中外名人英汉对照演讲稿
美国第一夫人米歇尔-奥巴马的第一次外交演讲
This is my first trip. My first foreign trip as a first lady. Can you believe that? (Applause) And while this is not my first visit to the U.K., I have to say that I am glad this is my first official visit. The special relationship between the United States and the U.K. is based not only on the relationship between governments, but the common language and the values that we share. And I'm reminded of that by watching you all today. During my visit I've been especially honored to meet some of Britain's most extraordinary women. Women who are paving the way for all of you.
这是我的第一次出访。是我作为第一夫人的第一次外事出访。你们能相信这个事实吗？（掌声）虽然这不是我第一次来英国，我必须说很高兴我的首次官方访问是来英国。美国和英国之间的特殊关系，不只是基于政府之间的关系，而且基于我们有共同的语言和价值观。看见你们大家就使我想到这一点。在访问期间我特别荣幸地会见了英国一些最出色的女士。这些女士在为你们所有女孩子铺路。
And I'm honored to meet you, the future leaders of Great Britain and this world. And although the circumstances of our lives may seem very distant, with me standing here as the First Lady of the United States of America, and you, just getting through school. I want you to know that we have very much in common. For nothing in my life's path would have predicted that I'd be standing here as the first African-American First Lady of the United States of America. There is nothing in my story that would land me here.
I wasn't raised with wealth or resources or any social standing to speak of. I was raised on the South Side of Chicago. That's the real part of Chicago. And I was the product of a working-class community. My father was a city worker all of his life. And my mother was a stay-at-home mom. And she stayed at home to take care of me and my older brother. Neither of them attended university. My dad was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in the prime of his life. But even as it got harder for him to walk and get dressed in the morning -- I saw him struggle more and more -- my father never complained about his struggle. He was grateful for what he had. He just woke up a little earlier and worked a little harder. And my brother and I were raised with all that you really need: love, strong values and a belief that with a good education and a whole lot of hard work, that there was nothing that we could not do.
我也很荣幸见到你们，这些英国和世界未来的领导者。虽然我们的生活境况好像相差很远，我作为美国第一夫人站在这里，而你们还正在上学。我想让你们了解我们有很多共同之处。因为在我生命历程中没有任何东西曾经预示我会站在这里，作为美利坚合众国的第一位非洲裔第一夫人。我的资历里没有什么东西能使我站在这个位置上。我不是用财富和资源养大的，也谈不上有什么社会地位。我是在芝加哥的南边养大的。那是芝加哥的真实部分。我出身于工人阶级。
我父亲一辈子是个市政工人。我母亲是个家庭妇女。她待在家里照顾我和我哥哥。我父母都没上过大学。我爸爸被诊断有多种硬化症，当他壮年的时候。但就在他变得难以行走，而且早上难以穿衣的时候 -- 我看着他挣扎得越来越厉害-- 我父亲却从来没有抱怨过他的困难。他对于自己拥有的一切心存感激。他只是起得更早一点，工作得更努力一点。我哥哥和我在成长过程中得到了人生真正需要的一切：爱，强有力的价值观，以及一个信念，就是靠着良好的教育，还有大量的辛勤工作，没有什么是我们做不到的。
I am an example of what's possible when girls from the very beginning of their lives are loved and nurtured by the people around them. I was surrounded by extraordinary women in my life. Grandmothers, teachers, aunts, cousins, neighbors, who taught me about quiet strength and dignity. And my mother, the most important role model in my life, who lives with us at the White House and helps to care for our two little daughters, Malia and Sasha. She's an active presence in their lives, as well as mine, and is instilling in them the same values that she taught me and my brother: things like compassion, and integrity, and confidence, and perseverance. All of that wrapped up in an unconditional love that only a grandmother can give.
我的例子就表明女孩子能创造奇迹，只要她们从生命最开始的时候，就受到周围人的爱护和教养。我的生命中围绕着非凡的女性。祖母，老师，姨妈，表姐妹，邻居，她们教会我沉默的力量和尊严。还有我母亲，我生命中最重要的榜样，她和我们住在白宫帮着照顾我们的两个小女儿，玛丽娅和萨莎。她在孩子们和我的生活中都很活跃，并正在给她们灌输，她教给我和我哥哥的价值观：同情心，正直、自信和坚定。所有这些都包含在无条件的爱之中，那是只有一个祖母才能给予的爱。
I was also fortunate enough to be cherished and encouraged by some strong male role models as well, including my father, my brother, uncles and grandfathers. The men in my life taught me some important things, as well. They taught me about what a respectful relationship should look like between men and women. They taught me about what a strong marriage feels like. That it's built on faith and commitment and an admiration for each other's unique gifts. They taught me about what it means to be a father and to raise a family. And not only to invest in your own home but to reach out and help raise kids in the broader community.
