登陆注册
724400000002

第2章 伟大的声音——杰斐逊首任就职演说 (1)

First Inaugural Address

托马斯·杰斐逊 / Thomas Jefferson

托马斯·杰斐逊(1743—1826),《独立宣言》和《弗吉尼亚宗教自由法案》的起草者、弗吉尼亚大学创建人,也是美国第三任总统。

Ace in the Hole

Understand these new words before you read this article.

1. inaugural adj. 就职的,就任的

2. animation n. 兴奋;生气;活跃

3. exertion n. 努力;费力

4. patriot n. 爱国者;爱国主义者

During the contest of opinion through which we have passed the animation of discussions and of exertions has sometimes worn an aspect which might impose on strangers unused to think freely and to speak and to write what they think; but this being now decided by the voice of the nation, announced according to the rules of the Constitution, all will, of course, arrange themselves under the will of the law, and unite in common efforts for the common good. All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression. Let us, then, fellow-citizens, unite with one heart and one mind. Let us restore to social intercourse that harmony and affection without which liberty and even life itself are but dreary things. And let us reflect that, having banished from our land that religious intolerance under which mankind so long bled and suffered, we have yet gained little if we countenance a political intolerance as despotic, as wicked, and capable of as bitter and bloody persecutions. During the throes and convulsions of the ancient world, during the agonizing spasms of infuriated man, seeking through blood and slaughter his long-lost liberty, it was not wonderful that the agitation of the billows should reach even this distant and peaceful shore; that this should be more felt and feared by some and less by others, and should divide opinions as to measures of safety. But every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. We have called by different names brethren of the same principle. We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists. If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union or to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it. I know, indeed, that some honest men fear that a republican government can not be strong, that this Government is not strong enough; but would the honest patriot, in the full tide of successful experiment, abandon a government which has so far kept us free and firm on the theoretic and visionary fear that this Government, the world’s best hope, may by possibility want energy to preserve itself? I trust not. I believe this, on the contrary, the strongest Government on earth. I believe it the only one where every man, at the call of the law, would fly to the standard of the law, and would meet invasions of the public order as his own personal concern. Sometimes it is said that man can not be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the forms of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question.

Let us, then, with courage and confidence pursue our own Federal and Republican principles, our attachment to union and representative government. Kindly separated by nature and a wide ocean from the exterminating havoc of one quarter of the globe; too high-minded to endure the degradations of the others; possessing a chosen country, with room enough for our descendants to the thousandth and thousandth generation; entertaining a due sense of our equal right to the use of our own faculties, to the acquisitions of our own industry, to honor and confidence from our fellow-citizens, resulting not from birth, but from our actions and their sense of them; enlightened by a benign religion, professed, indeed, and practiced in various forms, yet all of them inculcating honesty, truth, temperance, gratitude and the love of man; acknowledging and adoring an overruling Providence, which by all its dispensations proves that it delights in the happiness of man here and his greater happiness hereafter—with all these blessings, what more is necessary to make us a happy and a prosperous people? Still one thing more, fellow-citizens—a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities.

同类推荐
  • 工作无小事

    工作无小事

    老子说:“天下难事,必作于易;天下大势,必作于细。”作为一名普通人,我们在日常工作中,经常都是重复地做着一些小事。可是,在工作中,却没有任何一件事情小到可以被抛弃,也没有任何一个细节细到应该被忽略。近年来,灾难事故时常见诸报端。虽然这其中不排除有一些是“天灾”,但更多的却是“人祸”所致。频繁发生的矿难、不符合安全卫生标准的食品等,这些都给人们的生活带来了巨大的痛苦。这一切的发生,在很大程度上就是由于人们在工作中忽略了细节,不重视小事,以至于最终使这些小事情变成了影响人们生存发展的大事件。
  • 成功的核心机密

    成功的核心机密

    失败的原因也许各种各样,但成功的原因却是大同小异。本书试图通过归纳总结,得出成功者之所以成功的共性原因。本书竭尽全力为你提供一串开启你人生成功潜能的钥匙。只要你愿意遵从它里面的原则,只要你愿意努力具备里面所提到的7个成功要素,你就会终身受益无穷,并获得丰硕的成果。
  • 方圆大智慧:成功可以变得很简单

