英语演讲金钱2024（精选33篇）
if there is any single factor that makes for success in living, it is theability to profit by defeat. Every success I know has been achieved because theperson was able to analyze defeat and actually profit by it in his nextundertaking. Confuse defeat with failure, and you are doomed indeed to failure.For it isn't defeat that makes you fail: it is your own refusal to see in defeatthe guide and encouragement to success.
生活中如果有任何一个因素可以促进成功，那就是从挫折中受益的能力。我所了解的每一次达到的成功都是因为那个人能够对挫折进行分析，在下一次工作中真正得益。如果混淆挫折和失败，你就注定会真正失败。因为不是挫折使你失败，而是你自己拒绝从挫折中看到成功的方向和勇气。关于挫折的英语作文
Defeats are nothing to be ashamed of. They are routine incidents in thelife of every man who achieves success. But defeat is a dead loss unless you doface it without humiliation, analyze it and learn why you failed. Defeat, inother words, can help to cure its own cause. Not only does defeat prepare us forsuccess, but nothing can arouse within us such a compelling desire to succeed.If you let a baby grasp a rod and try to pull it away, he will cling more andmore tightly until his whole weight is suspended. It is this same reaction whichshould give you new and greater strength every time you are defeated. If youexploit the power which defeat gives, you can accomplish with it far more thanyou are capable of.
挫折并不可耻。在每个取得成功的人的生活中，挫折是家常便饭。但你一定要能够面对挫折而不感到羞耻，能够分析它并了解失败的原因，否则挫折就是绝对的损失。换言之，挫折可以帮助解决它自身的起因。挫折不但可以为我们成功做好准备，而且没有任何东西可以在我们的内心激发起如此强烈的想要成功的欲望。如果你让一个婴儿抓住一根竿子，然后试着把竿子抽出来，孩子就会越抓越紧，直到他们整个重量都依附于此。每次你被击败的时候，正是这同样的反应会赋予你崭新的更为巨大的力量。如果你能够利用挫折带来的这种力量，你就能够用它来完成远远超乎你能力的目标。
Different people have different attitudes towards money.For example, someof the rich are very mean with their money, while some of them are quitegenerous. Some people lack of money but they are not absorbed in pursuit ofwealth while some people regard money as everything. As far as I am concerned,money is necessary for all of us, but it is not all for us.
For one thing, money is necessary for all of us. In modern society, moneyis one of tools for measure the value and can be used to exchange materials. Allmaterials we need for our basic existence is all about money. Without money, ourexistence will be threatened and we can not find our way to live. Therefore, allof us need to earn money to afford us and our family basic needs, such as food,clothes and house.
For another, money is not all for us. Though money can be used to exchangeour basic needs, it is not almighty. For example, we cannot use money to buy areal love or ability with money. Hence, just as the saying goes, “money is goodservant but a bad master”. We cannot be controlled by money so that we will notbe a pathetic slave of money.
In short, we need money but we should not regard money as our only purpose.Only hold this attitude can we use our money properly.
Different people have different attitudes towards money.For example, someof the rich are very mean with their money, while some of them are quitegenerous. Some people lack of money but they are not absorbed in pursuit ofwealth while some people regard money as everything. As far as I am concerned,money is necessary for all of us, but it is not all for us.
For one thing, money is necessary for all of us. In modern society, moneyis one of tools for measure the value and can be used to exchange materials. Allmaterials we need for our basic existence is all about money. Without money, ourexistence will be threatened and we can not find our way to live. Therefore, allof us need to earn money to afford us and our family basic needs, such as food,clothes and house.
For another, money is not all for us. Though money can be used to exchangeour basic needs, it is not almighty. For example, we cannot use money to buy areal love or ability with money. Hence, just as the saying goes, “money is goodservant but a bad master”. We cannot be controlled by money so that we will notbe a pathetic slave of money.
In short, we need money but we should not regard money as our only purpose.Only hold this attitude can we use our money properly.
Opening Statement: Sexual Harrassment Hearings Concerning Judge Clarence ThomasMr.Chairman, Senator Thurmond, members of the committee, my name is Anita F.
Hill, and I am a professor of law at the University of Oklahoma.
I was born on a farm in Okmulgee County, Oklahoma, in 1956.
I am the youngest of 13 children.
I had my early education in Okmulgee County.
My father, Albert Hill, is a farmer in that area.
My mothers name is Irma Hill.
She is also a farmer and a housewife.
My childhood was one of a lot of hard work and not much money, but it was one of solid family affection, as represented by my parents.
I was reared in a religious atmosphere in the Baptist faith, and I have been a member of the Antioch Baptist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, since 1983.
It is a very warm part of my life at the present time.
For my undergraduate work, I went to Oklahoma State University and graduated from there in 1977.
I am attaching to this statement a copy of my resume for further details of my education.
I graduated from the university with academic honors and proceeded to the Yale Law School, where I received my JD degree in 1980.
Upon graduation from law school, I became a practicing lawyer with the Washington, DC, firm of Ward, Hardraker, and Ross.
In 1981, I was introduced to now Judge Thomas by a mutual friend.
Judge Thomas told me that he was anticipating a political appointment, and he asked if I would be interested in working with him.
He was, in fact, appointed as Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights.
After he had taken that post, he asked if I would become his assistant, and I accepted that position.
In my early period there, I had two major projects.
The first was an article I wrote for Judge Thomas signature on the education of minority students.
The second was the organization of a seminar on high-risk students which was abandoned because Judge Thomas transferred to the EEOC where he became the chairman of that office.
During this period at the Department of Education, my working relationship with Judge Thomas was positive.
I had a good deal of responsibility and independence.
I thought he respected my work and that he trusted my judgment.
After approximately three months of working there, he asked me to go out socially with him.
What happened next and telling the world about it are the two most difficult things -- experiences of my life.
It is only after a great deal of agonizing consideration and sleepless number -- a great number of sleepless nights that I am able to talk of these unpleasant matters to anyone but my close friends.
I declined the invitation to go out socially with him and explained to him that I thought it would jeopardize what at the time I considered to be a very good working relationship.
I had a normal social life with other men outside of the office.
I believed then, as now, that having a social relationship with a person who was supervising my work would be ill-advised.
I was very uncomfortable with the idea and told him so.
I thought that by saying no and explaining my reasons my employer would abandon his social suggestions.
However, to my regret, in the following few weeks, he continued to ask me out on several occasions.
He pressed me to justify my reasons for saying no to him.
These incidents took place in his office or mine.
They were in the form of private conversations which would not have been overheard by anyone else.
My working relationship became even more strained when Judge Thomas began to use work situations to discuss sex.
On these occasions, he would call me into his office for reports on education issues and projects, or he might suggest that, because of the time pressures of his schedule, we go to lunch to a government cafeteria.
After a brief discussion of work, he would turn the conversation to a discussion of sexual matters.
His conversations were very vivid.
He spoke about acts that he had seen in pornographic films involving such matters as women having sex with animals and films showing group sex or rape scenes.
He talked about pornographic materials depicting individuals with large penises or large breasts involved in various sex acts.
On several occasions, Thomas told me graphically of his own sexual prowess.
Because I was extremely uncomfortable talking about sex with him at all and particularly in such a graphic way, I told him that I did not want to talk about these subjects.
I would also try to change the subject to education matters or to nonsexual personal matters such as his background or his beliefs.
My efforts to change the subject were rarely successful.
Throughout the period of these conversations, he also from time to time asked me for social engagements.
My reaction to these conversations was to avoid them by eliminating opportunities for us to engage in extended conversations.
This was difficult because at the time I was his only assistant at the Office of Education -- or Office for Civil Rights.
During the latter part of my time at the Department of Education, the social pressures and any conversation of his offensive behavior ended.
I began both to believe and hope that our working relationship could be a proper, cordial, and professional one.
When Judge Thomas was made chair of the EEOC, I needed to face the question of whether to go with him.
I was asked to do so, and I did.
The work itself was interesting, and at that time it appeared that the sexual overtures which had so troubled me had ended.
I also faced the realistic fact that I had no alternative job.
While I might have gone back to private practice, perhaps in my old firm or at another, I was dedicated to civil rights work, and my first choice was to be in that field.
Moreover, the Department of Education itself was a dubious venture.
President Reagan was seeking to abolish the entire department.
For my first months at the EEOC, where I continued to be an assistant to Judge Thomas, there were no sexual conversations or overtures.
However, during the fall and winter of 1982, these began again.
The comments were random and ranged from pressing me about why I didnt go out with him to remarks about my personal appearance.
I remember his saying that some day I would have to tell him the real reason that I wouldnt go out with him.
He began to show displeasure in his tone and voice and his demeanor and his continued pressure for an explanation.
He commented on what I was wearing in terms of whether it made me more or less sexually attractive.
The incidents occurred in his inner office at the EEOC.
One of the oddest episodes I remember was an occasion in which Thomas was drinking a Coke in his office.
He got up from the table at which we were working, went over to his desk to get the Coke, looked at the can and asked, Who has pubic hair on my Coke? On other occasions, he referred to the size of his own penis as being larger than normal, and he also spoke on some occasions of the pleasures he had given to women with oral sex.
At this point, late 1982, I began to feel severe stress on the job.
I began to be concerned that Clarence Thomas might take out his anger with me by degrading me or not giving me important assignments.
I also thought that he might find an excuse for dismissing me.
In January of 1983, I began looking for another job.
I was handicapped because I feared that, if he found out, he might make it difficult for me to find other employment and I might be dismissed from the job I had.
Another factor that made my search more difficult was that there was a period -- this was during a period of a hiring freeze in the government.
In February of 1983, I was hospitalized for five days on an emergency basis for acute stomach pain which I attributed to stress on the job.
Once out of the hospital, I became more committed to find other employment and sought further to minimize my contact with Thomas.
This became easier when Allison Duncan (sp) became office director, because most of my work was then funneled through her and I had contact with Clarence Thomas mostly in staff meetings.
In the spring of 1983, an opportunity to teach at Oral Roberts University opened up.
I participated in a seminar -- taught an afternoon session and seminar at Oral Roberts University.
The dean of the university saw me teaching and inquired as to whether I would be interested in furthering -- pursuing a career in teaching, beginning at Oral Roberts University.
I agreed to take the job in large part because of my desire to escape the pressures I felt at the EEOC due to Judge Thomas.
When I informed him that I was leaving in July, I recall that his response was that now I would no longer have an excuse for not going out with him.
I told him that I still preferred not to do so.
At some time after that meeting, he asked if he could take me to dinner at the end of the term.
When I declined, he assured me that the dinner was a professional courtesy only and not a social invitation.
I reluctantly agreed to accept that invitation, but only if it was at the every end of a working day.
On, as I recall, the last day of my employment at the EEOC in the summer of 1983, I did have dinner with Clarence Thomas.
We went directly from work to a restaurant near the office.
We talked about the work I had done, both at education and at the EEOC.
He told me that he was pleased with all of it except for an article and speech that I had done for him while we were at the Office for Civil Rights.
Finally, he made a comment that I will vividly remember.
He said that if I ever told anyone of his behavior that it would ruin his career.
This was not an apology, nor was it an explanation.
That was his last remark about the possibility of our going out or reference to his behavior.
In July of 1983, I left Washington, DC area and have had minimal contact with Judge Clarence Thomas since.
I am of course aware from the press that some questions have been raised about conversations I had with Judge Clarence Thomas after I left the EEOC.
From 1983 until today, I have seen Judge Thomas only twice.
On one occasion, I needed to get a reference from him, and on another he made a public appearance in Tulsa.
On one occasion he called me at home and we had an inconsequential conversation.
On one occasion he called me without reaching me, and I returned the call without reaching him, and nothing came of it.
I have on at least three occasions, been asked to act as a conduit to him for others.
I knew his secretary, Diane Holt.
We had worked together at both EEOC and education.
There were occasions on which I spoke to her, and on some of these occasions undoubtedly I passed on some casual comment to then Chairman Thomas.
There were a series of calls in the first three months of 1985, occasioned by a group in Tulsa, which wished to have a civil rights conference.
They wanted Judge Thomas to be the speaker and enlisted my assistance for this purpose.
I did call in January and February to no effect, and finally suggested to the person directly involved, Susan Cahal (ph) that she put the matter into her own hands and call directly.
She did so in March of 1985.
In connection with that March invitation, Ms.
Cahal (ph) wanted conference materials for the seminar and some research was needed.
I was asked to try to get the information and did attempted to do so.
There was another call about another possible conference in July of 1985.
In August of 1987, I was in Washington, DC and I did call Diane Holt.
In the course of this conversation, she asked me how long I was going to be in town and I told her.
It is recorded in the message as August 15.
It was, in fact, August 20th.
She told me about Judge Thomass marriage and I did say congratulate him.
