美国总统林肯的演讲稿

第一篇：美国总统林肯的演讲稿

美国总统林肯演讲稿

Inaugural Speech by Abraham Lincoln March 4th 1861

Speech：

In compliance with a custom as old as the Government itself, I appear before you to address you briefly and to take in your presence the oath prescribed by the Constitution of the United States to be taken by the President “before he enters on the execution of this office.”

I do not consider it necessary at present for me to discuss those matters of administration about which there is no special anxiety or excitement.Apprehension seems to exist among the people of the Southern States that by the accession of a Republican Administration their property and their peace and personal security are to be endangered.There has never been any reasonable cause for such apprehension.Indeed, the most ample evidence to the contrary has all the while existed and been open to their inspection.It is found in nearly all the published speeches of him who now addresses you.I do but quote from one of those speeches when I declare that:

I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists.I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so.Those who nominated and elected me did so with full knowledge that I had made this and many similar declarations and had never recanted them;and more than this, they placed in the platform for my acceptance, and as a law to themselves and to me, the clear and emphatic resolution which I now read:

Resolved, That the maintenance inviolate of the rights of the States, and especially the right of each State to order and control its own domestic institutions according to its own judgment exclusively, is essential to that balance of power on which the perfection and endurance of our political fabric depend;and we denounce the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of any State or Territory, no matter what pretext, as among the gravest of crimes.I now reiterate these sentiments, and in doing so I only press upon the public attention the most conclusive evidence of which the case is susceptible that the property, peace, and security of no section are to be in any wise endangered by the now incoming Administration.I add, too, that all the protection which, consistently with the Constitution and the laws, can be given will be cheerfully given to all the States when lawfully demanded, for whatever causeto this provision as much as to any other.To the proposition, then, that slaves whose cases come within the terms of this clause “shall be delivered up” their oaths are unanimous.Now, if they would make the effort in good temper, could they not with nearly equal unanimity frame and pass a law by means of which to keep good that unanimous oath?

There is some difference of opinion whether this clause should be enforced by national or by State authority, but surely that difference is not a very material one.If the slave is to be surrendered, it can be of but little consequence to him or to others by which authority it is done.And should anyone in any case be content that his oath shall go un-kept on a merely unsubstantial controversy as to how it shall be kept?

Again: In any law upon this subject ought not all the safeguards of liberty known in civilized and humane jurisprudence to be introduced, so that a free man be not in any case surrendered as a slave? And might it not be well at the same time to provide by law for the enforcement of that clause in the Constitution which guarantees that “the citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States”?

I take the official oath to-day with no mental reservations and with no purpose to construe the Constitution or laws by any hypercritical rules;and while I do not choose now to specify particular acts of Congress as proper to be enforced, I do suggest that it will be much safer for all, both in official and private stations, to conform to and abide by all those acts which stand un-repealed than to violate any of them trusting to find impunity in having them held to be unconstitutional.It is seventy-two years since the first inauguration of a President under our National Constitution.During that period fifteen different and greatly distinguished citizens have in succession administered the executive branch of the Government.They have conducted it through many perils, and generally with great success.Yet, with all this scope of precedent, I now enter upon the same task for the brief constitutional term of four years under great and peculiar difficulty.A disruption of the Federal Union, heretofore only menaced, is now formidably attempted.Top

I hold that in contemplation of universal law and of the Constitution the Union of these States is perpetual.Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed, in the fundamental law of all national governments.It is safe to assert that no government proper ever had a provision in its organic law for its own termination.Continue to execute all the express provisions of our National Constitution, and the Union will endure forever, it being impossible to destroy it except by some action not provided for in the instrument itself.Again: If the United States be not a government proper, but an association of States in the nature of contract merely, can it, as a contract, be peaceably unmade by less than all the parties who made it? One party to a contract may violate itbut does it not require all to lawfully rescind it?

