we are the world ,we are the future
someone said “we are reading the first verse of the first chapter of a book, whose pages are infinite”. i don’t know who wrote these words, but i’ve always liked them as a reminder that the future can be anything we want it to be. we are all in the position of the farmers. if we plant a good seed ,we reap a good harvest. if we plant nothing at all, we harvest nothing at all.
we are young. “how to spend the youth?” it is a meaningful question. to answer it, first i have to ask “what do you understand by the word youth?” youth is not a time of life, it’s a state of mind. it’s not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips or supple knees. it’s the matter of the will. it’s the freshness of the deep spring of life.
a poet said “to see a world in a grain of sand, and a heaven in a wild flower, hold infinity in the palm of your hand, and eternity in an hour. several days ago, i had a chance to listen to a lecture. i learnt a lot there. i’d like to share it with all of you. let’s show our right palms. we can see three lines that show how our love.career and life is. i have a short line of life. what about yours? i wondered whether we could see our future in this way. well, let’s make a fist. where is our future? where is our love, career, and life? tell me.yeah, it is in our hands. it is held in ourselves.
we all want the future to be better than the past. but the future can go better itself. don’t cry because it is over, smile because it happened. from the past, we’ve learnt that the life is tough, but we are tougher. we’ve learnt that we can’t choose how we feel, but we can choose what about it. failure doesn’t mean you don’t have it, it does mean you should do it in a different way. failure doesn’t mean you should give up, it does mean you must try harder.
as what i said at the beginning, “we are reading the first verse of the first chapter of a book, whose pages are infinite”. the past has gone. nothing we do will change it. but the future is in front of us. believe that what we give to the world, the world will give to us. and from today on, let’s be the owners of ourselves, and speak out “we are the world, we are the future.”
以下這篇英文演講稿是南非前總統曼德拉1990年2月11日所作的一篇英文演講i am prepared to die for an ideal，由應屆畢業生演講稿網站整理提供，供大家學習。
i am prepared to die for an ideal
為理想我願獻出生命
february 11,1990
1990年2月11日
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 with equal opportunities. it is an ideal which i hope to live for and to see realized. but if needs be, it is an ideal for which i am prepared to die.
我反對白人統治，也反對黑人統治。我珍視民主和自由社會的理想，在這個社會中，人人和睦相處，機會均等。我希望為這個理想而生，並希望能實現這個理想。但是如果需要，為理想我願獻出生命。
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. your mass marches and other forms of struggle have served as a constant source of strength to all political . it has fulfilled our every expectation in its role as leader of the great march to , comrade oliver tambo, for leading the anc even under the most difficult circumstances.
我的朋友們、同志們和南非同胞們： 我以和平、民主和全人類自由的名義，向你們大家致意。今天我站在你們面前，不是作為一名預言家，而是作為人民的謙卑公僕。你們不懈的奮鬥和英勇的犧牲才使我今天有可能站在這裡，因此，我要把餘生獻給你們。在我獲釋的今天，我要向千百萬同胞，向世界各地為我的獲釋作出過不懈努力的人們，致以真誠的、最熱烈的感謝。 我要特別感謝開普敦的人民，我以開普敦為家住了30年。你們大規模的遊行示威和其他形式的鬥爭一直是所有政治犯們的力量源泉。我向非國大會議致敬。作為一個領導我們奔向自由的政黨，它實現了我們對它的所有期望。我向我們的主席——奧利弗·坦博同志致敬，他在最艱難的環境下領導著非國大。
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.
我向非國大的普通黨員們致敬：你們在爭取自由的偉大事業中赴湯蹈火英勇獻身。我向“民族之矛”的戰士們——如所羅門·馬赫蘭古和艾希莉·柯瑞爾——致敬，他們為了全體南非人的自由而流盡了最後一滴血。我向南非共產黨致敬，它為南非的民主鬥爭作出了非凡的貢獻。你們經受了40年的無情迫害而堅持了下來。南非世世代代的人民都將懷念摩西·科達恩、余素夫·達都、布萊姆·費舍爾以及摩西·馬西達等偉大的共產主義者。我向秘書長喬·斯洛沃致敬，他是我們最傑出的愛國者之一。一個鼓舞人心的事實是，我們和共產黨的聯盟依然一如既往地堅不可摧。我向統一民主陣線、國民教育危機處理委員會、南非青年會、德蘭士瓦省及納塔爾印度人大會、南非貿易聯合會以及其他各種形式的民眾民主運動組織致敬。我還要向“黑肩帶”婦女協會以及南非學生國民聯合會致敬。我們驕傲地看到你們的言行代表了南非白人的良知。即便在我們鬥爭史上最黑暗的歲月里，你們也高舉著民主自由的大旗。過去幾年裡，大規模的民眾動員是揭開我們鬥爭最後篇章的主要因素之一。我要向我們國家的勞動階級致敬。你們團結起來的力量是我們爭取自由運動的驕傲。你們依然是我們反剝削反壓迫鬥爭中最可依賴的力量。
i pay tribute — i pay tribute to the many religious communities who carried the campaign for justice forward when the organizations of our people were silenced. 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. you are the rock?hard foundation of our struggle. apartheid has inflicted more pain on you than on anyone , we thank the world — we thank the world community for their great contribution to the anti?apartheid struggle. 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.
