羅斯福英語(yǔ)演講稿：我們唯一害怕的是害怕本身

President Hoover, Mister Chief Justice, my friends:

胡佛總統(tǒng)，首席法官先生，朋友們：

This is a day of national consecration, and I am certain that on this day, my fellow Americans expect that on my induction in the Presidency I will address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation of our people impels. This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing the conditions facing our country today. This great nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So first of all, let me express 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. And I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.

今天，對(duì)我們的國(guó)家來(lái)說(shuō)，是一個(gè)神圣的日子。我肯定，同胞們都期待我在就任總統(tǒng)時(shí)，會(huì)像我國(guó)目前形勢(shì)所要求的那樣，坦率而果斷地向他們講話?，F(xiàn)在正是坦白、勇敢地說(shuō)出實(shí)話，說(shuō)出全部實(shí)話的最好時(shí)刻。我們不必畏首畏尾，不老老實(shí)實(shí)面對(duì)我國(guó)今天的情況。這個(gè)偉大的國(guó)家會(huì)一如既往地堅(jiān)持下去，它會(huì)復(fù)興和繁榮起來(lái)。因此，讓我首先表明我的堅(jiān)定信念：我們唯一不得不害怕的就是害怕本身--一種莫名其妙、喪失理智的、毫無(wú)根據(jù)的恐懼，它把人轉(zhuǎn)退為進(jìn)所需的種種努力化為泡影。凡在我國(guó)生活陰云密布的時(shí)刻，坦率而有活力的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)都得到過(guò)人民的理解和支持，從而為勝利準(zhǔn)備了必不可少的條件。我相信，在目前危急時(shí)刻，大家會(huì)再次給予同樣的支持。

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, and the savings of many years and thousands of families are gone.

我和你們都要以這種精神，來(lái)面對(duì)我們共同的困難。感謝上帝，這些困難只是物質(zhì)方面的。價(jià)值難以想象地貶縮了;課稅增加了;我們的支付能力下降了;各級(jí)政府面臨著嚴(yán)重的收入短缺;交換手段在貿(mào)易過(guò)程中遭到了凍結(jié);工業(yè)企業(yè)枯萎的落葉到處可見(jiàn);農(nóng)場(chǎng)主的產(chǎn)品找不到銷(xiāo)路;千家萬(wàn)戶多年的積蓄付之東流。

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

更重要的是，大批失業(yè)公民正面臨嚴(yán)峻的生存問(wèn)題，還有大批公民正以艱辛的勞動(dòng)換取微薄的報(bào)酬。只有愚蠢的樂(lè)天派會(huì)否認(rèn)當(dāng)前這些陰暗的現(xiàn)實(shí)。

And 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 so much to be thankful for. Nature surrounds us with 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 have abdicated. Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men.

但是，我們的苦惱決不是因?yàn)槿狈ξ镔Y。我們沒(méi)有遭到什么蝗蟲(chóng)的災(zāi)害。我們的先輩曾以信念和無(wú)畏一次次轉(zhuǎn)危為安，比起他們經(jīng)歷過(guò)的險(xiǎn)阻，我們?nèi)源罂筛械叫牢?。大自然仍在給予我們恩惠，人類(lèi)的努力已使之倍增。富足的情景近在咫尺，但就在我們見(jiàn)到這種　情景的時(shí)候，寬裕的生活卻悄然離去。這主要是因?yàn)橹髟兹祟?lèi)物資交換的統(tǒng)治者們失敗了，他們固執(zhí)己見(jiàn)而又無(wú)能為力，因而已經(jīng)認(rèn)定失敗了，并撒手不管了。貪得無(wú)厭的貨幣兌換商的種種行徑。將受到輿論法庭的起訴，將受到人類(lèi)心靈理智的唾棄。

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

是的，他們是努力過(guò)，然而他們用的是一種完全過(guò)時(shí)的方法。面對(duì)信貸的失敗，他們只是提議借出更多的錢(qián)。沒(méi)有了當(dāng)誘餌引誘　人民追隨他們的錯(cuò)誤領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的金錢(qián)，他們只得求助于講道，含淚祈求人民重新給予他們信心。他們只知自我追求者們的處世規(guī)則。他們沒(méi)有眼光，而沒(méi)有眼光的人是要滅亡的。

Yes, 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. A measure of that restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social value, more noble than mere monetary profits.

