第一篇：美国经典演讲 麦克阿瑟：《老兵不死》(英文原版及翻译)
美国经典演讲 麦克阿瑟：《老兵不死》（英文原版及翻译）
President, Mr.Speaker, and Distinguished Members of the Congress:
I stand on this rostrum with a sense of deep humility and great pride--humility in the weight of those great American architects of our history who have stood here before me;pride in the reflection that this home of legislative debate
represents human liberty in the purest form yet devised.Here are centered the hopes and aspirations and faith of the entire human race.I do not stand here as advocate for any partisan cause, for the issues are fundamental and reach quite beyond the realm of partisan consideration.They must be resolved on the highest plane of national interest if our course is to prove sound and our future protected.I trust, therefore, that you will do me the justice of receiving that which I have to say as solely expressing the considered viewpoint of a fellow American.I address you with neither rancor nor bitterness in the fading twilight of life, with but one purpose in mind: to serve my country.The issues are global and so interlocked that to consider the problems of one sector, oblivious to those of another, is but to court disaster for the whole.While Asia is commonly referred to as the Gateway to Europe, it is no less true that Europe is the Gateway to Asia, and the broad influence of the one cannot fail to have its impact upon the other.There are those who claim our strength is inadequate to protect on both fronts, that we cannot divide our effort.I can think of no greater expression of defeatism.If a potential enemy can divide his strength on two fronts, it is for us to counter his effort.The Communist threat is a global one.Its successful advance in one sector threatens the destruction of every other sector.You can not appease or otherwise surrender to communism in Asia without simultaneously undermining our efforts to halt its advance in Europe.Beyond pointing out these general truisms, I shall confine my discussion to the general areas of Asia.Before one may objectively assess the situation now existing there, he must comprehend something of Asia's past and the revolutionary changes which have marked her course up to the present.Long exploited by the so-called colonial powers, with little opportunity to achieve any degree of social justice, individual dignity, or a higher standard of life such as guided our own noble administration in the Philippines, the peoples of Asia found their opportunity in the war just past to throw off the shackles of colonialism and now see the dawn of new opportunity, a heretofore unfelt dignity, and the self-respect of political freedom.Mustering half of the earth's population, and 60 percent of its natural resources these peoples are rapidly consolidating a new force, both moral and material, with which to raise the living standard and erect adaptations of the design of modern progress to their own distinct cultural environments.Whether one adheres to the concept of colonization or not, this is the direction of Asian progress and it may not be stopped.It is a corollary to the shift of the world economic frontiers as the whole epicenter of world affairs rotates back toward the area whence it started.In this situation, it becomes vital that our own country orient its policies in consonance with this basic evolutionary condition rather than pursue a course blind to the reality that the colonial era is now past and the Asian peoples covet the right to shape their own free destiny.What they seek now is friendly guidance, understanding, and support--not imperious direction--the dignity of equality and not the shame of subjugation.Their pre-war standard of life, pitifully low, is infinitely lower now in the devastation left in war's wake.World ideologies play little part in Asian thinking and are little understood.What the peoples strive for is the opportunity for a little more food in their stomachs, a little better clothing on their backs, a little firmer roof over their heads, and the realization of the normal nationalist urge for political
freedom.These political-social conditions have but an indirect bearing upon our own national security, but do form a backdrop to contemporary planning which must be thoughtfully considered if we are to avoid the pitfalls of unrealism.Of more direct and immediately bearing upon our national security are the changes wrought in the strategic potential of the Pacific Ocean in the course of the past war.Prior thereto the western strategic frontier of the United States lay on the literal line of the Americas, with an exposed island salient
extending out through Hawaii, Midway, and Guam to the Philippines.That salient proved not an outpost of strength but an avenue of weakness along which the enemy could and did attack.The Pacific was a potential area of advance for any predatory force intent upon striking at the bordering land areas.All this was changed by our Pacific victory.Our strategic frontier then shifted to
embrace the entire Pacific Ocean, which became a vast moat to protect us as long as we held it.Indeed, it acts as a protective shield for all of the Americas and all free lands of the Pacific Ocean area.We control it to the shores of Asia by a chain of islands extending in an arc from the Aleutians to the
Mariannas held by us and our free allies.From this island chain we can dominate with sea and air power every Asiatic port from Vladivostok to Singapore--with sea and air power every port, as I said, from Vladivostok to Singapore--and
prevent any hostile movement into the Pacific.Any predatory attack from Asia must be an amphibious effort.* No amphibious force can be successful without control of the sea lanes and the air over those lanes in its avenue of advance.With naval and air supremacy and modest ground elements to defend bases, any major attack from continental Asia toward us or our friends in the Pacific would be doomed to failure.Under such conditions, the Pacific no longer represents menacing avenues of approach for a prospective invader.It assumes, instead, the friendly aspect of a peaceful lake.Our line of defense is a natural one and can be maintained with a minimum of military effort and expense.It envisions no attack against anyone, nor does it provide the bastions essential for offensive operations, but properly maintained, would be an invincible defense against aggression.The holding of this literal defense line in the western Pacific is entirely dependent upon holding all segments thereof;for any major breach of that line by an unfriendly power would render vulnerable to determined attack every other major segment.This is a military estimate as to which I have yet to find a military leader who will take exception.For that reason, I have
strongly recommended in the past, as a matter of military urgency, that under no circumstances must Formosa fall under Communist control.Such an eventuality would at once threaten the freedom of the Philippines and the loss of Japan and might well force our western frontier back to the coast of California, Oregon
and Washington.To understand the changes which now appear upon the Chinese mainland, one must understand the changes in Chinese character and culture over the past 50 years.China, up to 50 years ago, was completely non-homogenous, being compartmented into groups divided against each other.The war-making tendency was almost non-existent, as they still followed the tenets of the Confucian ideal of pacifist culture.At the turn of the century, under the
regime of Chang Tso Lin, efforts toward greater homogeneity produced the start of a nationalist urge.This was further and more successfully developed under the leadership of Chiang Kai-Shek, but has been brought to its greatest fruition under the present regime to the point that it has now taken on the character of
a united nationalism of increasingly dominant, aggressive tendencies.Through these past 50 years the Chinese people have thus become militarized in their concepts and in their ideals.They now constitute excellent soldiers, with
competent staffs and commanders.This has produced a new and dominant power in Asia, which, for its own purposes, is allied with Soviet Russia but which in its own concepts and methods has become aggressively imperialistic, with a lust for expansion and increased power normal to this type of imperialism.There is little of the ideological concept either one way or another in the Chinese
make-up.The standard of living is so low and the capital accumulation has been so thoroughly dissipated by war that the masses are desperate and eager to follow any leadership which seems to promise the alleviation of local
stringencies.I have from the beginning believed that the Chinese Communists' support of the North Koreans was the dominant one.Their interests are, at present, parallel with those of the Soviet.But I believe that the
aggressiveness recently displayed not only in Korea but also in Indo-China and Tibet and pointing potentially toward the South reflects predominantly the same lust for the expansion of power which has animated every would-be conqueror since the beginning of time.The Japanese people, since the war, have undergone the greatest reformation recorded in modern history.With a