我也很幸运地从一些男性榜样那里得到珍爱和鼓励，包括我父亲，我哥哥，叔伯和祖父。我生命中的男人们也教会我一些重要的东西。他们教会我互相尊重的男女关系应该是什么样子的。拥有一个牢固的婚姻是什么感觉。就是建立在信念和承诺之上，以及对彼此独特天赋的赞赏。他们教我意识到什么叫当一个父亲并养育一家人。而且不只是关注自己的家庭也要伸手去帮助养育更广泛的社区里的孩子。
And these were the same qualities that I looked for in my own husband, Barack Obama. And when we first met, one of the things that I remember is that he took me out on a date. And his date was to go with him to a community meeting. (Laughter) I know, how romantic. (Laughter) But when we met, Barack was a community organizer. He worked, helping people to find jobs and to try to bring resources into struggling neighborhoods. As he talked to the residents in that community center, he talked about two concepts. He talked about "the world as it is" and "the world as it should be." And I talked about this throughout the entire campaign. What he said, that all too often, is that we accept the distance between those two ideas. And sometimes we settle for the world as it is, even when it doesn't reflect our values and aspirations. But Barack reminded us on that day, all of us in that room, that we all know what our world should look like. We know what fairness and justice and opportunity look like. We all know. And he urged the people in that meeting, in that community, to devote themselves to closing the gap between those two ideas, to work together to try to make the world as it is and the world as it should be, one and the same.
这些同样的品质也是我在自己的丈夫身上寻找的，就是巴拉克?奥巴马。在我们最初相识的时候我记得，他带我出去约会。他的约会是和他一起去开一个社区会议。（笑声）是啊，够浪漫的吧。（笑声）我们相识的时候，巴拉克是一个社区组织者。他的工作是帮助人家找工作。以及努力把资源带给有困难的邻里。当他同那个社区中心里的居民交谈的时候他谈到两个概念。他谈到"现实世界"和"理想世界"。我在竞选的整个过程中也谈到这些。他说，我们常常接受了这两种观念之间的差距。有的时侯我们满足于现实世界，即使它没有反映我们的价值观和愿望。但是那天巴拉克提醒了我们，在那间屋子里的所有人，我们都知道。我们的世界应该是什么样子的。我们知道公平，正义和机会是什么样子的。我们全都知道。他敦促那个会上的人们，那个社区里的人们，把他们自己献身于缩小那两种观念之间的差距，一起努力把现实世界变成和理想世界一样。
And I think about that today because I am reminded and convinced that all of you in this school are very important parts of closing that gap. You are the women who will build the world as it should be. You're going to write the next chapter in history. Not just for yourselves, but for your generation and generations to come. And that's why getting a good education is so important. That's why all of this that you're going through -- the ups and the downs, the teachers that you love and the teachers that you don't -- why it's so important. Because communities and countries and ultimately the world, are only as strong as the health of their women. And that's important to keep in mind.
我今天想起这些是因为我确信这所学校里你们所有的人都是缩小这差距非常重要的因素。你们是要建立理想世界的女性。你们将写出历史的下一个篇章。不
只是为你们自己，而且是为你们一代人以及未来的几代人。这就是为什么得到良好的教育是这么的重要。这就是为什么你们正在经历的所有这一切好事和坏事，你们喜欢的和不喜欢的老师--为什么都这么重要。因为社区和国家还有归根结底这个世界，它们的强大只取决于其中女性的健康。记住这一点很重要。
A part of that health includes an outstanding education. The difference between a struggling family and a healthy one is often the presence of an empowered woman or women, at the center of that family. The difference between a broken community and a thriving one is often the healthy respect between men and women who appreciate the contributions each other makes to society. The difference between a languishing nation and one that will flourish is the recognition that we need equal access to education for both boys and girls.
这个健康的一部分包括出类拔萃的教育。一个艰困的家庭与一个健康的家庭之间的区别通常就是有一个或几个说话算数的女人处于家庭的核心。一个破败的社区与一个茁壮成长的社区的区别通常取决于男女间能否相互尊重他（她）们感激对方为社会所做的贡献。一个日趋衰弱的国家与一个强盛的国家的区别就是其中的男孩和女孩是否有平等受教育的机会。
And this school, named after the U.K.'s first female doctor, and the surrounding buildings named for Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, Mary Seacole, the Jamaican nurse known as the "black Florence Nightingale," and the English author, Emily Bronte, honor women who fought sexism, racism and ignorance, to pursue their passions to feed their own souls. They allowed for no obstacles. As the sign said back there, "without limitations." They knew no other way to live than to follow their dreams. And having done so, these women moved many obstacles. And they opened many new doors for millions of female doctors and nurses and artists and authors, all of whom have followed them. And by getting a good education, you too can control your own destiny.
这所学校以英国的第一个女医生命名，学校的建筑以其他三位女士命名：墨西哥艺术家福丽达?卡萝，被称为"黑人南丁格尔"的牙买加护士玛丽?希珂，以及英国作家艾米丽?勃朗特，这都是为了纪念这些女士，她们与性别歧视，种族歧视和无知做斗争，从而追求她们的激情以充实自己的灵魂。她们没有顾及任何障碍。就像后面这个标语写的，"全然无限"。她们没想以其它的方式生活而只是追随她们的梦想。正因为如此，这四位女士去除了很多障碍。她们创造了很多新的机会为成百上千万的女医生和女护士们女艺术家和女作家们，她们都追随了这四位女士。通过得到良好的教育你们也可以掌控自己的命运。
Please remember that. If you want to know the reason why I'm standing here, it's because of education. I never cut class. Sorry, I don't know if anybody is cutting class. I never did it. I loved getting 'A's. I liked being smart. I liked being on time. I liked getting my work done. I thought
being smart was cooler than anything in the world. And you too, with these same values, can control your own destiny. You too can pave the way. You too can realize your dreams, and then your job is to reach back and to help someone just like you do the same thing. History proves that it doesn't matter whether you come from a council estate or a country estate.