It is only after a great deal of agonizing consideration that I am able to talk of these unpleasant matters to anyone except my closest friends.
As Ive said before these last few days have been very trying and very hard for me and it hasnt just been the last few days this week.
It has actually been over a month now that I have been under the strain of this issue.
Telling the world is the most difficult experience of my life, but it is very close to having to live through the experience that occasion this meeting.
I may have used poor judgment early on in my relationship with this issue.
I was aware, however, that telling at any point in my career could adversely affect my future career.
And I did not want early on to burn all the bridges to the EEOC.
As I said, I may have used poor judgment.
Perhaps I should have taken angry or even militant steps, both when I was in the agency, or after I left it.
But I must confess to the world that the course that I took seemed the better as well as the easier approach.
I declined any comment to newspapers, but later when Senate staff asked me about these matters I felt I had a duty to report.
I have no personal vendetta against Clarence Thomas.
I seek only to provide the committee with information which it may regard as relevant.
It would have been more comfortable to remain silent.
I took no initiative to inform anyone.
But when I was asked by a representative of this committee to report my experience, I felt that I had to tell the truth.
I could not keep silent. Good morning:Honorable judges, dear teachers and close friends.
I’m very glad to stand here to share my speech with you.
Today I’m going to talk about Love and Take care of Nature.Mother Nature is an exquisite and complex life-system.
Its charm appears in the trees, stream, soil, insects, moss and fungus, all the things on the earth in different shapes, which are interdependent.
When you get close to nature, please remember, each tree, stone and species of animals here has lived harmoniously for hundreds, thousands or even millions of years.
When we pass away, they will continue to live.
They are the real masters, while we are just the passer-by.
However, the conduct we unconsciously do, such as picking, lumbering, tramping and abusing can probably destroy the balance of their life.
Therefore, we must reduce our bad influence as much as possible.
While you are enjoying the nature, do not forget please, the beauty of the lives also needs to be concerned with and to be protected.Each life on the earth has a long and touching evolutionary story.
From the origin, the lives of the human being are equal to those of others; they both are the composing parts of Mother Nature.
Nevertheless, for some inexplicable reasons, the human becomes the spirits of all creatures.
Of course, it is the result of the evolution, but still we should be grateful to all our companions in nature for the opportunity they offer.In spite of this, humans cannot live without earth.
They live on the earth, drink the sweet water, and enjoy the sunshine, the air, the sky, the fruit; the grains utilize the energy and so on.
In a word, the human being cannot live without nature, and Mother Nature makes us grow stronger.I do not like the word Pet, but preferring the word Animal instead.
I have been loving animal since I was just a little boy.
When thinking of the Pet Fashion, I always feel much annoyed.
For the animals will be given a shackle and lose their liberty if they become someones pets.
Their natural attribution can be deprived, too.Up to now, relying on their scientific power, the human have opened up too much and over developed nature, in order to fill up their growing appetites of wealth.
They destroy the balance of nature, however, they dont realize, their own development and existence will be threatened.
Therefore, our sights should be focused on nature and we should try to develop the concept of keeping human and nature in unity.We should lay emphasis on our education with consider cultural and natural emotion. Greetings,everybody.Its really great to be here.Id like to talk about my favorite TV channels.
I enjoy watching TV.Im not embarrassed to admit it.Not all programs are a big waste of time.
Some programs are educational and worthwhile.Some channels are relaxing and entertaining.Let me introduce my four favorites to you.
First,I love action movies.I thrive on the excitement.They make me feel so alive.
I pretend Im the hero.I always defeat the bad guys.I usually end up having a beautiful girlfriend.
Action movies are a blast.Action movie a nice escape.I recommend the action movies on HBO.
Second,I really like comedy.I like humorous entertainment.It always cheers me up.
Laughter is so healthy.Its like food for the soul.Its like sunshine on a rainy day.
My comedy must have quality.It must be wholesome and good-natured.It can never be sexist or humiliating.
Third,I love adventure programs.Im nuts about traveling.The Travel Channel is a favorite.
I also love to explore.Im into science and innovation.The Discovery Channel always fascinates me.
Besides,Im crazy about animals.I respect the animal kingdom.I think Animal Planet is really cool.
Finally,I love watching the news.Im a news freak.Im a politics junky.
I cant get enough of politics.I analyze and compare many news shows.I seldom believe much of what I hear.
I know politics turns a lot of people off.It turns me on.Its my duty as a citizen to stay informed.
In conclusion,I enjoy the tube.Its really not so bad.Its not all useless junk.
Enjoy and beware.Enjoy quality programs.Beware of becoming a couch potato.
Thank you for listening.Thanks for your attention.I hope you always watch excellent TV programs.
It is only when a seed grows that it can produce more seeds. It is onlywhen you express joy and satisfaction in your own life that you can help othersto know joy and satisfaction in their lives.
英语励志短文带翻译:种子只有在生发时,才能结出更多的种子;你只有在自己的生命中表现快乐和满足时,才能帮助他人懂得其生活中的快乐和满足。
It’s no use making yourself miserable for the sake of helping others. Thebest way to help others is from a position of strength and fulfillment ratherthan from a position of weakness and despair.
为帮助他人而使你自己痛苦是没用的,帮助他人的最佳方式是立于坚强和实现目标的意志,而不是软弱和绝望。
The goals, dreams and desires you have are yours for a reason. They arethere to show you and force you to make the most of your life.
你的目标、梦想和愿望理应属于你,它们的存在告诉并且敦促你充分把握利用好自己的生命。
It is not selfish to be your very best. What’s truly selfish is to let yourhuge potential go unrealized.
你力求成为最佳不是自私,真正的自私是让你巨大的潜能悄然消逝,不为人知。
What have you always wanted to know, always wanted to have,duanwenw alwayswanted to do, and always wanted to be? It is never too late to honestly answerthis question, and to answer it with all the colorful details and passion thatit deserves.
你一直想懂得什么、一直想拥有什么、一直想做什么、一直想成为什么样的人?诚实地回答这个问题,用丰富的细节和激情回答它,犹未为晚。
The answer to that question is your truly beautiful and unique gift tolife. Never stop reaching for the best you can imagine; for when you fulfillyour highest potential, you raise the whole world with you.
对那个问题的回答是你给生命的真正美丽又独特的馈赠,尽自己的所能永不停止地力求最好;因为,一旦你发挥出自己的最高潜能,你不但提升了自己,还提升了整个世界。
Friendshi
友谊
Every one of us, rich or poor, should at least have one or two good friends. My friends will listen to me when I want to speak, will wipe my eyes when I cry, will take care of me when I am sick, and my friends will go together with me side by side through this journey of life.
我们每个人,不论富裕还是贫穷,至少应该有一个或两个好朋友。我的朋友会听我说,如果我想说话,要擦去我的眼睛当我哭泣,会照顾我在我生病时,我的朋友将与我一起肩并肩在这人生旅程。
Friendship is a kind of treasure in our lives. It is actually like a bottle of wine, the longer it is kept, the sweeter it will be. It is also like a cup of tea. When we are thirsty, it will be our best choice, but when we have enough time to enjoy ourselves, it is also the most fragrant drink.
友谊是一种财宝在我们的生活。它实际上是像一瓶酒,越久保留,这将是更香甜。它就像一杯茶。当我们口渴时,这将是对我们最好的选择,但当我们有足够的时间去玩得很开心的,它也是最芬芳的饮料。
All of us have to spare some time for personal lives. We have to find the chance to express our emotion and love. When staying with our friends, we can release ourselves completely. We can do whatever we want, we can laugh together, talk together, and even cry to-gether. I should say that being together with our best friends is the most wonderful moment of our lives.
我们所有的人都要花点时间来个人的生活。我们必须找到机会来表达我们的感情和爱。当住在我们的朋友,我们可以放松自己完全。我们可以做任何我们想要的,我们能一起大声笑,一起交谈,甚至哭泣下。我应该说,是我们最好的朋友一起是最精彩的时刻,我们的生活。
I like Yao Ming very much who is the idol I like most.
I like playing basketball and in my opinion, he is the best basketball player in China.
When he started to play basketball in NBA, I was so excited that I saw the news about him everyday.
When he performed well, I was really happy for him. When he did not, I hoped he could rearrange himself and do well in the next game.
What’s more, his personalities attract me as well.
He is kind-hearted and humorous. He always smiles and is kind to very body, even his opponents.
Although he does not play basketball anymore, I still like him.
I hope he can do well in other fields as well.
My Dream
Wide sea diving, the days of the birds to fly. Everyone carries a dream of their own.
However, what is the dream? What is dream? Dream is looking forward to, and the dream is strong - is fleeting dream you insist on the ideal as their courage and perseverance, are you responsible for their own highest level. But ask yourself, how many of us to accomplish his original dream in mind?
Our dream is a simple belief, is a future and life of their own responsibility. Perhaps, is the Youth
grand ambitions; perhaps, is the adolescent confusion and impulsive; maybe just a plain desire, desire applause, eager for success. Countless "may," innumerable "hope" because of our youthful full of miracles, large and small dreams in our hearts, in every corner of life filled with fragrance.
Only the ideal but no effort is useless. If you want to be a teacher, you should to study hard. If you want to be a player, you should do more exercises. If you want to become a businessman, he should learn to get along with people. For example, my wish is to be a famous writer grew up, because I really love writing, so from now on, I should read more, more accumulate knowledge, and strive to improve writing level. No pains, no gains, because my efforts, so my article was punished in many newspapers , and in many composition contest, I see the success I'm happy, so, struggle is the bridge to the ideal.
Yes, my dream. to give my famliy a warm, give my friend happy. Yes, my dream. The podium from the first station began his love this place, started from the first published an article looking forward to the world of words, decided to stay here from the beginning, stick to bottom of my heart desire.
Years in our faces no matter how many additional traces, no matter how much things to us across the chest wounds, as long as we have the right to breathe, to have a passion for remodeling dreams! Oxygen to survive as long as we have to have the courage to create a passion!
Choose to continue, select the value, select the achievements of the passion of life, the brave hearts of the initial dream of success!
Have you ever bought any food on the train? And do you ask for the receiptafter buying it? Nowadays, all trains in China provide its passengers withreceipts for commodities, but 7 years ago, things were quite different.
On 13th of October, 20__, the train T109 from Beijing to Shanghai wasspeeding on the railway. A graduate student bought a sausage at 1 yuan on thetrain, then asked for a receipt.
“Are you kidding? It’s just one yuan!” The crew member was surprised.
The student, however, answered in a determined voice, “I paid the money, soI deserve the receipt.”
“But we never give receipts on the train.’ As a result, his further requestwas turned down by a cold shoulder.
Several days later, the student sued the National Railway Ministry, for notproviding receipts for passengers.
To his dismay, the court turned down the case for lack of evidence. But he,who majored in law at that time, believed law as a most powerful weapon, so hedid not give up. Instead, he began his journey of collecting first-hand evidenceby taking trains and buying commodities aboard. When his classmates were playingsoccer, he was taking the train; When his classmates were buying food atMcdonald’s, he was buying food on the train; When his classmates were askinggirls out, he was asking for the receipts. As he joked, ‘I was either taking thetrain or on the way to take the train.’
One month later, he appeared in the court again, with newly-collectedevidence and a stronger confidence. And I guess, ladies and gentlemen, you willall cheer for the result because this time, the student won the case. Very soon,a regulation about receipts on the train came out. And whatever we buy on thetrain now, there’s a receipt for us.
Outside the court, the student was asked, “How do you make it to the end?”He said, “As a law student, I root my faith in law. I believe that law is there,to protect every person with no exception, and to ensure every person has asay.”
His words spread a strong faith in law, which is not only a doctrine of alaw student, but also a belief that all citizens ought to hold. It is this faiththat initiates the student to resort to law for a tiny issue; it is this faiththat supports him to endure all the exhausting trips when collecting evidence;It is this faith that makes a seemingly “ridiculous” receipt request legal andrightful. It is this faith that helps to change our life, enhance our judicialsystem and bring social justice.
To many, a receipt of 1 yuan is too small to mention, however rights are tobe respected and law is to be believed in. It all starts with a tiny receipt of1 yuan, but we get a monumental case, a new regulation and a bumper harvest insocial justice. The bridge that leads a tiny start to a bumper harvest is faith,the faith in law, rightful and strong.
What I'd like to do today is talk about one of my favorite subjects, and that is the neuroscience of sleep.
Now, there is a sound -- (Alarm clock) -- aah, it worked -- a sound that is desperately, desperately familiar to most of us, and of course it's the sound of the alarm clock. And what that truly ghastly, awful sound does is stop the single most important behavioral experience that we have, and that's sleep. If you're an average sort of person, 36 percent of your life will be spent asleep, which means that if you live to 90, then 32 years will have been spent entirely asleep.
