登陆注册
1191100000040

第40章 我们唯一害怕的就是害怕本身 (1)

The Only Thing We Fear Is Our Own

富兰克林·罗斯福 / Franklin Roosevelt

富兰克林·罗斯福(1882—1945),美国第三十一、三十二任总统,美国历史上唯一蝉联四届(第四届未任满)的总统。罗斯福在20世纪的经济大萧条和第二次世界大战中扮演了重要的角色,被学者评为是美国最伟大的三位总统之一。

Ace in the Hole

Understand these new words before you read this article.

1. preeminent adj. 卓越的,杰出的,超群的

2. exhortation n. 敦促,怂恿;极力推荐;(正式的)

演讲;(宗教仪式中的)劝诫

3. resumption n. 重新开始;继续;恢復;回收

4. paralyze v. 使瘫痪,使麻痹

President Hoover Mister, Chief Justice, my Friends,

I am certain that my fellow Americans expect that on my induction into the Presidency I will address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation of our Nation impels. This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.

In such a spirit on my part and on yours we face our common difficulties. They concern, thank God, only material things. Values have shrunken to fantastic levels, taxes have risen, our ability to pay has fallen, government of all kinds is faced by serious curtailment of income, the means of exchange are frozen in the currents of trade, the withered leaves of industrial enterprise lie on every side, farmers find no markets for their produce, the savings of many years in thousands of families are gone.

More important, a host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence, and an equally great number toil with little return. Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment.

Yet our distress comes from no failure of substance. We are stricken by no plague of locusts. Compared with the perils which our forefathers conquered because they believed and were not afraid, we have still much to be thankful for. Nature still offers her bounty and human efforts have multiplied it. Plenty is at our doorstep, but a generous use of it languishes in the very sight of the supply. Primarily this is because the rulers of the exchange of mankind’ s goods have failed, through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence, have admitted their failure, and abdicated. Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men.

True they have tried, but their efforts have been cast in the pattern of an outworn tradition. Faced by failure of credit they have proposed only the lending of more money. Stripped of the lure of profit by which to induce our people to follow their false leadership, they have resorted to exhortations, pleading tearfully for restored confidence. They know only the rules of a generation of self-seekers. They have no vision, and when there is no vision the people perish.

The money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit.

Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money, it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men.

Recognition of the falsity of material wealth as the standard of success goes hand in hand with the abandonment of the false belief that public office and high political position are to be valued only by the standards of pride of place and personal profit and there must be an end to a conduct in banking and in business which too often has given to a sacred trust the likeness of callous and selfish wrongdoing. Small wonder that confidence languishes, for it thrives only on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection, on unselfish performance, without them it cannot live.

Restoration calls, however, not for changes in ethics alone. This Nation asks for action, and action now.

Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. This is no unsolvable problem if we face it wisely and courageously. It can be accomplished in part by direct recruiting by the Government itself, treating the task as we would treat the emergency of a war, but at the same time, through this employment, accomplishing greatly needed projects to stimulate and reorganize the use of our natural resources.

同类推荐
  • 养生贵在养心:常给情绪排排毒

    养生贵在养心:常给情绪排排毒

    我国传统医学认为,人的情绪与疾病的产生有着密切的联系,例如,中医上讲“怒伤肝、喜伤心、思伤脾、忧伤肺、恐伤肾”等,就说明情绪可以导致疾病。为了让读者能够更清晰地认以到情绪致病的概念及饥理,本书从传统医学角度对情绪致病做了一个较为全面的阐述,并从不同角度分析了情绪与疾病的种种纠葛,从最常见的引发情绪痫的心理因素出发,向广大读者介绍了一些简单有效的情绪宜泄法。旨在教会大家在面临各种不良情绪的威胁时,如何采取有效且合理的排毒措施。阅读此书,你会认识到情绪排毒的重要性,懂得如何面对现实,如何驾驭情绪而不受它的左右。
  • 谁偷走了你的快乐

    谁偷走了你的快乐

    中国很早就认识到“大怒气逆伤肝。”我国着名心血管专家洪昭光如是说:“我们一般人到了50岁,因动脉硬化每年血管都大约会狭窄1%~2%,如果你抽烟,或患有高血压病、高血脂病,可能狭窄3%~4%或更多,若是要生气着急,一分钟动脉就可能痉挛狭窄100%,当时就死,情绪就这么厉害。”
  • 品质与修养

