演讲稿可以帮助发言者更好的表达。在我们平凡的日常里，演讲稿应用范围愈来愈广泛，你所见过的演讲稿是什么样的呢？
In 20xx — not so long ago — a professor who was then at Columbia University took that case and made it [Howard] Roizen. And he gave the case out, both of them, to two groups of students. He changed exactly one word: "Heidi" to "Howard." But that one word made a really big difference. He then surveyed the students, and the good news was the students, both men and women, thought Heidi and Howard were equally competent, and that's bad news was that everyone liked Howard. He's a great guy. You want to work for him. You want to spend the day fishing with him. But Heidi? Not so sure. She's a little out for herself. She's a little 're not sure you'd want to work for her. This is the complication. We have to tell our daughters and our colleagues, we have to tell ourselves to believe we got the A, to reach for the promotion, to sit at the table, and we have to do it in a world where, for them, there are sacrifices they will make for that, even though for their brothers, there are not. The saddest thing about all of this is that it's really hard to remember this. And I'm about to tell a story which is truly embarrassing for me, but I think important.
Good morning! It’s my great honor to be elected as the chairman of the Green Earth Society. Words can not express how much I appreciate this honor. Thank you all for your support and for your confidence in me. As I take this position, I’ll do my best, together with all our volunteer members of this organization, to promote environmental protection locally and globally, and to make more and more people become eco-conscious.“Why should I be eco-conscious?” you ask. There is a very simple reason: We live on one earth, and this is the only place we can live right now. We can't live in space, we don't have the food growing capacity out there yet for lots of people to survive. If we treat the earth like the city dump it becomes dirty and unlivable. If we treat it well by being eco-conscious, the earth stays a clean place, perfect for living, for ourselves and for our children. We are now living in a highly industrialized world. The expanding industries are providing us with more and more convenience and comfort.
丘吉尔曾受邀在某校毕业典礼上讲话。在校长冗长的介绍后，他只说了一句话：”永远，永远，永远不要放弃。”(Never, never, never give up.) 就走下讲台。这被称为历史上最短的毕业演讲。其实，这是一个误传。丘吉尔1941年在哈罗公学演讲时提到过这句话，但过程却并没有这么传奇。
每到毕业季，各大高校都会请来名人给毕业生做演讲。当这样的演讲多了，其内容不仅算不上传奇，甚至可能难免俗套。本期我们就来一起看看吧。
【名人演讲第一招：套近乎】
演讲之初先要营造轻松的氛围，演讲者们深谙这个道理，于是各种开场方式悉数登场。 Class of 20xx! I don't think I heard you. (Larry Page)
09届的同学们！你们的掌声在哪里？（拉里·佩奇）
Thank you for that nice reception and thank you Virginia for the incredible introduction. I thought some of them were about somebody else. (Tim Cook)
谢谢大家，谢谢弗吉尼亚（主持人）那么卖力地推销我。我一度以为她在介绍别人呢。（蒂姆·库克）
The first thing I would like to say is "thank you". Not only has Harvard given me an extraordinary honor, but the weeks of fear and nausea I've experienced at the thought of giving this commencement address have made me lose weight. (J.K. Rowling)
我想说的第一句话是”谢谢”。不 （J·K·罗琳）
【名人演讲第二招：自嘲】
自嘲几乎是大部分名人演讲的必杀技。不过注意哦，这种自嘲有时候可能是一种变相的吹嘘。 I know exactly what it feels like to be sitting in your seat, listening to some old gasbag give a long-winded commencement speech. (Larry Page)
我十分清楚你们现在坐在台下的感受：听我们这些老家伙絮叨，老生常谈。（拉里·佩奇） Last year, J.K. Rowling, the billionaire novelist, who started as a classics student, graced this podium. The year before, Bill Gates, the mega-billionaire philanthropist and computer nerd stood here. Today, sadly, you have me. I am not wealthy, but at least I am a nerd. (Steven Chu)
去年登上这个讲台的，是拥有亿万身家的小说家罗琳女士，她最早是一个古典文学的学生。前年站在这里的是比尔·盖茨先生，他是一个超级富翁、慈善家和电脑高手(nerd)。今年很遗憾，你们的演讲人是我。虽然我不像他们那么有钱，但至少我也算一个高手(nerd还有”笨蛋”的意思)。（朱棣文）
I applaud the graduates today for taking a much more direct route to your degrees. For my part, I'm just happy that the Crimson has called me "Harvard's most successful dropout". I guess that makes me valedictorian of my own special class...I did the best of everyone who failed. (Bill Gates)