Now what that 32 years is telling us is that sleep at some level is important. And yet, for most of us, we don't give sleep a second thought. We throw it away. We really just don't think about sleep. And so what I'd like to do today is change your views, change your ideas and your thoughts about sleep. And the journey that I want to take you on, we need to start by going back in time.
"Enjoy the honey-heavy dew of slumber." Any ideas who said that? Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Yes, let me give you a few more quotes. "O sleep, O gentle sleep, nature's soft nurse, how have I frighted thee?" Shakespeare again, from -- I won't say it -- the Scottish play. [Correction: Henry IV, Part 2] (Laughter) From the same time: "Sleep is the golden chain that ties health and our bodies together." Extremely prophetic, by Thomas Dekker, another Elizabethan dramatist.
But if we jump forward 400 years, the tone about sleep changes somewhat. This is from Thomas Edison, from the beginning of the 20th century. "Sleep is a criminal waste of time and a heritage from our cave days." Bang. (Laughter) And if we also jump into the 1980s, some of you may remember that Margaret Thatcher was reported to have said, "Sleep is for wimps." And of course the infamous -- what was his name? -- the infamous Gordon Gekko from "Wall Street" said, "Money never sleeps."
What do we do in the 20th century about sleep? Well, of course, we use Thomas Edison's light bulb to invade the night, and we occupied the dark, and in the process of this occupation, we've treated sleep as an illness, almost. We've treated it as an enemy. At most now, I suppose, we tolerate the need for sleep, and at worst perhaps many of us think of sleep as an illness that needs some sort of a cure. And our ignorance about sleep is really quite profound.
Why is it? Why do we abandon sleep in our thoughts? Well, it's because you don't do anything much while you're asleep, it seems. You don't eat. You don't drink. And you don't have sex. Well, most of us anyway. And so therefore it's -- Sorry. It's a complete waste of time, right? Wrong. Actually, sleep is an incredibly important part of our biology, and neuroscientists are beginning to explain why it's so very important. So let's move to the brain.
Now, here we have a brain. This is donated by a social scientist, and they said they didn't know what it was, or indeed how to use it, so -- (Laughter) Sorry. So I borrowed it. I don't think they noticed. Okay. (Laughter)
The point I'm trying to make is that when you're asleep, this thing doesn't shut down. In fact, some areas of the brain are actually more active during the sleep state than during the wake state. The other thing that's really important about sleep is that it doesn't arise from a single structure within the brain, but is to some extent a network property, and if we flip the brain on its back -- I love this little bit of spinal cord here -- this bit here is the hypothalamus, and right under there is a whole raft of interesting structures, not least the biological clock. The biological clock tells us when it's good to be up, when it's good to be asleep, and what that structure does is interact with a whole raft of other areas within the hypothalamus, the lateral hypothalamus, the ventrolateral preoptic nuclei. All of those combine, and they send projections down to the brain stem here. The brain stem then projects forward and bathes the cortex, this wonderfully wrinkly bit over here, with neurotransmitters that keep us awake and essentially provide us with our consciousness. So sleep arises from a whole raft of different interactions within the brain, and essentially, sleep is turned on and off as a result of a range of
Okay. So where have we got to? We've said that sleep is complicated and it takes 32 years of our life. But what I haven't explained is what sleep is about. So why do we sleep? And it won't surprise any of you that, of course, the scientists, we don't have a consensus. There are dozens of different ideas about why we sleep, and I'm going to outline three of those.
The first is sort of the restoration idea, and it's somewhat intuitive. Essentially, all the stuff we've burned up during the day, we restore, we replace, we rebuild during the night. And indeed, as an explanation, it goes back to Aristotle, so that's, what, 2,300 years ago. It's gone in and out of fashion. It's fashionable at the moment because what's been shown is that within the brain, a whole raft of genes have been shown to be turned on only during sleep, and those genes are associated with restoration and metabolic pathways. So there's good evidence for the whole restoration hypothesis.
What about energy conservation? Again, perhaps intuitive. You essentially sleep to save calories. Now, when you do the sums, though, it doesn't really pan out. If you compare an individual who has slept at night, or stayed awake and hasn't moved very much, the energy saving of sleeping is about 110 calories a night. Now, that's the equivalent of a hot dog bun. Now, I would say that a hot dog bun is kind of a meager return for such a complicated and demanding behavior as sleep. So I'm less convinced by the energy conservation idea.
But the third idea I'm quite attracted to, which is brain processing and memory consolidation. What we know is that, if after you've tried to learn a task, and you sleep-deprive individuals, the ability to learn that task is smashed. It's really hugely attenuated. So sleep and memory consolidation is also very important. However, it's not just the laying down of memory and recalling it. What's turned out to be really exciting is that our ability to come up with novel solutions to complex problems is hugely enhanced by a night of sleep. In fact, it's been estimated to give us a threefold advantage. Sleeping at night enhances our creativity. And what seems to be going on is that, in the brain, those neural connections that are important, those synaptic connections that are important, are linked and strengthened, while those that are less important tend to fade away and be less important.
Okay. So we've had three explanations for why we might sleep, and I think the important thing to realize is that the details will vary, and it's probable we sleep for multiple different reasons. But sleep is not an indulgence. It's not some sort of thing that we can take on board rather casually. I think that sleep was once likened to an upgrade from economy to business class, you know, the equiavlent of. It's not even an upgrade from economy to first class. The critical thing to realize is that if you don't sleep, you don't fly. Essentially, you never get there, and what's extraordinary about much of our society these days is that we are desperately sleep-deprived.
So let's now look at sleep deprivation. Huge sectors of society are sleep-deprived, and let's look at our sleep-o-meter. So in the 1950s, good data suggests that most of us were getting around about eight hours of sleep a night. Nowadays, we sleep one and a half to two hours less every night, so we're in the six-and-a-half-hours-every-night league. For teenagers, it's worse, much worse. They need nine hours for full brain performance, and many of them, on a school night, are only getting five hours of sleep. It's simply not enough. If we think about other sectors of society, the aged, if you are aged, then your ability to sleep in a single block is somewhat disrupted, and many sleep, again, less than five hours a night. Shift work. Shift work is extraordinary, perhaps 20 percent of the working population, and the body clock does not shift to the demands of working at night. It's locked onto the same light-dark cycle as the rest of us. So when the poor old shift worker is going home to try and sleep during the day, desperately tired, the body clock is saying, "Wake up. This is the time to be awake." So the quality of sleep that you get as a night shift worker is usually very poor, again in that sort of five-hour region. And then, of course, tens of millions of people suffer from jet lag. So who here has jet lag? Well, my goodness gracious. Well, thank you very much indeed for not falling asleep, because that's what your brain is craving.
One of the things that the brain does is indulge in micro-sleeps, this involuntary falling asleep, and you have essentially no control over it. Now, micro-sleeps can be sort of somewhat embarrassing, but they can also be deadly. It's been estimated that 31 percent of drivers will fall asleep at the wheel at least once in their life, and in the U.S., the statistics are pretty good: 100,000 accidents on the freeway have been associated with tiredness, loss of vigilance, and falling asleep. A hundred thousand a year. It's extraordinary. At another level of terror, we dip into the tragic accidents at Chernobyl and indeed the space shuttle Challenger, which was so tragically lost. And in the investigations that followed those disasters, poor judgment as a result of extended shift work and loss of vigilance and tiredness was attributed to a big chunk of those disasters.
So when you're tired, and you lack sleep, you have poor memory, you have poor creativity, you have increased impulsiveness, and you have overall poor judgment. But my friends, it's so much worse than that.
(Laughter)
If you are a tired brain, the brain is craving things to wake it up. So drugs, stimulants. Caffeine represents the stimulant of choice across much of the Western world. Much of the day is fueled by caffeine, and if you're a really naughty tired brain, nicotine. And of course, you're fueling the waking state with these stimulants, and then of course it gets to 11 o'clock at night, and the brain says to itself, "Ah, well actually, I need to be asleep fairly shortly. What do we do about that when I'm feeling completely wired?" Well, of course, you then resort to alcohol. Now alcohol, short-term, you know, once or twice, to use to mildly sedate you, can be very useful. It can actually ease the sleep transition. But what you must be so aware of is that alcohol doesn't provide sleep, a biological mimic for sleep. It sedates you. So it actually harms some of the neural proccessing that's going on during memory consolidation and memory recall. So it's a short-term acute measure, but for goodness sake, don't become addicted to alcohol as a way of getting to sleep every night.
Another connection between loss of sleep is weight gain. If you sleep around about five hours or less every night, then you have a 50 percent likelihood of being obese. What's the connection here? Well, sleep loss seems to give rise to the release of the hormone ghrelin, the hunger hormone. Ghrelin is released. It gets to the brain. The brain says, "I need carbohydrates," and what it does is seek out carbohydrates and particularly sugars. So there's a link between tiredness and the metabolic predisposition for weight gain.
Stress. Tired people are massively stressed. And one of the things of stress, of course, is loss of memory, which is what I sort of just then had a little lapse of. But stress is so much more. So if you're acutely stressed, not a great problem, but it's sustained stress associated with sleep loss that's the problem. So sustained stress leads to suppressed immunity, and so tired people tend to have higher rates of overall infection, and there's some very good studies showing that shift workers, for example, have higher rates of cancer. Increased levels of stress throw glucose into the circulation. Glucose becomes a dominant part of the vasculature and essentially you become glucose intolerant. Therefore, diabetes 2. Stress increases cardiovascular disease as a result of raising blood pressure. So there's a whole raft of things associated with sleep loss that are more than just a mildly impaired brain, which is where I think most people think that sleep loss resides.
So at this point in the talk, this is a nice time to think, well, do you think on the whole I'm getting enough sleep? So a quick show of hands. Who feels that they're getting enough sleep here? Oh. Well, that's pretty impressive. Good. We'll talk more about that later, about what are your tips.
So most of us, of course, ask the question, "Well, how do I know whether I'm getting enough sleep?" Well, it's not rocket science. If you need an alarm clock to get you out of bed in the morning, if you are taking a long time to get up, if you need lots of stimulants, if you're grumpy, if you're irritable, if you're told by your work colleagues that you're looking tired and irritable, chances are you are sleep-deprived. Listen to them. Listen to yourself.
What do you do? Well -- and this is slightly offensive -- sleep for dummies: Make your bedroom a haven for sleep. The first critical thing is make it as dark as you possibly can, and also make it slightly cool. Very important. Actually, reduce your amount of light exposure at least half an hour before you go to bed. Light increases levels of alertness and will delay sleep. What's the last thing that most of us do before we go to bed? We stand in a massively lit bathroom looking into the mirror cleaning our teeth. It's the worst thing we can possibly do before we went to sleep. Turn off those mobile phones. Turn off those computers. Turn off all of those things that are also going to excite the brain. Try not to drink caffeine too late in the day, ideally not after lunch. Now, we've set about reducing light exposure before you go to bed, but light exposure in the morning is very good at setting the biological clock to the light-dark cycle. So seek out morning light. Basically, listen to yourself. Wind down. Do those sorts of things that you know are going to ease you off into the honey-heavy dew of slumber.
Okay. That's some facts. What about some myths?
Teenagers are lazy. No. Poor things. They have a biological predisposition to go to bed late and get up late, so give them a break.
We need eight hours of sleep a night. That's an average. Some people need more. Some people need less. And what you need to do is listen to your body. Do you need that much or do you need more? Simple as that.
Old people need less sleep. Not true. The sleep demands of the aged do not go down. Essentially, sleep fragments and becomes less robust, but sleep requirements do not go down.
And the fourth myth is, early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise. Well that's wrong at so many different levels. (Laughter) There is no, no evidence that getting up early and going to bed early gives you more wealth at all. There's no difference in socioeconomic status. In my experience, the only difference between morning people and evening people is that those people that get up in the morning early are just horribly smug.
(Laughter) (Applause)
Okay. So for the last part, the last few minutes, what I want to do is change gears and talk about some really new, breaking areas of neuroscience, which is the association between mental health, mental illness and sleep disruption. We've known for 130 years that in severe mental illness, there is always, always sleep disruption, but it's been largely ignored. In the 1970s, when people started to think about this again, they said, "Yes, well, of course you have sleep disruption in schizophrenia because they're on anti-psychotics. It's the anti-psychotics causing the sleep problems," ignoring the fact that for a hundred years previously, sleep disruption had been reported before anti-psychotics.
So what's going on? Lots of groups, several groups are studying conditions like depression, schizophrenia and bipolar, and what's going on in terms of sleep disruption. We have a big study which we published last year on schizophrenia, and the data were quite extraordinary. In those individuals with schizophrenia, much of the time, they were awake during the night phase and then they were asleep during the day. Other groups showed no 24-hour patterns whatsoever. Their sleep was absolutely smashed. And some had no ability to regulate their sleep by the light-dark cycle. They were getting up later and later and later and later each night. It was smashed.
