SATURDAY, JANUARY 20, 1945
Mr. Chief Justice, Mr. Vice President, my friends, you will understand and, I believe, agree with my wish that the form of this inauguration be simple and its words brief.
We Americans of today, together with our allies, are passing through a period of supreme test. It is a test of our courage——of our resolve——of our wisdom——our essential democracy.
If we meet that test——successfully and honorably——we shall perform a service of historic importance which men and women and children will honor throughout all time.
As I stand here today, having taken the solemn oath of office in the presence of my fellow countrymen——in the presence of our God—— I know that it is America's purpose that we shall not fail.
In the days and in the years that are to come we shall work for a just and honorable peace, a durable peace, as today we work and fight for total victory in war.
We can and we will achieve such a peace.
We shall strive for perfection. We shall not achieve it immediately——but we still shall strive. We may make mistakes——but they must never be mistakes which result from faintness of heart or abandonment of moral principle.
I remember that my old schoolmaster, Dr. Peabody, said, in days that seemed to us then to be secure and untroubled: "Things in life will not always run smoothly. Sometimes we will be rising toward the heights——then all will seem to reverse itself and start downward. The great fact to remember is that the trend of civilization itself is forever upward; that a line drawn through the middle of the peaks and the valleys of the centuries always has an upward trend."
Our Constitution of 1787 was not a perfect instrument; it is not perfect yet. But it provided a firm base upon which all manner of men, of all races and colors and creeds, could build our solid structure of democracy.
And so today, in this year of war, 1945, we have learned lessons—— at a fearful cost——and we shall profit by them.
We have learned that we cannot live alone, at peace; that our own well-being is dependent on the well-being of other nations far away. We have learned that we must live as men, not as ostriches, nor as dogs in the manger.
We have learned to be citizens of the world, members of the human community.
We have learned the simple truth, as Emerson said, that "The only way to have a friend is to be one." We can gain no lasting peace if we approach it with suspicion and mistrust or with fear.
We can gain it only if we proceed with the understanding, the confidence, and the courage which flow from conviction.
The Almighty God has blessed our land in many ways. He has given our people stout hearts and strong arms with which to strike mighty blows for freedom and truth. He has given to our country a faith which has become the hope of all peoples in an anguished world.
So we pray to Him now for the vision to see our way clearly——to see the way that leads to a better life for ourselves and for all our fellow men——to the achievement of His will to peace on earth.
罗斯福第四任总统就职演说
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今天,我们美国人和盟友正在经历一段承受巨大考验的时期,这就是对我们的勇气——我们的决心——我们的智慧——我们的基本民主的考验。
如果我们成功地、光荣地经受住这场考验。那么,我们就做了一件具有重大历史意义的工作,男人、女人和孩子们都将会永远引以为荣。
今天,当我面对同胞,面对上帝、庄严地宣誓完毕站在这里时,我知道.我们不会失败,这就是美国的决心。
如同我们今天为战争的全面胜利而工作和战斗一样,在未来的岁月里,我们将为一种正义的、光荣的、持久的和平而工作。
我们能够,也一定能够取得这样的和平。我们将为尽善尽美而奋斗。我们不会立刻就达到这样的境地——但我们仍将继续奋斗。我们或许会犯错误——但这些错误绝不应当是提心吊胆或背弃道德原则所造成的错误。
我记得,在我们似乎感到安稳和无忧无虑的日子里,我的老校长皮博迪博士说过:“生活中的事情不总是一帆风顺的。有时我们会青云直上——过后一切似乎反过来,并开始往下跌。我们要记住一个重要事实,这就是:文明本身的趋势永远是上升的;在数个世纪的谷峰之间划一条线,这条线永远呈上升趋势。
我们1787年的宪法不曾是一件完美的工具,现在也仍然不完善。但是它提供了一个稳固的基础,使各种各样的人,不论其种族、肤色和信仰,都能来建设我们的坚固的民主结构。
因此,今天,在1945年这个战争年代,我们已经得到了教训——我们为此付出了可怕的代价——而我们将从这些教训中获益。
我们已经认识到,我们不可能独自和平地生活,我们自己的幸福有赖于远方其他民族的幸福。我们已经认识到,我们必须作为人类而生活,而不是作为鸵鸟,或是圈里的狗。
我们已经学会做世界公民,做人类大家庭中的一员。
我们已经学到一条朴素的哲理。正如爱默森所说:“只有当朋友,才能交朋友。”如果我们用怀疑,不信任或恐惧的态度去求和平、我们就不可能得到永久的和平。只有以信念,以及随之而来的谅解、信任和勇气去争取和平,才能赢得和平。
全能的上帝用多种方式保佑了我们的国家。它赐予我国人民刚强的心和钢铁般的手臂,来为自由和真理进行强有力的出击。它赐予我们国家一种信心.这种信心已经成为极度痛苦的世界各国人民的希望。
因此,我们现在向上帝祈祷,祈求它赐子我们远见、让我们看清我们的道路——一条使我们自己和全人类通往更美好的生活之路——一条通往实现上帝的意愿和世界和平之路。
(罗斯福于1933年至1945年间连任四届美国总统)探讨了政治与修辞之间的关系.英语修辞职演讲的研究,文章从词汇和句法的角度,本文从两个方面对修辞进行了讨论:美学修辞和交际修辞.在美学修辞方面揭示了罗斯福总统四次就职演说所运用的修辞手法,从而展现出了就职演讲的语言之美.另一方面,本文还从交度研究了罗斯福总统四篇就职演说词中的抽象词,人称代词,句子长度以及句子结构,由此揭示出演讲词作为一种说服观众的手段,是如何运用在交际层面的. 另外,本文还将社会和文化因素引入到了对演讲修辞以帮助读者更加清楚地了解政治家是如何利用这些社会文化因素,辅以修辞手段,来为自己的政治目的服务的. 通过对罗斯福总统四次就职演讲词汇和句子层面上的修辞分析,我们不难看出,修辞实际上是政治家用来达成自己政治目的的一种手段.
discusses the relationship between politics and rhetorics. It explores the rhctors of FDR's four inaugural addresses from the lexical level and syntactic level.
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