世界上最伟大的演讲--The Strenuous Life 勤奋的生活

 

The Strenuous¹ Life

Gentlemen, 

1. In speaking to you, men of the greatest city of the West, men of the State which gave to the country Lincoln and Grant, men who preeminently and distinctly embody² all that is most American in the American character, I wish to preach not the doctrine³ of ignoble⁴ ease but the doctrine of the strenuous life; the life of toil⁵ and effort; of labor⁶ and strife⁷; to preach that highest form of success which comes not to the man who desires mere⁸ easy peace but to the man who does not shrink from danger, from hardship, of from bitter toil, and who out of these wins the splendid ultimate triumph. 

2. The timid man, the lazy man, the man who distrusts his country, the overcivilized man, who has lost the great fighting, masterful virtues⁹, the ignorant man and the man of dull mind, whose soul is incapable¹⁰ of feeling the mighty¹¹ lift that thrills "stem men with empires in their brains"—all these, of course, shrink from seeing the nation undertake its new duties; shrink from seeing us build a navy and army adequate to our needs; shrink from seeing us do our share of the world's work by bringing order out of chaos¹² in the great, fair tropic islands from which the valor¹³ of our soldiers and sailors has driven the Spanish flag. These are the men who fear the strenuous life, who fear the only national life which is really worth leading. They believe in that cloistered¹⁴ life which saps the hardy¹⁵ virtues in a nation, as it saps them in the individual; or else they are wedded¹⁶ to that base spirit of gain and greed which recognizes in commercialism the be-all and end-all of national life, instead of realizing that, though an indispensable element, it is after all but one of the many elements that go to make up true national greatness. No country can long endure if its foundations are not laid deep in the material prosperity which comes from hard unsparing effort in the fields of industrial activity; but neither was any nation ever yet truly great if it relied upon material prosperity alone. All honor must be paid to the architects of our material prosperity; to the great captains of industry who have built our factories and our railroads; to the strong men who toil for wealth with brain or hand; for great is the debt of the nation to these and their kind. But our debt is yet greater to the men whose highest type is to be found in a statesman like Lincoln, a soldier like Grant. They showed by their lives that they recognized the law of work, the law of strife; they toiled¹⁷ to win a competence¹⁸ for themselves and those dependent upon them; but they recognized that there were yet other and even loftier duties—duties to the nation and duties to the race. 

3. I preach to you, then, my countrymen, that our country calls not for the life of ease, but for the life of strenuous endeavor. The twentieth century looms¹⁹ before us big with the fate of many nations. If we stand idly by, if we seek merely swollen²⁰, slothful ease, and ignoble peace, if we shrink from the hard contests where men must win at hazard of their lives and at the risk of all they hold dear, then the bolder and stronger peoples will pass us by and will win for themselves 

the domination of the world. Let us therefore boldly face the life of strife, resolute²¹ to do our duty well and manfully; resolute to uphold righteousness by deed and by word; resolute to be both honest and brave, to serve highideals, yet to use practicalmethods. Above all, let us shrink from no strife, moral or physical,within or without the nation,provided we are certain that thestrife is justified²²; for it is only through strife, through hard and dangerous endeavor,that we shall ultimately win the goal of true national greatness. 

勤奋的生活

先生们：

1、在向你们——西部最大城市的公民，为国家培育了林肯和格兰特的国家的公民，最能体现美国精神的公民—讲话时，我想谈的不是贪图安逸的人生哲学，而是要向你们宣讲勤奋生活论——即过勤奋苦干的生活，过忙碌奋斗的生活。我想说，成功的最高境界不属于满足安逸的人们，而是属于那些在艰难险阻面前从不畏惧终获辉煌的人们。

2、凡怯懦、懒惰、不相信祖国的人，谨小慎微丧失坚强斗志的“文明过头”的人、混沌无知的人、思想僵化的人、不能像刚毅有抱负的人那样被鼓舞振奋的人——总之，当看到国家有新的责任要承担，当看到祖国正在建立足以满足需要的海陆军，当看到英勇的士兵和水手 在美丽的热带岛屿上驱逐西班牙势力，承担起应尽的世界责任，恢复当地秩序——当看到这一切时，所有这些人都退缩了。就是这样一些人，他们害怕过勤奋的生活，害怕过真正值得过的国民的生活。他们相信与世隔绝的生活，任由这种生活在侵蚀他们个人吃苦耐劳品德的同时，也侵蚀了一个民族的吃苦耐劳精神。若不然，他们就沉迷于惟利是图、贪得无厌的卑污泥潭而不能自拔，认为国家应一切以商业利益为根本。但他们却不明白，商业利益固然是不可或缺的因素，然而毕竟只是造就真正伟大国家的许多因素之一。诚然，如果一个国家不是深深扎根于其工业活动领域的艰苦努力所带来的繁荣的物质基础之中，那么这个国家也不可能长久地生存下去。但是，如果仅仅依赖于物质财富，任何国家也永远不会成为真正伟大的国家。我们应该向那些创造了物质财富的人们致敬，向那些创建了工厂和铁路的实业巨头们致敬，向那些用勤劳和智慧换取财富的强者们致敬；国家很感激他们以及和他们一样的人。但是，我们更感激另外一些人，他们的最佳楷模就是林肯那样的政治家和格兰特那样的军人。他们的生活轨迹表明，他们清楚工作和斗争的法则，他们含辛茹苦，使自己和依赖他们生活的人们过上了富足的生活，而且他们懂得还有更崇高的责任—对国家和民族的责任。