如今，貨幣兌換商已從我們文明廟宇的高處落荒而逃。我們要以千古不變的真理來(lái)重建這座廟宇。衡量這重建的尺度是我們體現(xiàn)比金錢(qián)利益更高尚的社會(huì)價(jià)值的程度。

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

幸福并不在于單純地占有金錢(qián);幸福還在于取得成就后的喜悅，在于創(chuàng)造努力時(shí)的激情。務(wù)必不能再忘記勞動(dòng)帶來(lái)的喜悅和激勵(lì)，而去瘋狂地追逐那轉(zhuǎn)瞬即逝的利潤(rùn)。如果這些暗淡的時(shí)日能使我們認(rèn)識(shí)到，我們真正的天命不是要?jiǎng)e人侍奉，而是為自己和同胞們服務(wù)，那么，我們付出的代價(jià)就完全是值得的。

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

認(rèn)識(shí)到把物質(zhì)財(cái)富當(dāng)作成功的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)是錯(cuò)誤的，我們就會(huì)拋棄以地位尊嚴(yán)和個(gè)人收益為唯一標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，來(lái)衡量公職和高級(jí)政治地位的錯(cuò)誤信念;我們必須制止銀行界和企業(yè)界的一種行為，它常常使神圣的委托混同于無(wú)情和自私的不正當(dāng)行為。難怪信心在減弱，信心，只有靠誠(chéng)實(shí)、信譽(yù)、忠心維護(hù)和無(wú)私履行職責(zé)。而沒(méi)有這些，就不可能有信心。

Restoration calls, however, not for changes in ethics alone. This nation is asking for action, and action now.

但是，復(fù)興不僅僅只要改變倫理觀念。這個(gè)國(guó)家要求行動(dòng)起來(lái)，現(xiàn)在就行動(dòng)起來(lái)。

Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. This is no unsolvable problem if we take 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 great natural resources.

我們最大、最基本的任務(wù)是讓人民投入工作。只要我信行之以智慧和勇氣，這個(gè)問(wèn)題就可以解決。這可以部分由政府直接征募完成，就象對(duì)待臨戰(zhàn)的緊要關(guān)頭一樣，但同時(shí)，在有了人手的情況下，我們還急需能刺激并重組巨大自然資源的工程。

Hand in hand with that, we must frankly recognize the overbalance of population in our industrial centers and by engaging on a national scale in a redistribution in an effort to provide better use of the land for those best fitted for the land.

我們齊心協(xié)力，但必須坦白地承認(rèn)工業(yè)中心的人口失衡，我們必須在全國(guó)范圍內(nèi)重新分配，使土地在最適合的人手中發(fā)表?yè)]更大作用。

Yes the task can be helped by definite efforts to raise the value of the agricultural product and with this the power to purchase the output of our cities. It can be helped by preventing realistically, the tragedy of the growing losses through fore closures of our small homes and our farms. It can be helped by insistence that the federal, the state, and the local government act forthwith on the demands that their costs be drastically reduce. It can be helped by the unifying of relief activities which today are often scattered, uneconomical, unequal. It can be helped by national planning for, and supervision of all forms of transportation, and of communications, and other utilities that have a definitely public character. There are many ways in which it can be helped, but it can never be helped by merely talking about it. We must act, we must act quickly.

明確地為提高農(nóng)產(chǎn)品價(jià)值并以此購(gòu)買(mǎi)城市產(chǎn)品所做的努力，會(huì)有助于任務(wù)的完成。避免許多小家庭業(yè)、農(nóng)場(chǎng)業(yè)被取消贖取抵押品的權(quán)利的悲劇也有助于任務(wù)的完成。聯(lián)邦、州、各地政府立即行動(dòng)回應(yīng)要求降價(jià)的呼聲，有助于任務(wù)的完成。將現(xiàn)在常常是分散不經(jīng)濟(jì)、不平等的救濟(jì)活動(dòng)統(tǒng)一起來(lái)有助于任務(wù)的完成。對(duì)所有公共交通運(yùn)輸，通訊及其他涉及公眾生活的設(shè)施作全國(guó)性的計(jì)劃及監(jiān)督有助于任務(wù)的完成。許多事情都有助于任務(wù)完成，但這些決不包括空談。我們必須行動(dòng)，立即行動(dòng)。

And finally, in our progress toward a resumption of work, we require two safeguards against the return of the evils of the old order; there must be a strict supervision of all banking and credits and investments; there must be an end to speculation with other people’s money; and there must be provisions for an adequate but sound currency.