commendable will, eagerness to learn, and marked capacity to understand, they have, from the ashes left in war's wake, erected in Japan an edifice dedicated to the supremacy of individual liberty and personal dignity;and in the ensuing process there has been created a truly representative government committed to the advance of political morality, freedom of economic enterprise, and social justice.Politically, economically, and socially Japan is now abreast of many free nations of the earth and will not again fail the universal trust.That it
may be counted upon to wield a profoundly beneficial influence over the course of events in Asia is attested by the magnificent manner in which the Japanese people have met the recent challenge of war, unrest, and confusion surrounding them from the outside and checked communism within their own frontiers without the slightest slackening in their forward progress.I sent all four of our
occupation divisions to the Korean battlefront without the slightest qualms as to the effect of the resulting power vacuum upon Japan.The results fully justified my faith.I know of no nation more serene, orderly, and industrious, nor in which higher hopes can be entertained for future constructive service in the advance of the human race.Of our former ward, the Philippines, we can look forward in confidence that the existing unrest will be corrected and a strong and healthy nation will grow in the longer aftermath of war's terrible destructiveness.We must be patient and understanding and never fail them--as in our hour of need, they did not fail us.A Christian nation, the Philippines stand as a mighty bulwark of Christianity in the Far East, and its capacity for
high moral leadership in Asia is unlimited.On Formosa, the government of the Republic of China has had the opportunity to refute by action much of the malicious gossip which so undermined the strength of its leadership on the Chinese mainland.The Formosan people are receiving a just and enlightened administration with majority representation on the organs of government, and politically, economically, and socially they appear to be advancing along sound and constructive lines.With this brief insight into the surrounding areas, I now turn to the Korean conflict.While I was not consulted prior to the President's decision to intervene in support of the Republic of Korea, that
decision from a military standpoint, proved a sound one, as we hurled back the invader and decimated his forces.Our victory was complete, and our objectives within reach, when Red China intervened with numerically superior ground forces.This created a new war and an entirely new situation, a situation not
contemplated when our forces were committed against the North Korean invaders;a situation which called for new decisions in the diplomatic sphere to permit the realistic adjustment of military strategy.Such decisions have not been
forthcoming.While no man in his right mind would advocate sending our ground
forces into continental China, and such was never given a thought, the new situation did urgently demand a drastic revision of strategic planning if our
political aim was to defeat this new enemy as we had defeated the old.Apart from the military need, as I saw It, to neutralize the sanctuary protection
given the enemy north of the Yalu, I felt that military necessity in the conduct of the war made necessary: first the intensification of our economic blockade against China;two the imposition of a naval blockade against the China coast;three removal of restrictions on air reconnaissance of China's coastal areas and of Manchuria;four removal of restrictions on the forces of the Republic of China on Formosa, with logistical support to contribute to their effective operations against the common enemy.For entertaining these views, all professionally designed to support our forces committed to Korea and bring hostilities to an end with the least possible delay and at a saving of countless American and allied lives, I have been severely criticized in lay circles，principally abroad, despite my understanding that from a military standpoint the above views have been fully shared in the past by practically every military leader concerned with the Korean campaign, including our own Joint Chiefs of Staff.I called for reinforcements but was informed that reinforcements were not available.I made clear that if not permitted to destroy the enemy built-up bases north of the Yalu, if not permitted to utilize the friendly Chinese Force
of some 600,000 men on Formosa, if not permitted to blockade the China coast to prevent the Chinese Reds from getting succor from without, and if there were to be no hope of major reinforcements, the position of the command from the military standpoint forbade victory.We could hold in Korea by constant maneuver and in an approximate area where our supply line advantages were in balance with the supply line disadvantages of the enemy, but we could hope at best for only an indecisive campaign with its terrible and constant attrition upon our forces if the enemy utilized its full military potential.I have constantly called for the new political decisions essential to a solution.Efforts have been made to distort my position.It has been said, in effect, that I was a warmonger.Nothing could be further from the truth.I know war as few other men now living know it, and nothing to me is more revolting.I have long advocated its complete abolition, as its very destructiveness on both friend and foe has rendered it useless as a means of settling international disputes.Indeed, on the second day of September, nineteen hundred and forty-five, just following the surrender of the Japanese nation on the
Battleship Missouri, I formally cautioned as follows:
“Men since the beginning of time have
sought peace.Various methods through the
ages have been attempted to devise an
international process to prevent or settle
disputes
between nations.From the very
start workable methods were found in so
far
as individual citizens were concerned，but the mechanics of an instrumentality of
larger international scope have never
been successful.Military alliances，balances of power, Leagues of Nations，all in turn failed, leaving the only path to
be by way of the crucible of war.The
utter destructiveness of war now blocks
out this alternative.We have had our last
chance.If we will not devise some
greater and more equitable system，Armageddon will be at our door.The
problem basically is theological and
involves a spiritual recrudescence and
improvement of human character that
will
synchronize with our almost matchless
advances in science, art, literature, and all
material and cultural developments of
the past 2000 years.It must be of the spirit
if we are to save the flesh.”
But once war is forced upon us, there is no other alternative than to apply every available
means to bring it to a swift end.War's very object is victory, not prolonged indecision.In war there is no substitute for victory.There are some who, for varying reasons, would appease Red China.They are blind to history's clear lesson, for history teaches with unmistakable emphasis that appeasement but begets new and bloodier war.It points to no single instance where this end has justified that means, where appeasement has led to more than a sham peace.Like blackmail, it lays the basis for new and successively greater demands until, as
in blackmail, violence becomes the only other alternative.“Why,” my soldiers asked of me, “surrender military advantages to an enemy in the field?” I could not answer.Some may say: to avoid spread of the conflict into an all-out war with China;others, to avoid Soviet intervention.Neither explanation seems
valid, for China is already engaging with the maximum power it can commit, and the Soviet will not necessarily mesh its actions with our moves.Like a cobra, any new enemy will more likely strike whenever it feels that the relativity in military or other potential is in its favor on a world-wide basis.The tragedy of Korea is further heightened by the fact that its military action is confined to its territorial limits.It condemns that nation, which it is our purpose to
save, to suffer the devastating impact of full naval and air bombardment while the enemy's sanctuaries are fully protected from such attack and devastation.Of the nations of the world, Korea alone, up to now, is the sole one which has risked its all against communism.The magnificence of the courage and fortitude of the Korean people defies description.They have chosen to risk death rather than slavery.Their last words to me were: “Don't scuttle the Pacific!”
I have just left your fighting sons in Korea.They have met all tests there, and I can
report to you without reservation that they are splendid in every way.It was my constant effort to preserve them and end this savage conflict honorably and with the least loss of time and a minimum sacrifice of life.Its growing
bloodshed has caused me the deepest anguish and anxiety.Those gallant men will remain often in my thoughts and in my prayers always.I am closing my 52 years of military service.When I joined the Army, even before the turn of the century, it was the fulfillment of all of my boyish hopes and dreams.The world has turned over many times since I took the oath on the plain at West Point, and the hopes and dreams have long since vanished, but I still remember the refrain of one of the most popular barrack ballads of that day which proclaimed most proudly that “old soldiers never die;they just fade away.”
