比尔·克林顿在奥克拉荷马的演讲

第一篇：比尔·克林顿在奥克拉荷马的演讲

比尔·克林顿在奥克拉荷马的演讲

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.”

www.xiexiebang.com

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.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.”

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.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.

第二篇：前美国总统比尔克林顿离任电视讲话

Let's begin.(Tone)My fellow citizens, tonight's my last opportunity to speak to you from the Oval Office as your president.I am profoundly grateful to you for twice giving me the honor to serve, to work for you and with you to prepare our nation for the 21st century.And I'm grateful to Vice President Gore, to my Cabinet secretaries, and to all those who served with me for the last eight years.This has been a time of dramatic transformation, and you have risen to every new challenge.You have made our social fabric stronger, our families healthier and safer, our people,more prosperous.You, the American people, have made our passage into the global information age an era of.great American renewal.In all the work I have done as president, every decision I have made, every executive action I have taken, every bill I have proposed and signed, I've tried to give all Americans the tools and conditions to build the future of our dreams, in a good society, with a strong economy, a cleaner environment, and a freer, safer, more prosperous world.I have steered my course by our enduring values.Opportunity for all.Responsibility from all.A community of all Americans.I have sought to give America a new kind of government.smaller, more modern, more effective, full of ideas and policies appropriate to this new time.ways putting people first, always focusing on the future.Working together, America has done well.Our economy is breaking records, with more than 22 million new jobs, the lowest unemployment in 30 years, the highest home ownership ever, the longest expansion in history.Our families and communities are stronger.Thirty-five million Americans have used the family leave law.Eight million have moved off welfare.Crime is at a 25-year low.Over 10 million Americans receive more college aids, and more people than ever are going to college.Our schools are better-higher standards, greater accountability and larger investments have brought higher test scores, and higher graduation rates.More than 3 million children have health insurance now, and more than 7 million Americans have been lifted out of poverty.Incomes are rising across the board.Our air and water are cleaner.Our food and drinking water are safer.And more of our precious land has been preserved, in the continental United States, than at any time in 100 years.America has been a force for peace and prosperity in every corner of the globe.I'm very grateful to be able to turn over the reins of leadership to a new president, with America in such a strong position to meet the challenges of the future.Tonight, I want to leave you with three thoughts about our future.First, America must maintain our record of fiscal responsibility.Through our last four budgets, we've turned record deficits to record surpluses, and we've been able to pay down $600 billion of our national debt, on track to be debt free by the end of the decade for the first time since 1835.Staying on that course will bring lower interest rates, greater prosperity and the opportunity to meet our big challenges.If we choose wisely, we can pay down the debt, deal with the retirement of the baby boomers, invest more in our future and provide tax relief.Second, because the world is more connected every day in every way, America's security and prosperity require us to continue to lead in the world.At this remarkable moment in history, more people live in freedom that ever before.Our alliances are stronger than ever People all around the world look to America to be a force for peace and prosperity, freedom and security.The global economy is giving more of our own people, and billions around the world, the chance to work and live and raise their families with dignity.But the forces of integration that have created these good opportunities also make us more subject to global forces of destruction, to terrorism, organized crime and marco-trafficking, the spread of deadly weapons and disease, the degradation of the global environment.The expansion of trade hasn't fully closed the gap between those of us who live on the cutting edge of the global economy and the billions around the world who live on the knife's edge of survival.This global gap requires more than compassion.It requires action.Global poverty is a powder keg that could be ignited by our indifference.In his first inaugural address, Thomas Jefferson warned of entangling alliances.But in our times, America cannot and must not disentangle itself from the world.If we want the world to embody our shared values, then we must assume a shared responsibility.If the wars of the 20th century, especially the recent ones in Kosovo and Bosnia, have taught us anything, it is that we achieve our aims by defending our values and leading the forces of freedom and peace.We must embrace boldly and resolutely that duty to lead, to stand with our allies in word and deed, and to put a human face on the global economy so that expanded trade benefits all peoples in all nations, lifting lives and hopes all across the world.Third, we must remember that America cannot lead in the world unless here at home we weave the threads of our coat of many colors into the fabric of one America.As we become ever more diverse, we must work harder to unite around our common values and our common humanity.We must work harder to overcome our differences.In our hearts and in our laws, we must :treat all our people with fairness and dignity, regardless of their race, religion, gender or sexual orientation and regardless of when they arrived in our country, always moving toward the more perfect union of our founders' dreams.Hillary, Chelsea and I join all Americans in wishing our very best to the next president, George W.Bush, to his family and his administration in meeting these challenges and in leading freedom's march in this new century.As for me, i'11 leave the presidency more idealistic, more full of hope than the day I arrived and more confident than ever that America's best days lie ahead.My days in this office are nearly through, but my days of service, I hope, are not.In the years ahead, I will never hold a position higher or a covenant more sacred than that of president of the United States.But there is no title I will wear more proudly than that of citizen's.Thank you.God bless you, and God bless America.(Tone)