我为今天在座的各位同学感到高兴，你们拿到学位可比我容易多了。我值得称道的也只有被哈佛的校报称作”哈佛大学历史上最成功的辍学生”了。我想这大概使我有资格代表我这一类学生发言……在所有的失败者里，我做得最好。（比尔·盖茨）
【名人演讲第三招：哭穷】
功成名就的演讲者们肯定少不了要分享下自己过去辛酸的经历，好让台下的学子们“开心开心”。
(After I dropped out of Reed College) I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5-cent deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. (Steve Jobs)
（从里德学院退学后）我无法再住宿舍，所以只能借宿在朋友房间的地板上，我去捡5美分一个的可乐瓶，以此赚钱来购买食物，我会在每个周日走上7英里，穿过小城，到克利须那神庙，只为晚上那顿一周一次的美餐。（史蒂夫·乔布斯）
A mere 7 years after my graduation day, I had failed on an epic scale. An exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded, and I was jobless, a lone parent, and as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless. (J.K. Rowling)
毕业7年之后，我遭遇了彻底的失败。我那极其短暂的婚姻走到了尽头，再加上失业，作为一个单身母亲，我沦落到穷困潦倒的。境地，就差无家可归了。（J·K·罗琳）
I did everything. I shucked oysters, I was a hostess, I was a bartender, I was a waitress, I painted houses, I sold vacuum cleaners, I had no idea. And I thought I'd just finally settle in some job, and I would make enough money to pay my rent. (Ellen DeGeneres)
我那时什么工作都做，剥过牡蛎、做过迎宾、酒保、服务员、粉刷房子、卖吸尘器，我完全不知道自己想做什么。我只想随便找个工作糊口，能有钱付得起房租就行。（艾伦·德杰尼勒斯）
【名人演讲第四招：挫折与抉择】
几乎每个成功人士的背后，好像都至少有一次面临挫折和抉择，然后绝处逢生的经历。
[挫折篇]
I listened and waited for Professor Childs to say how well written my thesis was. He didn't. And so after about 45 minutes I finally said, "So. What did you think of the writing?"
我等待着希望听到蔡尔兹教授告诉我我的论文写得多么好。但他没有。于是等了45分钟后，我终于开口问，“那你怎么评价我的写作呢？”
"Put it this way," he said. "Never try to make a living at it." (Michael Lewis)
“这么说吧，”他说，“千万不要靠这个谋生。”（迈克尔·刘易斯）
And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. (Steve Jobs)
那一年，我被炒了鱿鱼。你怎么可能被自己创立的公司炒鱿鱼？是这样的，在苹果快速成长的时候，我们雇了一个我觉得很有天分的家伙和我一起管理公司，最初几年，公司运转得很好。但后来我们对未来的看法发生了分歧，最终吵了起来。面对不可调和的分歧，董事会站在了他那一边。（史蒂夫·乔布斯）
And I thought, "What's the worst that could happen? I can lose my career." I did. I lost my career. The show was canceled after 6 years, without even telling me, I read it in the paper. The phone didn't ring for 3 years. I had no offers. Nobody wanted to touch me at all. (Ellen DeGeneres)
那时我想，最惨的会是什么呢？也就是失业吧。结果，我真的失业了。我的节目在做了6年后，没有告知我就停播了，我看了报纸才知道。家里的电话3年没有再响过，没人找我做节目，没人愿意提及我。（艾伦·德杰尼勒斯）
[抉择篇]
My employer at the time, Compaq Computer, was the largest personal computer company in the world. One CEO I consulted felt so strongly about it. He told me I would be a fool to leave Compaq for Apple (a small company then). (Tim Cook)
我当时的东家康柏公司是当时全球最大的个人电脑生产商。我咨询一位CEO朋友的意见，他坚定地说，我脑袋被驴踢了才会为了苹果（当时还是一个很小的公司）离开康柏。（蒂姆·库克）
I called up my father. I told him I was going to quit this job that now promised me millions of dollars to write a book for an advance of 40 grand. There was a long pause on the other end of the line. "You might just want to think about that," he said. I didn't need to think about it. (Michael Lewis)
我打电话给我父亲，告诉他我要辞掉这个百万美元的工作来写一本只有4万美元预付款的书。电话那边沉默了很久。他说：“也许你该再考虑一下。”我根本不需要考虑。（迈克尔·刘易斯） I got the idea to start Amazon 16 years ago. I had just turned 30 years old, and I'd been married for a year. I told my wife that I wanted to quit my job and go do this crazy thing that probably wouldn't work. She told me I should go for it. (Jeff Bezos)
16年前，我萌生了创办亚马逊的想法。那时我刚刚30岁，结婚才1年。我告诉妻子想辞去工作，然后去做这件疯狂而且很可能失败的事情。她告诉我，我应该放手一搏。（杰夫·贝索斯）
【名人演讲第五招：温情回归】
每当提到自己的家人，演讲者们都是充满自豪感和温情的。此情此景，常常令人动容。 My dad was so full of life; anything with him was an adventure. (Randy Pausch)
我父亲是如此的充满生命力，与他在一起做任何事都是一种探险。（兰迪·波许）
A long time ago, in this cold September of 1962, there was a Steven's co-op at this very university. That co-op had a kitchen with a ceiling that had been cleaned by student volunteers. Picture a college girl named Gloria, climbing up high on a ladder, struggling to clean that filthy ceiling. Standing on the floor, a young boarder named Carl was admiring the view. And that's how they met. They were my parents. (Larry Page)