And like the old soldier of that ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away, an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty.Good Bye.中文翻译：
总统先生、议长先生和尊敬的国会议员们：
我怀着十分谦卑而又骄傲的心情站在这演讲台上。
我谦卑，是因为在我之前，许多美国历史上伟大的建设者们都曾经在这里发过言；我骄傲，是因为今天我们的立法辩论代表了经深思的人类解放最纯粹形式。这是整个人类进程中的希望、热情和信仰的集中体现。我并不是作为任何一个党派的拥护者站在这里讲话的，因为这些问题太重要，以至都超越了党派的界线。如果要证实我们的动机是是正确的，如果要保障我们的将来，制定关于国家利益的最高纲领时就必须考虑到它们。我相信，当我说完我仅仅是为了陈述经深思熟虑而得出的一个普通美国公民的观点之后，你们会公平地接受它。在我生命将逝之年做这个告别演说，无仇无怨。在我心中只有一个目的：为我的祖国服务。
这些问题是全球性的，而且环环相扣，任何的顾此失彼做法都会使整体造成灾难。亚洲被普遍认为是通往欧洲的门户，同样的，欧洲也是通往亚洲的大门，二者是息息相关的。有人认为我们的力量不足以同时保住两个阵地，因为我们不能分散我们的力量。我想，这是我听到的最悲观的失败主义论调了。如果我们潜在的敌人能够把他的力量分在两条线上，那我们就必须与之抗衡……
除了指出这些一般常识外，我将把讨论集中在亚洲地区。在客观地估计那里的现状之前，我们必须了解亚洲的过去，了解导致她上升到今天这种局势的革命性的变化。长期遭受殖民主义势力的剥削而使亚洲人民没有机会获取任何程度的社会平等、个人尊严，也无法提高生活水平，就像被我们的菲律宾贵族政府所统治的那样。亚洲人民在战争中找到了机会，得以摆脱殖民主义的枷锁，而且现在有更多的新的契机摆在他们面前：政治独立带来的以前从未感受过的尊严和自重。亚洲有占世界一半的人口和百分之六十的自然资源，她的人民正迅速地加强一个新兴的力量，包括精神和物质两方面，藉此提高他们的生活水平，协调现代化的进步和他们特有的文化环境。不管你是不是坚持殖民主义的观点，这是亚洲前进的方向，她不会停步。这一点是世界经济防线转移、国际事务中心回归原点的必然结果。在这种情况下，我们国家在政治上必须与基本的革命形势一致，而不能无视殖民时代已经过时，且亚洲人民渴望开创自己的自由生活的现实，这一点十分重要。他们现在需要的是友好的指引、理解和支持，而不是专制的指挥。
我坚持保全他们，并希望能用最少的时间、最小的牺牲体面地结束这场野蛮的冲突。越来越多的流血让我感到深深的痛苦和焦虑。那些勇敢的人的形象在我的脑海中挥之不去，我将永远为他们祈祷。
我将结束我五十二年的军旅生涯。我在世纪之交之前就已加入军队，它满足了我孩童时所有的希望和梦想。自从我在西点的草坪上宣读誓言以来，这个世界已经经历了多次转变，童年的希望和梦想早已消失得无影无踪。但我依然记得当年那首流行的军歌中骄傲的叠句：一个老兵永不死亡，他只是淡出舞台。就像歌中的老兵一样，我结束我的军旅生涯，只是淡出了人生舞台。一个力图像上帝指引的那样完成他的责任的老兵。再见
第二篇：麦克阿瑟告别演讲稿：老兵不死(中英文)
麦克阿瑟告别演讲稿：老兵不死（中英文）
麦克阿瑟告别演讲“老兵永不死（英文版）
Mr.President, Mr.Speaker, and Distinguished Members of the Congress: I stand on this rostrum with a sense of deep humility and great pride--humility in the wake of those great American architects of our history who have stood here before me;pride in the reflection that this forum of legislative debate represents human liberty in the purest form yet devised.Here are centered the hopes and aspirations and faith of the entire human race.I do not stand here as advocate for any partisan cause, for the issues are fundamental and reach quite beyond the realm of partisan consideration.They must be resolved on the highest plane of national interest if our course is to prove sound and our future protected.I trust, therefore, that you will do me the justice of receiving that which I have to say as solely expressing the considered viewpoint of a fellow American.I address you with neither rancor nor bitterness in the fading twilight of life, with but one purpose in mind: to serve my country.The issues are global and so interlocked that to consider the problems of one sector, oblivious to those of another, is but to court disaster for the whole.While Asia is commonly referred to as the Gateway to Europe, it is no less true that Europe is the Gateway to Asia, and the broad influence of the one cannot fail to have its impact upon the other.There are those who claim our strength is inadequate to protect on both fronts, that we cannot divide our effort.I can think of no greater expression of defeatism.If a potential enemy can divide his strength on two fronts, it is for us to counter his effort.The Communist threat is a global one.Its successful advance in one sector threatens the destruction of every other sector.You can not appease or otherwise surrender to communism in Asia without simultaneously undermining our efforts to halt its advance in Europe.Beyond pointing out these general truisms, I shall confine my discussion to the general areas of Asia.Before one may objectively assess the situation now existing there, he must comprehend something of Asia's past and the revolutionary changes which have marked her course up to the present.Long exploited by the so-called colonial powers, with little opportunity to achieve any degree of social justice, individual dignity, or a higher standard of life such as guided our own noble administration in the Philippines, the peoples of Asia found their opportunity in the war just past to throw off the shackles of colonialism and now see the dawn of new opportunity, a heretofore unfelt dignity, and the self-respect of political freedom.Mustering half of the earth's population, and 60 percent of its natural resources these peoples are rapidly consolidating a new force, both moral and material, with which to raise the living standard and erect adaptations of the design of modern progress to their own distinct cultural environments.Whether one adheres to the concept of colonization or not, this is the direction of Asian progress and it may not be stopped.It is a corollary to the shift of the world economic frontiers as the whole epicenter of world affairs rotates back toward the area whence it started.In this situation, it becomes vital that our own country orient its policies in consonance with this basic evolutionary condition rather than pursue a course blind to the reality that the colonial era is now past and the Asian peoples covet the right to shape their own free destiny.What they seek now is friendly guidance, understanding, and support--not imperious direction--the dignity of equality and not the shame of subjugation.Their pre-war standard of life, pitifully low, is infinitely lower now in the devastation left in war's wake.World ideologies play little part in Asian thinking and are little understood.What the peoples strive for is the opportunity for a little more food in their stomachs, a little better clothing on their backs, a little firmer roof over their heads, and the realization of the normal nationalist urge for political freedom.These political-social conditions have but an indirect bearing upon our own national security, but do form a backdrop to contemporary planning which must be thoughtfully considered if we are to avoid the pitfalls of unrealism.Of more direct and immediate bearing upon our national security are the changes wrought in the strategic potential of the Pacific Ocean in the course of the past war.Prior thereto the western strategic frontier of the United States lay on the littoral line of the Americas, with an exposed island salient extending out through Hawaii, Midway, and Guam to the Philippines.That salient proved not an outpost of strength but an avenue of weakness along which the enemy could and did attack.The Pacific was a potential area of advance for any predatory force intent upon striking at the bordering land areas.All this was changed by our Pacific victory.Our strategic frontier then shifted to embrace the entire Pacific Ocean, which became a vast moat to protect us as long as we held it.Indeed, it acts as a protective shield for all of the Americas and all free lands of the Pacific Ocean area.We control it to the shores of Asia by a chain of islands extending in an arc from the Aleutians to the Mariannas held by us and our free allies.From this island chain we can dominate with sea and air power every Asiatic port from Vladivostok to Singapore--with sea and air power every port, as I said, from Vladivostok to Singapore--and prevent any hostile movement into the Pacific.