请记住这一点。如果你们想知道我能站在这里的原因，那就是因为教育。我从来不逃课。对不起，我不知道这里是否有人逃课。我从来没那么做。我喜欢得‘优' 我喜欢做聪明人。我喜欢准时。我喜欢把我的功课做完。我觉得做聪明人比世界上任何事都要酷。按照同样的价值观，你们同样可以掌控你们自己的命运。你们也可以铺出路来。你们也可以实现你们的梦想，然后你们的任务就是伸出手去帮助像你们一样的人实现梦想。历史证明，无论是你们来自穷人家或来自富人家。
Your success will be determined by your own fortitude, your own confidence, your own individual hard work. That is true. That is the reality of the world that we live in. You now have control over your own destiny. And it won't be easy. That's for sure. But you have everything you need. Everything you need to succeed, you already have right here.
你们的成功取决于你们自己的坚韧，你们自己的信心，你们自己的辛勤工作。真是这样。这就是我们所生活的世界的真实情况。你们的命运现在掌握在自己手上。但这并不容易。那是一定的。可是你们拥有你们所需要的一切。要成功所需的一切，你们已经都有了。
My husband works in this big office. They call it the Oval Office. In the White House, there's the desk that he sits at. It's called the Resolute desk. It was built by the timber of Her Majesty's Ship Resolute and given by Queen Victoria. It's an enduring symbol of the friendship between our two nations. And its name, Resolute, is a reminder of the strength of character that's required not only to lead a country, but to live a life of purpose, as well. And I hope in pursuing your dreams, you all remain resolute, that you go forward without limits, and that you use your talents -- because there are many. We've seen them. It's there. That you use them to create the world as it should be. Because we are counting on you. We are counting on every single one of you to be the very best that you can be. Because the world is big. And it's full of challenges. And we need strong, smart, confident young women to stand up and take the reins.
我丈夫在一个大办公室里工作。他们管它叫椭圆办公室。在白宫里，有一个他坐在那儿办公的桌子。那个办公桌名为"坚决"。桌子是用女王陛下"坚决"号船的木料打造的。是维多利亚女王送的。它是我们两国之间友谊的永久象征。它的名字，"坚决"，提醒我们要有这样的风骨，不只是领导一个国家，而且要度过一个有意义的人生。我希望在追求你们的梦想时，你们都能保持坚定，向前进而不受限制，发挥你们的才能 -- 因为你们才华横溢。我们见识过确实有才华。
用你们的才华去创建那个理想世界，因为我们指望着你们。我们指望着你们每一个人尽你们的全力，做到最好。因为这个世界很大。充满了挑战。我们需要坚强的，聪明的，自信的年轻女性站出来执掌乾坤。
We know you can do it. We love you. Thank you so much.
我们知道你们能做到。我们爱你们。谢谢大家。
宋美龄女士1943年访美演说
历史背景：1943年为了取得美国对中国抗战的更多支持和同情，宋美龄作为蒋中正的特使，于该年二月访问美国。她成为美国罗斯福总统的夫人的贵宾，在白宫住了十一天。她那优美的仪态、高雅的风度和适度的言谈，赢得了罗斯福夫妇的敬佩。在此期间并完成对美国募款的任务，并于二月十八日在国会发表演说，成为第一位在美国国会发表演说的中国人，也是第二位女性（第一位是荷兰女王），劝说美国将注意力从欧洲战场转移到日本对中国的侵略，为中国赢得了美国的同情，随后，宋美龄又去美国各地发表演说，所到之处无不引起轰动，总计有超过25万人听过她的演说。
宋美龄1943年2月18日在美国众议院的演说
(Soong Mei-ling, “Addresses to the House of Respresentatives and to the Senat e,” February 18, 1943.)
Mr. Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives of the United States:
At any time it would be a privilege for me to address Congress, more especially this present august body which will have so much to do in shaping the destiny of the world. In speaking to Congress I am literally speaking to the American people. The Seventy-seventh Congress, as their representatives, fulfilled the obligations and responsibilities of its trust by declaring war on the aggressors. That part of the duty of the people’s representatives was discharged in 1941. The task now confronting you is to help win the war and to create and uphold a lasting peace which will justify the sacrifices and sufferings of the victims of aggression.
Before enlarging on this subject, I should like to tell you a little about my long and vividly interesting trip to your country from my own land which has bled and borne unflinchingly the burden of war for more than 5 1/2 years. I shall not dwell, however, upon the part China has played in our united effort to free mankind from brutality and violence. I shall try to convey to you, however imperfectly, the impressions gained during the trip.
First of all, I want to assure you that the American people have every right to be proud of their fighting men in so many parts of the world.
I am particularly thinking of those of your boys in the far-flung,
ut-of-the-way stations and areas where life is attended by dreary drabness—this because their duty is not one of spectacular performance and they are not buoyed up by excitement of battle. They are called upon, day after colorless day, to perform routine duties such as safeguarding defenses and preparing for possible enemy action. It has been said, and I find it true from personal experi ence, that it is easier to risk one’s life on the battlefield than it is to perform customary humble and humdrum duties which, however, are just as necessary to winning the war. Some of your troops are stationed in isolated spots quite out of reach of ordinary communications. Some of your boys have had to fly hundreds of hours over the sea from an improvised airfield in quests often disappointingly fruitless, of enemy submarines.