Descending from these general principles, we find the proposition that in legal contemplation the Union is perpetual confirmed by the history of the Union itself.The Union is much older than the Constitution.It was formed, in fact, by the Articles of Association in 1774.It was matured and continued by the Declaration of Independence in 1776.It was further matured, and the faith of all the then thirteen States expressly plighted and engaged that it should be perpetual, by the Articles of Confederation in 1778.And finally, in 1787, one of the declared objects for ordaining and establishing the Constitution was “to form a more perfect Union.”

But if destruction of the Union by one or by a part only of the States be lawfully possible, the Union is less perfect than before the Constitution, having lost the vital element of perpetuity.It follows from these views that no State upon its own mere motion can lawfully get out of the Union;that resolves and ordinances to that effect are legally void, and that acts of violence within any State or States against the authority of the United States are insurrectionary or revolutionary, according to circumstances.I therefore consider that in view of the Constitution and the laws the Union is unbroken, and to the extent of my ability, I shall take care, as the Constitution itself expressly enjoins upon me, that the laws of the Union be faithfully executed in all the States.Doing this I deem to be only a simple duty on my part, and I shall perform it so far as practicable unless my rightful masters, the American people, shall withhold the requisite means or in some authoritative manner direct the contrary.I trust this will not be regarded as a menace, but only as the declared purpose of the Union that it will constitutionally defend and maintain itself.In doing this there needs to be no bloodshed or violence, and there shall be none unless it be forced upon the national authority.The power confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to the Government and to collect the duties and imposts;but beyond what may be necessary for these objects, there will be no invasion, no using of force against or among the people anywhere.Where hostility to the United States in any interior locality shall be so great and universal as to prevent competent resident citizens from holding the Federal offices, there will be no attempt to force obnoxious strangers among the people for that object.While the strict legal right may exist in the Government to enforce the exercise of these offices, the attempt to do so would be so irritating and so nearly impracticable withal that I deem it better to forego for the time the uses of such offices.Top

The mails, unless repelled, will continue to be furnished in all parts of the Union.So far as possible the people everywhere shall have that sense of perfect security which is most favourable to calm thought and reflection.The course here indicated will be followed unless current events and experience shall show a modification or change to be proper, and in every case and exigency my best discretion will be exercised, according to circumstances actually existing and with a view and a hope of a peaceful solution of the national troubles and the restoration of fraternal sympathies and affections.That there are persons in one section or another who seek to destroy the Union at all events and are glad of any pretext to do it I will neither affirm nor deny;but if there be such, I need address no word to them.To those, however, who really love the Union may I not speak?

Before entering upon so grave a matter as the destruction of our national fabric, with all its benefits, its memories, and its hopes, would it not be wise to ascertain precisely why we do it? Will you hazard so desperate a step while there is any possibility that any portion of the ills you fly from have no real existence? Will you, while the certain ills you fly to are greater than all the real ones you fly from, will you risk the commission of so fearful a mistake?

All profess to be content in the Union if all constitutional rights can be maintained.Is it true, then, that any right plainly written in the Constitution has been denied? I think not.Happily, the human mind is so constituted that no party can reach to the audacity of doing this.Think, if you can, of a single instance in which a plainly written provision of the Constitution has ever been denied.If by the mere force of numbers a majority should deprive a minority of any clearly written constitutional right, it might in a moral point of view justify revolution;certainly would if such right were a vital one.But such is not our case.All the vital rights of minorities and of individuals are so plainly assured to them by affirmations and negations, guaranties and prohibitions, in the Constitution that controversies never arise concerning them.But no organic law can ever be framed with a provision specifically applicable to every question which may occur in practical administration.No foresight can anticipate nor any document of reasonable length contain express provisions for all possible questions.Shall fugitives from labor be surrendered by national or by State authority? The Constitution does not expressly say.May Congress prohibit slavery in the Territories? The Constitution does not expressly say.Must Congress protect slavery in the Territories? The Constitution does not expressly say.