很久以前，1962年的寒冷9月，这座校园里有一家史蒂文消费合作社，学生志愿者负责打扫厨房的天花板。想象这样一幅场景：一位名叫格洛里亚的女大学生，爬上了高高的梯子，努力地打扫那脏兮兮的天花板。另一位名叫卡尔的寄宿生站在地上，对此情此景钦佩不已。这是他俩的初次邂逅。他们就是我的父母。（拉里·佩奇）
When I was awarded a Nobel Prize, I thought my mother would be satisfied. Not so. When I called her on the morning of the announcement, she replied, "That's nice, but when are you going to visit me next." (Steven Chu)
我得到诺贝尔奖的时候，我想我妈妈会高兴。但是我错了。消息公布的那天早上，我给她打电话，她听了只说：“这是好消息，不过我想知道，你打算什么时候来看我？”（朱棣文）
【名人演讲第六招：引经据典】
他们演讲时说的话经常被我们拿来当励志名言，但其实呢，他们自己也需要励志名言。 Jimmy Stewart, as Elwood P. Dowd in the movie "Harvey" got it exactly right. He said: "Years ago my mother used to say to me, 'In this world, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant.'" Well, for years I was smart... I recommend pleasant. (Steven Chu)
电影《我的朋友叫哈维》中，斯图尔特扮演的艾尔伍德说得很对。他说：“多年前，母亲曾对我说：活在这个世界上，你要么做一个聪明人，要么做一个好人。”我做聪明人已经好多年了。但我推荐你们做好人。（朱棣文）
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. (Steve Jobs)
17岁的时候， 我读到一句话：“如果你把每一天都当作生命中最后一天去生活的话，那么有一天你会发现你是正确的。”“记住你即将死去”是我一生中遇到的最重要箴言。它帮我做出生命中的重要抉择。（史蒂夫·乔布斯）
One of the things he (Jon Snoddy) told me was to wait long enough and people will surprise and impress you. He said when you're pissed off at somebody and you're angry at them, you just haven't given them enough time. (Randy Pausch)
他（乔恩·史诺地）告诉我，给人们足够的时间，人人都会有让你惊讶和叹服的一面。他说，当你对别人怨恼愤怒时，你只是还没有给他们足够的时间。（兰迪·波许）
最后，本文将以这些演讲者原创或引用的语录作为结束语：
Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.
求知若渴，虚心若愚。（史蒂夫·乔布斯引用凯文·凯利）
Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted.
经验是你求之不得后的收获。（兰迪·波许）
Never lose the child-like wonder.
永远不要失去孩童般的好奇心。（兰迪·波许）
Your critics are your ones telling you they still love you and care.
批评你的人是在告诉你他们仍然爱你关心你。（兰迪·波许）
As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.
人生就像故事：不在于长短，而在于质量，这才是最重要的。（J·K·罗琳引用塞内加） Insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results.
精神错乱是指一遍遍地重复却期待不一样的结果。（蒂姆·库克引用爱因斯坦）
Be true to yourself and everything will be fine.
做真实的你，一切都会没事的。（艾伦·德杰尼勒斯）
good morning everyone. my name isxx. today my topic is my college life. i wish i could share my happiness and annoyance i have experienced with you all.
tuo years ago i came into the city of qinhuangdao and started my college life in e&a college, the most memorable journey of my life. i was just a shy and little boy that time. all the things seemed fresh to me: new faces, military training, large library and physics lab etc. i breathed the air of college greedily, but to tell the truth, the air in qinhuangdao is wonderful. it’s really hard to explain my feelings that time: curiousenergeticin one word, i was really happy that time.
and now i am going to be a junior in july. recalling to the two years, i think i have to talk about one thing-----learning. learn how to study independently, learn how to get along with others, learn to love, learn tooh, there are too much things we have to learn.
that’s my college life. i cherish all i have experienced in college. i love you, my college!
that’s all, thank you！
i'm talking about your coworkers and your spouses and your children and the person sitting next to you right now -- all of them subject to this bias that is pretty deep and real in our society. we all internalize it from a very early age without even having a language for what we're doing.
now to see the bias clearly you need to understand what introversion is. it's different from being shy. shyness is about fear of social judgment. introversion is more about, how do you respond to stimulation, including social stimulation. so extroverts really crave large amounts of stimulation, whereas introverts feel at their most alive and their most switched-on and their most capable when they're in quieter, more low-key environments. not all the time -- these things aren't absolute -- but a lot of the time. so the key then to maximizing our talents is for us all to put ourselves in the zone of stimulation that is right for us.