They, and others, have to stand the monotony of waiting—just waiting. But, as I told them, true patriotism lies in possessing the morale and physical stamina to perform faithfully and conscientiously the daily tasks so that in the sum total the weakest link is the strongest.
Your soldiers have shown conclusively that they are able stoically to endure homesickness, the glaring dryness, and scorching heat of the Tropics, and keep themselves fit and in excellent fighting trim. They are amongst the unsung heroes of this war, and everything possible to lighten their tedium and buoy up their morale should be done. That sacred duty is yours. The American Army is better fed than any army in the world. This does not mean, however, that they can live indefinitely on canned food without having the effects tell on them. These admittedly are the minor hardships of war, especially when we pause to consider that in many parts of the world, starvation prevails. But peculiarly enough, oftentimes it is not the major problems of existence which irk a man’s soul; it is rather the pin pricks, especially those incidental to a life of deadly sameness, with tempers frayed out and nervous systems torn to shreds.
The second impression of my trip is that America is not only the cauldron of democracy, but the incubator of democratic principles. At some of the places I visited, I met the crews of your air bases. There I found first generation Germans, Italians, Frenchmen, Poles, Czechoslovakians, and other nationals. Some of them had accents so thick that, if such a thing were possible, one could not cut them with a butter knife. But there they were—all Americans, all devoted to the same ideals, all working for the same cause and united by the same high purpose. No suspicion or rivalry existed between them. This increased my belief and faith that devotion
to common principles eliminates differences in race, and that identity of ideals is the strongest possible solvent of racial dissimilarities.
I have reached your country, therefore, with no misgivings, but with my belief that the American people are building and carrying out a true pattern of the Nation conceived by your forebears, strengthened and confirmed. You, as epresentatives of the American people, have before you the glorious opportunity of carrying on the pioneer work of your ancestors, beyond the frontiers of physical and geographical limitations. Their brawn and thews braved undauntedly almost unbelievable hardships to open up a new continent. The modern world lauds them for their vigor and intensity of purpose, and for their accomplishment. Your have today before you the immeasurably greater opportunity to implement these same ideals and to help bring about the liberation of man’s spirit in every part of the world. In order to accomplish this purpose, we of the United Nations must now so prosecute the war that victory will be ours decisively and with all good speed.
Sun-tse, the well-known Chinese strategist said, “In order to win, know thyself and thy enemy.” We have also the saying: “It takes little effort to watch the other fellow carry the load.”
In spite of these teachings from a wise old past, which are shared by every nation, there has been a tendency to belittle the strength of our opponents.
When Japan thrust total war on China in 1937 military experts of every nation did not give China even a ghost of a chance. But when Japan failed to bring China cringing to her knees as she vaunted, the world took solace in this phenomenon by declaring that they had overestimated Japan’s military might.
Nevertheless, when the greedy flames of war inexorably spread in the Pacific following the perfidious attack on Pearl Harbor, Malaya, and lands in and around the China Sea, and one after another of these places fell, the pendulum swung to the other extreme. Doubts and fears lifted their ugly heads and the world began to think that the Japanese were Nietzschean supermen, superior in intellect and physical prowess, a belief which the Gobineaus and the Houston Chamberlains and their apt pupils, the Nazi racists, had propounded about the Nordics.
Again, now the prevailing opinion seems to consider the defeat of the Japanese as of relative unimportance and that Hitler is our first concern. This is not borne out by actual facts, nor is it to the interests of the United Nations as a whole to allow Japan to continue not only as a vital
potential threat but as a waiting sword of Damocles, ready to descend at a moment’s notice.
Let us not forget that Japan in her occupied areas today has greater resources at her command than Germany.
Let us not forget that the longer Japan is left in undisputed possession of these resources, the stronger she must become. Each passing day takes more toll in lives of both Americans and Chinese.
Let us not forget that the Japanese are an intransigent people.
Let us not forget that during the first 4 1/2 years of total aggression China has borne Japan’s sadistic fury unaided and alone.
The victories won by the United Sates Navy at Midway and the Coral Sea are doubtless steps in the right direction—they are merely steps in the right direction—for the magnificent fight that was waged at Guadalcanal during the past 6 months attests to the fact that the defeat of the forces of evil though long and arduous will finally come to pass. For have we not on the side of righteousness and justice staunch allies in Great Britain, Russia, and other brave and indomitable peoples? Meanwhile the peril of the Japanese juggernaut remains. Japanese military might must be decimated as a fighting force before its threat to civilization is removed.
When the Seventy-seventh Congress declared war against Japan, Germany, and Italy, Congress for the moment had done its work. It now remains for you, the present Representatives of the American people, to point the way to win the war, to help construct a world in which all peoples may henceforth live in harmony and peace.
May I not hope that it is the resolve of Congress to devote itself to the creation of the post-war world? To dedicate itself to the preparation for the brighter future that a stricken world so eagerly awaits?
We of this generation who are privileged to help make a better world for ourselves and for posterity should remember that, while we must not be visionary, we must have vision so that peace should not be punitive in spirit and should not be provincial or nationalistic or even continental in concept, but universal in scope and humanitarian in action, for modern science has so annihilated distance that what affects one people must of necessity affect all other peoples.
The term “hands and feet” is often used in China to signify the relationship between brothers. Since international interdependence is now so universally recognized, can we not also say that all nations should become members of one corporate body?