(Full text of the remarks by Bill Clinton, President of USA on his farewell television speech on January 18, 2001, as transcribed)

the Oval Office:

白宫

powder keg: 火药桶

Cabinet secretaries:

内阁部长

inaugural address:就职演说 bill: 法案

Kosovo:科索沃

baby boomers: 婴儿潮时期出生的人

Bosnia:波斯尼亚

narco-trafficking: 贩毒

sexual orientation: 性倾向

第三篇：美国前总统比尔·克林顿在2012年9月5日民主党全国代表大会上的演讲

A transcript of former President Bill Clinton's remarks Wednesday night at the Democratic National Convention, as provided by the Democratic Party:

We're here to nominate a president, and I've got one in mind.I want to nominate a man whose own life has known its fair share of adversity and uncertainty.A man who ran for president to change the course of an already weak economy and then just six weeks before the election, saw it suffer the biggest collapse since the Great Depression.A man who stopped the slide into depression and put us on the long road to recovery, knowing all the while that no matter how many jobs were created and saved, there were still millions more waiting, trying to feed their children and keep their hopes alive.I want to nominate a man cool on the outside but burning for America on the inside.A man who believes we can build a new American Dream economy driven by innovation and creativity, education and cooperation.A man who had the good sense to marry Michelle Obama.I want Barack Obama to be the next president of the United States and I proudly nominate him as the standard bearer of the Democratic Party.In Tampa, we heard a lot of talk about how the president and the Democrats don't believe in free enterprise and individual initiative, how we want everyone to be dependent on the government, how bad we are for the economy.The Republican narrative is that all of us who amount to anything are completely self-made.One of our greatest Democratic chairmen, Bob Strauss, used to say that every politician wants you to believe he was born in a log cabin he built himself, but it ain't so.We Democrats think the country works better with a strong middle class, real opportunities for poor people to work their way into it and a relentless focus on the future, with business and government working together to promote growth and broadly shared prosperity.We think “we're all in this together” is a better philosophy than “you're on your own.”