第二篇：英语演讲稿-美国总统林肯

I am honored to be with you today for your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world.Truth be told, I never graduated from college.And this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation.Today I want to tell you three stories from my life.That's it.No big deal.Just three stories.今天，我很荣幸能和你们一起参加毕业典礼，斯坦福大学是世界上最好的大学之一。说实话，（虽然）我从来没有从大学中毕业，但今天是我生命中离大学毕业最近的一天了。今天我想向你们讲述我生活中的三个故事。不说大道理，就是三个故事而已。

The first story is about connecting the dots.第一个故事是关于如何把生命中的点点滴滴串连起来。

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit.So why did I drop out?

我在里德学院读了六个月之后就退学了，但是在十八个月以后，我还经常去学校。我为什么要退学呢？

It started before I was born.My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption.She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife.Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl.So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: “We have an unexpected baby boy;do

you want him?” They said: “Of course.” My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school.She refused to sign the final adoption papers.She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.This was the start in my life.故事要从我的出生说起。我的亲生母亲是一名年轻未婚的大学毕业生。她决定让别人收养我，她十分想让大学毕业生收养我。所以在我出生前，她已经准备一切，让一位律师和他的妻子收养。但是她没有料到，在我出生后，律师夫妇突然决定要一个女孩。所以，我的养父养母（他们当时还在候选名单上）突然在半夜接到了一个电话：“我们有一个意外降生的男婴，你们想收养他吗？”他们回答说： “当然！” 但是我亲生母亲随后发现，我的养母从未上过大学，我的养父高中没毕业。于是她拒绝签订收养合同。但在几个月以后，因为我的养父养母答应她一定要让我上大学，她才心软同意了。

And 17 years later I did go to college.But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition.After six months, I couldn't see the value in it.I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out.And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life.So I decided to drop out and would all work out OK.It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made.The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked far more interesting.在十七岁那年，我的确上大学了。但我天真地选择了一个几乎和斯坦福大学一样贵的学校，我父母还处于工薪阶层，为了交学费，他们几乎耗光所有积蓄。六个月后，我几乎看不到在学校的价值。我不知道（我生命中）要追求什么，我也不知道学校是否能帮我找到答案。但在学校，我将花光我父母这一辈子的积蓄。所以，我决定退学，并且我相信车到山前必有路。（不可否认），我当时非常害怕，但现在回头来看，这个决定是我一生中最明智决定之一。在我做出退学决定后，我再也不用去上那些我丝毫没有兴趣的必修课，我开始去听那些看起来有趣的课程。

It wasn't all romantic.I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5￠ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple.I loved it.And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on.Let me give you one example:

这一点也不浪漫。没了宿舍，所以我要到朋友家睡地板；为了填饱肚子，我捡过值5美分的可乐罐；为了每周一顿的好一点的饭，每个星期天晚上，我穿街过巷，步行7英里到Hare Krishna教堂。我喜欢那里的饭菜。在好奇和直觉的引导下，我跌跌撞撞地遇到很多东西，这些后来被证明是无价瑰宝。我给你们举一个例子吧：

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country.Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed.Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this.I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great.It was beautiful,historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.那时候，里德学院的书法课程也许是全美最好的。学校里的每个海报，抽屉上的每个标签，上面全都是漂亮的书法。因为我退学了，没有了正常的课程，所以我决定去上/书法课，去学学怎样写出漂亮的字。我学到了san serif 和serif字体，我学会了怎么样在不同的字母组合之中变化间距，还有怎么样做最好的版式。那种美感、真实感和艺术感，是科学永远不能捕捉到的，（我发现）那实在是太迷人了。