*Any predatory attack from Asia must be an amphibious effort.* No amphibious force can be successful without control of the sea lanes and the air over those lanes in its avenue of advance.With naval and air supremacy and modest ground elements to defend bases, any major attack from continental Asia toward us or our friends in the Pacific would be doomed to failure.Under such conditions, the Pacific no longer represents menacing avenues of approach for a prospective invader.It assumes, instead, the friendly aspect of a peaceful lake.Our line of defense is a natural one and can be maintained with a minimum of military effort and expense.It envisions no attack against anyone, nor does it provide the bastions essential for offensive operations, but properly maintained, would be an invincible defense against aggression.The holding of this littoral defense line in the western Pacific is entirely dependent upon holding all segments thereof;for any major breach of that line by an unfriendly power would render vulnerable to determined attack every other major segment.This is a military estimate as to which I have yet to find a military leader who will take exception.For that reason, I have strongly recommended in the past, as a matter of military urgency, that under no circumstances must Formosa fall under Communist control.Such an eventuality would at once threaten the freedom of the Philippines and the loss of Japan and might well force our western frontier back to the coast of California, Oregon and Washington.To understand the changes which now appear upon the Chinese mainland, one must understand the changes in Chinese character and culture over the past 50 years.China, up to 50 years ago, was completely non-homogenous, being compartmented into groups divided against each other.The war-making tendency was almost non-existent, as they still followed the tenets of the Confucian ideal of pacifist culture.At the turn of the century, under the regime of Chang Tso Lin, efforts toward greater homogeneity produced the start of a nationalist urge.This was further and more successfully developed under the leadership of Chiang Kai-Shek, but has been brought to its greatest fruition under the present regime to the point that it has now taken on the character of a united nationalism of increasingly dominant, aggressive tendencies.Through these past 50 years the Chinese people have thus become militarized in their concepts and in their ideals.They now constitute excellent soldiers, with competent staffs and commanders.This has produced a new and dominant power in Asia, which, for its own purposes, is allied with Soviet Russia but which in its own concepts and methods has become aggressively imperialistic, with a lust for expansion and increased power normal to this type of imperialism.There is little of the ideological concept either one way or another in the Chinese make-up.The standard of living is so low and the capital accumulation has been so thoroughly dissipated by war that the masses are desperate and eager to follow any leadership which seems to promise the alleviation of local stringencies.I have from the beginning believed that the Chinese Communists' support of the North Koreans was the dominant one.Their interests are, at present, parallel with those of the Soviet.But I believe that the aggressiveness recently displayed not only in Korea but also in Indo-China and Tibet and pointing potentially toward the South reflects predominantly the same lust for the expansion of power which has animated every would-be conqueror since the beginning of time.The Japanese people, since the war, have undergone the greatest reformation recorded in modern history.With a commendable will, eagerness to learn, and marked capacity to understand, they have, from the ashes left in war's wake, erected in Japan an edifice dedicated to the supremacy of individual liberty and personal dignity;and in the ensuing process there has been created a truly representative government committed to the advance of political morality, freedom of economic enterprise, and social justice.Politically, economically, and socially Japan is now abreast of many free nations of the earth and will not again fail the universal trust.That it may be counted upon to wield a profoundly beneficial influence over the course of events in Asia is attested by the magnificent manner in which the Japanese people have met the recent challenge of war, unrest, and confusion surrounding them from the outside and checked communism within their own frontiers without the slightest slackening in their forward progress.I sent all four of our occupation divisions to the Korean battlefront without the slightest qualms as to the effect of the resulting power vacuum upon Japan.The results fully justified my faith.I know of no nation more serene, orderly, and industrious, nor in which higher hopes can be entertained for future constructive service in the advance of the human race.Of our former ward, the Philippines, we can look forward in confidence that the existing unrest will be corrected and a strong and healthy nation will grow in the longer aftermath of war's terrible destructiveness.We must be patient and understanding and never fail them--as in our hour of need, they did not fail us.A Christian nation, the Philippines stand as a mighty bulwark of Christianity in the Far East, and its capacity for high moral leadership in Asia is unlimited.On Formosa, the government of the Republic of China has had the opportunity to refute by action much of the malicious gossip which so undermined the strength of its leadership on the Chinese mainland.The Formosan people are receiving a just and enlightened administration with majority representation on the organs of government, and politically, economically, and socially they appear to be advancing along sound and constructive lines.With this brief insight into the surrounding areas, I now turn to the Korean conflict.While I was not consulted prior to the President's decision to intervene in support of the Republic of Korea, that decision from a military standpoint, proved a sound one, as we--as I said, proved a sound one, as we hurled back the invader and decimated his forces.Our victory was complete, and our objectives within reach, when Red China intervened with numerically superior ground forces.This created a new war and an entirely new situation, a situation not contemplated when our forces were committed against the North Korean invaders;a situation which called for new decisions in the diplomatic sphere to permit the realistic adjustment