The 160 years of traditional friendship between our two great peoples, China and America,which has never been marred by misunderstandings, is unsurpassed in the annals of the world.
I can also assure you that China is eager and ready to cooperate with you and other peoples to lay a true and lasting foundation for a sane and progressive world society which would make it impossible for any arrogant or predatory neighbor to plunge future generations into another orgy of blood. In the past China has not computed the cost to her manpower in her fight against aggression, although she well realized that manpower is the real wealth of a nation and it takes generations to grow it. She has been soberly conscious of her responsibilities and has not concerned herself with privileges and gains which she might have obtained through compromise of principles. Nor will she demean herself and all she holds dear to the practice of the market place.
We in China, like you, want a better world, not for ourselves alone, but for all mankind, and we must have it. It is not enough, however, to proclaim our ideals or even to be convinced that we have them. In order to preserve, uphold, and maintain them, there are times when we should throw all we cherish into our effort to fulfill these ideals even at the risk of failure.
The teachings drawn from our late leader, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, have given our people the fortitude to carry on. From 5 1/2 years of experience we in China are convinced that it is the better part of wisdom not to accept failure ignominiously, but to risk it gloriously. We shall have faith that, at the writing of peace, American and our other gallant allies will not be obtunded by the mirage of contingent reasons of expediency.
Man’s mettle is tested both in adversity and in success. Twice is this true of the soul of a nation.
宋美龄1943年2月18日在美国参议院的临时演说
The committee appointed by Vice president, preceded by the Secretary of the Senate (Edwin A. Halsey), and the Sergeant at Arms (Wall Doxey), and consisting of Mr. Barkley, Mr. McNary, Mr. Connally, Mr. Capper, And Mrs. Caraway, entered the Chamber at the main door and escorted Mme. Chiang Kai-shek to a seat at the desk immediately in front of the Vice President.
(Mme. Chiang Kai-shek was greeted with prolonged applause, Senators and guests of the Senate rising.)
The VICE PRESIDENT. Senators, distinguished guests, Mme. Chiang Kai-shek, wife of the Generalissimo of the armies of China, will now address you. [Applause]
ADDRESS BY MME. CHIANG KAI-SHEK
Mr. President, Members of the Senate of the United States, ladies and gentlemen, I am overwhelmed by the warmth and spontaneity of the welcome of the American people, of whom you are the representatives. I did not know that I was to speak to you today at the Senate except to say, “How do you do? I am so very glad to see you,” and to bring the gree tings to my people to the people of America. However, just before coming here, the Vice President told me that he would like to have me say a few words to you.
I am not a very good extemporaneous speaker; in fact, I am no speaker at all; but I am not so very much discouraged, because a few days ago I was at Hyde Park, and went to the President’s library. Something I saw there encouraged me, and made me feel that perhaps you will not expect overmuch of me in speaking to you extemporaneously. What do you think I saw there?
I saw many things. But the one thing which interested me most of all was that in a glass case there was the first draft of tone of the President’s speeches, a second draft, and on and on up to the sixth draft. Yesterday I happened to mention this fact to the President, and told him that I was extremely glad that he had to write so many drafts when he is such a well-known and acknowledgedly fine speaker. His reply to me was that sometimes he writes 12 drafts of a speech. So, my remarks here today, being extemporaneous, I am sure you will make allowances for me.
The traditional friendship between your country and mine has a history of 160 years. I feel, and I believe that I am now the only one who feels this way, that there are a great many similarities between your people and mine, and that these similarities are the basis of our friendship.
I should like to tell you a little story which will illustrate this belief. When General Doolittle and his men went to bomb Tokyo, on their return some of your boys had to bail out in the interior of China. One of them later told me that he had to mail out of his ship. And that when he landed on Chinese soil and saw the populace running toward him, he just waved his arm and shouted the only Chinese word he kn ew, “Mei-kuo, Mei-kuo,” which means “America,” [Applause.] Literally translated from the Chinese it means “Beautiful country.” This boy said that our people
laughed and almost hugged him, and greeted him like a long lost brother. He further told me that the thought that he had come home when he saw our people; and that was the first time he had ever been to China. [Applause.]
I came to your country as a little girl. I know your people. I have lived with them. I spent the formative years of my life amongst your people.
I speak your language, not only the language of your hearts, but also your tongue. So coming here today I feel that I am also coming home. [Applause.]
I believe, however, that it is not only I who am coming home; I feel that if the Chinese people could speak to you in your own tongue, or if you could understand our tongue, they would tell you that basically and fundamentally we are fighting for the same cause [great applause]; that we have identity of ideals’ that the “four freedoms,” which your President proclaimed to the world, resound throughout our vast land as the gong of freedom, the gong of freedom of the United Nations, and the death knell of the aggressors. [Applause.]
I assure you that our people are willing and eager to cooperate with you in the realization of these ideals, because we want to see to it that they do not echo as empty phrases, but become realities for ourselves, for your children, for our children’s children, and for all mankind. [Applause.]
How are we going to realize these ideals? I think I shall tell you a little story which just came to my mind. As you know, China is a very old nation. We have a history of 5,000 years. When we were obliged to evacuate Hankow and go into the hinterland to carry on and continue our resistance against aggression, the Generalissimo and I passed one of our fronts, the Changsha front. One day we went in to the Heng-yang Mountains, where there are traces of a famous pavilion called “Rub-the-mirror” pavilion, which perhaps interest you to hear the story of that pavilion.