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life.But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me.And we designed it all into the Mac.It was the first computer with beautiful typography.If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts.And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them.If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do.Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college.But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.当时这些东西似乎在我生命中没什么可用之处。但十年之后，当我们在设计第一台Macintosh计算机的时候，就全部派上用场。我把当时我学的那些东西全都融入到Mac。那是拥有漂亮字体的第一台计算机。如果我当时没有退学，我没机会沉迷于书法课程，Mac就不会有种类繁多或的行距整齐的字体。如果Windows没有抄袭Mac，个人电脑很可能就不会这么多字体。如果我没有退学，我不会沉迷于书法课程，个人电脑很可能就不会这么多字体。当然了，我在学校的时候不可能把这些点点滴滴提前串连起来。但在十年之后回顾过去，这些东西历历在目。

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward;you can only connect them looking backwards.So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.This approach has never let me down, and it would made all the difference.再说一次，你不可能把这些点点滴滴提前串连起来；你只能在回顾的时候把它们串连起来。所以你必须相信这些点点滴滴是和你的未来项链的。你必须要相信某些东西：直觉、命运、生命、因缘等等。这个方法从未让我失望过，它让我与众不同。

第三篇：林肯演讲稿

The Gettysburg

Address

Abraham Lincoln

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

November 19, 1863

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.We are met on a great battle-field of that war.We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live.It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate--we can not consecrate--we can not hallow--this ground.The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain--that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom--and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.八十七年前，我们的先辈们在这个大陆上创立了一个新国家，它孕育于自由之中，奉行一切人生来平等的原则。

现在我们正从事一场伟大的内战，以考验这个国家，或者任何一个孕育于自 由和奉行上述原则的国家是否能够长久存在下去。我们在这场战争中的一个伟大战场上集会。烈士们为使这个国家能够生存下去而献出了自己的生命，我们来到这里，是要把这个战场的一部分奉献给他们作为最后的安息之所。我们这样做是完全应该而且非常恰当的。

但是，从更广泛的意义上来说，这块土地我们不能够奉献，不能够圣化，不能够神化。那些曾在这里战斗过的勇士们，活着的和去世的，已经把这块土地圣化了，这远不是我们微薄的力量所能增减的。我们今天在这里所说的话，全世界不大会注意，也不会长久地记住，但勇士们在这里所做过的事，全世界却永远不会忘记。毋宁说，倒是我们这些还活着的人，应该在这里把自己奉献于勇士们已经如此崇高地向前推进但尚未完成的事业。倒是我们应该在这里把自己奉献于仍然留在我们面前的伟大任务――我们要从这些光荣的死者身上汲取更多的献身精神，来完成他们已经完全彻底为之献身的事业；我们要在这里下定最大的决心，不让这些死者白白牺牲；我们要使国家在上帝的福佑下得到自由的新生，要使这个民有、民治、民享的政府永世长存。

（朱曾汶译）

选自《英译汉名篇赏析》李亚丹主编

Gettysburg Battlefield

One of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War was fought in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on July 1-3, 1863.General Robert E.Lee came face to face with a Union army led by General George Meade.On July 3, Lee sent three divisions, about 15,000 men in all, against the Union.This oval-shaped map by Theodore Ditterline depicts troops and artillery positions along with roads, railways, and houses with names of residents.The Library has one of the finest collections of Civil War printed maps and the foremost collection of Confederate field maps, numbering more than 2,300.* * * *

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第四篇：林肯演讲稿

I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true.I am not bound to succeed, but am bound to live up to what light I have.I must stand with anybody that stands right.Stand with him while is right and part with him when he goes wrong.That was remarked by one of the greatest presidents in the US history.And he is the very president that fascinates me most.He is Abraham Lincoln.Unlike other presidents, he was not born in the upper class.On the contrary, he had a very humble origin.His family was very poor.Both of his father and mother were farmers and illiterate.He didn’t go to Harvard or Princeton University like many celebrities did.In fact, he received less than one year’s formal education.But, with patient effort, doggy perseverance, he taught himself law.He attacked his legal studies with the same single-minded dedication and passion he reserved for reading and spent many hours trying to make up for the early learning he felt he lacked.As a practicing lawyer in the courts, he was admired by his fellow professionals and regarded by everyone who met him with great affection.After that, after a series of defeat, he finally became the president of the United Stated.Then he devoted all himself to the freedom of the slaves.Soon the Southern states rebelled.They set up a state of their own, where they would keep Negroes as slaves.About south-north relationship, he once said that “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Further, to state his intentions in a way that could not be misinterpreted, he said plainly: “I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free.”