    方圆大智慧:成功可以变得很简单

    谁都渴望人生幸福、凡事成功,每个人也都在倾一生之光阴去无怨无悔地追求幸福与成功。也正因为如此,世界充满了激烈竞争,人们愈发疲惫忙碌。人生到底是什么?成功是否可望不可及?成功是否只是少数人的特权?成功真的要付上很大的代价吗?这个世界上有没有一种“四两拨千斤”的力量能够巧妙带来成功?
  • 跟上巨人的脚步

    跟上巨人的脚步

    在巨人的背后,绵亘着一道什么样的历史与精神的地平线?古今中外纷繁驳杂的思想资源,开阔着青年毛泽东的思想理路。早期大力倡导精神上的个人主义和现实主义;五四运动后则从个体自觉延伸到了群体联合和民主自治,激情主张“民众大联合”和建立“湖南共和国”,他的思想探索显得蹒跚而又坚毅...
  • “秀”出正能量

    “秀”出正能量

    一个人要想获得事业或爱情上的成功,就要敢于秀自己,善于秀自己,不能等待,不要沉默,否则就永远不会得到机会的眷顾。《“秀”出正能量》是一本讲述如何秀自己的自我表现书。本书不仅告诉你如何在职场上秀自己,还告诉你如何在口才上秀自己,如何在情感上秀自己,如何在外在气质上秀自己……它会让你认识自己的能力,正确秀出自己的才华。
热门推荐
  • 东宫有本难念的经

    东宫有本难念的经

    宝庆十九年春,大佑国皇太子大婚,大将军之女入主东宫。一个不是淑女的将门千金遭遇一个不是文韬武略的中庸太子,到底是佳偶天成,还是冤家路窄?成婚一年不足,太子忽然休妻。迷影重重,生死茫茫,这样一来,还是不是大团圆结局?
  • 沙与沫(中小学生必读丛书)

    沙与沫(中小学生必读丛书)

    同时,这些作品几乎都是用阿拉伯文写成的。他的创作方向开始转向了散文与散文诗,站在东西方文化桥梁上的巨人”的卡里·纪伯伦,代表作品有短篇小说集《草原新娘》、《叛逆的灵魂》,在他的带领和指导下,形成了阿拉伯第一个文学流派——叙美派。,纪伯伦的创作以小说为主。青年时代,长篇小说《折断的翅膀》和散文诗集《先驱者》、《沙与沫》、《先知》等,上世纪20年代起,是黎巴嫩的文坛骄子、引领近代东方文学走向世界的先驱
  • 傻子王爷无情妃

    傻子王爷无情妃

    一只毒蝎子,彻底断送了她年轻的生命!别人只知道,那个软弱没主见的女人被迫嫁给一个痴傻呆闷的七皇子。殊不知,她早已不再是“她”!面对痴傻只会憨笑的美男,她气愤难填!你傻,本美女就医好你,谁知医好后,遭到嫌弃,却换来一纸休书,气愤之下,她恨不得与他同归于尽……
  • 一生要读的美丽宋词

    一生要读的美丽宋词

    宋词写艳情而不轻佻,写富贵而不卑俗,如行云流水、老松柔柳,临风伴月,情调闲雅,怀抱旷达,使人心驰神往,无限沉迷。这本《一生要读的美丽宋词》正是我们在学习、借鉴先贤研究成果的基础上,博采众长的精华之作。本书编撰体例除原词和鉴赏外,特附词人名片、注释、插图及后人点评。“词人名片”做介绍,力求言简;“注释”疏通义,力求准确;“鉴赏”深入浅出,生动活泼,有助于读者掌握原语的美学内涵,陶冶性情;适量的“插图”则以视觉形象与语境交相辉映,触发大家的灵感。另外,我们还搜集了较为经典的后人点评,帮助读者开阔视野,启发思考。
  • 尸心不改