So what's going on? And the really exciting news is that mental illness and sleep are not simply associated but they are physically linked within the brain. The neural networks that predispose you to normal sleep, give you normal sleep, and those that give you normal mental health are overlapping. And what's the evidence for that? Well, genes that have been shown to be very important in the generation of normal sleep, when mutated, when changed, also predispose individuals to mental health problems. And last year, we published a study which showed that a gene that's been linked to schizophrenia, which, when mutated, also smashes the sleep. So we have evidence of a genuine mechanistic overlap between these two important systems.
Other work flowed from these studies. The first was that sleep disruption actually precedes certain types of mental illness, and we've shown that in those young individuals who are at high risk of developing bipolar disorder, they already have a sleep abnormality prior to any clinical diagnosis of bipolar. The other bit of data was that sleep disruption may actually exacerbate, make worse the mental illness state. My colleague Dan Freeman has used a range of agents which have stabilized sleep and reduced levels of paranoia in those individuals by 50 percent.
So what have we got? We've got, in these connections, some really exciting things. In terms of the neuroscience, by understanding the neuroscience of these two systems, we're really beginning to understand how both sleep and mental illness are generated and regulated within the brain. The second area is that if we can use sleep and sleep disruption as an early warning signal, then we have the chance of going in. If we know that these individuals are vulnerable, early intervention then becomes possible. And the third, which I think is the most exciting, is that we can think of the sleep centers within the brain as a new therapeutic target. Stabilize sleep in those individuals who are vulnerable, we can certainly make them healthier, but also alleviate some of the appalling symptoms of mental illness.
So let me just finish. What I started by saying is take sleep seriously. Our attitudes toward sleep are so very different from a pre-industrial age, when we were almost wrapped in a duvet. We used to understand intuitively the importance of sleep. And this isn't some sort of crystal-waving nonsense. This is a pragmatic response to good health. If you have good sleep, it increases your concentration, attention, decision-making, creativity, social skills, health. If you get sleep, it reduces your mood changes, your stress, your levels of anger, your impulsivity, and your tendency to drink and take drugs. And we finished by saying that an understanding of the neuroscience of sleep is really informing the way we think about some of the causes of mental illness, and indeed is providing us new ways to treat these incredibly debilitating conditions.
Jim Butcher, the fantasy writer, said, "Sleep is God. Go worship." And I can only recommend that you do the same.
Thank you for your attention.
(Applause)
Boys and girls:
We high school students do have some growing pains, but we can get rid of them correctly and wisely....
One possible version:
Boys and girls:
We high school students do have some growing pains, but we can get rid of them correctly and wisely. First of all, some of us are upset about their figures and looks. Personally, I argue that it is one's inner beauty that really matters. That is why we needn't care about it.
Second, when we are misunderstood by our teachers, parents or even classmates, we can find a proper time to have a heart-to-heart talk with them, as communication is the best way to remove misunderstandings. Some of us complain they have few true friends. Being open-minded and ready to help others will surely gain popularity among peers.
Third, we may fall behind others, which makes us stressed. Determined to work efficiently, we can overcome any difficulty. If necessary, we may turn to the teachers for help.
Last, some of us don't have much pocket money, so they feel unhappy. Isn't it strange? So long as we have some, that's enough. We high school students should learn to save, as saving is a good virtue of the Chinese, shouldn’t we?
That's all. Thank you.
Traveling is kind of like being in love. Except instead of being intimatewith another person, you become intimate with a place. Those moments of pleasurewhen the sun hits your face and you look out onto a foreign countryside, orarrive at a new train depot in a bustle of taxis and hawkers—those are themoments you, or at least I, remember, and live for, again and again.
旅行从某种意义来讲就像是在谈恋爱，就像是在和恋人亲密热恋一样，只不过是你和一个地方变亲密。当阳光普照在你的脸庞上时，在你看到窗外异国乡村风情时，当你在熙来攘往的.人群车流中或打的或坐拉脚车去一个新车站时，这些都是快乐时光，至少那个时刻的你，给自己留下了记忆，而且这些快乐的记忆又是如此鲜活。
when i was a naughty boy, may be because of the influence of the film.xiao bing zhang ga,my dream was to be a soldier just like zhang ga.i thought if i was a soldier, i should be able to swim, dive and climb trees as he did.it seemed to be very wonderful.so i began to learn swimming, diving and climbing trees.i practiced every day and finally i could do them well.but when i entered junior high school and had the military training.i suddenly found that being a soldier was very difficult and i wasnt strong enough to bear it .i had to give my dream up.
but i wasnt discouraged, and i had new aim, which was to be a postman, or rather to be a newspaper boy.as a newspaper boy.i could speed along streets on a bike and throw newspapers onto every porch.thats also very cool.so i started learning to ride a bicycle.after the everyday practice, i could go very fast by bicycle.but to my disappointment, the job which i wanted only existed in western counties not in china, because there was no porch in china.and chinese postmen had to stuff very thick newspapers into very small mailboxes from very narrow entrances.the job was far from what i had expected.so once again my dream fell through.
perhaps you have had the same experience as i and most of your dreams havent come true yet.but i think it doesnt matter, because if you have a dream, youll make many efforts to realize it.this course is really important.if i hadnt dreamt of being a soldier or a newspaper boy.i wouldnt have learned to swim, to dive, to climb trees or to ride a bicycle.even if our dream cant come true, youll learn much from the efforts you have made.so what i want to tell us is that dream helps us to grow up and teaches us how to control our lives .it is dream that gives us power and makes our lives colorful
The City Mouse and the Country Mouse
Once there were two mice. They were friends. One mouse lived in the country; the other mouse lived in the city. After many years the Country mouse saw the City mouse; he said, "Do come and see me at my house in the country." So the City mouse went. The City mouse said, "This food is not good, and your house is not good. Why do you live in a hole in the field? You should come and live in the city. You would live in a nice house made of stone. You would have nice food to eat. You must come and see me at my house in the city."
The Country mouse went to the house of the City mouse. It was a very good house. Nice food was set ready for them to eat. But just as they began to eat they heard a great noise. The City mouse cried, " Run! Run! The cat is coming!" They ran away quickly and hid.
After some time they came out. When they came out, the Country mouse said, "I do not like living in the city. I like living in my hole in the field. For it is nicer to be poor and happy, than to be rich and afraid."
We've all been taught that we should help people. It is the right thing to do and will make us popular with others. It may even win us favors in return. However, we must be realistic. We can't say yes to every request. If we did, we would fail or go crazy for sure. Sometimes we simply don't have the time to help. In this case, we must know how to say no politely.
There are several things you can do to project a good image in an interview. First of all, look like a winner. Dress conservatively and well, and you'll look like you're going to the top. Second, communicate clearly. C
When we need to say no, here is one method we can try. First, we should tell the truth. If we really can't do something, we should just say so. Second, we should remember to refuse requests politely. We must communicate clearly, but must also be sincere and sympathetic. A true friend will understand. Finally, we must not feel guilty about saying no. Sometimes refusing others is the right thing to do. It can save ourselves, and them, a lot of trouble. In short, we cannot please everyone all the time. Refusing favors is a part of life.
演说题目：Questioning the universe
演说者：Stephen Hawking
There is nothing bigger or older than the universe. The questions I would like to talk about are: one, where did we come from? How did the universe come into being? Are we alone in the universe? Is there alien life out there? What is the future of the human race?
没什么比宇宙更广大更久远的了。你们的问题中我想聊一下的是：你我何从?宇宙何来?宇宙中就只有我们?有外星异生物么?人类的未来将会如何?
Up until the 1920s, everyone thought the universe was essentially static and unchanging in time. Then it was discovered that the universe was expanding. Distant galaxies were moving away from us. This meant they must have been closer together in the past. If we extrapolate back, we find we must have all been on top of each other about 15 billion years ago. This was the Big Bang, the beginning of the universe.
上世纪20xx年代之前，所有人都以为宇宙基本上是处于稳态，流金岁月，持恒不变。之后我们发现原来宇宙正在膨胀中。辽远星系一直飞离我们，这意味着它们必定曾相靠近。我们若往后推算，就会发现我们必都曾於约150亿年前，互相堆叠在一起。正是这 "霹雳大爆炸" ——宇宙之起始。
But was there anything before the Big Bang? If not, what created the universe? Why did the universe emerge from the Big Bang the way it did? We used to think that the theory of the universe could be divided into two parts. First, there were the laws like Maxwell's equations and general relativity that determined the evolution of the universe, given its state over all of space at one time. And second, there was no question of the initial state of the universe.
然而大爆炸前可有什么吗?若是没有，又是什么创造宇宙呢?宇宙缘何要从大霹雳中冒出呢?过往我们都认为宇宙论可分成两部分，首先，是定律。像“麦克斯韦方程组”'和 “广义相对论”以其于同一刻设定整个时空之状态，而决定了宇宙之演化进程。次之，是对宇宙雏形的疑问。
We have made good progress on the first part, and now have the knowledge of the laws of evolution in all but the most extreme conditions. But until recently, we have had little idea about the initial conditions for the universe. However, this division into laws of evolution and initial conditions depends on time and space being separate and distinct.
第一部分我们取得良好进展，除了“至极端境况”'以外。现在已对演化规律于所有境况下之进程有所掌握。可直至最近，我们仍对宇宙初生当时之周围条件不甚了了。然而，这演化律及初始条件之界分，乃囿于"时 空分明"之概念内。
Under extreme conditions, general relativity and quantum theoryallow time to behave like another dimension of space. This removes the distinction between time and space, and means the laws of evolution can also determine the initial state. The universe can spontaneously create itself out of nothing.
而於极端条件下，广义相对论及量子论容许“时间”如同“空间”的另一维度般运作。这就将“时.空”之间区别移除了，即是说演化律 亦可决定初始状态。宇宙可以由无变有自我创生!
Moreover, we can calculate a probability that the universe was created in different states. These predictions are in excellent agreement with observations by the WMAP satellite of the cosmic microwave background, which is an imprint of the very early universe. We think we have solved the mystery of creation. Maybe we should patent the universe and charge everyone royalties for their existence.
我们甚至可以计算出宇宙在不同情况下诞生的可能性。这些推论与WMAP卫星所观测到的宇宙微波背景辐射(即大爆炸之痕迹)相当一致。我们相信已勘破了创造奥秘或许我们应将“宇宙”给注册，然后向每个生存于世的人收“生活费”。
I now turn to the second big question: are we alone, or is there other life in the universe? We believe that life arose spontaneously on the Earth, so it must be possible for life to appear on other suitable planets, of which there seem to be a large number in the galaxy.
现在我转到第二个大问题去，宇宙中就只有我们，还是另有其它生物?我们相信生命从地球自我衍生，故此生命确有可能出现於其它合适星球——星河中看来可有不少呢。
But we don't know how life first appeared. We have two pieces of observational evidence on the probability of life appearing. The first is that we have fossils of algae from 3.5 billion years ago. The Earth was formed 4.6 billion years ago and was probably too hot for about the first half billion years. So life appeared on Earth within half a billion years of it being possible, which is short compared to the 10-billion-year lifetime of a planet of Earth type. This suggests that the probability of life appearing is reasonably high. If it was very low, one would have expected it to take most of the ten billion years available.
但我们仍未搅通生命是如何生成：对於生命诞生的可能契机，我们有两项观测得来的佐证。首先我们有来自35亿年前的海藻化石。地球于46亿年前形成，头约5亿年相信仍太热了。故此生命于其变得可能后的5亿年间方出现，这相对于像地球之类百亿年期的星体，只算是一段短时间。这意味着生命出现的概率是颇高的。若是低的话，就可预期要花尽百亿年的绝大部分才会出现。
On the other hand, we don't seem to have been visited by aliens. I am discounting the reports of UFOs.Why would they appear only to cranks and weirdos? If there is a government conspiracy to suppress the reports and keep for itself the scientific knowledge the aliens bring, it seems to have been a singularly ineffective policy so far. Furthermore, despite an extensive search by the SETI project, we haven't heard any alien television quiz shows. This probably indicates that there are no alien civilizations at our stage of development within a radius of a few hundred light years. Issuing an insurance policy against abduction by aliens seems a pretty safe bet.