我向眾多宗教團體致敬，在我們的組織被壓製得鴉雀無聲時，他們挺身而出，展開爭取正義的運動。我向我國過去的領導者們致敬，你們中的很多人繼續沿著亨薩、瑟庫庫內等偉大英雄們的足跡前進。我向年輕的英雄主義者們致敬，你們是年輕的雄獅。你們——年輕的雄獅們，給我們整個鬥爭中注入了活力。我向我們國家裡的母親們、妻子們、姐妹們致敬。你們是我們進行鬥爭的堅強基石。種族隔離烙在你們身心上的傷痕比任何人的都多。在這個時刻，我們感謝世界——我們感謝世界這個大團體在反對種族隔離的鬥爭中所作出的偉大貢獻。沒有你們的支持，我們的鬥爭不會到達這個新階段。那些走在鬥爭前列的國家所付出的犧牲將會被南非人民永遠銘記。如果不向我深愛的妻子和家人表示深深的感激，那么我的致敬將是殘缺不全的。在我漫長而孤獨的鐵窗生涯中，他們給了我力量。我相信你們經受的痛苦和苦難遠遠超過了我自己。在我進一步演講之前，我願意闡明我的觀點，就是在當前階段，我只打算對一些問題做初步的評論。等到我有機會和我的同志們深入切磋之後，我將發表一個更加全面的聲明。今天，無論是黑人還是白人，大多數南非人都已認識到種族隔離制度已經走到盡頭。我們必須果敢地採取我們自己的民眾運動來確保國家的和平與安全。
the mass campaigns of defiance and other actions of our organizations and people can only culminate 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. i reiterate our call for, inter alia, the immediate ending of the state of emergency and the freeing of all, and not only some, political prisoners. only such a normalized situation, which allows for free political activity, can allow us to consult our people in order to obtain a mandate. the people need to be consulted on who will negotiate and on the content of such negotiations. 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. there must be an end to white monopoly on political power and a fundamental restructuring of our political and economic systems to ensure that the inequalities of apartheid are addressed and our society thoroughly , we base our policy and strategy on the harsh reality we are faced with. 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.
我國各個團體和我國人民的大規模反抗等運動只有在民主制度的確立中才能達到高峰。種族隔離制度給我們這片次大陸造成了難以估量的破壞。我們成千上萬人的家庭生活遭到了毀壞。幾百萬人流離失所，沒有工作。我們的經濟遭到嚴重破壞，我們的人民捲入了政治衝突。我們在1960年訴諸武裝鬥爭，建立了非洲人民國民大會的戰鬥組織——“民族之矛”，這純屬為反抗種族隔離制度的暴力而採取的自衛行動。過去那些要求我們必須進行武裝鬥爭的種種因素在今天依然存在，因此除了繼續進行武裝鬥爭外我們別無選擇。我們希望，不久將會出現一種有利於通過談判解決問題的局面，這樣就可以刀槍入庫馬放南山了。我是非洲人國民大會忠於職守、遵守紀律的一員。因此，我完全贊同它所提出的所有目標、戰略和戰術。和以往一樣，現在的重要任務是把我國人民團結起來。任何個別領導人都無法獨自肩負起這個重擔。作為領袖，我們的任務是向我們的組織闡明觀點，並允許通過民主機制來決定我們前進的方向。對於實行民主問題，我感到有責任強調一點，即民主運動的領導人要由全國大會通過民主選舉而產生，這是一條必須堅持且不能破例的原則。今天，我願意向你們報告一下，我同政府進行一系列會談的目的一直是讓我國的政治局勢正常化。迄今為止我們還沒有開始討論本次鬥爭的基本要求。我願意強調一下，就我國的未來前途，我除了堅持要求在非國大和政府之間進行磋商以外，本人決不會介入和政府的談判。在採取切實可行的措施使局勢正常化方面，德·克勒克先生比任何一位民族主義總統走得都遠。但是就如同《哈拉雷宣言》規劃的那樣，在就我們人民的基本需要展開談判之前，我們還有更多措施需要實施。其中，我特彆強調，我們要求立即結束緊急狀態並釋放所有而不是一部分政治犯。只有在一個允許人們自由從事政治活動的正常化的環境裡，我們才得以和人民商議以便取得人民的授權。在誰將參與談判以及談判內容上，我們都需要和人民商議。談判不能——談判不能凌駕於我國人民之上或背著人民進行。我們相信，我國的未來只能由一個在不分膚色的基礎上通過民主選舉而產生的機構來決定。消滅種族隔離制度的談判必須滿足我國人民的壓倒一切的要求，即建立一個民主的、不分種族的和統一的南非。由白人壟斷政治權力的狀況必須結束，還必須從根本上重建我國的政治制度和經濟制度，以便確保種族隔離制度產生的不平等問題得到解決，並保證我們的社會徹底實現民主。有一點必須另加說明，就是德·克勒克先生本人是一個正直之人，他準確認識到，一個公眾人物如不履行其職責必將帶來後患。但是作為一個組織，我們基於我們所面臨的嚴酷現實來制定我們的政策和策略，這個嚴酷現實就是我們依然在民族主義政府的政策下苦苦掙扎。我們的鬥爭已經到了關鍵性時刻。我們呼籲人民要抓住這個時機，以便加快我們的民主進程並不使其中斷。對於自由我們等待得太久。我們不能再等了。現在是我們在各條戰線上加強鬥爭的時候了。 現在我們若放鬆努力將鑄成大錯，我們的子孫後代將不會原諒我們。地平線上出現一抹自由的曙光，這曙光會激勵我們加倍努力。只有通過有紀律的民眾運動，我們的勝利才有保障。我們呼籲白人同胞加入到我們塑造一個新南非的行列中來。自由運動也是你們的政治家園。我們呼籲國際社會繼續孤立這個實行種族隔離制度的政府。取消對這個政府的制裁就等於冒險，而這種冒險可能會導致根除族隔離制度的進程流產。我們邁向自由的步伐不會逆轉。我們絕不允許讓畏懼擋住我們前進的道路。按照選民共同的職責，在民主統一且不分種族的南非實行普選，是通向和平與種族和諧的唯一途徑。最後，我想引用一段我在1964年受審時說過的話。這段話在當時是正確的，在今天依然正確。我說：我為反對白人統治而鬥爭，也為反對黑人統治而鬥爭。我珍視有一個民主和自由社會的理想，在這個社會裡，人人和睦相處，機會均等。我為這個理想而生，並希望實現這個理想。但是如果需要，我也準備為這個理想而死。
As you slowly open your eyes,look around,notice where the light comes into your room;listen carefully,see if there are new sounds you can recognize;feel with your body and spirit,and see if you can sense the freshness in the air.
Yes,yes,yes,it’s a new day,it’s a different day,and it’s a bright day!And most importantly,it is a new beginning for your life,a beginning where you are going to make new desicisions,take new actions,make new friends,and take your life to a totally unprecedented level!
In your mind’s eye,you can see clearly the things you want to have,the paces you intend to go,the relationships you desire to develop,and the positions you aspire to reach.
You can hear your laughters of joy and happiness on the day when everything happens as you dream.