Two thousand years ago near that spot was an old Buddhist temple. One of the young monks went there , and all day long he sat cross-legged, with his hands clasped before him in and attitude of prayer, and murmured “Amita-Buddha! Amita-Buddha! Amita-Buddha!” He murmured and chanted day after day, because he hoped that he would acquire grace.
The Father Prior of that temple took a piece of brick and rubbed it against a stone hour after hour, day after day, and week after week. The little acolyte, being very young, sometimes cast his eyes around to see what the old Father Prior was doing. The old Father Prior just kept on this work of rubbing the brick against the stone. So one day the young acolyte said to him, “Father Prior, what a re you doing day after day rubbing this brick of stone?” The Father Prior replied, “I am trying to make a mirror out
of this brick.” The young acolyte said, “But it is impossible to make a mirror out of a brick, Father Prior.” “Yes,” said the Father Prior,“and it is just as impossible for you to acquire grace by doing nothing except murmur ‘Amita-Buddha’ all day long, day in and day out.” [Applause.]
So my friends, I feel that it is necessary for us not only to have ideals and to proclaim that we have them, it is necessary that we act to implement them. [Applause.] And so to you, gentlemen of the Senate, and to you ladies and gentleman in the galleries, I say that without the active help of all of us, our leaders cannot implement these ideals. It’s up to yo u and to me to take to heart the lesson of “Rub-the-Mirror” pavilion.
I thank you. [Great applause, Senators and their guests rising.]
Following her address, Mme. Chiang Kai-shek and the distinguished visitors accompanying her and the others guests of the Senate were escorted from the Chamber.
3美国能源部长朱棣文哈佛大学毕业典礼演讲
2009 Commencement Address at Harvard University
- U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu
Madam President Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers, faculty, family, friends, and, most importantly, today’s graduates,
Thank you for letting me share this wonderful day with you.
I am not sure I can live up to the high standards of Harvard Commencement speakers. Last year, J.K. Rowling, the billionaire novelist, who started as a classics student, graced this podium. The year before, Bill Gates, the mega-billionaire philanthropist and computer nerd stood here. Today, sadly, you have me. I am not wealthy, but at least I am a nerd.
I am grateful to receive an honorary degree from Harvard, an honor that means more to me than you might care to imagine. You see, I was the academic black sheep of my family. My older brother has an M.D./Ph.D. from MIT and Harvard while my younger brother has a law degree from Harvard. When I was awarded a Nobel Prize, I thought my mother would be pleased. Not so. When I called her on the morning of the announcement, she replied, “That’s nice, but when are you going to visit me next.”
Now, as the last brother with a degree from Harvard, maybe, at last, she will be satisfied.
Another difficulty with giving a Harvard commencement address is that some of you may disapprove of the fact that I have borrowed material from previous speeches. I ask that you forgive me for two reasons.
First, in order to have impact, it is important to deliver the same message more than once. In science, it is important to be the first person to make a discovery, but it is even more important to be the last person to make that discovery.
Second, authors who borrow from others are following in the footsteps of the best. Ralph Waldo Emerson, who graduated from Harvard at the age of 18, noted “All my best thoughts were stolen by the ancients.” Picasso declared “Good artists borrow. Great artists steal.” Why should commencement speakers be held to a higher standard?
I also want to point out the irony of speaking to graduates of an institution that would have rejected me, had I the chutzpah to apply.
I am married to “Dean Jean,” the former dean of admissions at Stanford. She assures me that she would have rejected me, if given the chance. When I showed her a draft of this speech, she objected strongly to my use of the word “rejected.” She never rejected applicants; her letters stated that “we are unable to offer you admission.” I have difficulty understanding the difference. After all, deans of admissions of highly selective schools are in reality, “deans of rejection.” Clearly, I have a lot to learn about marketing.
My address will follow the classical sonata form of commencement addresses. The first movement, just presented, were light-hearted remarks. This next movement consists of unsolicited advice, which is rarely valued, seldom remembered, never followed. As Oscar Wilde said, “The only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on. It is never of any use to oneself.” So, her e comes the advice. First, every time you celebrate an achievement, be thankful to those who made it possible. Thank your parents and friends who supported you, thank your professors who were inspirational, and especially thank the other professors whose less-than-brilliant lectures forced you to teach yourself. Going forward, the ability to teach yourself is the hallmark of a great liberal arts education and will be the key to your success. To your fellow students who have added immeasurably to your education during those late night discussions, hug them. Also, of course, thank Harvard. Should you forget, there’s an alumni association to remind you. Second, in your future life, cultivate a generous spirit. In all negotiations, don’t bargain for the
last, little advantage. Leave the change on the table. In your collaborations, always remember that “credit” is not a conserved quantity. In a successful collaboration, everybody gets 90 percent of the credit.
Jimmy Stewart, as Elwood P. Dowd in the movie “Harvey” got it exactly right. He said: “Years ago my mother used to say to me, ‘In this world, Elwood, you must be … she always used to call me Elwood … in this world, Elwood, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant.’” Well, for years I was smart. … I recommend pleasant. You may quote me on that.