3、所以同胞们，我要讲的是，我们的国家要求我们不能好逸恶劳，而只能过刻苦勤奋的生活。迫在眉睫的20世纪将决定许多国家的命运。假如我们只是一味地袖手旁观、贪图享乐、苟且偷安，假如我们面临激烈的竞争考验时不是冒着牺牲个人生命和失去亲人的危险去赢得胜利，而是落荒而逃的话，那么，更勇敢坚强的民族就会超越我们，得以统领世界。因此，让我们勇敢地面对充满斗争考验的生活，下定决心卓越而果断地履行我们的职责；下定决心无论在语言还是行动上都坚持正义；下定决心诚实勇敢地以切实可行的方法为崇高的理想服务。最重要的是，无论是精神还是物质的斗争，无论是国内还是国外的斗争，只要我们确定正义在手，我们就绝不能逃避退缩。因为只有通过斗争，通过艰苦和充满危险的努力，我们才能最终达到目标—成为真正伟大的国家。

1 strenuous   

adj.奋发的，使劲的；紧张的；热烈的，狂热的

参考例句：

• He made strenuous efforts to improve his reading. 他奋发努力提高阅读能力。
• You may run yourself down in this strenuous week.你可能会在这紧张的一周透支掉自己。

2 embody   

vt.具体表达，使具体化；包含，收录

参考例句：

• The latest locomotives embody many new features. 这些最新的机车具有许多新的特色。
• Hemingway's characters plainly embody his own values and view of life.海明威笔下的角色明确反映出他自己的价值观与人生观。

3 doctrine   

n.教义；主义；学说

参考例句：

• He was impelled to proclaim his doctrine.他不得不宣扬他的教义。
• The council met to consider changes to doctrine.宗教议会开会考虑更改教义。

4 ignoble   

adj.不光彩的，卑鄙的；可耻的

参考例句：

• There's something cowardly and ignoble about such an attitude.这种态度有点怯懦可鄙。
• Some very great men have come from ignoble families.有些伟人出身低微。

5 toil   

vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事

参考例句：

• The wealth comes from the toil of the masses.财富来自大众的辛勤劳动。
• Every single grain is the result of toil.每一粒粮食都来之不易。

6 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

7 strife   

n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争

参考例句：

• We do not intend to be drawn into the internal strife.我们不想卷入内乱之中。
• Money is a major cause of strife in many marriages.金钱是造成很多婚姻不和的一个主要原因。

8 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

9 virtues   

美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处

参考例句：

• Doctors often extol the virtues of eating less fat. 医生常常宣扬少吃脂肪的好处。
• She delivered a homily on the virtues of family life. 她进行了一场家庭生活美德方面的说教。

10 incapable   

adj.无能力的，不能做某事的

参考例句：

• He would be incapable of committing such a cruel deed.他不会做出这么残忍的事。
• Computers are incapable of creative thought.计算机不会创造性地思维。

11 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

12 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

13 valor   

n.勇气，英勇

参考例句：

• Fortitude is distinct from valor.坚韧不拔有别于勇猛。
• Frequently banality is the better parts of valor.老生常谈往往比大胆打破常规更为人称道。

14 cloistered   

adj.隐居的，躲开尘世纷争的v.隐退，使与世隔绝( cloister的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• the cloistered world of the university 与世隔绝的大学
• She cloistered herself in the office. 她呆在办公室里好像与世隔绝一样。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 hardy   

adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的

参考例句：

• The kind of plant is a hardy annual.这种植物是耐寒的一年生植物。
• He is a hardy person.他是一个能吃苦耐劳的人。

16 wedded   

adj.正式结婚的；渴望…的，执著于…的v.嫁，娶，（与…）结婚( wed的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She's wedded to her job. 她专心致志于工作。
• I was invited over by the newly wedded couple for a meal. 我被那对新婚夫妇请去吃饭。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 toiled   

长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉

参考例句：

• They toiled up the hill in the blazing sun. 他们冒着炎炎烈日艰难地一步一步爬上山冈。
• He toiled all day long but earned very little. 他整天劳碌但挣得很少。

18 competence   

n.能力，胜任，称职

参考例句：

• This mess is a poor reflection on his competence.这种混乱情况说明他难当此任。
• These are matters within the competence of the court.这些是法院权限以内的事。

19 looms   

n.织布机( loom的名词复数 )v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的第三人称单数 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• All were busily engaged,men at their ploughs,women at their looms. 大家都很忙，男的耕田，女的织布。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The factory has twenty-five looms. 那家工厂有25台织布机。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 swollen   

adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀

参考例句：

• Her legs had got swollen from standing up all day.因为整天站着，她的双腿已经肿了。
• A mosquito had bitten her and her arm had swollen up.蚊子叮了她，她的手臂肿起来了。

21 resolute   

adj.坚决的，果敢的

参考例句：

• He was resolute in carrying out his plan.他坚决地实行他的计划。
• The Egyptians offered resolute resistance to the aggressors.埃及人对侵略者作出坚决的反抗。

22 justified   

a.正当的，有理的

参考例句：

• She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
• The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。