Who's right? Well, since 1961, the Republicans have held the White House 28 years, the Democrats 24.In those 52 years, our economy produced 66 million private sector jobs.What's the jobs score? Republicans 24 million, Democrats 42 million.It turns out that advancing equal opportunity and economic empowerment is both morally right and good economics, because discrimination, poverty and ignorance restrict growth, while investments in education, infrastructure and scientific and technological research increase it, creating more good jobs and new wealth for all of us.Though I often disagree with Republicans, I never learned to hate them the way the far right that now controls their party seems to hate President Obama and the Democrats.After all, President Eisenhower sent federal troops to my home state to integrate Little Rock Central High and built the interstate highway system.And as governor, I worked with President Reagan on welfare reform and with President George H.W.Bush on national education goals.I am grateful to President George W.Bush for PEPFAR, which is saving the lives of millions of people in poor countries and to both Presidents Bush for the work we've done together after the South Asia tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and the Haitian earthquake.Through my foundation, in America and around the world, I work with Democrats, Republicans and Independents who are focused on solving problems and seizing opportunities, not fighting each other.When times are tough, constant conflict may be good politics but in the real world, cooperation works better.After all, nobody's right all the time, and a broken clock is right twice a day.All of us are destined to live our lives between those two extremes.Unfortunately, the faction that now dominates the Republican Party doesn't see it that way.They think government is the enemy, and compromise is weakness.One of the main reasons America should re-elect President Obama is that he is still committed to cooperation.He appointed Republican secretaries of defense, the army and transportation.He appointed a vice president who ran against him in 2008, and trusted him to oversee the successful end of the war in Iraq and the implementation of the recovery act.And Joe Biden did a great job with both.He appointed Cabinet members who supported Hillary in the primaries.Heck, he even appointed Hillary.I'm so proud of her and grateful to our entire national security team for all they've done to make us safer and stronger and to build a world with more partners and fewer enemies.I'm also grateful to the young men and women who serve our country in the military and to Michelle Obama and Jill Biden for supporting military families when their loved ones are overseas and for helping our veterans, when they come home bearing the wounds of war, or needing help with education, housing, and jobs.President Obama's record on national security is a tribute to his strength, and judgment, and to his preference for inclusion and partnership over partisanship.He also tried to work with congressional Republicans on health care, debt reduction, and jobs, but that didn't work out so well.Probably because, as the Senate Republican leader, in a remarkable moment of candor, said two years before the election, their No.1 priority was not to put America back to work, but to put President Obama out of work.Senator, I hate to break it to you, but we're going to keep President Obama on the job.In Tampa, the Republican argument against the president's re-election was pretty simple: we left him a total mess, he hasn't cleaned it up fast enough, so fire him and put us back in.In order to look like an acceptable alternative to President Obama, they couldn't say much about the ideas they have offered over the last two years.You see they want to go back to the same old policies that got us into trouble in the first place: to cut taxes for high income Americans even more than President Bush did;to get rid of those pesky financial regulations designed to prevent another crash and prohibit future bailouts;to increase defense spending $2 trillion more than the Pentagon has requested without saying what they'll spend the money on;to make enormous cuts in the rest of the budget, especially programs that help the middle class and poor kids.As another president once said_ there they go again.I like the argument for President Obama's re-election a lot better.He inherited a deeply damaged economy, put a floor under the crash, began the long hard road to recovery, and laid the foundation for a modern, more well-balanced economy that will produce millions of good new jobs, vibrant new businesses, and lots of new wealth for the innovators.Are we where we want to be? No.Is the president satisfied? No.Are we better off than we were when he took office, with an economy in free fall, losing 750,000 jobs a month.The answer is yes.I understand the challenge we face.I know many Americans are still angry and frustrated with the economy.Though employment is growing, banks are beginning to lend and even housing prices are picking up a bit, too many people don't feel it.I experienced the same thing in 1994 and early 1995.Our policies were working and the economy was growing but most people didn't feel it yet.By 1996, the economy was roaring, halfway through the longest peacetime expansion in American history.President Obama started with a much weaker economy than I did.No president_ not me or any of my predecessors could have repaired all the damage in just four years.But conditions are improving and if you'll renew the President's contract you will feel it.I believe that with all my heart.President Obama's approach embodies the values, the ideas, and the direction America must take to build a 21st century version of the American Dream in a nation of shared opportunities, shared prosperity and shared responsibilities.So back to the story.In 2010, as the