    尸心不改

    控尸门的欢乐二缺弟子江篱炼了一具美得人神共愤引得天雷阵阵的男尸,以为好日子开始了,结果没想到门派惨遭灭门。--情节虚构,请勿模仿
  • 嫡女棣王妃

    嫡女棣王妃

    “姨娘,夫人似乎断气了~”“哼!这么一碗药都下去了,难道她还能活着不成?”“那这······”一个年纪稍长的人朝着这位称作姨娘的人示意了一下自己手中的婴儿,似乎有些犹豫,“这好歹是个男孩,现在夫人已经死了,如果姨娘把他占为己有,然后得了这府中的中馈······”“嬷嬷?!”女子也不等她的话说完,就打断了她,“你记住了,我恨死了这个女人,她的儿子,只能随着她去,我就是以后自己生不出儿子,抱养别人的,也不会要她的。把他给我扔马桶里面溺了,对外就说一出生就死了!”猩红的嘴唇,吐出来的话却是格外的渗人。嬷嬷还想说什么,动了动嘴,却是一句话也没有说,转身朝着后面放着马桶的地方走去。却是没有发现旁边地上一个穿着有些破旧的衣服的小女孩此刻正瞪大了眼睛看着她们两。这是什么情况?自己不是被炸死了吗?怎么会······于此同时,脑中不断有记忆闪现出来,她们是自己的母亲和刚出生的弟弟啊?!不行,先救人。转头看见旁边谁绣花留下的针线跟剪刀,想到自己前世的身手,拿起一根绣花针就朝着那个嬷嬷飞了过去,却在半路上掉落下来,暗骂一声,这人是什么破身体。却引得那两个人听见动静看了过来。女人阴狠的盯着她,“你居然没有死?”微微眯起眼睛,自己的前身也是被她们弄死的了,看样子她们谁也不会放过,抓起旁边的剪刀就冲了过去。随着几声惨叫声,从此以后,府中府外都传遍了她的“美名”——凤家大小姐心肠歹毒,刺伤了府中无数的人,宛如一个疯子。
  • 明星正能量

    明星正能量

    人生不如意事十之八九。生活中,情场之路、职场之路、心灵之路,皆是歧路多多。生如梦幻泡影,须臾即变。如何行进到一条正确的道路上,如何把成长路途中的负能量转化为正能量,如何探究到那最真实不虚的部分,是每个人或迟或早都要面临的选择,也是一门生命的功课。本书介绍了国内诸多一线明星们的能量转化之道。正如李光洁曾在接受访问时说:任何事情都看你从哪个角度看,人生就像多棱镜,不同的角度会看到不同的颜色。从这个角度看,是阴霾和晦涩的,转换个角度,也许就看到了明亮的色彩。萨提亚也说过:改变是可以发生的,并且需要内在的改变。
  • 做完美女人,品完美生活

    做完美女人,品完美生活

    作者在本书中讲述了做成功女人的12条修炼法则,教女人如何读懂自己、读懂生活,会让你在感受完美修炼真谛的同时享受到阅读的愉悦。,是女人一辈子的修行;过完美生活,并让你在学习如何自我修炼的过程中变成日渐完美。优美的文字,做完美女人,富含哲理的故事,女人一辈子的梦想。日趋成功
  • 做自己的心理医生

    做自己的心理医生

    本书的两位作者在长期从事心理咨询,心理辅导的过程中,接触了大量的遭遇心理障碍和心理困惑的病人,发现这些病人大多数是遇事不能主动化解,情绪低落,心事越积越深,逐渐形成了心开门见山。 因此,作者希望告诉读者的是面对心病,如果人们能以正确的心态支认识它,对待它,提高自己的心理素质,学会心理自我调节,学会心理适应,学会自助,那么每个人都可以在心理疾患发展的某些阶段成为自己的心理医生,中西方的经验也表明,一 般的心理问题都可以自我调节,每个人都可以用多种形式自我放松,缓和自身的心理压力和指解心理障碍。
  • 杀戮法师

    杀戮法师

    身为法师的丁翼,感觉压力很大!一会捅死了重甲武士,一会砍死了高阶刀客!一不小心放个魔法,又秒了一群高抗法师!丁翼说……你们怎么这么脆皮啊……害的老子成超级杀人魔,天天被卫兵追杀……