Vice President Johnson, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chief Justice, President Eisenhower, Vice President Nixon, President Truman, reverend clergy, fellow citizens:
We observe today not a victory of party, but a celebration of freedom -- symbolizing an end, as well as a beginning -- signifying renewal, as well as change. For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forebears prescribed nearly a century and three-quarters ago.
The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe -- the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.
We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans -- born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty. This much we pledge -- and more.
To those old allies whose cultural and spiritual origins we share, we pledge the loyalty of faithful friends. United there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided there is little we can do -- for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder. To those new states whom we welcome to the ranks of the free, we pledge our word that one form of colonial control shall not have passed away merely to be replaced by a far more iron tyranny. We shall not always expect to find them supporting our view. But we shall always hope to find them strongly supporting their own freedom -- and to remember that, in the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.
This is the text of Earl Spencer's tribute to his sister at her funeral. There is some very deep, powerful and heartfelt sentiment. Would that those at whom it is aimed would take heed. The versions posted on several news services had minor errors. This is precisely as it was deliverd.
I stand before you today the representative of a family in grief, in a country in mourning before a world in shock.
We are all united not only in our desire to pay our respects to Diana but rather in our need to do so.
For such was her extraordinary appeal that the tens of millions of people taking part in this service all over the world via television and radio who never actually met her, feel that they, too, lost someone close to them in the early hours of Sunday morning. It is a more remarkable tribute to Diana than I can ever hope to offer her today.
Diana was the very essence of compassion, of duty, of style, of beauty. All over the world she was a symbol of selfless humanity, a standard-bearer for the rights of the truly downtrodden, a very British girl who transcended nationality, someone with a natural nobility who was classless, who proved in the last year that she needed no royal title to continue to generate her particular brand of magic.
Today is our chance to say "thank you" for the way you brightened our lives, even though God granted you but half a life. We will all feel cheated, always, that you were taken from us so young and yet we must learn to be grateful that you came along at all.
Only now you are gone do we truly appreciate what we are now without and we want you to know that life without you is very, very difficult.
We have all despaired at our loss over the past week and only the strength of the message you gave us through your years of giving has afforded us the strength to move forward.
There is a temptation to rush to canonize your memory. There is no need to do so. You stand tall enough as a human being of unique qualities not to need to be seen as a saint. Indeed to sanctify your memory would be to miss out on the very core of your being, your wonderfully mischievous sense of humor with the laugh that bent you double, your joy for life transmitted wherever you took your smile, and the sparkle in those unforgettable eyes, your boundless energy which you could barely contain.
But your greatest gift was your intuition, and it was a gift you used wisely. This is what underpinned all your wonderful attributes. And if we look to analyze what it was about you that had such a wide appeal, we find it in your instinctive feel for what was really important in all our lives.
Without your God-given sensitivity, we would be immersed in greater ignorance at the anguish of AIDS and HIV sufferers, the plight of the homeless, the isolation of lepers, the random destruction of land mines. Diana explained to me once that it was her innermost feelings of suffering that made it possible for her to connect with her constituency of the rejected.
And here we come to another truth about her. For all the status, the glamour, the applause, Diana remained throughout a very insecure person at heart, almost childlike in her desire to do good for others so she could release herself from deep feelings of unworthiness of which her eating disorders were merely a symptom.
The world sensed this part of her character and cherished her for her vulnerability, whilst admiring her for her honesty. The last time I saw Diana was on July the first, her birthday, in London, when typically she was not taking time to celebrate her special day with friends but was guest of honor at a fund-raising charity evening.
She sparkled of course, but I would rather cherish the days I spent with her in March when she came to visit me and my children in our home in South Africa. I am proud of the fact that apart from when she was on public display meeting President Mandela, we managed to contrive to stop the ever-present paparazzi from getting a single picture of her.
That meant a lot to her.
These were days I will always treasure. It was as if we'd been transported back to our childhood, when we spent such an enormous amount of time together, the two youngest in the family.
Fundamentally she hadn't changed at all from the big sister who mothered me as a baby, fought with me at school and endured those long train journeys between our parents' homes with me at weekends. It is a tribute to her level-headedness and strength that despite the most bizarre life imaginable after her childhood, she remained intact, true to herself.
There is no doubt that she was looking for a new direction in her life at this time. She talked endlessly of getting away from England, mainly because of the treatment she received at the hands of the newspapers.
I don't think she ever understood why her genuinely good intentions were sneered at by the media, why there appeared to be a permanent quest on their behalf to bring her down. It is baffling. My own, and only, explanation is that genuine goodness is threatening to those at the opposite end of the moral spectrum.
It is a point to remember that of all the ironies about Diana, perhaps the greatest was this; that a girl given the name of the ancient goddess of hunting was, in the end, the most hunted person of the modern age.
She would want us today to pledge ourselves to protecting her beloved boys William and Harry from a similar fate. And I do this here, Diana, on your behalf. We will not allow them to suffer the anguish that used regularly to drive you to tearful despair.