Fighting broke out between the North and the South.This was the American Civil War.The war lasted four years and ended in the victory of the northern army.The nation was reunited and the slaves were all set free.On the fifth day after the surrender of the Confederate troop, Lincoln was shot to death at a theatre in Washington, D.C.The whole nation fell into a deep sorrow.Looking back at his life, many people considered him to be the greatest president of all time.Yet it should be remembered how many defeats and sufferings he had been going through.The genius of Abraham Lincoln is such that almost all American presidents and presidential aspirants since have turned to him for guidance and inspiration.Obama once wrote an article for Time Magazine in which he said: “In Lincoln's rise from poverty, his ultimate mastery of language and law, his capacity to overcome personal loss and remain determined in the face of repeated defeat – in all this, he reminded me just...of my own struggles.”

Yes, we have good reason to believe that family, personal history, education and situation, none of these can hold back a strong spirit.Everyone has “the right to rise”.Face things in front of us because the most formidable enemy lies within us.Though we may have little chance to become the president or we may never make that much great contributions made by Abraham Lincoln, but we can be the masters of our lives.Thank you very much.

第五篇：林肯演讲稿

I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true.I am not bound to succeed, but am bound to live up to what light I have.I must stand with anybody that stands right.Stand with him while is right and part with him when he goes wrong.That was remarked by one of the greatest presidents in the US history.And he is the very president that fascinates me most.He is Abraham Lincoln.Unlike other presidents, he was not born in the upper class.On the contrary, he had a very humble origin.His family was very poor.Both of his father and mother were farmers and illiterate.He didn’t go to Harvard or Princeton University like many celebrities did.In fact, he received less than one year’s formal education.But, with patient effort, doggy perseverance, he taught himself law.He attacked his legal studies with the same single-minded dedication and passion he reserved for reading and spent many hours trying to make up for the early learning he felt he lacked.As a practicing lawyer in the courts, he was admired by his fellow professionals and regarded by everyone who met him with great affection.After that, after a series of defeat, he finally became the president of the United Stated.Then he devoted all himself to the freedom of the slaves.Soon the Southern states rebelled.They set up a state of their own, where they would keep Negroes as slaves.About south-north relationship, he once said that “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Further, to state his intentions in a way that could not be misinterpreted, he said plainly: “I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free.”

Fighting broke out between the North and the South.This was theAmerican Civil War.The war lasted four years and ended in the victory of the northern army.The nation was reunited and the slaves were allset free.On the fifth day after the surrender of the Confederate troop, Lincoln was shot to death at a theatre in Washington, D.C.The whole nation fell into a deep sorrow.Looking back at his life, many people considered him to be the greatest president of all time.Yet it should be remembered how many defeats and sufferings he had been going through.The genius of Abraham Lincoln is such that almost all American presidents and presidential aspirants since have turned to him for guidance and inspiration.Obama once wrote an article for Time

Magazine in which he said: “In Lincoln's rise from poverty, his ultimate

mastery of language and law, his capacity to overcome personal loss and remain determined in the face of repeated defeat – in all this, he reminded me just...of my own struggles.”

Yes, we have good reason to believe that family, personal history, education and situation, none of these can hold back a strong spirit.Everyone has “the right to rise”.Face things in front of us because the most formidable enemy lies within us.Though we may have little chance to become the president or we may never make that much great

contributions made by Abraham Lincoln, but we can be the masters of our lives.Thank you very much.