精彩英語勵志演講稿
president mccluer, when american military men approach some serious situation they are wont to write at the head of their directive the words “over-all strategic concept”. there is wisdom in this, as it leads to clarity of thought. what then is the over-all strategic concept which we should inscribe to-day? it is nothing less than the safety and welfare, the freedom and progress, of all the homes and families of all the men and women in all the lands. and here i speak particularly of the myriad cottage or apartment homes where the wage-earner strives amid the accidents and difficulties of life to guard his wife and children from privation and bring the family up the fear of the lord, or upon ethical conceptions which often play their potent part.
to give security to these countless homes, they must be shielded form two gaunt marauders, war and tyranny. we al know the frightful disturbance in which the ordinary family is plunged when the curse of war swoops down upon the bread-winner and those for whom he works and contrives. the awful ruin of europe, with all its vanished glories, and of large parts of asia glares us in the eyes. when the designs of wicked men or the aggressive urge of mighty states dissolve over large areas the frame of civilized society, humble folk are confronted with difficulties with which they cannot cope. for them is all distorted, all is broken, all is even ground to pulp.
when i stand here this quiet afternoon i shudder to visualize what is actually happening to millions now and what is going to happen in this period when famine stalks the earth. none can compute what has been called “the unestimated sum of human pain”. our supreme task and duty is to guard the homes of the common people from the horrors and miseries of another war. we are all agreed on that.
our american military colleagues, after having proclaimed their “over-all strategic concept” and computed available resources, always proceed to the next step -- namely, the method. here again there is widespread agreement. a world organization has already been erected for the prime purpose of preventing war. uno, the successor of the league of nations, with the decisive addition of the united states and all that that means, is already at work. we must make sure that its work is fruitful, that it is a reality and not a sham, that it is a force for action, and not merely a frothing of words, that it is a true temple of peace in which the shields of many nations can some day be hung up, and not merely a cockpit in a tower of babel. before we cast away the solid assurances of national armaments for self-preservation we must be certain that our temple is built, not upon shifting sands or quagmires, but upon a rock. anyone can see with his eyes open that our path will be difficult and also long, but if we persevere together as we did in the two world wars -- though not, alas, in the interval between them -- i cannot doubt that we shall achieve our common purpose in the end.