Beyond that, on behalf of your mother and sisters, I pledge that we, your blood family, will do all we can to continue the imaginative and loving way in which you were steering these two exceptional young men, so that their souls are not simply immersed by duty and tradition but can sing openly as you planned.
We fully respect the heritage into which they have both been born, and will always respect and encourage them in their royal role. But we, like you, recognize the need for them to experience as many different aspects of life as possible, to arm them spiritually and emotionally for the years ahead. I know you would have expected nothing less from us.
William and Harry, we all care desperately for you today. We are all chewed up with sadness at the loss of a woman who wasn't even our mother. How great your suffering is we cannot even imagine.
I would like to end by thanking God for the small mercies he has shown us at this dreadful time; for taking Diana at her most beautiful and radiant and when she had joy in her private life.
Above all, we give thanks for the life of a woman I am so proud to be able to call my sister: the unique the complex, the extraordinary and irreplaceable Diana, whose beauty, both internal and external, will never be extinguished from our minds.
Im only going to talk to you just for a minute or so this evening because I have some -- some very sad news for all of you -- Could you lower those signs please? -- I have some very sad news for all of you and I think sad news for all of our fellow citizens and people who love peace all over the world; and that is that Martin Luther King was shot and was killed tonight in Memphis Tennessee. Martin Luther King dedicated his life to love and to justice between fellow human beings. He died in the cause of that effort. In this difficult day in this difficult time for the United States its perhaps well to ask what kind of a nation we are and what direction we want to move in. For those of you who are black -- considering the evidence evidently is that there were white people who were responsible -- you can be filled with bitterness and with hatred and a desire for revenge. For those of you who are black and are tempted to fill with -- be filled with hatred and mistrust of the injustice of such an act against all white people I would only say that I can also feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling. I had a member of my family killed but he was killed by a white man. But we have to make an effort in the United States. We have to make an effort to understand to get beyond or go beyond these rather difficult times. My favorite poem my -- my favorite poet was Aeschylus. And he once wrote: Even in our sleep pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until in our own despair
against our will comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.
What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness but is love and wisdom and compassion toward one another and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country whether they be white or whether they be black. So I ask you tonight to return home to say a prayer for the family of Martin Luther King -- yeah its true -- but more importantly to say a prayer for our own country which all of us love -- a prayer for understanding and that compassion of which I spoke. We can do well in this country. We will have difficult times. Weve had difficult times in the past but we -- and we will have difficult times in the future. It is not the end of violence; it is not the end of lawlessness; and its not the end of disorder.
But the vast majority of white people and the vast majority of black people in this country want to live together want to improve the quality of our life and want justice for all human beings that abide in our land. And lets dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world. Let us dedicate ourselves to that and say a prayer for our country and for our people. Thank you very much.
I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.
Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because we the people have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebears, and true to our founding documents.
So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.
That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; s shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.
These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land — a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.
Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met.
On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.
On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.
We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.
In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted — for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.
For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.
For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.
For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.
Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.
This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.
For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new s, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. All this we will do.
Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions — who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.
What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them — that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find s at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. Those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account — to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day — because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.
Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control — and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart — not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.
As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers 。.。 our found fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all the other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.
Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.
I was convinced that the only thing I wanted to do, ever, was to write novels. However, my parents, both of whom came from impoverished backgrounds and neither of whom had been to college, took the view that my overactive imagination was an amusing personal quirk that would never pay a mortgage, or secure a pension. I know that the irony strikes with the force of a cartoon anvil, now.
So they hoped that I would take a vocational degree; I wanted to study English Literature. A compromise was reached that in retrospect satisfied nobody, and I went up to study Modern Languages. Hardly had my parents’ car rounded the corner at the end of the road than I ditched German and scuttled off down the Classics corridor.
I cannot remember telling my parents that I was studying Classics; they might well have found out for the first time on graduation day. Of all the subjects on this planet, I think they would have been hard put to name one less useful than Greek mythology when it came to securing the keys to an executive bathroom.
I would like to make it clear, in parenthesis, that I do not blame my parents for their point of view. There is an expiry date on blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction; the moment you are old enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies with you. What is more, I cannot criticise my parents for hoping that I would never experience poverty. They had been poor themselves, and I have since been poor, and I quite agree with them that it is not an ennobling experience. Poverty entails fear, and stress, and sometimes depression; it means a thousand petty humiliations and hardships. Climbing out of poverty by your own efforts, that is indeed something on which to pride yourself, but poverty itself is romanticised only by fools.
Hello, everybody! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. All right, everybody go ahead and have a seat. How is everybody doing today
（Applause.） How about Tim Spicer（Applause.） I am here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we've got students tuning in from all across America, from kindergarten through 12th grade. And I am just so glad that all could join us today. And I want to thank Wakefield for being such an outstanding host. Give yourselves a big round of applause. （Applause.）
I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it's your first day in a new school, so it's understandable if you're a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now -- (applause) -- with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you're in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer and you could've stayed in bed just a little bit longer this morning.