president's recovery program kicked in, the job losses stopped and things began to turn around.The Recovery Act saved and created millions of jobs and cut taxes for 95 percent of the American people.In the last 29 months the economy has produced about 4.5 million private sector jobs.But last year, the Republicans blocked the president's jobs plan costing the economy more than a million new jobs.So here's another jobs score: President Obama plus 4.5 million, congressional Republicans zero.Over that same period, more than more than 500,000 manufacturing jobs have been created under President Obama_ the first time manufacturing jobs have increased since the 1990s.The auto industry restructuring worked.It saved more than a million jobs, not just at GM, Chrysler and their dealerships, but in auto parts manufacturing all over the country.That's why even auto-makers that weren't part of the deal supported it.They needed to save the suppliers too.Like I said, we're all in this together.Now there are 250,000 more people working in the auto industry than the day the companies were restructured.Gov.Romney opposed the plan to save GM and Chrysler.So here's another jobs score: Obama 250,000, Romney, zero.The agreement the administration made with management, labor and environmental groups to double car mileage over the next few years is another good deal: it will cut your gas bill in half, make us more energy independent, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and add another 500,000 good jobs.President Obama's “all of the above” energy plan is helping too_ the boom in oil and gas production combined with greater energy efficiency has driven oil imports to a near 20 year low and natural gas production to an all-time high.Renewable energy production has also doubled.We do need more new jobs, lots of them, but there are already more than three million jobs open and unfilled in America today, mostly because the applicants don't have the required skills.We have to prepare more Americans for the new jobs that are being created in a world fueled by new technology.That's why investments in our people are more important than ever.The president has supported community colleges and employers in working together to train people for open jobs in their communities.And, after a decade in which exploding college costs have increased the drop-out rate so much that we've fallen to 16th in the world in the percentage of our young adults with college degrees, his student loan reform lowers the cost of federal student loans and even more important, gives students the right to repay the loans as a fixed percentage of their incomes for up to 20 years.That means no one will have to drop-out of college for fear they can't repay their debt, and no one will have to turn down a job, as a teacher, a police officer or a small town doctor because it doesn't pay enough to make the debt payments.This will change the future for young Americans.I know we're better off because President Obama made these decisions.That brings me to health care.The Republicans call it Obamacare and say it's a government takeover of health care that they'll repeal.Are they right? Let's look at what's happened so far.Individuals and businesses have secured more than a billion dollars in refunds from their insurance premiums because the new law requires 80 percent to 85 pecent of your premiums to be spent on health care, not profits or promotion.Other insurance companies have lowered their rates to meet the requirement.More than 3 million young people between 19 and 25 are insured for the first time because their parents can now carry them on family policies.Millions of seniors are receiving preventive care including breast cancer screenings and tests for heart problems.Soon the insurance companies, not the government, will have millions of new customers many of them middle class people with pre-existing conditions.And for the last two years, health care spending has grown under 4 pecent, for the first time in 50 years.So are we all better off because President Obama fought for it and passed it? You bet we are.There were two other attacks on the president in Tampa that deserve an answer.Both Gov.Romney and congressman Ryan attacked the president for allegedly robbing Medicare of $716 billion.Here's what really happened.There were no cuts to benefits.None.What the president did was save money by cutting unwarranted subsidies to providers and insurance companies that weren't making people any healthier.He used the saving to close the donut hole in the Medicare drug program, and to add eight years to the life of the Medicare Trust Fund.It's now solvent until 2024.So President Obama and the Democrats didn't weaken Medicare, they strengthened it.When congressman Ryan looked into the TV camera and attacked President Obama's “biggest coldest power play” in raiding Medicare, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.You see, that $716 billion is exactly the same amount of Medicare savings congressman Ryan had in his own budget.At least on this one, Gov.Romney's been consistent.He wants to repeal the savings and give the money back to the insurance companies, re-open the donut hole and force seniors to pay more for drugs, and reduce the life of the Medicare Trust Fund by eight years.So now if he's elected and does what he promised Medicare will go broke by 2016.If that happens, you won't have to wait until their voucher program to begins in 2023 to see the end Medicare as we know it.But it gets worse.They also want to block grant Medicaid and cut it by a third over the coming decade.Of course, that will hurt poor kids, but that's not all.Almost two-thirds of Medicaid is spent on nursing home care for seniors and on people with disabilities, including kids from middle class families, with special needs like, Down syndrome or autism.I don't know how those families are going to deal with it.We can't let it happen