    品质与修养

    品质和修养是做人的关键。一个有品质游修养的人,是会受到欢迎的。本书将教会大家提升品质和修养的方法。
  • 领导致辞大全

    领导致辞大全

    本书囊括了佳节致辞、会议致辞、答谢辞、慰问辞、吊唁辞、岗位变动致辞、电视广播致辞内容,从多个角度对领导致辞进行了全面的介绍,并提供了大量可随查随用的范例。无论您是政府机关的领导,还是企事业单位的领导,无论您是公务活动致辞,还是私人聚会致辞,本书都可助您一臂之力,喜庆之余为您锦上添花,紧急时刻为您排忧解难。
  • 启迪学生思考人生的故事全集:享受生命的春光

    启迪学生思考人生的故事全集:享受生命的春光

    人生仿佛是四季的轮回,生命的状态便是这四季的写照。每个人都有属于自己的春、夏、秋、冬,不必为沐浴春风而得意,也不必为置身冬季而叹息,人生中的每一个季节都是我们必经的过程,生命中的每一个时刻都是值得我们珍藏的记忆。
热门推荐
  • 亡灵赏金

    亡灵赏金

    十七岁的少年被周围的人视为疯子,被父亲看成永远成不了钢的铁锈,他所在的城市被叫作野狗子的怪物扫平,三十万人仅他幸免。在野狗子的攻击下,17个王国岌岌可危,人类面临五百年一次的生死轮回,打破诅咒的唯一途径就是找到"亡灵赏金",而疯癫少年就是得到“亡灵赏金”的关键,凶猛的野狗子不过是险恶的命运准备的一道开胃小菜,更大的灾难等在后面,更多的秘密等着破解……感谢腾讯文学书评团提供书评支持.
  • 至高奥义

    至高奥义

    看尽红尘已是仙,仗剑平云步青天。醉卧天地惊日月,酌酒一杯笑苍生。寥寥凡尘六欲生,离愁别绪是爱恨。戏笑愚人不知情,涂羡鸳鸯不羡仙。
  • 三界霸主

    三界霸主

    天界之诸多仙班神魔,人界之人兽百族万宗,冥界之十方阎罗,三界之中,谁是霸主?少年古七嘀咕一声:能不能让我来做做……
  • 女性魅力静修与自测

    女性魅力静修与自测

    本书详细阐释了女性一生最重要的三个角色——父母的女儿、丈夫的妻子、孩子的母亲,教你完美呈现这三个人生最重要的角色,让你光彩熠熠、充满魅力。
  • 狂情少将不良妻

    狂情少将不良妻

    他是狂野深情的年轻少将,她是冷静强大的外科女医生。在屡屡碰撞中擦枪走火,一“失口”成姻缘,又在婚姻的围城中斗智斗勇终至放下成见,十年冤家一朝修炼成佳偶的故事。
  • 养心禅:激发心灵能量的生活禅修

    养心禅:激发心灵能量的生活禅修

    本书用极具智慧的语言为我们指点迷津,告诉我们如何创造禅意生活,如何修身养性,如何为自己营造清净从容、悠然舒缓的境界,让疲惫的身心得到真正的释放,以平常心去面对纷繁复杂,让我们在职场中更加游刃有余,以人格修炼的完善来促进事功的建立,也使我们对人生旅途的温馨驿站有更深刻的感悟。
  • 人生演艺系列

    人生演艺系列

    经历是每个人必然过程,人生演艺讲述了一个年轻人不经意的进入神秘的洞里发现阴阳树,阴阳树变异成为怪兽,因为人的一种贪念,使得阴阳树外出,这样进行了一场大变化,这个信息在全国扩散开,阴阳怪兽在城市进行破坏,惊心的叫声是每个人都紧张,那样的一声声惨叫,撕心裂肺。人类到处混乱,失去了亲人的人们,加上怪兽的吼叫,那一幕幕,使人在不觉中落泪。是的呢会伤心,或许你还会放声大哭,在加上忧伤的音乐,我们都进入了
  • 殁狐

    殁狐

    一个小狐狸,为了一个普通人幻化为人,只求报恩,无论什么要求,她都会答应;一个年轻人,为了自己的师傅临终遗言,''杀了妖神,为天下百姓报仇!''?往日歌楼头,你我曾同游。且听君琴悠,且舞我云袖。 今日穿时空,唯吾独自留。无缘再聚首,不尽相思愁。
  • 铠甲勇士裂魂

    铠甲勇士裂魂

    裂魂,一套为了拯救世界而创造的铠甲,一步步地打败了一个个战傀,拯救了世界。
  • 权臣满朝

    权臣满朝

    谁能像她一样,身穿官服,头戴官帽,手持官印,脚踏官靴。谁又能像她一样,左右逢源,前拥后挤。更有谁能像她一样,住千亩官坻,吃山珍海味,收名贵字画,贪金银珠宝,揽绝色佳人。只有她影无痕,初入古代就被血洗家园,为报家仇,隐姓埋名,甘做贪官,看尽人情冷暖,亨尽荣华富贵。笑问做到如此,有何遗憾......