of military strategy.Such decisions have not been forthcoming.While no man in his right mind would advocate sending our ground forces into continental China, and such was never given a thought, the new situation did urgently demand a drastic revision of strategic planning if our political aim was to defeat this new enemy as we had defeated the old.Apart from the military need, as I saw It, to neutralize the sanctuary protection given the enemy north of the Yalu, I felt that military necessity in the conduct of the war made necessary: first the intensification of our economic blockade against China;two the imposition of a naval blockade against the China coast;three removal of restrictions on air reconnaissance of China's coastal areas and of Manchuria;four removal of restrictions on the forces of the Republic of China on Formosa, with logistical support to contribute to their effective operations against the common enemy.For entertaining these views, all professionally designed to support our forces committed to Korea and bring hostilities to an end with the least possible delay and at a saving of countless American and allied lives, I have been severely criticized in lay circles, principally abroad, despite my understanding that from a military standpoint the above views have been fully shared in the past by practically every military leader concerned with the Korean campaign, including our own Joint Chiefs of Staff.I called for reinforcements but was informed that reinforcements were not available.I made clear that if not permitted to destroy the enemy built-up bases north of the Yalu, if not permitted to utilize the friendly Chinese Force of some 600,000 men on Formosa, if not permitted to blockade the China coast to prevent the Chinese Reds from getting succor from without, and if there were to be no hope of major reinforcements, the position of the command from the military standpoint forbade victory.We could hold in Korea by constant maneuver and in an approximate area where our supply line advantages were in balance with the supply line disadvantages of the enemy, but we could hope at best for only an indecisive campaign with its terrible and constant attrition upon our forces if the enemy utilized its full military potential.I have constantly called for the new political decisions essential to a solution.Efforts have been made to distort my position.It has been said, in effect, that I was a warmonger.Nothing could be further from the truth.I know war as few other men now living know it, and nothing to me is more revolting.I have long advocated its complete abolition, as its very destructiveness on both friend and foe has rendered it useless as a means of settling international disputes.Indeed, on the second day of September, nineteen hundred and forty-five, just following the surrender of the Japanese nation on the Battleship Missouri, I formally cautioned as follows: Men since the beginning of time have sought peace.Various methods through the ages have been attempted to devise an international process to prevent or settle disputes between nations.From the very start workable methods were found in so far as individual citizens were concerned, but the mechanics of an instrumentality of larger international scope have never been successful.Military alliances, balances of power, Leagues of Nations, all in turn failed, leaving the only path to be by way of the crucible of war.The utter
destructiveness of war now blocks out this alternative.We have had our last chance.If we will not devise some greater and more equitable system, Armageddon will be at our door.The problem basically is theological and involves a spiritual recrudescence and improvement of human character that will synchronize with our almost matchless advances in science, art, literature, and all material and cultural developments of the past 2000 years.It must be of the spirit if we are to save the flesh.But once war is forced upon us, there is no other alternative than to apply every available means to bring it to a swift end.War's very object is victory, not prolonged indecision.In war there is no substitute for victory.There are some who, for varying reasons, would appease Red China.They are blind to history's clear lesson, for history teaches with unmistakable emphasis that appeasement but begets new and bloodier war.It points to no single instance where this end has justified that means, where appeasement has led to more than a sham peace.Like blackmail, it lays the basis for new and successively greater demands until, as in blackmail, violence becomes the only other alternative.“Why,” my soldiers asked of me, “surrender military advantages to an enemy in the field?” I could not answer.Some may say: to avoid spread of the conflict into an all-out war with China;others, to avoid Soviet intervention.Neither explanation seems valid, for China is already engaging with the maximum power it can commit, and the Soviet will not necessarily mesh its actions with our moves.Like a cobra, any new enemy will more likely strike whenever it feels that the relativity in military or other potential is in its favor on a world-wide basis.The tragedy of Korea is further heightened by the fact that its military action is confined to its territorial limits.It condemns that nation, which it is our purpose to save, to suffer the devastating impact of full naval and air bombardment while the enemy's sanctuaries are fully protected from such attack and devastation.Of the nations of the world, Korea alone, up to now, is the sole one which has risked its all against communism.The magnificence of the courage and fortitude of the Korean people defies description.They have chosen to risk death rather than slavery.Their last words to me were: “Don't scuttle the Pacific!” I have just left your fighting sons in Korea.They have met all tests there, and I can report to you without reservation that they are splendid in every way.It was my constant effort to preserve them and end this savage conflict honorably and with the least loss of time and a minimum sacrifice of life.Its growing bloodshed has caused me the deepest anguish and anxiety.Those gallant men will remain often in my thoughts and in my prayers always.I am closing my 52 years of military service.When I joined the Army, even before the turn of the century, it was the fulfillment of all of my boyish hopes and dreams.The world has turned over many times since I took the oath on the plain at West Point, and the hopes and dreams have long since vanished, but I still remember the refrain of one of the most popular barrack ballads of that day which proclaimed most proudly that “old soldiers never die;they just fade away.” And like the old soldier of that ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away, an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty.Good Bye.