My third piece of advice is as follows: As you begin this new stage of your lives, follow your passion. If you don’t have a passion, don’t be satisfied until you find one. Life is too short to go through it without caring deeply about something. When I was your age, I was incredibly single-minded in my goal to be a physicist. After college, I spent eight years as a graduate student and postdoc at Berkeley, and then nine years at Bell Labs. During that my time, my central focus and professional joy was physics.
Here is my final piece of advice. Pursuing a personal passion is important, but it should not be your only goal. When you are old and gray, and look back on your life, you will want to be proud of what you have done. The source of that pride won’t be the things you have acquired or the recognition you have received. It will be the lives you have touched and the difference you have made.
After nine years at Bell labs, I decided to leave that warm, cozy ivory tower for what I considered to be the “real world,” a university. Bell Labs, to quote what was said about Mary Poppins, was “practically perfect in every way,” but I wanted to leave behind something more than scientific articles. I wanted to teach and give birth to my own set of scientific children.
Ted Geballe, a friend and distinguished colleague of mine at Stanford, who also went from Berkeley to Bell Labs to Stanford years earlier, described our motives best:
“The best part of working at a university is the stud ents. They come in fresh, enthusiastic, open to ideas, unscarred by the battles of life. They don’t realize it, but they’re the recipients of the best our society can offer. If a mind is ever free to be creative, that’s the time. They come in believing textbooks are authoritative, but eventually they figure out that textbooks and professors don’t know everything, and then they start to think on their own. Then, I begin learning from them.”
My students, post doctoral fellows, and the young researchers who worked with me at Bell Labs, Stanford, and Berkeley have been extraordinary. Over 30 former group members are now professors, many at the best research institutions in the world, including Harvard. I have learned much from them. Even now, in rare moments on weekends, the remaining members of my biophysics group meet with me in the ether world of cyberspace.
I began teaching with the idea of giving back; I received more than I gave. This brings me to the final movement of this speech. It begins with a story about an extraordinary scientific discovery and a new dilemma that it poses. It’s a call to arms and about making a difference.
In the last several decades, our climate has been changing. Climate change is not new: the Earth went through six ice ages in the past 600,000 years. However, recent measurements show that the climate has begun to change rapidly. The size of the North Polar Ice Cap in the month of September is only half the size it was a mere 50 years ago. The sea level which been rising since direct measurements began in 1870 at a rate that is now five times faster than it was at the beginning of recorded measurements. Here’s the remarkable scientific discovery. For the first time in human history, science is now making predictions of how our actions will affect the world 50 and 100 years from now. These changes are due to an increase in carbon dioxide put into the atmosphere since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. The Earth has warmed up by roughly 0.8 degrees Celsius since the beginning of the Revolution. There is already approximately a 1 degree rise built into the system, even if we stop all greenhouse gas emissions today. Why? It will take decades to warm up the deep oceans before the temperature reaches a new equilibrium.
If the world continues on a business-as-usual path, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that there is a fifty-fifty chance the temperature will exceed 5 degrees by the end of this century. This increase may not sound like much, but let me remind you that during the last ice age, the world was only 6 degrees colder. During this time, most of Canada and the United States down to Ohio and Pennsylvania were covered year round by a glacier. A world 5 degrees warmer will be very different. The change will be so rapid that many species, including Humans, will have a hard time adapting. I’ve been told for example, that, in a much warmer world, insects were bigger. I wonder if this thing buzzing around is a precursor.
We also face the specter of nonlinear “tipping points” that may cause much more severe changes. An example of a tipping point is the thawing of the permafrost. The permafrost contains immense amounts of frozen
organic matter that have been accumulating for millennia. If the soil melts, microbes will spring to life and cause this debris to rot. The difference in biological activity below freezing and above freezing is something we are all familiar with. Frozen food remains edible for a very long time in the freezer, but once thawed, it spoils quickly. How much methane and carbon dioxide might be released from the rotting permafrost? If even a fraction of the carbon is released, it could be greater than all the greenhouse gases we have released to since the beginning of the industrial revolution. Once started, a runaway effect could occur.
The climate problem is the unintended consequence of our success. We depend on fossil energy to keep our homes warm in the winter, cool in the summer, and lit at night; we use it to travel across town and across continents. Energy is a fundamental reason for the prosperity we enjoy, and we will not surrender this prosperity. The United States has 3 percent of the world population, and yet, we consume 25 percent of the energy. By contrast, there are 1.6 billion people wh o don’t have access to electricity. Hundreds of millions of people still cook with twigs or dung. The life we enjoy may not be within the reach of the developing world, but it is within sight, and they want what we have.
Here is the dilemma. How much are we willing to invest, as a world society, to mitigate the consequences of climate change that will not be realized for at least 100 years? Deeply rooted in all cultures, is the notion of generational responsibility. Parents work hard so that their children will have a better life. Climate change will affect the entire world, but our natural focus is on the welfare of our immediate families. Can we, as a world society, meet our responsibility to future generations?
While I am worried, I am hopeful we will solve this problem. I became the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, in part because I wanted to enlist some of the best scientific minds to help battle against climate change. I was there only four and a half years, the shortest serving director in the 78-year history of the Lab, but when I left, a number of very exciting energy institutes at the Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley had been established.
I am extremely privileged to be part of the Obama administration. If there ever was a time to help steer America and the world towards a path of sustainable energy, now is the time. The message the President is delivering is not one of doom and gloom, but of optimism and opportunity.
I share this optimism. The task ahead is daunting, but we can and will succeed.
