted to go into business.

　　史密斯：直到我在海军陆战队里的时候，我才决定了我想要进军商业领域。

　　Reporter: How were you affected by your Vietnam experience? Were they positive or negative?

　　记者：您在越南的经历给您的生活带来怎样的影响呢？那些影响是积极的还是消极的？

　　Smith: Profoundly, in many ways, some good, some bad. Obviously, the war was a very traumatic thing for all of us who participated in it. Clearly, one of the great historical mistakes of all times. Barbara Tuchman wrote a great book about the great historical mistakes: George III losing the colonies, the Catholic Church losing the monopoly on Christendom, and Johnson’s prosecution of the Vietnam War. For those of us who were in it，it was very traumatic, as anything like that would be, but there were some good things about it, too. I learned an awful lot in the Marine Corps—particularly about, I think, how to treat people, lead people-which has played a big role in FedEx. A big part of the employee relations systems and all that we have at our company came from my experience in the service. The Marine Corps is the best when it comes to teaching people how folks. And so, it had a profound experience bad，some good.

　　史密斯：它从很多方面给我带来了很大的影响，有好的影响，也有不好的影响。当然，这场战争给每一个参加到其中的人带来了精神创伤。很显然，这是很大的一次历史错误。芭芭拉·塔奇曼写了一本有关重大历史错误的伟大的书。书中提到的错误就有：乔治三世失去了他的殖民地，天主教堂失去了在基督教世界的垄断权，约翰逊对于越南战争的诉讼。对于每一个参加到那次战争中的人来说，那都是一次精神上的巨大创伤，就像其他的战争一样，但是其实它也有好的一面。我在海军陆战队学到了很多东西，尤其是怎样对待别人， 怎样领导别人，后者对于联邦快递来说是很重要的一方面。我们公司的员工关系体系及其他的一些方面很大程度上都来自于我在海军陆战队里得到的经验。 在训练一个人如何领导他人方面，海军陆战队做的是最好的。因此我说，那次经历给我的影响很深，有好的方面的，也有不好的方面的。