麦克阿瑟告别演讲“老兵永不死（中文版）总统先生，演讲者，议会杰出的成员们： 我怀着深深的谦卑和无比的自豪感站在这演讲台上----谦卑是因为面对在我面前的那些伟大美国过去的建设者们；自豪是因为想到国内立法争论所设计的代表人类最纯洁的自由。整个人类的希望、抱负、信念都集中于此。我站在这里不为任何党派目的辩护，因为议题的根本性超出了党派所能考虑的区域。如果能证明我们的路线稳妥且我们的前途有保障,那些问题就应被放在最高位来解决.因此，我相信，你们会公正地把我所表达的当作一个美国同胞的观点。我演讲既不带人生暮年的怨恨也不带伤感之情，但心中只有一个目的：为我的祖国效劳。虽然亚洲被认为是通往欧洲的大门，但说欧洲是通往亚洲的大门也没有错。且一方的广泛影响不得不带动另一方。一些人声称我们的力量不足以同时保护两条线路，我们不能分散精力。我认为没有比这更能表现出失败主义的了。如果潜在性的敌人能将他们的力量分为两条路线，那对我们来说就要对他们的力量予以反击。共产主义者的威胁是一个全球性的问题。他们在每个防区的成功进展直接预示着我们每隔一个防区将遭到破坏。我们不会为让亚洲的共产主义投降而不能同时削弱我们的力量去遏止欧洲的发展而感到安慰。说了太多的共知之理，我会简略我关于亚洲地区的讨论。在某人能客观地对那里存在的形势作出评估之前，他必须了解一些关于亚洲的过去和他们沿着自己的路线发展至今的改革变化。被所谓的殖民统治长期的剥削，便很难有机会建立社会的公正尺度，维护个人尊严，或者实现一个高水平的生活，就像保卫我们在菲律宾自己崇高的政府，亚洲的人民抓住了他们的时机在战争中摆脱了殖民统治的束缚并且看到了新时机的曙光，一种从未感受过的尊严和一个国家自由后的自尊感。集合地球一半的人数，有60%的自然资源被这些人迅速地加强成为一种新的力量，精神上的和物质上的都被用来提升生活水平也是为适应对自己的不同文化环境的最新进展的谋划。不管谁是否拘泥于殖民的概念，这是亚洲发展进步的方向且不会被终止。这是世界金融尖端转变的必然结果，就像整个世界事物的中心正循环着回到它的起始点。在这种形势之下，我们用基本发展的状况使自己国家和东方国家在政策上保持和谐而不是一味追求不明现实的路线，因为殖民时代已经过去且亚洲人正为实现他们自由的命运而垂延。他们当今寻求的是友好的指引、协议、和支持——而不是专横的引导——是平等尊严而不是耻辱地屈从。他们战前的生活标准低得令人同情，现在又因战争所带来的破坏而变得更加无限的低。世界的意识形态几乎不把亚洲考虑在内，不给予他们体谅。那儿的人民为之拼命的只是为了能得到更多一点食物来填饱肚子，有稍好一点的衣物来遮背，盖结实些的屋顶在他们的头上，和普通国民们渴望政治自由的意识。这些政治社会性的条件为国内安全给予了间接的保障，不过要对慎重考虑过的现时方案建立背景来决定我们是否要避免不切实际的意外事件。能直系和快速地稳固住国内安全的是过去太平洋战争路线战略上的改变。先前的美国西面战略部署是美国原本线路，附和着暴露的岛屿夏威夷、中途岛、关岛通向菲律宾。这种战线证明了不是敌方前哨的力量而是我方暴露的弱点使敌人有机可乘太平洋地区是个令任何强国都虎视眈眈谋求发展和扩张领土的地方。所有一切都被太平洋战争的胜利改变了，我们那具有战略意义的边界才成为我们所拥有的整个太平洋，只要我们能够抓住它便能使其成为巨大的护城河。千真万确，它充当的是所有美国乃至整个太平洋自由领土的护盾。我们控制亚洲成弧形链状海岸线的岛屿从琉球到马尼拉都受我们和盟军控制。由这诸些岛屿我们能支配从海参葳到新加坡亚洲港口的海洋和空中力量——有了海洋上的和空中的力量——如我所说的——从海参葳到新加坡——保护并抵御太平洋上不友好的动机。在亚洲任何凶狠的进攻都必须具备两股力量。无任何两种力量能在没有海洋和空中的掌控权之下在推进道路上取得成功。有了海军、重要的空军和适度的陆军来保卫基地，任何对亚洲大陆的以及我们和我们在太平洋上的朋友的蓄意攻击都必将逃不了失败的厄运。在如此状况下，太平洋代表的不仅仅是预想中的侵略者的一种威胁。假定那里是个友好的和平湖畔，我们的防御路线就十分自然而且可花费最小的军事代价来维持。想象没有任何袭击，也用不着为突袭性的攻击而设置堡垒，只要适当维护，这将是抵制侵略的不可战胜的防御。在西太平洋上想拥有这种防御力因此要依赖各个部分，因为不友好的力量导致的任何线路破裂都会遭来每个部分在有预谋的攻击下变得十分脆弱。这是我仍在寻找的要接替我的军事领头者应当持有的军事评估。因为这个原因，我过去强烈地推荐自己，成为一个至关重要的军事代理，没有稳固的经济基础台湾就只能在共产主义的掌控下。这样一个世界有可能立刻就威胁到菲律宾和失败后的日本的自由，也会迫使我们西方的防守边界退到加利福尼亚沿岸、奥勒岗和华盛顿。要了解中国大陆所发生的变化，就必须知道50年来中国体制和文化的变化。中国，50年前是完全没有团结意识，分裂成很多团体互相争斗。经过过去的五十年中国人开始有了武装的概念和理想。如今他们组成了拥有胜任的参谋长和司令的优秀士兵团体。这就在亚洲诞生了一股新的统治力量，为了实现自己的目标，他们与观念方法都成了具帝国主义的苏联结盟，同时他们也带着扩张领土、增强实力的渴望趋向帝国主义。他们都使用精力来扭曲我的职位。结果我被说成了是个好战分子。没有事物能够越加远离真理。我明白现在活着的人当中几乎没多少能真正了解战争，没有比这更令我心情不悦的了。因为对朋友和敌人带来的破坏已经致使一系列国际上的争论都毫无用处，我倡导这项废除令很久了。事实上，在1945年9月2日，就跟在日本国在密苏里号战舰上投降后，我正式警告如下： “人类从一开始就寻求和平。不同的时代各式各样的方法都被用来设计国际性的进程，来平息和解国与国之间的争论。有许多可行性的方法是被个别的公民发掘的，但是在一个巨大的国际范围中，技术工人用单一的手段还从未成功过。军事的联盟，实力的平衡，国家的结盟，轮流着失败，留下这唯一的路径来当作战争的严酷考验。战争带来的整个破坏现在产生了二选一。我们只有最后的机会。如果我们我们不能设计出一些更好更公平的制度，大决战将近在咫尺。问题是神奇的，它涉及到一种精神的再生和人类性格的改进，将与我们在科学、艺术、文学及所有物质文化2000年来的发展近乎史无前例的同步进展。如果我们要保存肉体就必须有精神作支撑。” 但是一旦战争逼迫着我们发生，那就没有选择的尽力使战争尽快结束。战争的目的是为了胜利，而不是为了无休止的延长。战争中没有东西能代替胜利。有一些人因为各种原因要安慰红色中国。他们无视历史的教训，因为历史无庸质疑地强调了抚慰只能招致更血性的战争。就像敲诈勒索，它爆发于连续不断的新的需求，在威胁中，暴力成为了仅存的另外选择。“为什么？”我的士兵问我，“难道要我们在战场上放弃对敌人的优势？”我无言以对。有人会说：和中国携手进行一次全力以赴的战争来避免冲突的传播；另外，要避免苏联的干涉。似乎没有一种解释是有效的，因为中国已经表明有了最大限度的影响力，且苏联不会迎合我们的步伐。就如一条眼镜蛇，当新的敌人感到军事上的相互依存或者别的遍及世界的潜在诱惑，他们就很可能会发动进攻。事实使韩国的悲剧更为加深了，军事行动缩小了他们的国界。那个我们要拯救的国家、他们要饱受整个海军和空军毁灭性的对抗，然而敌人的地盘却在如此的攻击和破坏之下全全得到保护，这是受到谴责的。在世界上所有的国家中，韩国是仅存的唯一冒险反对共产主义的国家。韩国人民巨大的勇气和刚毅拒绝描述。比起奴隶身份他们情愿选择了拼死。他们对我留下的最后一句话是：“决不能逃离太平洋！”我只为你们留下了英勇善战的儿子们。他们在那遇到了各种各样的考验，我会毫无保留地向你们汇报他们在每个方面都很出色。我持久地尽我所能去保护他们光荣地结束这场野蛮的冲突，并且要花费最少的时间，付出最小的牺牲。那些日趋增长的杀戮给我带来了极度的痛苦和忧虑。那些勇敢的人们永久地留在我的脑海中以及我的祈祷文里。我即将结束我52年的戎马生涯了。还在本世纪开始前当我加入陆军时，我孩提时代所有的希望和梦想便实现了。自从我在西点广场上虔诚地宣誓以来，世界已几经倾覆，希望和梦想也早已消失，但我仍记得那时最流行的一首军歌中的句子，它自豪地宣布： “老兵永远不死，他们只是悄然隐去。” 像那首歌中的老兵一样，我作为一名在上帝的光辉下尽心尽职的老兵，现在结束我的军事生涯，悄然隐去。再见。
第三篇：麦克阿瑟西点军校演讲（精选）
DutyHonorCountry
“Duty”“honor”“country”---thosethreehallowedwordsreverentlydictatewhat youwanttobe,whatyoucan be,whatyouwillbe。They areyourallyingpoint to
buildcouragewhencourageseemstofail,toregainfaithwhenthereseemsto
belittlecauseforfaith,tocreatehopewhenhopebecomesforlorn.Unhappily,Ipossess neitherthateloquenceofdiction ,thatpoetry ofimagination,northatbrillianceofmetaphortotellyouallthattheymean,Thesearesomeofthethingstheybuild, Theybuildyour basic
character ,Theymold you foryourfuture rolesas the custodians ofthe nation's defense, They make you strong enough to knowwhen you are weak,and brave enough to face yourselfwhen you are afraid,Theyteach youtobeproudandunbendinginhonestfailure,but humble andgentle in success;nottoosubstitutewords for action;not to seek the the path ofcomfort,butto face the stress andspur of difficulty challenge;to learnto standupin the storm,but to have
compassiononthosewhofall;to masteryourself before you seek to master others;to have a heart that is clean,a goal that is high;to learn to
laugh,yet never forget how toweep;to reach in to the future ,yet never neglect the past;to be serious,yet never take yourself too seriously;tobe
modestsothat you willrememberthesimplicity oftrue
greatness,theopenmind oftruewisdom,the meeknessoftrue
strength.Theyteachyouinthis wayto beanofficer andan gentleman.责任荣誉国家
责任、荣誉、国家---这三个神圣的词语，虔敬的告诉你们想成为什么，你们能成为什么，你们会成为什么。他们是你们重振旗鼓的据点，在勇气似乎消逝之时寻回勇气，在 信心渺茫是重拾信心，在希望沦为绝望时创造希望。不幸的是我没有雄辩的口才，没有充满想象的诗篇，也没有富含技巧的隐喻去说明它们的全部含义。
它们构建了一些东西，它们构建了你的基本人格。它们把你们塑造成未来的国防守护人。它们让你坚强的知道自己何时软弱，让你勇敢到在畏惧时敢于面对自己。
它们教导你：在失败是保持自尊和坚定，在成功时保持谦卑和温和，不以空言代替行动；不寻坦途，而是面对困境的压力，以及挑战的鞭策；学习在暴风雨中屹立，但是对跌倒的人寄予同情；在你想控制别人之前先控制自己；有纯洁的心又高尚的目标；学会欢笑，但永不忘记何时哭泣；走向未来，永不忽视过去，严肃，但永远不要把自己看的太过认真；谦虚，以便你能记得真伟大的单纯，真智慧的开明，真力量的温驯。就这样，他们教导你即是军士又是绅士。
第四篇：美国经典英文演讲一百篇
美国20世纪经典英语演讲100篇（MP3+文本）
· · · ·
· · · · ·
· · · · · · · · ·
· · ·
· · · · · ·
· · · · ·
· ·
· ·
· · · · ·
· · · · · · ·
· ·
· · ·
·
· · · · · · ·
第五篇：美国经典英文演讲100篇
美国经典英文演讲100篇:Brandenburg Gate Address
时间:2008-6-12 10:19:20 来源:本站原创
作者:echo
(女宇航员选拔标准 | 招聘英语编辑)
进入MP3下载页面
下载到我的手机(下载播放软件 | 如不能播放请点击此处)
Ronald Reagan
Remarks at the Brandenburg Gate
delivered 12 June 1987, West Berlin
[AUTHENTICITY CERTIFIED: Text version below transcribed directly from audio.(2)]
Thank you.Thank you, very much.Chancellor Kohl, Governing Mayor Diepgen, ladies and gentlemen: Twenty four years ago, President John F.Kennedy visited Berlin, and speaking to the people of this city and the world at the city hall.Well since then two other presidents have come, each in his turn to Berlin.And today, I, myself, make my second visit to your city.We come to Berlin, we American Presidents, because it's our duty to speak in this place of freedom.But I must confess, we’re drawn here by other things as well;by the feeling of history in this city--more than 500 years older than our own nation;by the beauty of the Grunewald and the Tiergarten;most of all, by your courage and determination.Perhaps the composer, Paul Linke, understood something about American Presidents.You see, like so many Presidents before me, I come here today because wherever I go, whatever I do: “Ich hab noch einen Koffer in Berlin” [I still have a suitcase in Berlin.]