We know some of the answers already. There are immediate and significant savings in energy efficiency and conservation. Energy efficiency is not
just low-hanging fruit; it is fruit lying on the ground. For example, we have the potential to make buildings 80 percent more efficient with investments that will pay for themselves in less than 15 years. Buildings consume 40 percent of the energy we use, and a transition to energy efficient buildings will cut our carbon emissions by one-third.
We are revving up the remarkable American innovation machine that will be the basis of a new American prosperity. We will invent much improved methods to harness the sun, the wind, nuclear power, and capture and sequester the carbon dioxide emitted from our power plants. Advanced bio-fuels and the electrification of personal vehicles make us less dependent on foreign oil.
In the coming decades, we will almost certainly face higher oil prices and be in a carbon-constrained economy. We have the opportunity to lead in development of a new, industrial revolution. The great hockey player, Wayne Gretzky, when asked, how he positions himself on the ice, he replied,“ I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it’s been.” America should do the same.
The Obama administration is laying a new foundation for a prosperous and sustainable energy future, but we don’t have all of the answers. That’s where you come in. In this address, I am asking you, the Harvard graduates, to join us. As our future intellectual leaders, take the time to learn more about what’s at stake, and then act on that knowledge. As future scientists and engineers, I ask you to give us better technology solutions. As future economists and political scientists, I ask you to create better policy options. As future business leaders, I ask that you make sustainability an integral part of your business.
Finally, as humanists, I ask that you speak to our common humanity. One of the cruelest ironies about climate change is that the ones who will be hurt the most are the most innocent: the worlds poorest and those yet to be born.
The coda to this last movement is borrowed from two humanists.
The first quote is from Martin Luther King. He spoke on ending the war in Vietnam in 1967, but his message seems so fitti ng for today’s climate crisis:
“This call for a worldwide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one’s tribe, race, class, and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all mankind. This oft misunderstood, this oft misinterpreted concept, so readily dismissed by the Nietzsches of the world as a weak and cowardly force, has now become
an absolute necessity for the survival of man … We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late.”
The final message is from William Faulkner. On December 10th, 1950, his Nobel Prize banquet speech was about the role of humanists in a world facing potential nuclear holocaust.
“I believe that man will not merely endure: he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance. The poet’s, the writer’s, duty is to write about these things. It is his privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have bee n the glory of his past.”
Graduates, you have an extraordinary role to play in our future. As you pursue your private passions, I hope you will also develop a passion and a voice to help the world in ways both large and small. Nothing will give you greater satisfaction.
Please accept my warmest congratulations. May you prosper, may you help preserve and save our planet for your children, and all future children of the world.
4奥巴马夫人2009年圣诞节演讲
每年感恩节过后，美国圣诞节日的气氛越来越浓。2009年12月3日，白宫女主人米歇尔-奥巴马宣布了这一年白宫圣诞节的主题及相关活动，并向大家展示了披上节日新装的白宫。除了洋溢欢庆气氛外，白宫的节日装饰秉承了第一夫人素来倡导的理念，多处细节体现出环保意识。那么，就让我们一睹这位素以环保及健康为己任的第一夫人的风采吧！
MRS. OBAMA: Hello. Good afternoon. Welcome to the White House and Happy Holidays! Thanks to all of you for joining us here today as we preview how we will mark the holidays here at the White House.
Now, like many years past, we've actually been planning this day, and the holiday season, since the summer. And our starting point was a very simple idea: that we include as many people, in as many places, in as many ways as we can.
So we decided to do something just a little different. We took about 800 ornaments left over from previous administrations, we sent them to
60 local community groups throughout the country, and asked them to decorate them to pay tribute to a favorite local landmark and then send them back to us for display here at the White House.
And today, thanks to the East Wing and Residence staff, and 92 volunteers from 24 states who spent more than 3,400 hours decorating over the last several days, we have ornaments hanging on the tree behind me throughout the White House and everywhere else that include the Statue of Liberty, Mount Rushmore, the Kennedy Center -- Space Center, as well as some less known places like Davy Crockett Park in Tennessee, Pompey's Pillar in Billings, Montana and one of my favorites, the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.
We also have one of the favorite traditions here at the White House on display -–it's the gingerbread masterpiece by our brilliant chef Bill Yosses, and his team.
But this year we've included something a little bit different. In addition to the gingerbread White House we also have the White House Kitchen Garden on the South Lawn, a shadow box that lets you look into the gingerbread White House and view the State Dining Room. And I just saw there's also a little Bo (白宫养的小狗) replica. (Laughter.) So that's a new addition.
And we opened the doors last night to the first of more than 50,000 visitors who will come to the White House during this holiday season, and it's safe to say that everyone was really impressed. And I heard you all partying last night. You had a great time. (Laughter.)
For many people, a visit to the White House is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and it has been made even more magical because of all of your hard work, all of our volunteers. So I want to take just a moment again to thank all of our volunteers who spent so much time making this White House such a special treat, and we hope you had as good a time as it sounded like you had last night. (Laughter.) Your work has really transformed the White House, which is, as we always say, the people's house, and we're so grateful for everything that you've done to make this really a special treat for all of us.
And finally, I want to take a moment to talk about why we chose this year's theme, which is "Reflect, Rejoice and Renew."
And for the Obama family, Christmas and the New Year has always been a time to reflect on our many blessings, to rejoice in the pleasure of