I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived overseas. I lived in Indonesia for a few years. And my mother, she didn't have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school, but she thought it was important for me to keep up with an American education. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday. But because she had to go to work, the only time she could do it was at 4:30 in the morning.
Now, as you might imagine, I wasn't too happy about getting up that early. And a lot of times, I'd fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I'd complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and she'd say, "This is no picomic for me either, buster." （Laughter.）
So I know that some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I'm here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I'm here because I want to talk with you about your education and what's expected of all of you in this new school year.
Now, I've given a lot of speeches about education. And I've talked about responsibility a lot. I've talked about teachers' responsibility for inspiring students and pushing you to learn. I've talked about your parents' responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and you get
your homework done, and don't spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with the Xbox. I've talked a lot about your government's responsibility for setting high standards, and supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren't working, where students aren't getting the opportunities that they deserve.
But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, the best schools in the world -- and none of it will make a difference, none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities, unless you show up to those schools, unless you pay attention to those teachers, unless you listen to your parents and grandparents and other adults and put in the hard work it takes to succeed. That's what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education.
I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself. Every single one of you has something that you're good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That's the opportunity an education can provide.
These people succeeded because they understood that you can't let your failures define you -- you have to let your failures teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently the next time. So if you get into trouble, that doesn't mean you're a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to act right. If you get a bad grade, that doesn't mean you're stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.
dear students :
hello everyone !
black mamba is a deadly poisonous snakes have , why do i get this name? because once i entered the stadium , i was deadly , like the black mamba same. so the next scene , i can joke , but once i entered the stadium , i'll be like a new person , like , engrossed on the pitch.
i am now 35 years old, went to be the second half of his career, like some of the injured are also commonplace. once injured , you think the world stopped, regardless of knee injuries, shoulder injuries , and so on . i know a lot of people have ruined the whole career , and some people even depressed , can not even return to the stadium. when that moment happened, i would look at himself in the mirror , "said bryant , what would you ? if you experience such pain you what will happen ? " you know, every time i see someone hurt, i saw a lot of people come back after the injury , i looked at himself in the mirror muttering , "is not it quit ? should not stop playing it?" i do not know yet whether the return game. i sit here and tell you now , i want a full recovery back on the court . but i can not promise , because a lot of the time i still have some doubts , but i think , this is to meet the challenges of significance .
to seize every opportunity to prove yourself to everyone , to prove that you can meet the challenge. to those who say you can never succeed , you will fail to prove , and this is my opinion. if someone says you are the injured , to slump , and for me, if someone suffered this injury might quit , but kobe can not do this . others say it under your die, i would say that you so that you may quit . so i have to prove it to them , especially to my fans who support me , love , i have to win their own , to win the pain , can return to the game . so as to allow those who doubt me rethink what is the impossible becomes possible. the importance of these scars is reflected in here , these scars are my shift reflects growing .
as a player, i was born with a passion to succeed , you want to win. but also the most important thing in life the hardest thing . as a player , you want to go to the stadium to meet the biggest challenge , i think the biggest challenge is to bring people into the team like a man as to constantly , constantly win, this is the biggest challenge the team of athletic competition , this is exactly my passion . for me personally, the most important thing is to continue to meet the challenge, and never afraid of challenges is extremely important.
but more important to maintain a constant curiosity of things , such as how to play better , how to improve the skills , how what is learned from others . in fact, i grew up to now has been looking for factors that inspire me from all aspects , not just from the body of michael jordan , earvin magic johnson from the body, but also from michael jackson , beethoven, leonardo da vinci, bruce lee's body, these who gave me great motivation, let me forward, so this is the spirit of the black mamba . not that you have to constantly attack others , but to never stop you from moving forward . life is a life-long learning , so it is extremely important to keep learning . you have to keep learning , study and study again , and talk to people , to understand , to learn, and not feel that you know everything . the only way you can become a better person , in order to further improve your skills . finally, there will be a by-product , to become a champion , become better yourself. for me, this is the spirit of the black mamba , my source of spiritual lies. so if i am able to pass this spirit to all of you , whatever you want to do, to become a basketball player , a writer or a presenter, no matter what your dream is , you must adhere to the dream of success from the front people who learn from the experience and knowledge to the success of all walks of life , some of them have in common makes them stand out, be successful, this is what i want to convey to you today positive energy .
My fellow citizens:
I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.
Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because we the people have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebears, and true to our founding documents.
So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.
That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.
These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land — a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.
Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met.
On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.
On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.
We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.
In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted — for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.
For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.
For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.
For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.
Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.
This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.
For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. All this we will do.
Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions — who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.
What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them — that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. Those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account — to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day — because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.
Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control — and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart — not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.
As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers ... our found fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all the other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.
Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.
We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort — even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.