Now let's look at the Republican charge that President Obama wants to weaken the work requirements in the welfare reform bill I signed that moved millions of people from welfare to work.Here's what happened.When some Republican governors asked to try new ways to put people on welfare back to work, the Obama administration said they would only do it if they had a credible plan to increase employment by 20 percent.You hear that? More work.So the claim that President Obama weakened welfare reform's work requirement is just not true.But they keep running ads on it.As their campaign pollster said “we're not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact checkers.” Now that is true.I couldn't have said it better myself_ I just hope you remember that every time you see the ad.Let's talk about the debt.We have to deal with it or it will deal with us.President Obama has offered a plan with $4 trillion in debt reduction over a decade, with $2 of spending reductions for every $1 of revenue increases, and tight controls on future spending.It's the kind of balanced approach proposed by the bipartisan Simpson-Bowles commission.I think the president's plan is better than the Romney plan, because the Romney plan fails the first test of fiscal responsibility: The numbers don't add up.It's supposed to be a debt reduction plan but it begins with $5 trillion in tax cuts over a 10-year period.That makes the debt hole bigger before they even start to dig out.They say they'll make it up by eliminating loopholes in the tax code.When you ask “which loopholes and how much?” they say, “See me after the election on that.”

People ask me all the time how we delivered four surplus budgets.What new ideas did we bring? I always give a one-word answer: arithmetic.If they stay with a $5 trillion tax cut in a debt reduction plan_ the_ arithmetic tells us that one of three things will happen:

1)they'll have to eliminate so many deductions like the ones for home mortgages and charitable giving that middle class families will see their tax bill go up $2,000 year while people making over $3 million a year get will still get a 250,000 dollar tax cut;or

2)they'll have to cut so much spending that they'll obliterate the budget for our national parks, for ensuring clean air, clean water, safe food, safe air travel;or they'll cut way back on Pell Grants, college loans, early childhood education and other programs that help middle class families and poor children, not to mention cutting investments in roads, bridges, science, technology and medical research;or

3)they'll do what they've been doing for thirty plus years now_ cut taxes more than they cut spending, explode the debt, and weaken the economy.Remember, Republican economic policies quadrupled the debt before I took office and doubled it after I left.We simply can't afford to double-down on trickle-down.President Obama's plan cuts the debt, honors our values, and brightens the future for our children, our families and our nation.My fellow Americans, you have to decide what kind of country you want to live in.If you want a you're on your own, winner take all society you should support the Republican ticket.If you want a country of shared opportunities and shared responsibilities_ a “we're all in it together” society, you should vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden.If you want every American to vote and you think it's wrong to change voting procedures just to reduce the turnout of younger, poorer, minority and disabled voters, you should support Barack Obama.If you think the president was right to open the doors of American opportunity to young immigrants brought here as children who want to go to college or serve in the military, you should vote for Barack Obama.If you want a future of shared prosperity, where the middle class is growing and poverty is declining, where the American Dream is alive and well, and where the United States remains the leading force for peace and prosperity in a highly competitive world, you should vote for Barack Obama.I love our country_ and I know we're coming back.For more than 200 years, through every crisis, we've always come out stronger than we went in.And we will again as long as we do it together.We champion the cause for which our founders pledged their lives, their fortunes, their sacred honor_ to form a more perfect union.If that's what you believe, if that's what you want, we have to re-elect President Barack Obama.God bless you _ God bless America.

第四篇：比尔、盖茨斯坦福大学123演讲

乐观不是等待事情变好

比尔·盖茨在斯坦福大学123届毕业典礼演讲

恭喜你们，2014届毕业生!能受邀到斯坦福大学做演讲，每个人都会感到兴奋，对我来说尤其如此。斯坦福大学是我的家庭成员和微软员工们最喜欢的大学。我们在这里收获了最聪明、最有创造力的同仁，而他们只是斯坦福毕业生中的一小部分。

现在，我们在这里进行着30多个研究项目。当我们想更深入地了解免疫系统，以治愈更多病人时，我们与斯坦福合作;并我们想了解高等教育的发展和变革时，我们与斯坦福合作。这里是天才的居住地。这里有灵动的心，正敞开怀抱迎接改变，渴望着所有创新之物。人们在这里探索未来，乐在其中。这个校园有那么多了不起的东西，但如果一定要用一个词来概括我们最喜欢斯坦福大学的地方，那便是“乐观主义”。