另一方面，我们似乎从未见有外星人到访。我不信那些什么“不明物体的报导”。它们干吗要单向那些古古怪怪的人现身呢?若真有一个甚麽政府阴谋要将报导打住，从而将外星人所带来之科学识据为己有，那可真像个既离奇，亦从未见效的举措。再说，即便SETI计划已进行广泛探索，我们还没有收听到任何外太空电视答问节目。这可能昭示在我们现阶段文明发展之方圆数百光年范围之内，并没有其它外星异文化。卖保险给那些怕被外星人绑架的人，看来是个不错的选择。
This brings me to the last of the big questions: the future of the human race. If we are the only intelligent beings in the galaxy, we should make sure we survive and continue. But we are entering an increasingly dangerous period of our history. Our population and our use of the finite resources of planet Earth are growing exponentially, along with our technical ability to change the environment for good or ill. But our genetic code still carries the selfish and aggressive instincts that were of survival advantage in the past. It will be difficult enough to avoid disaster in the next hundred years, let alone the next thousand or million.
这送我到了最后一个大问题：人类的前途。若我们是星河里唯一智能生物，就必须确保自己能存活并延续下去。但我们正迈入历史中一个愈发危险的时段。我们的人囗和对地球有限资源的耗用，正以几何级数增长，相随的是我们将环境或弄好或弄垮的技术才能，至于我们的基因指令则仍带着那自私和好斗的本质，这或有利于我们过往求存，却又让我们于往后数百年内人祸难逃。更别说未来千百万年了。
Our only chance of long-term survival is not to remain inward-looking on planet Earth, but to spread out into space. The answers to these big questions show that we have made remarkable progress in the last hundred years. But if we want to continue beyond the next hundred years, our future is in space.That is why I am in favor of manned — or should I say, personned — space flight.
我们长活下去的唯一机会，不是一直呆着在地球而是冲出太空去。这些大问题之解答显示我们于过去数百年取得可观进展。可若要超越未来数百年，们的前途在于太空。正因此，我较倾向于 "人" 控——( man 于英语中可单指'人或“男人”) 或许我应说，由人驾驶之太空旅航。
All of my life I have sought to understand the universe and find answers to these questions. I have been very lucky that my disability has not been a serious handicap. Indeed, it has probably given me more time than most people to pursue the quest for knowledge. The ultimate goal is a complete theory of the universe, and we are making good progress. Thank you for listening.
我一生都在探究想要了解宇宙并找出这些问题之答案。我一直都非常幸运，我的残疾并没造成严重障礙;说真的，这反倒让我比大部分人获得更多时间以从事知识之追求。终极目标是一套完备的宇宙论，而我们已有良好进展。感谢您们的聆听。
Chris Anderson: Professor, if you had to guess either way, do you now believe that it is more likely than not that we are alone in the Milky Way, as a civilization of our level of intelligence or higher? This answer took seven minutes, and really gave me an insight into the incredible act of generosity this whole talk was for TED.
安德森：教授，若您必须二选其一作猜测，此刻您是较相信还是较不相信我们是天河中唯一现水平或更高水平之智能文化?准备这答案已花了7分多钟，真让我深切体会到这整个演讲为TED所付出之，让人难以置信之慷慨。
Stephen Hawking: I think it quite likely that we are the only civilization within several hundred light years; otherwise we would have heard radio waves. The alternative is that civilizations don't last very long, but destroy themselves.
霍金：我想我们应该是数百光年范围内之独一文明;否则我们应已收听到电波。另一种可能是，该等文明都维持不久，就自我毁灭掉。
CA: Professor Hawking, thank you for that answer. We will take it as a salutary warning, I think, for the rest of our conference this week. Professor, we really thank you for the extraordinary effort you madeto share your questions with us today. Thank you very much indeed.
安德森： 霍金教授，谢谢您的解答。我想，我们会将之作为这一周余下会谈之座右铭。教授，我们衷心感谢您今天为与我们分享您的问题所作出之卓越贡献。真的非常感谢您。
(Applause)
(掌声)
My friends, comrades, and fellow South Africans: I greet you all in the name of peace, democracy, and freedom for all. I stand here before you not as a prophet but as a humble servant of you, the people. Your tireless and heroic sacrifices have made it possible for me to be here today. I therefore have placed the remaining years of my life in your , I extend my sincere and warmest gratitude to the millions of my compatriots and those in every corner of the globe who have campaigned tirelessly for my release. I extend special greetings to the people of Cape Town the city through which — which has been my home for three decades.
I salute the rank?and?file members of the ANC: You have sacrificed life and limb in the pursuit of the noble cause of our , like Solomon Mahlangu and Ashley Kriel, who have paid the ultimate price for the freedom of all South Africans. I salute the South African Communist Party for its sterling contribution to the struggle for democracy. You have survived 40 years of unrelenting persecution.
The memory of great communists like Moses Kotane, Yusuf Dadoo, Bram Fischer, and Moses Mabhida will be cherished for generations to come. I salute General Secretary Joe Slovo, one of our finest patriots. We are heartened by the fact that the alliance between ourselves and the Party remains as strong as it — it always , the National Education Crisis Committee, the South African Youth Congress, the Transvaal and Natal Indian Congresses, and COSATU and the many other formations of the Mass Democratic Movement. I also salute the Black Sash and the National Union of South African Students.
We note with pride that you have looked — that you have acted as the conscience of white South Africa. Even during the darkest days in the history of our struggle you held the flag of liberty high. The large?scale mass mobilization of the past few years is one of the key factors which led to the opening of the final chapter of our — Your organized strength is the pride of our movement. You remain the most dependable force in the struggle to end exploitation and oppression.
I greet the traditional leaders of our country — many among you continue to walk in the footsteps of great heroes like Hintsa and , you, the young lions. You, the young lions, have energized our entire struggle. I pay tribute to the mothers and wives and sisters of our nation. Without your support our struggle would not have reached this advanced stage. The sacrifice of the frontline states will be remembered by South Africans , black and white, recognize that apartheid has no future. It has to be ended by our own decisive mass action in order to build peace and security.
The mass campaigns of defiance and other actions of our organizations and people can onlyculminate in the establishment of continent is in calculable. The fabric of family life of millions of my people has been shattered. Millions are homeless and unemployed. Our economy — Our economy lies in ruins and our people are embroiled in political strife. Our resort to the armed struggle in 1960 with the formation of the military wing of the ANC, Umkhonto we Sizwe, was a purely defensive action against the violence of apartheid. The factors which necessitated the armed struggle still exist today. We have no option but to continue. We express the hope that a climate conducive to a negotiated settlement will be created soon so that there may no longer be the need for the armed , strategies, and , I feel duty?bound to make the point that a leader of the movement is a person who has been democratically elected at a national conference.
This is a principle which must be upheld without any , I wish to report to you that my talks with the government have been aimed at normalizing the political situation in the country. We have not as yet begun discussing the basic demands of the struggle. I wish to stress that I myself have at no time entered into negotiations about the future of our country except to insist on a meeting between the ANC and the has gone further than any other Nationalist President in taking real steps to normalize the situation. However, there are further steps, as outlined in the Harare Declaration, that have to be met before negotiations on the basic demands of our people can begin.
Negotiations cannot take place — Negotiations cannot take place above the heads or behind the backs of our people. It is our belief that the future of our country can only be determined by a body which is democratically elected on a non?racial basis. Negotiations on the dismantling of apartheid will have to address the overwhelming demands of our people for a democratic, non?racial and unitary South Africa. And this reality is that we are still suffering under the policies of the Nationalist , so that the process towards democracy is rapid and uninterrupted. We have waited too long for our freedom. We can no longer wait.
Now is the time to intensify the struggle on all fronts. To relax our efforts now would be a mistake which generations to come will not be able to role in a united democratic and non?racial South Africa is the only way to peace and racial harmony. In conclusion, I wish to quote my own words during my trial in 1964. They are as true today as they were then. I spoke: I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and — and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.
Money is indeed important, but money cannot buy everything. A miser maythink that “money talks,” but if you only give your attention to making money,you may lose many things, such as health, friendship and love. I don't think weshould regard money as everything. Money is just a tool that can help us solveproblems or enable us to live a comfortable life. What we should do is to use itappropriately and not become misers. This way, all of us can lead a happierlives.
钱确实是很重要的，但钱买不到所有的东西。守财奴可能认为“金钱万能”，但是如果你只将注意力放在挣钱上，你将失去很多东西，例如，健康，友谊和爱。我认为我们不应该将金钱看作一切。钱仅仅是一个可以帮助我们解决问题和过更舒适的生活的工具。我们应该做的是如何正确的使用金钱，不要变成守财奴。这样，我们才能过上幸福的生活。
hello everyone!
This year's November 9 is fire awareness day. The theme of this activity is "enhancing the fire safety responsibility and fire safety awareness of the whole people". When it comes to fire fighting, students will naturally think of the creepy word "fire". For the primary school students in our campus, how to escape and save themselves in case of fire? To solve this problem, fire experts introduced the ten methods of escape and self rescue in case of fire in public gathering places.
Please listen carefully:
First, we should understand and be familiar with the environment. When you walk into shopping malls, hotels, restaurants, song and dance halls and other public places, you should pay attention to the location of emergency exits, emergency exits and fire extinguishers, so as to evacuate and extinguish fire in time in case of accidents. Second, evacuate quickly. Once you hear the fire alarm or realize that you are surrounded by fire, you should immediately try to evacuate.
Third, protect the respiratory system. Towel or napkin cloth, mask, clothes, etc. can be used to cover the mouth and nose tightly during escape, otherwise there will be the risk of poisoning and suffocation of respiratory system soft tissue burned by hot air. Fourth, evacuate from the passageway. Such as evacuation stairs, fire elevators, outdoor evacuation stairs, etc. Windows, balconies, roofs, lightning wires, downpipes, etc. can also be considered for escape.
Fifth, use ropes to slide. Use a strong rope or tear the curtains, sheets and bedding into strips, screw them into ropes, wet them with water, and tie them to the firm heating pipes, window frames and bedsteads. The trapped people slide one by one along the rope to the next floor or ground.
The sixth floor is the low floor jump off, which is applicable to the second floor. Before jumping, throw some soft items such as quilts, pillows, mattresses and coats to the ground for "soft landing", and then hold the window with your hands, droop and slide naturally, so as to shorten the jumping height.
Seventh, we should use equipment. Commonly used are descent device, life bag, net, air cushion, soft ladder, slide rod, slide platform, guide rope, life-saving gangway, etc.
8. Temporary asylum. When there is no way to escape, the toilet can be used to temporarily make it difficult. When taking refuge, spray the fire doors and windows with water to wet all combustibles in the room and prolong the time. During the period of temporary asylum, take the initiative to contact the outside world in order to be rescued as soon as possible.
9. Using signs to guide people out of danger. Signs such as "emergency exit", "emergency exit", "safety passage", "fire alarm telephone" and brief escape direction are set on the walls, ceilings, doors and corners of public places. The trapped people can escape in order according to the direction indicated by the signs, which can solve the "urgent need".
10. we should promote self-interest. We should resolutely stop the behavior of disregarding the life and death of others and the phenomenon of front hugging and back crowding. Only orderly and rapid evacuation can minimize casualties.
There are still a lot of common sense about fire safety. Please log in to "China fire protection network" and other relevant websites at home or with the permission of your computer teacher this week to learn more about fire safety.
Thank you!
My dear friends,
Every one of us, rich or poor, should at least have one or two good friends. My friends will listen to me when I want to speak, will wipe my eyes when I cry, will take care of me when I am sick, and my friends will go together with me side by side through this journey of life.
Friendship is a kind of treasure in our lives. It is actually like a bottle of wine, the longer it is kept, the sweeter it will be. It is also like a cup of tea. When we are thirsty, it will be our best choice, but when we have enough time to enjoy ourselves, it is also the most fragrant drink.
All of us have to spare some time for personal lives. We have to find the chance to express our emotion and love. When staying with our friends, we can release ourselves completely. We can do whatever we want, we can laugh together, talk together, and even cry to-gether. I should say that being together with our best friends is the most wonderful moment of our lives.
As we know, we would feel lonely if we didn't even have a friend. But it doesn't mean we could depend on our friends all the time. There is a famous motto saying that “A friend is like a quilt with cotton wadding, but the real thing that keeps you warm is your own temperature.” It is really true. We have to work hard together with our friends, encourage each other and help each other. When we receive love and friendship, we should repay as much as we can.
Finally, let's pray together now that one day, all of us could find the person we want to find, and could enjoy a real beautiful friendship in our lives. Let's pray the flower of friendship be-tween our friends and us would always bloom brightly in our hearts
After being cheated of the meat by the fox, the crow stood on the branchand scolded for three days and three nights.
Since then, crows are very wary of foxes, afraid of being cheatedagain.
One day, the crow found a piece of meat. It took the meat in its mouth andstopped on the branch to rest.
He was very alert. He looked left and right for fear that the meat would becheated by the sly fox again.
At this time, the fox is humming a little song in the walk, smelling thesmell of meat, followed the fragrance.
After a while, he came to the tree where the crow stopped.