For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.
To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.
To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to the suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.
As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment — a moment that will define a generation — it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.
For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.
Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.
This is the price and the promise of citizenship.
This is the source of our confidence — the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.
This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed — why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent Mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.
So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:
"Let it be told to the future world ... that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet (it)."
America, in the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.
Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America.
no writer who knows the great writers who did not receive the prize can accept it other than with humility. there is no need to list these writers. everyone here may make his own list according to his knowledge and his conscience.
没有一个作家，当他知道在他以前不少伟大的作家并没有获得此项奖金的时候，能够心安理得地领奖而不感到受之有愧。这里无须一一列举这些作家的名字。在座的每一个人，都可以根据他的学识和良心提出自己名单来。 it would be impossible for me to ask the ambassador of my country to read a speech in which a writer saidall of the things which are in his heart. things may not be immediately discernible in what a man writes, and in this sometimes he is fortunate; but eventually they are quite clear and by these and the degree of alchemy that he possesses he willendure or be forgotten.
要求我国的大使在这儿宣读一篇演说，把一个作家心中所有感受说出来那是不可能的。一个人作品中的一些东西可能不会马上被人理解，在这点上，他有时是幸运的；但是这一切终究会十分清晰起来，通过它们以及作家所具有的点石成金的本领之大小，他将青史留名或被人遗忘。
writing at its best is a lonely life. organizations for writers palliate the writer's loneliness, but i doubt if they improve his writing. he grows in public stature as he sheds his loneliness and often his work deteriorates. for he does his work alone, and if he is a good enough writer, he must face eternity or the lack of it each day.
很多时候，写作是一种孤寂的生活。作家组织固然可以排遣他们的孤独，但是我怀疑它们是否能够促进作家的创作。一个在稠人广众之中成长起来的作家，自然可以免除孤苦寂寥之虑，但他的`作品往往流于平庸。而一个在孤寂中工作的作家，如果他又确实不同凡响，那他就必须面对永恒或者面对缺乏永恒的每一天。
for a true writer, each book should be a new beginning where he tries again for something that is beyond attainment. he should always try for something that has never been done or that others have tried and failed. then sometimes, with good luck, he will succeed.
对于一个真正的作家来说，每一本书都应� 他应该永远尝试去做那些从来没有人做过或者他人做过但却已经失败的事。这样他就会有幸获得成功。
how simple the writing of literature would be if it were only necessary to write in another way what has been well written. it is because we have had such great writers in the past that a writer is driven far out past where he can go, out to where no one can help him.
如果仅仅是将已经写好的作品换一种方式来重新诠释，那么文学创作就显得太轻而易举了。我们的前辈大师们留下了伟大的业绩，正因为如此，一个普通作家常被他们逼人的光辉驱赶到远离他可能到达的地方，陷于孤立无援的境地。
i have spoken too long for a writer. a writer should write what he has to say and not speak it.
作为一个作家，我讲的已经太多了。作家应当把自己要说的话写下来，而不是说出来。
again i thank you.
再一次谢谢大家。
Protect environment（环境保护）
The earth scale change of climate has brought a new kind of natural disaster and the developed and complicated city system is holding a latent risk of expanding the damage artificially. Also people has been spoiling the health since the immense quantity of chemicals have been produced and already used in pursuit of convenience and various toxic substances have been produced unintentionally and accumulated in environment. Therefore, We need some countermeasures from the viewpoint to prevent the city environment form disaster and to manage environmental risks. So we will develop and improve a new risk management system and a disaster prevention system to preserve and create the city environment where people feel easy and sound in their life.
Mr. Speaker, members of the 77th Congress:
I address you, the members of this new Congress, at a moment unprecedented in the history of the union. I use the word “unprecedented” because at no previous time has American security been as seriously threatened from without as it is today.
Since the permanent formation of our government under the Constitution in 1789, most of the periods of crisis in our history have related to our domestic affairs. And, fortunately, only one of these-the four-year war between the States-ever threatened our national unity. Today, thank God, 130,000,000 Americans in forty-eight States have forgotten points of the compass in our national unity.
It is true that prior to 1914 the United States often has been disturbed by events in other continents. We have even engaged in two wars with European nations and in a number of undeclared wars in the West Indies, in the Mediterranean and in the Pacific, for the maintenance of American rights and for the Principles of peaceful commerce. But in no case has a serious threat been raised against our national safety or our continued independence.
What I seek to convey is the historic truth that the United States as a nation has at all times maintained opposition-clear, definite opposition-to any attempt to lock us in behind an ancient Chinese wall while the procession of civilization went past. Today, thinking of our children and of their children, we oppose enforced isolation for ourselves or for any other part of the Americas.
That determination of ours, extending over all these years, was proved, for example, in the early days during the quarter century of wars following the French Revolution. While the Napoleonic struggle did threaten interests of the United States because of the French foothold in the West Indies and in Louisiana, and while we engaged in the War of 1812 to vindicate our right to peaceful trade, it is nevertheless clear that neither France nor Great Britain nor any other nation was aiming at domination of the whole world.