最后，為了重新開(kāi)始工作，我們需要兩手防御，來(lái)抗御舊秩序惡魔卷土從來(lái);一定要有嚴(yán)格監(jiān)督銀行業(yè)、信貸及投資的機(jī)制：一定要杜絕投機(jī);一定要有充足而健康的貨幣供應(yīng)。

These, my friends, are the lines of attack. I shall presently urge upon a new Congress in special session, detailed measures for their fulfillment, and I shall seek the immediate assistance of the 48 states.

以上這些，朋友們，就是施政方針。我要在特別會(huì)議上敦促新國(guó)會(huì)給予詳細(xì)實(shí)施方案，并且，我要向18個(gè)州請(qǐng)求立即的援助。

Through this program of action, we address ourselves to putting our own national house in order, and making income balance outflow. Our international trade relations, though vastly important, are in point of time and necessity secondary to the establishment of a sound national economy. I favor as a practical policy the putting of first things first. I shall spare no effort to restore world trade by international economic readjustment, but the emergency at home cannot wait on that accomplishment.

通過(guò)行動(dòng)，我們將予以我們自己一個(gè)有秩序的國(guó)家大廈，使收入大于支出。我們的國(guó)際貿(mào)易，雖然很重要，但現(xiàn)在在時(shí)間和必要性上，次于對(duì)本國(guó)健康經(jīng)濟(jì)的建立。我建議，作為可行的策略、首要事務(wù)先行。雖然我將不遺余力通過(guò)國(guó)際經(jīng)濟(jì)重新協(xié)調(diào)所來(lái)恢復(fù)國(guó)際貿(mào)易，但我認(rèn)為國(guó)內(nèi)的緊急情況無(wú)法等待這重新協(xié)調(diào)的完成。

The basic thought that guides these specific means of national recovery is not narrowly nationalistic. It is the insistence, as a first consideration upon the inter-dependence of the various elements in all parts of the United States of America – a recognition of the old and the permanently important manifestation of the American spirit of the pioneer. It is the way to recovery, it is the immediate way, it is the strongest assurance that recovery will endure.

指導(dǎo)這一特別的全國(guó)性復(fù)蘇的基本思想并非狹隘的國(guó)家主義。我首先考慮的是堅(jiān)持美國(guó)這一整體中各部分的相互依賴(lài)性--這是對(duì)美國(guó)式的開(kāi)拓精神的古老而永恒的證明的體現(xiàn)。這才是復(fù)蘇之路，是即時(shí)之路，是保證復(fù)蘇功效持久之路。

In the field of world policy, I would dedicate this nation to the policy of the good neighbor. The neighbor who resolutely respects himself, and because he does so, respects the rights of others. The neighbor who respects his obligation, and respects the sanctity of his agreement, in and with, a world of neighbor.

在國(guó)際政策方面，我將使美國(guó)采取睦鄰友好的政策。做一個(gè)決心自重，因此而尊重鄰國(guó)的國(guó)家。做一個(gè)履行義務(wù)，尊重與他國(guó)協(xié)約的國(guó)家。

If I read the temper of our people correctly, we now realize what we have never realized before, our inter-dependence on each other, that we cannot merely take, but we must give as well. That if we are to go forward, we must move as a trained and loyal army, willing to sacrifice for the good of a common discipline, because without such discipline, no progress can be made, no leadership becomes effective. We are all ready and willing to submit our lives and our property to such discipline because it makes possible a leadership which aims at the larger good. This, I propose to offer, we are going to larger purposes, bind upon us, bind upon us all, as a sacred obligation with a unity of duty, hitherto evoked only in times of armed strife.