When the fox saw that it was a crow, he was very happy. He thought tohimself: This crow is very stupid. Last time he said that his singing was good,he cheated the meat away.
It looks like another piece of meat is coming this time.
Seeing that it was a fox, the crow immediately hung the meat on the branchand asked warily, "brother fox, I havent seen you for a long time. What are youdoing this time?"
The fox said calmly, "its nothing more than to admit the mistake with thebrother crow."
The crow said angrily, "brother fox, dont be hurt!"
The fox pretended to be a little sad and said, "brother crow, last time Imsorry for you. I lied to you because I was wrong. I deserve to die! This time,you can do whatever you want to do to me!"
The crow said, "then you will return the meat you cheated me lasttime."
When the fox heard this, he was very angry and forced to bear the anger inhis heart and said: "brother crow, I have eaten the meat last time.
I know a place where there is a lot of meat. Its not a long way. I have nostrength. You give me your piece of meat to eat. When I have strength, I willtake two back to you. "
The crow listened happily and said, "well, Ill give you the meat." Then hetook the meat off the branch and gave it to the fox.
The fox ate the meat and said to the crow, "wait, Ill get the meat foryou." With that, the fox left in a hurry.
After a long time, the crow didnt see the fox come back, just suddenlyrealized that he had been cheated again.
what would you do if you failed? many people may choose to give up.however, the surest way to success is to keep your direction and stick to yourgoal.
on your way to success, you must keep your direction. it is just like alamp, guiding you in darkness and helping you overcome obstacles on your way.otherwise, you will easily get lost or hesitate to go ahead.
direction means objectives. you can get nowhere without an objective inlife.
you can try to write your objective on paper and make some plans to achieveit. in this way, you will know how to arrange your time and to spend your timeproperly. and you should also have a belief that you are sure to succeed as longas you keep your direction all the time.
坚持你的方向
如果失败了你会怎么做?很多人可能会选择放弃。然而，要想成功，最可靠的方法就是坚持你的方向和目标。
在通往成功的路上，你必须坚持你的方向。它就像一盏灯，在黑暗中为你指路，帮助你度过难关。否则，你很容易就会迷失方向或犹豫不前。
方向意味着目标。人生如果没有目标，将一事无成。
你可以试着把你的目标写在纸上，并制定实现目标的计划。这样，你就会懂得如何合理安排时间，如何正确地支配时间。而且你还要有这样的信念：只要你一直坚持自己的方向，你就一定可以成功。
Transcr ipt of Apple CEO Tim Cook's commencement address at Tulane University
苹果CEO蒂姆·库克杜兰大学毕业典礼演讲致词
Hello Tulane! Thank you President Fitts, Provost Forman, distinguished faculty, other faculty (laughs), and the entire Tulane family, including the workers, ushers, (and) volunteers who prepared this beautiful space. And I feel duty-bound to also recognize the hard-working bartenders at The Boot. Though they're not here with us this morning, I'm sure some of you are reflecting on their contributions as well. (The Boot is a popular college bar right next to Tulane's campus which has been around for decades.)
你好，杜兰大学！感谢菲茨校长、福尔曼教务长、尊敬的教职员工、其他教职员工[笑]以及整个杜兰大家庭，包括为这个美丽的讲堂做准备的工作人员、引座员和志愿者。我觉得我有责任也称赞一下在The Boot工作的辛勤的调酒师。虽然他们今天早上没有和我们在一起，但我相信你们中的一些人也在反思他们的贡献。[The Boot是一家受欢迎的大学酒吧，紧挨着杜兰大学校园，已经存在了几十年了。]
And just as many of you have New Orleans in your veins, and perhaps your livers, some of us at Apple have New Orleans in our blood as well. When I was a student at Auburn, the Big Easy was our favorite getaway. It's amazing how quickly those 363 miles fly by when you're driving toward a weekend of beignets and beer. And how slowly they go in the opposite direction. Apple's own Lisa Jackson is a proud Tulane alum. Yes. She brought the Green Wave all the way to Cupertino where she heads our environment and public policy work. We're thrilled to have her talent and leadership on our team.
就像你们中很多人的血管里也许还有肝脏里有新奥尔良一样，我们苹果公司的一些人的血液里也有新奥尔良。当我还是奥本大学的学生的时候，我们最喜欢的度假胜地是Big Easy。非常神奇的是，当你在周末开车驶向这个胜地，想象着甜甜圈和啤酒的时候，363英里的距离似乎一闪而过；而当你返程时，路途却显得那么遥远。苹果的员工丽莎-杰克逊(LisaJackson)是一位令人骄傲的杜兰大学校友。是。她把绿色浪潮一路带到了库比蒂诺，在那里她领导着我们的环境和公共政策工作。我们很高兴她能在我们的队伍中发挥才华和进行领导。
OK, enough about us. Let's talk about you. At moments like this, it always humbles me to watch a community come together to teach, mentor, advise, and finally say with one voice, congratulations to the class of 20xx!
好了，别再提我们了。让我们谈谈你们。在这样的时刻，看到一个社区聚集在一起传道受业解惑，最后用一个声音说，祝贺20xx年的同学们，这让我感到很谦卑！
Now there's another very important group: your family and friends. The people who, more than anyone else, loved, supported, and even sacrificed greatly to help you reach this moment. Let's give them a round of applause. This will be my first piece of advice. You might not appreciate until much later in your life how much this moment means to them. Or how that bond of obligation, love, and duty between you matters more than anything else.
现在还有一个非常重要的群体：你们的家人和朋友。那些比任何人都更爱你们、更支持你们、甚至甘愿自我牺牲的人，为了帮助你们达到这一时刻，他们付出了巨大的代价。让我们为他们鼓掌。这将是我的第一条建议。直到你生命的后期，你们才会意识到这一刻对他们来说有多么重要，或者意识到你们的义务、爱和责任有多么重要。
In fact, that's what I really want to talk to you about today. In a world where we obsessively document our own lives, most of us don't pay nearly enough attention to what we owe one another. Now this isn't just about calling your parents more, although I'm sure they'd be grateful if you did that. It's about recognizing that human civilization began when we realized that we could do more together. That the threats and danger outside the flickering firelight got smaller when we got bigger. And that we could create more - more prosperity, more beauty, more wisdom, and a better life - when we acknowledge certain shared truths and acted collectively.
事实上，这就是我今天真正想和你们说的。在一个我们沉迷于记录自己生活的世界里，我们中的大多数人对我们彼此亏欠的东西没有给予足够的关注。这不仅仅是给你们的父母打更多的电话，尽管我相信如果你们会这么做，他们会很感激的。当我们意识到我们可以在一起做更多的事情时，人类文明就开始了。当我们变得更越来越强大时，在闪烁的火光之外的威胁和危险就会变得越来越小。我们可以创造更多——更多的繁荣，更多的美，更多的智慧，更美好的生活——只要我们承认某些共同的真理并采取集体行动。
Maybe I'm biased, but I've always thought the South, and the Gulf Coast in particular, have hung on to this wisdom better than most. (Tim Cook grew up in Robertsdale, Alabama, which is about an hour from New Orleans and is similarly close to the Gulf of Mexico.) In this part of the country, your neighbors check up on you if they haven't heard from you in a while. Good news travels fast because your victories are their victories too. And you can't make it through someone's front door before they offer you a home-cooked meal.
也许我有偏见，但我一直认为南方，特别是墨西哥湾海岸，比大多数人更能坚持这一智慧。[库克在阿拉巴马州的罗伯茨代尔长大，那里距离新奥尔良大约一个小时的路程，同样靠近墨西哥湾。]在这个国家的这个地方，如果你们的邻居有一段时间没有你们的消息，他们会忍不住来看望你们。好消息传得很快，因为你们的胜利也是他们的胜利。在他们提供一顿热饭热菜招待你们之前，你们是不可能走出大门的。
Maybe you haven't thought about it very much, but these values have informed your Tulane education too. Just look at the motto: not for one's self, but for one's own. You've been fortunate to live, learn, and grow in a city where human currents blend into something magical and unexpected. Where unmatched beauty, natural beauty, literary beauty, musical beauty, cultural beauty, seem to spring unexpectedly from the bayou. The people of New Orleans use two tools to build this city: the unlikely and the impossible. Wherever you go, don't forget the lessons of this place. Life will always find lots of ways to tell you no, that you can't, that you shouldn't, that you'd be better off if you didn't try. But New Orleans teaches us there is nothing more beautiful or more worthwhile than trying. Especially when we do it not in the service of one's self, but one's own.
也许你们还没有想太多，但这些价值观也影响了你们杜兰大学的教育。看看这句座右铭：不是为了自己，而是为了自己人。你们很幸运地生活、学习和成长在一座城市里，在这个城市里，人类的潮流融合成了一种神奇的、意想不到的东西。在那里，无与伦比的美，自然的美，文学的美，音乐的美，文化的美，似乎不期而至地从河口涌出。新奥尔良的人们使用两种工具来建造这座城市：不太可能的和不可能的。无论你走到哪里，都不要忘记这个地方的教训。生活总会找到很多方法来告诉你，不，你不能，你不应该，如果你不去尝试，你会过得更好。但是新奥尔良告诉我们，没有什么比尝试更美丽和更有价值了。尤其是当我们这样做不是为自己服务，而是为自己人服务的时候。
For me, it was that search for greater purpose that brought me to Apple in the first place. I had a comfortable job at a company called Compaq that at the time looked like it was going to be on top forever. As it turns out, most of you are probably too young to even remember its name. But in 1998, Steve Jobs convinced me to leave Compaq behind to join a company that was on the verge of bankruptcy. They made computers, but at that moment at least, people weren't interested in buying them. Steve had a plan to change things. And I wanted to be a part of it.
对我来说，正是为了追求更伟大的目标，我才第一次来到苹果。我曾在一家叫康柏(Compaq)的公司找到了一份舒适的工作，在当时看来，这份工作将永远是的工作。事实证明，你们中的大多数人可能还太年轻，甚至不记得它的名字。但在1998年，史蒂夫-乔布斯说服我离开康柏，加入一家濒临破产的苹果公司。他们制造电脑，但至少在那一刻，人们对购买这些电脑并不感兴趣。史蒂夫有个改变一切的计划。我也想成为其中的一员。
It wasn't just about the iMac, or the iPod, or everything that came after. It was about the values that brought these inventions to life. The idea that putting powerful tools in the hands of everyday people helps unleash creativity and move humanity forward. That we can build things that help us imagine a better world and then make it real.
这不仅仅是iMac，或者iPod，或者之后的一切，而是使这些发明创意复活的价值观念。把强大的工具放在普通人手中将有助于释放创造力和推动人类向前发展。我们可以建造一些东西来帮助我们想象一个更美好的世界，然后让它成为现实。
There's a saying that if you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life. At Apple, I learned that's a total crock. You'll work harder than you ever thought possible, but the tools will feel light in your hands. As you go out into the world, don't waste time on problems that have been solved. Don't get hung up on what other people say is practical. Instead, steer your ship into the choppy seas. Look for the rough spots, the problems that seem too big, the complexities that other people are content to work around. It's in those places that you will find your purpose. It's there that you can make your greatest contribution. Whatever you do, don't make the mistake of being too cautious. Don't assume that by staying put, the ground won't move beneath your feet. The status quo simply won't last. So get to work on building something better.
有句谚语说，如果你做你喜欢做的事，你的人生中将永远不会有一天是在工作。在苹果公司，我知道了这是一个彻头彻尾的谎言。你会比你想象的更努力工作，但你却一点也不觉得费劲。当你走进这个世界的时候，不要把时间浪费在已经解决的问题上。不要为别人所说的是实际的情况而心烦意乱。相反，引导你的船进入波涛汹涌的大海。寻找那些蛮荒之地，那些看起来还很难解决的问题，那些其他人乐于解决的复杂问题。在那些地方，你会找到你的目标。在那里你可以做出你的贡献。无论你做什么，都不要犯太谨慎的错误。不要以为原地不动，地面就不会在你脚下移动。现状根本不会持久。所以开始做些更好的事吧。
In some important ways, my generation has failed you in this regard. We spent too much time debating. We've been too focused on the fight and not focused enough on progress. And you don't need to look far to find an example of that failure. Here today, in this very place, in an arena where thousands once found desperate shelter from a 100-year disaster, the kind that seem to be happening more and more frequently, I don't think we can talk about who we are as people and what we owe to one another without talking about climate change.
在某些重要的方面，我们这代人辜负了你们。我们花了太多时间辩论。我们一直太专注于斗争，而没有把足够的注意力放在进步上。你不需要看太远就能找到失败的例子。今天，就在这个地方，在这个成千上万人曾经绝望地躲避百年灾难的地方，这种灾难似乎变得越来越频繁。我认为，如果我们不谈论气候变化，我们就无法谈论我们是谁，以及我们彼此亏欠了什么。
(applause) Thank you. Thank you.