And in like fashion, from 1815 to 1914-ninety-nine years-no single war in Europe or in Asia constituted a real threat against our future or against the future of any other American nation.
Except in the Maximilian interlude in Mexico, no foreign power sought to establish itself in this hemisphere. And friendly strength; it is still a friendly strength.
Even when the World War broke out in 1914 it seemed to contain only small threat of danger to our own American future. But as time went on, as we remember, the American people began to visualize what the downfall of democratic nations might mean to our own democracy.
We need not overemphasize imperfections in the peace of Versailles. We need not harp on failure of the democracies to deal with problems of world reconstruction. We should remember that the peace of 1919 was far less unjust than the kind of pacification which began even before Munich, and which is being carried on under the new order of tyranny that seeks to spread over every continent today.
The American people have unalterably set their faces against that tyranny.
I suppose that every realist knows that the democratic way of life is at this moment being directly assailed in every part of the world-assailed either by arms or by secret spreading of poisonous propaganda by those who seek to destroy unity and promote discord in nations that are still at peace.
During sixteen long months this assault has blotted out the whole pattern of democratic life in an appalling number of independent nations, great and small. And the assailants are still on the march, threatening other nations, great and small.
Therefore, as your President, performing my constitutional duty to “give to the Congress information of the state of the union,” I find it unhappily necessary to report that the future and the safety of our country and of our democracy are overwhelmingly involved in events far beyond our borders.
Armed defense of democratic existence is now being gallantly waged in four continents. If that defense fails, all the population and all the resources of Europe and Asia, Africa and Australia will be dominated by conquerors. And let us remember that the total of those populations in those four continents, the total of those populations and their resources greatly exceeds the sum total of the population and the resources of the whole of the Western Hemisphere-yes, many times over.
In times like these it is immature- and, incidentally, untrue-for anybody to brag that an unprepared America, single-handed and with one hand tied behind its back, can hold off the whole world.
No realistic American can expect from a dictator’s peace international generosity, or return of true independence, or world disarmament, or freedom of expression, or freedom of religion-or even good business. Such a peace would bring no security for us or for our neighbors. Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
But in 1968, with the Soviet invasion and crackdown, Klima’s ideas became dangerous. He could have fled, but he chose to return home and continue his work in defiance of the Communist regime. He organized an underground meeting of writers who circulated manuscripts in secret. Over the course of 18 years, those writers produced three hundred different works of art. They were critics, of course: critics of tyranny, critics of violence. But they were creators, too, creators of plays, novels, and poetry. They imagined, and helped create, a new and better world.
What will you imagine? A better business, a smarter school, a stronger community? Whatever you are against, it is time to create something you are for.
At Yale, you have learned to do both: to imagine and create. You have studied and explored new ideas; made art and music; excelled in athletics; launched companies; and served your neighbors and the world. You have created a vibrant, diverse, and exciting community.
Take these experiences with you and draw on them when you need encouragement. Remember a class that surprised you; a conversation that inspired you; a professor who believed in you. And take care to avoid what Toni Morrison calls “second-rate goals and secondhand ideas.”
“Our past is bleak. Our future dim,” Morrison writes. “But if we see the world as one long brutal game, then we bump into another mystery, the mystery of beauty, of light, of the canary that sings on our skulls.”
Being for something is a search for those mysteries, for that light: it is an act of radical optimism, a belief that a more perfect world is within reach and that we can help build it.
What are you for?
You may well turn that question back to me. What are you for, Peter Salovey?
I am for the transformative power of a liberal education – one that asks you to think broadly, question everything, and embrace the joy of learning.
I am for the American Dream in all its rich promise – the idea that opportunities are shared widely and that access to education is within reach for the many, not the few.
Youth will press，
Saying goodbye to childhood,we step into another important time in the pace of young,facing new situations,dealing with different problems……
everyone has his ownunderstanding of young,it is a period of time of beauty and wonders,only after you have experienced the sour ,sweet ,bitter and salty can you really become a person of significance.
thre time of young is limitted,it may pass by without your attention,and when you discover what has happened ,it is always too the young well means a better time is waiting for you in the near future,or the situation may be opposite .
having a view on these great men in the history of hunmanbeing,they all made full use of their youth time ,to do things that are useful to society,to the whole mankind,and as a cosquence ,they are remembered by later generations,admired by everyone.so do something in the time of young,although you may not get achievements as these greatmen did ,though not for the whole word,just for youeself,for those around!
the young is just like blooming flowers,they are so beautiful when blooming,they make people feel happy,but with time passing by,after they withers ,moet people think they are ugly.
and so it is the same with young,we are enthusiastic when we are young,then we may lose our passion when getting older and older.
so we must treasure it ,don't let the limitted time pass by ,leaving nothing of significance.