如果我對(duì)人民的心情的了解正確的話，我想我們已認(rèn)識(shí)到了我們從未認(rèn)識(shí)的問(wèn)題，我們是互相依存的，我們不可以只索取，我們還必須奉獻(xiàn)。我們前進(jìn)時(shí)，必須象一支訓(xùn)練有素的忠誠(chéng)的軍隊(duì)，愿意為共同的原則而獻(xiàn)身，因?yàn)椋瑳](méi)有這些原則，就無(wú)法取得進(jìn)步，領(lǐng)導(dǎo)就不可能得力。我們都已做好準(zhǔn)備，并愿意為此原則獻(xiàn)出生命和財(cái)產(chǎn)，因?yàn)檫@將使志在建設(shè)更美好社會(huì)的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)成為可能。我倡議，為了更偉大的目標(biāo)，我們所有的人，以一致的職責(zé)緊緊團(tuán)結(jié)起來(lái)。這是神圣的義務(wù)，非戰(zhàn)亂，不停止。

With this pledge taken, I assume unhesitatingly, the leadership of this great army of our people dedicated to a disciplined attack upon our common problems. Action in this image, action to this end, is feasible under the form of government which we have inherited from my ancestors. Our constitution is so simple, so practical, that it is possible always, to meet extraordinary needs, by changes in emphasis and arrangements without loss of a central form, that is why our constitutional system has proved itself the most superbly enduring political mechanism the modern world has ever seen. It has met every stress of vast expansion of territory, of foreign wars, of bitter internal strife, of world relations.

有了這樣的誓言，我將毫不猶豫地承擔(dān)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)偉大人民大軍的任務(wù)，致力于對(duì)我們普遍問(wèn)題的強(qiáng)攻。這樣的行動(dòng)，這樣的目標(biāo)，在我們從祖先手中接過(guò)的政府中是可行的。我們的憲法如此簡(jiǎn)單，實(shí)在。它隨時(shí)可以應(yīng)付特殊情況，只需對(duì)重點(diǎn)和安排加以修改而不喪失中心思想，正因?yàn)槿绱耍覀兊膽椃w制已自證為是最有適應(yīng)性的政治體制。它已應(yīng)付過(guò)巨大的國(guó)土擴(kuò)張、外戰(zhàn)、內(nèi)亂及國(guó)際關(guān)系所帶來(lái)的壓力。

And it is to be hoped that the normal balance of executive and legislative authority will be fully equal, fully adequate to meet the unprecedented task before us. But it may be that an unprecedented demand and need for undelay ction may call for temporary departure from that normal balance of public procedure.

而我們還希望行使法律的人士做到充分的平等，能充分地?fù)?dān)負(fù)前所未有的任務(wù)。但現(xiàn)在前所未有的對(duì)緊急行動(dòng)的需要要求國(guó)民暫時(shí)丟棄平常生活節(jié)奏，緊迫起來(lái)。

We face the arduous days that lie before us in the warm courage of national unity, in the clearest consciousness of seeking all and precious moral values, with the clean satisfaction that comes from the stern performance of duty by old and young alike, we aim at the assurance of a rounded, a permanent national life.

讓我們正視面前的嚴(yán)峻歲月，懷著舉國(guó)一致給我們帶來(lái)的熱情和勇氣，懷著尋求傳統(tǒng)的、珍貴的道德觀念的明確意識(shí)，懷著老老少少都能通過(guò)克盡職守而得到的問(wèn)心無(wú)愧的滿足。我們的目標(biāo)是要保證國(guó)民生活的圓滿和長(zhǎng)治久安。

We do not distrust the future of essential democracy. The people of the United States have not failed. In their need, they have registered a mandate that they want direct, vigorous action. They have asked for discipline, and direction under leadership, they have made me the present instrument of their wishes. In the spirit of the gift, I take it.

我們并不懷疑基本民主制度的未來(lái)。合眾國(guó)人民并沒(méi)有失敗。他們?cè)诶щy中表達(dá)了自己的委托，即要求采取直接而有力的行動(dòng)。他們要求有領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的紀(jì)律和方向。他們現(xiàn)在選擇了我作為實(shí)現(xiàn)他們的愿望的工具。我接受這份厚贈(zèng)。

In this dedication, in this dedication of a nation, we humbly ask the blessings of God, may He protect each and every one of us, may He guide me in the days to come.

在此舉國(guó)奉獻(xiàn)之際，我們謙卑地請(qǐng)求上帝賜福。愿上帝保信我們大家和每一個(gè)人，愿上帝在未來(lái)的日子里指引我。