谢谢！谢谢！
This problem doesn't get any easier based on whose side wins or loses an election. It's about who has won life's lottery and has the luxury of ignoring this issue and who stands to lose everything. The coastal communities, including some right here in Louisiana, that are already making plans to leave behind the places they've called home for generations and head for higher ground. The fishermen whose nets come up empty. The wildlife preserves with less wildlife to preserve. The marginalized, for whom a natural disaster can mean enduring poverty.
这个问题不会因为谁胜谁负而变得简单，这是一个关乎谁赢了人生彩票、谁有忽视这个问题的能力、谁会失去一切的问题。沿海社区，包括路易斯安那州的一些社区，已经在计划离开世代以来被称为“家园”的地方，前往更海拔更高地方。如今渔民的渔网空空如也、野生动物生计萧条。对于生存在边缘地区的人来说，自然灾害往往就意味着持久的贫困。
Just ask Tulane's own Molly Keogh, who's getting her Ph.D. this weekend. Her important new research shows that rising sea levels are devastating areas of Southern Louisiana more dramatically than anyone expected. Tulane graduates, these are people's homes. Their livelihoods. The land where their grandparents were born, lived, and died.
问问杜兰大学的莫莉·基奥（Molly Keogh）就知道了，她这个周末就要拿到博士学位了。她的一项重要新研究表明，海平面上升对路易斯安那州南部地区造成的破坏比任何人预想的都要严重。杜兰大学的毕业生们，这些地方都是人们的家园、他们的生计、他们祖父母出生、生活和去世的地方。
When we talk about climate change or any issue with human costs, and there are many, I challenge you to look for those who have the most to lose and find the real, true empathy that comes from something shared. That is really what we owe one another. When you do that, the political noise dies down, and you can feel your feet firmly planted on solid ground. After all, we don't build monuments to trolls, and we're not going to start now.
当我们谈论气候变化或任何与人类成本有关的问题时，我有很多问题希望你们能够着手去做：去寻找那些因此损失的人，并从一些共同的东西中找到真正的、真正的同理心，这才是我们真正亏欠彼此的东西。当你这样做的时候，政治上的喧嚣就会平息下来，你会感到自己的脚牢牢地踩在了坚实的土地上。毕竟，我们从来不为巨魔建造纪念碑，也不会现在开创这个先例。
If you find yourself spending more time fighting than getting to work, stop and ask yourself who benefits from all the chaos. There are some who would like you to believe that the only way that you can be strong is by bulldozing those who disagree or never giving them a chance to say their peace in the first place. That the only way you can build your own accomplishments is by tearing down the other side.
如果你发现自己花在斗争上的时间比上班的时间还多。那么停下来，问问自己谁能从所有这些混乱中受益。有些人想让你相信，你能变得强大的方法，就是制服那些不同意你观点的人，或者从一开始就不给他们机会表达自己的机会。他们想让你相信，你能成就自己的方法就是摧毁对方。
We forget sometimes that our preexisting beliefs have their own force of gravity. Today, certain algorithms pull toward you the things you already know, believe, or like, and they push away everything else. Push back. It shouldn't be this way. But in 20xx, opening your eyes and seeing things in a new way can be a revolutionary act. Summon the courage not just to hear but to listen. Not just to act, but to act together.
我们有时会忘记，我们先前存在的信念有其自身的引力。今天，某些算法会把你已经知道、相信或喜欢的东西主动拉向你，而把其他的东西推开，但事情本不应该如此。然而在20xx年，睁开眼睛、以一种全新方式看待事物可能是一种革命性的行为。你不仅要鼓起勇气去听，还要有勇气去听。不仅仅是行动，而是要一起行动。
It can sometimes feel like the odds are stacked against you, that it isn't worth it, that the critics are too persistent and the problems are too great. But the solutions to our problems begin on a human scale with building a shared understanding of the work ahead and with undertaking it together. At the very least, we owe it to each other to try.
有时候你会觉得机会对你不利、觉得这么做不值得、觉得批评之声太过顽固，亦或觉得问题太大（超出了自己的处理能力）。但是，解决我们当下问题的办法首先就是在人类范畴内建立对今后工作的共同理解，并着手共同解决这一问题。至少，我们也应该放手一搏。
It's worked before. In 1932, the American economy was in a free-fall. Twelve million people were unemployed, and conventional wisdom said the only thing to do was to ride it out, wait, and hope that things would turn around. But the governor of New York, a rising star named Franklin Roosevelt, refused to wait. He challenged the status quo and called for action. He needed people to stop their rosy thinking, face the facts, pull together, and help themselves out of a jam.
这样的方式在之前曾成功过。1932年，当时的美国经济一落千丈，有1200万人失业。传统观点认为，我们能做的就是撑过这段时间、等待，并希望情况会有所好转。但当时政途冉冉升起的纽约州州长富兰克林o罗斯福（Franklin Roosevelt，后就任美国第32任总统，美国历连任超过两届的总统）拒绝等待。他敢于挑战现状，呼吁采取行动。他呼吁人们停止继续抱有乐观的想法，面对现实、齐心协力，帮助自己摆脱困境。
He said: "The country demands bold, persistent experimentation. It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it and try another. But above all, try something."
他说：“这个国家需要一些大胆、持续的尝试。采取一种方法并加以尝试是再正常不过的事情。如果失败了，我们就承认失败，然后再试一次。但最重要的是，我们需要尝试一些东西。”
This was a speech to college students fearful about their future in an uncertain world. He said: "Yours is not the task of making your way in the world, but the task of remaking the world."
这是一场对大学生的演讲，他们担心自己在一个不确定世界里的未来。他（罗斯福）说：“你们的任务不是在世界上开辟自己的道路，而是改造世界。”
The audacious empathy of young people, the spirit that says we should live not just for ourselves, but for our own. That's the way forward. From climate change to immigration, from criminal justice reform to economic opportunity, be motivated by your duty to build a better world. Young people have changed the course of history time and time again. And now it's time to change it once more.
年轻人无畏的同情心告诉我们，我们不仅要为努力生活，而且要为自己而活。这是一条前进的道路，从气候变化到移民、从刑事司法改革到经济机遇，我们都要以建设一个更美好世界的责任为动力。此前的年轻人一次又一次地改变了历史的进程，现在是时候再次改变了。
I know, I know the urgency of that truth is with you today. Feel big because no one can make you feel small. Feel brave because the challenges we face are great but you are greater. And feel grateful because someone sacrificed to make this moment possible for you. You have clear eyes and a long life to use them. And here in this stadium, I can feel your courage.
我知道，今天你们所接触到真相带来的紧迫性。大胆一些，因为没有人能让你感到弱小。勇敢一些，因为我们面临的挑战是巨大的，但你们将更加伟大。懂得感恩，因为已经有人为你们生活在的当下做出了牺牲，让这一刻成为可能。你们拥有一对清澈的眼睛，人生的道路也还很长。在这个体育场，我能感受到你们的勇气。
Call upon your grit. Try something. You may succeed. You may fail. But make it your life's work to remake the world because there is nothing more beautiful or more worthwhile than working to leave something better for humanity.
呼唤你的勇气。尝试，你可能会成功，也可能会失败。但是，请让改造世界成为你自己的人生工作，因为没有什么比为人类留下更好的东西更具价值。
Thank you very much, and congratulations class of 20xx!
非常感谢，祝贺20xx届的毕业生们！
no love among relatives has become a normal phenomenon which needn't to be fussed about. what's worse is when love is contaminated by money. sooner or later we will get hurt. the sooner we get out of this net of love, the more we can preserve beautiful memories.
we are not living in vacuum, and the society is formed of various kinds of people. as long as we want to live, study, or work, we have to contact, communicate and cooperate with others. those who enjoy common interests, mutual understanding, common undertakings and common benefits become friends.
some friends are called fair-weather friends, because they are together just for entertaining themselves by eating, drinking, and gossiping. once there's nothing to eat and drink, their friendship is finished. some are spiritual friends who share common ambitions, pursuits and education. “they enjoy talking and laughing with the great talents and never make friends with the good-for-nothings”. the best examples would be yu boya and zhong ziqi of the ancient times who are famous not only for their lofty music but mainly for their lofty characters and mutual understanding and appreciation. they cared very little about material wealth, so their friendship is known as “gentlemen's friendship as pure as water”.the third type of friendship belong to those who show their utter devotion to each other. they are ready not only to share weal and woe but also to die for each other, like the three brothers liu, guan and zhang in the novel romance of the three kingdoms. . we all wish to have this kind of friendship, but it's of great difficulty for the ordinary people to be as devoted as they were.
Money is very important for us but is not the most important things in ourlife.Many things are more important than money ,such as friendship ,love ,andfamily ,and so on .We can use money to buy many things but for people's hearts.Apeople only care the money ,which is very sorrowful.Gradually,he will lose manythings that is more important than money.And last,he will become lonely.
Sometimes money can let many people gather and make friends with you.However,you have to know they may be not your true friends and they just wantyou money.A true friend never care whether his friend is poor or rich.A firendin need is a friend indeed.Having some sincere friends is the truehappiness.
Anyway,money can solve lots of problems but it can't bring you happinessbecause it can't buy a true heart.Please remember that some things in the worldis invaluable.So don't live only for money.
Awesome Love
Good afternoon. Ladies and Gentlemen,
Today I will say something about my family love.
I remember when I was younger. My family lived a simple life. We weren't wealthy by any stretch of the imagination, but we were content with what we had.
Our first vehicle was an old broken-down bicycle. It provided us with transportation on many enjoyable weekends and holidays. Mom sat on the back while Dad pedaled. I, a mere toddler at the time, rode on the bar in front of him. It didn't matter where we were going as long as we were going there together.
Not long after that, my family moved to Hainan. Relying on my parents, courage and persistence, they started their own business. As a result, we were soon able to replace the bike with a new car. So we could travel further on our excursions. Our family's happy laughter filled the car as we traveled to many distant locations in China. Many years have gone by since those happy days, but we're still as close as ever.
Recently, the airplane has become our mode of transportation as we venture beyond the confines of China to see the world. We were able to experience firsthand the uniqueness of Amsterdam, the romance of Paris, and the elegance of Vienna. But yet, such fantastic sites were nothing compared to the love of our family.
Time goes by swiftly, and everything is changing all the the love existing in my family always remains. It is the source of our happiness; It,s the source of all of our ideals: confidence, courage, and faith. But it goes so much deeper than that; it warms our very hearts. So I will acclaim for the eternal and awesome love in my family and let it go on forever!
Thank you very much!
Necessity of lifelong learning
Dear Mr. Li, dear my schoolmates, good morning!
Entrusted by the first group of schoolmates, the topic of my speech is Necessity for lifelong learning.
About lifelong learning, there is the famous proverb in Chinese: never too old to learn. Confucius, the famous educator in ancient China, also said: if I learn the Classical literature "Yi" from the age of 50, I would never make so many mistakes.
To sum up, Necessity of lifelong learning is mainly based on the following reasons:
First of all, the knowledge of modern society changes so quickly, if not to learn new knowledge in time you will soon fall behind the times. For example, using the mobile Internet technology, we can using a mobile phone to book a taxi, pay various fees, buy all kinds of goods etc. if a person may not grasp the knowledge, especially senior people ,they will not use the convenience brought by Internet.
Secondly, diligent in thinking can effectively prevent the occurrence of Alzheimer's disease. This conclusion has been verified in medicine.
Finally, a person who maintains the habit of lifelong
learning, can have a stronger advantage in occupation choice. This is not only good for the person, but also for the country and the society.
Some people complain that, they have too much work and have no time to read a book usually. But In fact lifelong learning is not only reading or having a class, we can browse the web, read e-books, receiving distance courses through the Internet conveniently. We can learn not only knowledge, but also skills.
Age cannot be a barrier to our lifelong learning. Chu
Shijian, once the king of China's tobacco industry, had
suffered a great setback before retirement. He was even put into prison. But at the age of 75, he began to study orange planting technology seriously, and finally have a huge success in this area ten years late. Harland Sandoz of America began learning the fast-food lethal at his age of 83. When he was 88 years old, his fast food chain often Kentucky had distributed each corner of the world.
Therefore, lifelong learning is never too late to start, let's start our plan today.