Our gathering today is being broadcast throughout Western Europe and North America.I understand that it is being seen and heard as well in the East.To those listening throughout Eastern Europe, I extend my warmest greetings and the good will of the American people.To those listening in East Berlin, a special word: Although I cannot be with you, I address my remarks to you just as surely as to those standing here before me.For I join you, as I join your fellow countrymen in the West, in this firm, this unalterable belief: Es gibt nur ein Berlin.[There is only one Berlin.]
Behind me stands a wall that encircles the free sectors of this city, part of a vast system of barriers that divides the entire continent of Europe.From the Baltic South, those barriers cut across Germany in a gash of barbed wire, concrete, dog runs, and guard towers.Farther south, there may be no visible, no obvious wall.But there remain armed guards and checkpoints all the same--still a restriction on the right to travel, still an instrument to impose upon ordinary men and women the will of a totalitarian state.Yet, it is here in Berlin where the wall emerges most clearly;here, cutting across your city, where the news photo and the television screen have imprinted this brutal division of a continent upon the mind of the world.Standing before the Brandenburg Gate, every man is a German separated from his fellow men.Every man is a Berliner, forced to look upon a scar.President Von Weizsäcker has said, “The German question is open as long as the Brandenburg Gate is closed.” Well today--today I say: As long as this gate is closed, as long as this scar of a wall is permitted to stand, it is not the German question alone that remains open, but the question of freedom for all mankind.Yet, I do not come here to lament.For I find in Berlin a message of hope, even in the shadow of this wall, a message of triumph.In this season of spring in 1945, the people of Berlin emerged from their air-raid shelters to find devastation.Thousands of miles away, the people of the United States reached out to help.And in 1947 Secretary of State--as you've been told--George Marshall announced the creation of what would become known as the Marshall Plan.Speaking precisely 40 years ago this month, he said: “Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine, but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos.”
In the Reichstag a few moments ago, I saw a display commemorating this 40th anniversary of the Marshall Plan.I was struck by a sign--the sign on a burnt-out, gutted structure that was being rebuilt.I understand that Berliners of my own generation can remember seeing signs like it dotted throughout the western sectors of the city.The sign read simply: “The Marshall Plan is helping here to strengthen the free world.” A strong, free world in the West--that dream became real.Japan rose from ruin to become an economic giant.Italy, France, Belgium--virtually every nation in Western Europe saw political and economic rebirth;the European Community was founded.In West Germany and here in Berlin, there took place an economic miracle, the Wirtschaftswunder.Adenauer, Erhard, Reuter, and other leaders understood the practical importance of liberty--that just as truth can flourish only when the journalist is given freedom of speech, so prosperity can come about only when the farmer and businessman enjoy economic freedom.The German leaders--the German leaders reduced tariffs, expanded free trade, lowered taxes.From 1950 to 1960 alone, the standard of living in West Germany and Berlin doubled.Where four decades ago there was rubble, today in West Berlin there is the greatest industrial output of any city in Germany: busy office blocks, fine homes and apartments, proud avenues, and the spreading lawns of parkland.Where a city's culture seemed to have been destroyed, today there are two great universities, orchestras and an opera, countless theaters, and museums.Where there was want, today there's abundance--food, clothing, automobiles--the wonderful goods of the Kudamm.¹ From devastation, from utter ruin, you Berliners have, in freedom, rebuilt a city that once again ranks as one of the greatest on earth.Now the Soviets may have had other plans.But my friends, there were a few things the Soviets didn't count on: Berliner Herz, Berliner Humor, ja, und Berliner Schnauze.[Berliner heart, Berliner humor, yes, and a Berliner Schnauze.²]
In the 1950s--In the 1950s Khrushchev predicted: “We will bury you.”
But in the West today, we see a free world that has achieved a level of prosperity and well-being unprecedented in all human history.In the Communist world, we see failure, technological backwardness, declining standards of health, even want of the most basic kind--too little food.Even today, the Soviet Union still cannot feed itself.After these four decades, then, there stands before the entire world one great and inescapable conclusion: Freedom leads to prosperity.Freedom replaces the ancient hatreds among the nations with comity and peace.Freedom is the victor.And now--now the Soviets themselves may, in a limited way, be coming to understand the importance of freedom.We hear much from Moscow about a new policy of reform and openness.Some political prisoners have been released.Certain foreign news broadcasts are no longer being jammed.Some economic enterprises have been permitted to operate with greater freedom from state control.Are these the beginnings of profound changes in the Soviet state? Or are they token gestures intended to raise false hopes in the West, or to strengthen the Soviet system without changing it? We welcome change and openness;for we believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty--the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace.There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace.General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate.Mr.Gorbachev, open this gate.Mr.Gorbachev--Mr.Gorbachev, tear down this wall!
I understand the fear of war and the pain of division that afflict this continent, and I pledge to you my country's efforts to help overcome these burdens.To be sure, we in the West must resist Soviet expansion.So, we must maintain defenses of unassailable strength.Yet we seek peace;so we must strive to reduce arms on both sides.Beginning 10 years ago, the Soviets challenged the Western alliance with a grave new threat, hundreds of new and more deadly SS-20 nuclear missiles capable of striking every capital in Europe.The Western alliance responded by committing itself to a counter-deployment(unless the Soviets agreed to negotiate a better solution)--namely, the elimination of such weapons on both sides.For many months, the Soviets refused to bargain in earnestness.As the alliance, in turn, prepared to go forward with its counter-deployment, there were difficult days, days of protests like those during my 1982 visit to this city;and the Soviets later walked away from the table.But through it all, the alliance held firm.And I invite those who protested then--I invite those who protest today--to mark this fact: Because we remained strong, the Soviets came back to the table.Because we remained strong, today we have within reach the possibility, not merely of limiting the growth of arms, but of eliminating, for the first time, an entire class of nuclear weapons from the face of the earth.As I speak, NATO ministers are meeting in Iceland to review the progress of our proposals for eliminating these weapons.At the talks in Geneva, we have also proposed deep cuts in strategic offensive weapons.And the Western allies have likewise made far-reaching proposals to reduce the danger of conventional war and to place a total ban on chemical weapons.While we pursue these arms reductions, I pledge to you that we will maintain the capacity to deter Soviet aggression at any level at which it might occur.And in cooperation with many of our allies, the United States is pursuing the Strategic Defense Initiative--research to base deterrence not on the threat of offensive retaliation, but on defenses that truly defend;on systems, in short, that will not target populations, but shield them.By these means we seek to increase the safety of Europe and all the world.But we must remember a crucial fact: East and West do not mistrust each other because we are armed;we are armed because we mistrust each other.And our differences are not about weapons but about liberty.When President Kennedy spoke at the City Hall those 24 years ago, freedom was encircled;Berlin was under siege.And today, despite all the pressures upon this city, Berlin stands secure in its liberty.And freedom itself is transforming the globe.In the Philippines, in South and Central America, democracy has been given a rebirth.Throughout the Pacific, free markets are working miracle after miracle of economic growth.In the industrialized nations, a technological revolution is taking place, a revolution marked by rapid, dramatic advances in computers and telecommunications.In Europe, only one nation and those it controls refuse to join the community of freedom.Yet in this age of redoubled economic growth, of information and innovation, the Soviet Union faces a choice: It must make fundamental changes, or it will become obsolete.Today, thus, represents a moment of hope.We in the West stand ready to cooperate with the East to promote true openness, to break down barriers that separate people, to create a safer, freer world.And surely there is no better place than Berlin, the meeting place of East and West, to make a start.Free people of Berlin: Today, as in the past, the United States stands for the strict observance and full implementation of all parts of the Four Power Agreement of 1971.Let us use this occasion, the 750th anniversary of this city, to usher in a new era, to seek a still fuller, richer life for the Berlin of the future.Together, let us maintain and develop the ties between the Federal Republic and the Western sectors of Berlin, which is permitted by the 1971 agreement.And I invite Mr.Gorbachev: Let us work to bring the Eastern and Western parts of the city closer together, so that all the inhabitants of all Berlin can enjoy the benefits that come with life in one of the great cities of the world.To open Berlin still further to all Europe, East and West, let us expand the vital air access to this city, finding ways of making commercial air service to Berlin more convenient, more comfortable, and more economical.We look to the day when West Berlin can become one of the chief aviation hubs in all central Europe.With--With our French--With our French and British partners, the United States is prepared to help bring international meetings to Berlin.It would be only fitting for Berlin to serve as the site of United Nations meetings, or world conferences on human rights and arms control, or other issues that call for international cooperation.There is no better way to establish hope for the future than to enlighten young minds, and we would be honored to sponsor summer youth exchanges, cultural events, and other programs for young Berliners from the East.Our French and British friends, I'm certain, will do the same.And it's my hope that an authority can be found in East Berlin to sponsor visits from young people of the Western sectors.One final proposal, one close to my heart: Sport represents a source of enjoyment and ennoblement, and you may have noted that the Republic of Korea--South Korea--has offered to permit certain events of the 1988 Olympics to take place in the North.International sports competitions of all kinds could take place in both parts of this city.And what better way to demonstrate to the world the openness of this city than to offer in some future year to hold the Olympic games here in Berlin, East and West.In these four decades, as I have said, you Berliners have built a great city.You've done so in spite of threats--the Soviet attempts to impose the East-mark, the blockade.Today the city thrives in spite of the challenges implicit in the very presence of this wall.What keeps you here? Certainly there's a great deal to be said for your fortitude, for your defiant courage.But I believe there's something deeper, something that involves Berlin's whole look and feel and way of life--not mere sentiment.No one could live long in Berlin without being completely disabused of illusions.Something, instead, that has seen the difficulties of life in Berlin but chose to accept them, that continues to build this good and proud city in contrast to a surrounding totalitarian presence, that refuses to release human energies or aspirations, something that speaks with a powerful voice of affirmation, that says “yes” to this city, yes to the future, yes to freedom.In a word, I would submit that what keeps you in Berlin--is “love.”