You can see the smiles on the people around you when the magic moment strikes.
You can feel your face is getting red,your heart is beating fast,and your blood is rushing all over your body,to every single corner of your being!
You know all this is real as long as you are confident,passionate and committed!And you are confident,you are confident,passionate and committed!
You will no longer fear making new sounds,showing new facial expressions,using your body in new ways,approaching new people,and asking new questions.
You will live every single day of your life with absolute passion,and you will show your passion through the words you speak and the actions you take.
You will focus all your time and effort on the most important goals of your life.You will never succumb to challenges of hardships.
You will never waver in your pursuit of excellence.After all,you are the best,and you deserve the best!
As you coach and friend,I can assure you the door to all the best things in the world will open to you,but the key to that door is in your hand.You must do your part,you must faithfully follow the plans you make and take the actions you plan,you must never quit,you must never fear.I know you must do it,you can do it,you will do it,and you will succeed!Now stand firm and tall,make a fist,get excited,and yell it out:
I must do it!I can do it!I will do it!I will succeed!
I must do it!I can do it!I will do it!I will succeed!
I must do it!I can do it!I will do it!I will succeed!
As you slowly open your eyes,look around,notice where the light comes into your room;listen carefully,see if there are new sounds you can recognize;feel with your body and spirit,and see if you can sense the freshness in the air.
Yes,yes,yes,it’s a new day,it’s a different day,and it’s a bright day!And most importantly,it is a new beginning for your life,a beginning where you are going to make new desicisions,take new actions,make new friends,and take your life to a totally unprecedented level!
In your mind’s eye,you can see clearly the things you want to have,the paces you intend to go,the relationships you desire to develop,and the positions you aspire to reach.
You can hear your laughters of joy and happiness on the day when everything happens as you dream.
You can see the smiles on the people around you when the magic moment strikes.
You can feel your face is getting red,your heart is beating fast,and your blood is rushing all over your body,to every single corner of your being!
You know all this is real as long as you are confident,passionate and committed!And you are confident,you are confident,passionate and committed!
You will no longer fear making new sounds,showing new facial expressions,using your body in new ways,approaching new people,and asking new questions.
You will live every single day of your life with absolute passion,and you will show your passion through the words you speak and the actions you take.
You will focus all your time and effort on the most important goals of your life.You will never succumb to challenges of hardships.
You will never waver in your pursuit of excellence.After all,you are the best,and you deserve the best!
As you coach and friend,I can assure you the door to all the best things in the world will open to you,but the key to that door is in your hand.You must do your part,you must faithfully follow the plans you make and take the actions you plan,you must never quit,you must never fear.I know you must do it,you can do it,you will do it,and you will succeed!Now stand firm and tall,make a fist,get excited,and yell it out:
I must do it!I can do it!I will do it!I will succeed!
I must do it!I can do it!I will do it!I will succeed!
I must do it!I can do it!I will do it!I will succeed!