Thank you.
good morning teachers and fellow students. today we would like to introduce a few favorite books to you.
my favorite book is (italian: cuore). this is a diary written by an italian boy enrico. the diary is about his life and study. it included various touching stories that happened around enrico, the mottos taught by his parents, as well as the wonderful ten "monthly" stories told by his teacher during the class. every word in the chapter describes the word "love". from patriotism to friendship, and to the love between parents and child -- really touching.
this novel taught me how to love, and how to learn from love. i really like this book very much. how about you? what is your favorite book?
my favorite book is . have you read it before?
good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
during his presidency, bill clinton seized important opportunities on issues from welfare to free trade. he was a tireless champion of peace in the middle east. he used american power in the balkans to confront aggression and halt ethnic cleansing. and in all his actions and decisions, the american people sensed a deep empathy for the poor and the powerless. shortly before leaving office, president clinton said, "christ admonished us that our lives will be judged by how we do unto the least of our neighbors." throughout his career, bill clinton has done his best to live up to that standard. and americans respect him for it. at every stage of his remarkable life, president clinton has made and kept countless friends, who share in the joy of this day. and three people in particular have the largest part in this remarkable story. one day more than 30 years ago, inside the yale law library, a fellow student walked over to bill clinton and said, "if you're going to keep staring at me, and i'm going to keep staring back, we ought to at least know each other's name. mine's hillary rodham. what is yours?"that was a good day for both of them, and the beginning of a partnership unique in american history. so today, we honor the former first lady of arkansas, the former first lady of america, the united states senator from new york, senator hillary rodham clinton.
perhaps the clintons' greatest achievement is their daughter, who moved into the white house as a young girl, and left as an accomplished young lady. it's not easy to be a teenager in the white house, but it's a lot easier when you have a loving mother and a loving father that chelsea clinton had.
this magnificent presidential library, and the american life it celebrates, would not have been possible without the love and sacrifice of a special lady. among his heroes, president clinton always includes his mother, virginia kelley, "a working woman and a widow." virginia was there when her son took the oath of office, and we know that she would be incredibly proud of this day.
the story that began in a little house on hervey street in hope, arkansas is the kind of story that inspires people from every background, all over america. in this great nation, it is always possible for a child to go as far as their talent and vision can take them. visitors to this place will be reminded of the great promise of our country, and the dreams that came true in the life of our 42nd president. the william j. clinton presidential library is a gift to the future by a man who always believed in the future. and today, we thank him for loving and serving america.
chinese restaurants have played an important role in american history, as a matter of fact. the cuban missile crisis was resolved in a chinese restaurant called yenching palace in washington, d.c., which unfortunately is closed now, and about to be turned into walgreen's. and the house that john wilkes booth planned the assassination of abraham lincoln is actually also now a chinese restaurant called wok 'n roll, on h street in washington.
事实上，中国餐馆在美国历史上发挥了很重要的作用。古巴导弹危机是在华盛顿一家名叫“燕京馆”的中餐馆里解决的。很不幸，这家餐馆现在关门了，即将被改建成沃尔格林连锁药店。而约翰·威尔克斯·布斯刺杀林肯总统的那所房子现在也成了一家中餐馆，就是位于华盛顿的“锅和卷”。
and if you think about it, a lot of the foods that you think of or we think of or americans think of as chinese food are barely recognizable to chinese, for example: beef with broccoli, egg rolls, general tso's chicken, fortune cookies, chop suey, the take-out boxes.
如果你仔细想想，就会发现很多你们所认为或我们所认为，或是美国人所认为的中国食物，中国人并不认识。比如西兰花牛肉、蛋卷、左宗棠鸡、幸运饼干、杂碎、外卖盒子。
so, the interesting question is, how do you go from fortune cookies being something that is japanese to being something that is chinese? well, the short answer is, we locked up all the japanese during world war ii, including those that made fortune cookies, so that's the time when the chinese moved in, kind of saw a market opportunity and took over.
所以有趣的是，幸运饼干是怎么从日本的东西变成中国的东西的呢?简单地说，我们在二战时扣押了所以的日本人，包括那些做幸运饼干的。这时候，中国人来了，看到了商机，自然就据为己有了。
as everyone knows,english is very important today.it has been used everywhere in the world.it has become the most common language on internet and for international trade. if we can speak english well,we will have more chance to succeed.because more and more people have taken notice of it,the number of the people who go to learn english has increased at a high speed.
but for myself,i learn english not only because of its importance and its usefulness,but also because of my love for it.when i learn english, i can feel a different way of thinking which gives me more room to touch the world.when i read english novels,i can feel the pleasure from the book which is different from reading the translation.when i speak english, i can feel the confident from my words.when i write english,i can see the beauty which is not the same as our chinese...
i love english,it gives me a colorful dream.i hope i can travel around the world one day. with my good english, i can make friends with many people from different contries.i can see many places of great intrests.i dream that i can go to london,because it is the birth place of english.
i also want to use my good english to introduce our great places to the english spoken people,i hope that they can love our country like us.
i know, rome was not built in a day.i believe that after continuous hard study, one day i can speak english very well.
if you want to be loved, you should learn to love and be lovable. so i believe as i love english everyday , it will love me too.as everyone knows,english is very important today.it has been used everywhere in the world.it has become the most common language on internet and for international trade. if we can speak english well,we will have more chance to succeed.because more and more people have taken notice of it,the number of the people who go to learn english has increased at a high speed.
but for myself,i le earn english not only because of its importance and its usefulness,but also because of my love for it.when i learn english, i can feel a different way of thinking which gives me more room to touch the world.when i read english novels,i can feel the pleasure from the book which is different from reading the translation.when i speak english, i can feel the confident from my words.when i write english,i can see the beauty which is not the same as our chinese...
i love english,it gives me a colorful dream.i hope i can travel around the world one day. with my good english, i can make friends with many people from different contries.i can see many places of great intrests.i dream that i can go to london,because it is the birth place of english.
i also want to use my good english to introduce our great places to the english spoken people,i hope that they can love our country like us.
i know, rome was not built in a day. i believe that after continuous hard study, one day i can speak english very well. if you want to be loved, you should learn to love and be lovable. so i believe as i love english everyday , it will love me too.
i am sure that i will realize my dream one day!
thank you!
Enjoy yourself while fulfilling responsibility in my 18 years of life, there have been many things. university days are the best part of them. i can never forget the days when i stepped into my university. i was impressed by its garden-like campus, its enthusiastic students and especially its learning atmosphere. i at once fell in love with it.
After the arduous military training, i get absolutely absorbed in my studies. the classes given by the teachers are excellent. hey provide us with information not only from our textbooks but from many other sources as well. they easily arouse my insatiable desire to take in as much as i can.
Frankly speaking, at first i had some difficulty following the teachers. however, through my own efforts and thanks to my teachers' guidance, i made remarkable progress. now i've benefited a lot from lectures and many other academic reports.
Learning is a long process; i'll keep exploring in the treasure house of knowledge to enrich myself. this summer i got out of the ivory tower and entered the real world. a publishing house offered me a part-time job in compilation and revision.
At the beginning i was belittled by my colleagues. but they were really surprised when i translated seven english articles over 5,000 words on only one day. gradually, they began to look at me with respectful eyes. in their opinion i turned out to be a useful and trustworthy colleague.
I also realize that only those who bring happiness for others can be truly happy. so i often take part in activities concerning public welfare. i once went to a barren mountain village with my classmates. we taught the kids there who could not afford school. while showing them how broad and how civilized the outer world is, i was deeply touched by their eagerness to learn, their honesty and their purity. i couldn't control my tears on the day when we left. the precious experience with the poor kids made me aware of the responsibility on the shoulders of us, future teachers.
Besides study and social practice, there are entertainments as well. i do body building every day, hoping to keep healthy and energetic. we also write a play and put it on in our spare time.
Campus life is the most splendid time. but different people have different choices. the majority of students cherish their beautiful season and cherish the hope that one day they'll become outstanding. but there are indeed some students still under ignorance. they gather together for eating, drinking or playing cards. they're busy in searching for a girlfriend or a boyfriend. they forget completely about their mission as college students and the hope of their motherland.
Finally, i do hope everybody can try their best to become a worthy citizen of the country. i do hope everybody can become the backbone of our nation and make great contributions to society!
My after school life is very rich drawing swimming... Say my favorite is the photography. My home have a digital camera in the school art festival photography contest last year I use it to take photo also won the prize. This year in order to support me to learn photography dad bought a nikon DSLR I feel very fresh suddenly fell in love with photography.
我的课余生活很丰富，画画、游泳……要说我最喜欢的，就是摄影了。原来我家有个数码相机，在去年学校的艺术节摄影比赛中，我用它拍的照片还得了奖。为了支持我学习摄影，今年爸爸买来了尼康单反相机，我觉得新鲜极了，一下子迷上了摄影。
Rest day dad took me to the pictures. I learn the scenery I find a beautiful place with the lens amplification a press the shutter press play button again you can see the photos. I have a look ah using SLR is clear! But when in the movement of objects is blurry. "Why is this?" I asked my father. Father said: "with a pattern of the movement." I quickly transferred to the movement pattern let dad running I put the pictures down so clear! Back home I took photos and appreciate again flattered.
休息天，爸爸带我去小区拍照。我先学拍风景，我找了个漂亮的地方拍，用镜头放大，一按快门，再按播放按钮，就可以看照片了。我一看，呀，用单反拍真清楚!可是在拍运动的物体时却模糊不清。“这是为什么呢?”我问爸爸。爸爸说：“拍运动的要用运动模式。”我赶紧调到运动模式，让爸爸跑步，我把照片拍了下来，真清晰!回到家里，我把照片又欣赏了一遍，心里美滋滋的。
Although I do not understand the many functions of the camera the camera but in his free time photography became my favorite thing to do. Wait until the next photo contest held in school I would seize the wonderful moment captured the beautiful campus dear teacher lovely classmates; Leave the green grass colorful flowers lush branches...
虽然相机的许多功能我还不明白，但是在课余研究相机、摄影成了我最喜欢做的事。等到下次学校举行摄影比赛，我一定会抓住美好的瞬间，拍下那美丽的校园、慈爱的老师、可爱的同学;留下那茵茵的小草、鲜艳的花朵、茂密的树枝……
I speak tonight for the dignity of man and the destiny of democracy. I urge every member of both parties, Americans of all religions and of all colors, from every section of this country, to join me in that cause.
At times history and fate meet at a single time in a single place to shape a turning point in mans unending search for freedom. So it was at Lexington and Concord. So it was a century ago at Appomattox. So it was last week in Selma, Alabama. There, long-suffering men and women peacefully protested the denial of their rights as Americans. Many were brutally assaulted. One good man, a man of God, was killed.
There is no cause for pride in what has happened in Selma. There is no cause for self-satisfaction in the long denial of equal rights of millions of Americans. But there is cause for hope and for faith in our democracy in what is happening here tonight. For the cries of pain and the hymns and protests of oppressed people have summoned into convocation all the majesty of this great government -- the government of the greatest nation on earth. Our mission is at once the oldest and the most basic of this country: to right wrong, to do justice, to serve man.
In our time we have come to live with the moments of great crisis. Our lives have been marked with debate about great issues -- issues of war and peace, issues of prosperity and depression. But rarely in any time does an issue lay bare the secret heart of America itself. Rarely are we met with a challenge, not to our growth or abundance, or our welfare or our security, but rather to the values, and the purposes, and the meaning of our beloved nation.
The issue of equal rights for American Negroes is such an issue.
And should we defeat every enemy, and should we double our wealth and conquer the stars, and still be unequal to this issue, then we will have failed as a people and as a nation. For with a country as with a person, "What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"
There is no Negro problem. There is no Southern problem. There is no Northern problem. There is only an American problem. And we are met here tonight as Americans -- not as Democrats or Republicans. We are met here as Americans to solve that problem.
This was the first nation in the history of the world to be founded with a purpose. The great phrases of that purpose still sound in every American heart, North and South: "All men are created equal," "government by consent of the governed," "give me liberty or give me death." Well, those are not just clever words, or those are not just empty theories. In their name Americans have fought and died for two centuries, and tonight around the world they stand there as guardians of our liberty, risking their lives.
Those words are a promise to every citizen that he shall share in the dignity of man. This dignity cannot be found in a mans possessions; it cannot be found in his power, or in his position. It really rests on his right to be treated as a man equal in opportunity to all others. It says that he shall share in freedom, he shall choose his leaders, educate his children, provide for his family according to his ability and his merits as a human being. To apply any other test -- to deny a man his hopes because of his color, or race, or his religion, or the place of his birth is not only to do injustice, it is to deny America and to dishonor the dead who gave their lives for American freedom.
Our fathers believed that if this noble view of the rights of man was to flourish, it must be rooted in democracy. The most basic right of all was the right to choose your own leaders. The history of this country, in large measure, is the history of the expansion of that right to all of our people. Many of the issues of civil rights are very complex and most difficult. But about this there can and should be no argument.
Every American citizen must have an equal right to vote.
There is no reason which can excuse the denial of that right. There is no duty which weighs more heavily on us than the duty we have to ensure that right.