(盖茨夫人)一些人叫你们书呆子，我们听说你们正为此而感到骄傲。(盖茨)“我们也是(书呆子)。” 乐观是一种极具传染性的情绪，它让每个人坚信创新几乎可以解决所有的问题。这种信念驱使我在1975年辍学，并随着时间的不断流逝而与日剧增。到现在40年过去了，我们结婚也20年了。现在我们也比过往任何时候都乐观。所以今天我想谈谈：我们为什么需要乐观精神。

胸有成竹之前，去看看这个世界先 当我开始写微软的第一行代码时，我希望将计算机和软件的力量最大化。在当时，只有大企业可以购买电脑。

到了90年代，个人电脑开始深刻地影响人们的日常生活，却在同时造成了一个新的困境：只有富家子弟能得到计算机。技术正使不平等现象恶化，这违背了我们的核心信念——科技应当使所有人受益。因此，我们开始致力于缩小数字鸿沟。我们给公共图书馆捐赠个人电脑，以确保每个人都有机会使用。

1997年，我到南非访问，住在当地最富有的家庭之一。当我和这个家的主人坐下来准备吃饭的时候，他们敲了一下钟，叫来管家。晚餐后，男人和女人分开，男人们开始抽雪茄。当时，我脑海里闪过一个念头，“还好我读过简〃奥斯汀，不然我可搞不清眼前这一切是怎么回事。” 第二天，我去了索韦托，约翰内斯堡市西南部的一个乡镇，这里一直是反种族隔离运动的中心。我们给那里的社区中心捐赠了一批电脑和软件，就像我们在美国所做的事情一样，但很快，我们发现，这里并不是美国。从城市到乡镇的距离非常短，但城乡之间却是却那么地不和谐。我感觉自己仿佛到了另一个世界。我见过贫困数据统计，但我从未真正目睹过贫困。那里的人民生活在瓦楞铁皮棚，没

有电，没有水，没有厕所。大多数人没有穿鞋，他们光着脚走在街上。那里的街道空空如也，泥泞中透出隐约的车辙。

社区中心没有固定的稳定电源，靠一条连到大约200英尺外的中央柴油发电机的延长线，勉强维持电力供应。当我和随行的记者准备离开时，发电机的任务便结束了，社区中心里的人也将回家继续担心自己的生计，而这并不是一台个人电脑就能解决的难题。我把事先准备好的讲稿递给记者，上面写道，“索韦托是一个里程碑，在有关技术是否会使发展中国家越来越落后的议题上，答案越来越明确——它们正在缩小差距，而非扩大。”

然而我没有说的是，“顺便说一下，我们并没有关注到这片土地上每年有50万人民死于疟疾的事实，我们只负责把电脑送给他们。”

在此之前，我以为我明白世界上所有的问题，但事实上，我却在这件事情上当了“睁眼瞎”，我不得不问自己，“难道我还相信，创新能够解决世界上最棘手的问题吗?”我们不能为了救助，而把最重要的事情却给忽略了。我们必须找到贫困者的当务之急，和当下之需。

见证痛苦，才能让乐观兑现 当然，这种自我怀疑并没有持续太久。很快我就意识到，即使在严峻的情况下，乐观也可以推动创新，并催生新的工具，以消除痛苦。但是，如果你从来没有看到真正痛苦的人，你的乐观便不能帮助他们——你将永远不会改变他们的世界。多年来，我和我的太太都致力于了解贫困人士们最迫切的需求。在后来的南非之行，我拜访了一家医院，那里满是患结核病的患者，简直是一个巨大的戴着口罩的海洋，上面飘着一大张地狱候选名单。但与第一次索韦托之行不同，后来再深入“地狱”让我更想做些事情。我从医院出来，上了车，告诉与我们合作的医生：“我知道结核病是难以治愈的，但我们应该能够做一些事情。” 有人习惯把乐观指称为“错误的希望”，但想一下，“错误的无望”是否同样存在?有人说，我们不能战胜贫困和疾病，但我并不这么认为。今年，我们的抗结核药物研究正在进入第三阶段，经过努力，这种病的治愈率已从50%提升到了80-90%。