Love both profound and abiding.Perhaps this gets to the root of the matter, to the most fundamental distinction of all between East and West.The totalitarian world produces backwardness because it does such violence to the spirit, thwarting the human impulse to create, to enjoy, to worship.The totalitarian world finds even symbols of love and of worship an affront.Years ago, before the East Germans began rebuilding their churches, they erected a secular structure: the television tower at Alexander Platz.Virtually ever since, the authorities have been working to correct what they view as the tower's one major flaw: treating the glass sphere at the top with paints and chemicals of every kind.Yet even today when the sun strikes that sphere, that sphere that towers over all Berlin, the light makes the sign of the cross.There in Berlin, like the city itself, symbols of love, symbols of worship, cannot be suppressed.As I looked out a moment ago from the Reichstag, that embodiment of German unity, I noticed words crudely spray-painted upon the wall, perhaps by a young Berliner(quote):
“This wall will fall.Beliefs become reality.”
Yes, across Europe, this wall will fall, for it cannot withstand faith;it cannot withstand truth.The wall cannot withstand freedom.And I would like, before I close, to say one word.I have read, and I have been questioned since I've been here about certain demonstrations against my coming.And I would like to say just one thing, and to those who demonstrate so.I wonder if they have ever asked themselves that if they should have the kind of government they apparently seek, no one would ever be able to do what they're doing again.Thank you and God bless you all.Thank you.美国经典英文演讲100篇:Oklahoma Bombing Memorial Address
时间:2008-6-12 10:19:08 来源:本站原创
作者:echo
(女宇航员选拔标准 | 招聘英语编辑)
进入MP3下载页面
下载到我的手机(下载播放软件 | 如不能播放请点击此处)
William Jefferson Clinton
Oklahoma Bombing Memorial Prayer Service Address
delivered 23 April 1995 in Oklahoma City, OK
[AUTHENTICITY CERTIFIED: Text version below transcribed directly from audio.(2)]
Thank you very much, Governor Keating and Mrs.Keating, Reverend Graham, to the families of those who have been lost and wounded, to the people of Oklahoma City, who have endured so much, and the people of this wonderful state, to all of you who are here as our fellow Americans.I am honored to be here today to represent the American people.But I have to tell you that Hillary and I also come as parents, as husband and wife, as people who were your neighbors for some of the best years of our lives.Today our nation joins with you in grief.We mourn with you.We share your hope against hope that some may still survive.We thank all those who have worked so heroically to save lives and to solve this crime--those here in Oklahoma and those who are all across this great land, and many who left their own lives to come here to work hand in hand with you.We pledge to do all we can to help you heal the injured, to rebuild this city, and to bring to justice those who did this evil.This terrible sin took the lives of our American family, innocent children in that building, only because their parents were trying to be good parents as well as good workers;citizens in the building going about their daily business;and many there who served the rest of us--who worked to help the elderly and the disabled, who worked to support our farmers and our veterans, who worked to enforce our laws and to protect us.Let us say clearly, they served us well, and we are grateful.But for so many of you they were also neighbors and friends.You saw them at church or the PTA meetings, at the civic clubs, at the ball park.You know them in ways that all the rest of America could not.And to all the members of the families here present who have suffered loss, though we share your grief, your pain is unimaginable, and we know that.We cannot undo it.That is God's work.Our words seem small beside the loss you have endured.But I found a few I wanted to share today.I've received a lot of letters in these last terrible days.One stood out because it came from a young widow and a mother of three whose own husband was murdered with over 200 other Americans when Pan Am 103 was shot down.Here is what that woman said I should say to you today:
The anger you feel is valid, but you must not allow yourselves to be consumed by it.The hurt you feel must not be allowed to turn into hate, but instead into the search for justice.The loss you feel must not paralyze your own lives.Instead, you must try to pay tribute to your loved ones by continuing to do all the things they left undone, thus ensuring they did not die in vain.Wise words from one who also knows.You have lost too much, but you have not lost everything.And you have certainly not lost America, for we will stand with you for as many tomorrows as it takes.If ever we needed evidence of that, I could only recall the words of Governor and Mrs.Keating: “If anybody thinks that Americans are mostly mean and selfish, they ought to come to Oklahoma.If anybody thinks Americans have lost the capacity for love and caring and courage, they ought to come to Oklahoma.”
To all my fellow Americans beyond this hall, I say, one thing we owe those who have sacrificed is the duty to purge ourselves of the dark forces which gave rise to this evil.They are forces that threaten our common peace, our freedom, our way of life.Let us teach our children that the God of comfort is also the God of righteousness: Those who trouble their own house will inherit the wind.¹ Justice will prevail.Let us let our own children know that we will stand against the forces of fear.When there is talk of hatred, let us stand up and talk against it.When there is talk of violence, let us stand up and talk against it.In the face of death, let us honor life.As St.Paul admonished us, Let us “not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”²
Yesterday, Hillary and I had the privilege of speaking with some children of other federal employees--children like those who were lost here.And one little girl said something we will never forget.She said, “We should all plant a tree in memory of the children.” So this morning before we got on the plane to come here, at the White House, we planted that tree in honor of the children of Oklahoma.It was a dogwood with its wonderful spring flower and its deep, enduring roots.It embodies the lesson of the Psalms--that the life of a good person is like a tree whose leaf does not wither.³
My fellow Americans, a tree takes a long time to grow, and wounds take a long time to heal.But we must begin.Those who are lost now belong to God.Some day we will be with them.But until that happens, their legacy must be our lives.Thank you all, and God bless you.
点击咨询 