乐观不是等待事情变好，而是相信自己能够做得更好 现代社会有无与伦比的创新精神，而斯坦福大学正处在创新的核心。斯坦福孕育了许许多多的新公司，各行各业的教授，创新的软件和药品。这里的人们对未来充满渴望。然而，如果你在美国街头问问人们，“未来会比过去更好吗?”大多数人会回答，“不，我的孩子未必会比我过得更好。”他们认为创新不能改善这个世界。这些悲观论调是错误的，他们的想法一点都不“疯狂”。如果我们不注重创新，那么我们就不可能有惊人的发明，我们不会改善公立学校，不会治愈疟疾，不会结束贫困，不会帮助贫困农民应付不断变化的气候。

乐观不是消极地期待事情变好，而是一种信念，相信自己可以做的更好。任何时候，乐观都能加速创新，避免或减轻痛苦。我们需要同理心，它能引导我们的乐观，带我们走近贫穷和疾病，找到一个个充满创意的回答，给悲观主义者们一个又一个惊喜。

当我在你们这个年龄时，我的世界观并没有像你们中的大多数人所拥有的更广阔。接下来，你们将引领新的创新浪潮，并把它应用到你的世界。如果你的世界很宽广，你可以创建我们都希望的未来，如果你的世界是狭窄的，你可能迎来一个悲观恐惧的未来。毋庸置疑的是，你们会比我做得更好。

第五篇：克林顿最后的演讲

Clinton’s Farewell Speech

同胞们，今晚是我最后一次作为你们的总统，在白宫椭圆形办公室向你们做最后一次演讲。

My fellow citizens, tonight is my last opportunity to speak to you from the Oval Office as your president.这是一个激烈变革的年代，你们为迎接新的挑战已经做好了准备。This has been a time of dramatic transformation, and you have risen to 是你们让我们的社会结构更加牢固，我们的家人更加健康安全，我们的人民更加富裕

every challenge.You have made our social fabric stronger, our families healthier and safer, and our people more prosperous.同胞们，我们已经进入了全球信息化的时代，这是美国复兴的伟大时代。

You, the American people, have made our passage into the global information age an era of great American renewal.我们在一起使美国变得更加美好。美国的经济正在突破一个又一个的记录，向前发展。我们已创造了2200万个新的工作岗位，失业率是30年最低的，老百姓的住房自有率达到一个空前的高度，我们经济繁荣的持续时间是历史上最长的。

Working together, America has done well.Our economy is breaking records, with more than 22 million new jobs, the lowest unemployment in 30 years, the highest home ownership ever, the longest expansion in history.我们的家庭、我们的社会变得日益强大。3500万美国人享受联邦休假，800万人重新获得社会保障，犯罪率是25年来最低的，1000多万美国人享受更多的入学贷款，更多人接受大学教育。我们的学校也砸改善。办学水平提高、责任感增强和投资加大，使得学生取得更高的分数和更高的升学率。

Our families and communities are stronger.35 million American have used the families leave law.Eight million have moved off welfare.Crime is at a 25-year low.Over 10 million American receive more college.Our school are better-high standards, greater accountability and larger investments have brought higher test scores, and higher graduation rates.目前，已有300多万美国儿童享受医疗保险，700多万美国人已经脱离了贫困线。全国人民的收入大幅度提高。我们的空气和水资源更加洁净，食品和饮用水更加安全。我们珍贵的土地资源也得到了近百年来所未有的保护。

More than three million children have health insurance now, and more than 7 million American have been lifted out of poverty.Incomes are rising across the board.Our air and water are cleaner.Our food and drinking water are safer.And more of our precious land has been preserved, in the continental United States, than at any time in 100 years.美国已经成为积极力量，为地球上每个角落维护和平，促进繁荣。我非常高兴能在此时将领导权交给信任总统，强大的美国正面临未来的挑战。

American has been a force for peace and prosperity in every corner of the globe.I’m very grateful to be able to turn over the reins of leadership to a new president, with America in such a strong position to meet the challenges of the future.