书城励志震撼世界的声音:名人励志演讲集萃
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第35章 Our Family Creed(1)

John Davison Rockefeller,financier,oil magnate and philanthropist

I believe in the supreme worth of the individual and in his right to life,liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

我相信个人的价值至高无上,每个人都有生存的权利、自由的权利和追求幸福的权利。

John Davison Rockefeller

背景故事

后世之人对一位人物是这样评价的:1.有条不紊到极点,留心细节,不差分毫。如果有一分钱不该给我们,他必取来。如果少给客户一分钱,他也要客户拿走。2.他比卡内基对竞争者更为仁慈,他会合理补偿与他正当竞争失败的对手。3.他的财富跟和他同时代的巨富们相比,是最不肮脏的。这个人物就是约翰·戴维森·洛克菲勒,虽然一个半世纪的沧桑已经过去,但一提到洛克菲勒家族,大部分人依然能够耳熟能详。洛克菲勒家族在美国以及在世界经济中的辉煌成就应该与他们的家族信条不无关系。

名人简介

约翰·戴维森·洛克菲勒(John Davison Rockefeller)(1839年7月8日-1937年5月23日)美国慈善家、资本家,1870年创立标准石油,也是上世纪第一个亿万富翁。在他漫长的一生中,其评价毁誉参半。他极为沉默寡言、神秘莫测,一生都在各种不同角色和层层神话的掩饰下度过。《福布斯》网站曾公布过“美国史上15大富豪”排行榜,最终约翰·洛克菲勒名列榜首。

演讲赏析

Our Family Creed

John Davison Rockefeller,financier,oil magnate

and philanthropist

They are the principles on which my wife and I have tried to bring up our family.

They are the principles in which my father believed and by which he governed his life.

They are the principles,many of them,which I learned at my mother’s knee.They point the way to usefulness and happiness in life,to courage and peace in death.

If they mean to you what they mean to me,they may perhaps be helpful also to our sons for their guidance and inspiration.Let me state them:I believe in the supreme worth of the individual and in his right to life,liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

I believe that every right implies a responsibility;every opportunity,an obligation;every possession,a duty.

I believe that the law was made for man and not man for the law;that government is the servant of the people and not their master.

I believe in the dignity of labor,whether with head or hand;That the world owes no man a living but that it owes every man an opportunity to make a living.

I believe that thrift is essential to well ordered living and that economy is a prime requisite of a sound financial structure,whether in government business or personal affairs.

I believe that truth and justice are fundamental to an enduring social order.

I believe in the sacredness of a promise.That a man‘s word should be as good as his bond,that character—not wealth or power or position—is of supreme worth.

I believe that the rendering of useful service is the common duty of mankind and that only in the purifying fire of sacrifice is the dross of selfishness consumed and the greatness of the human soul set free.

I believe in an all-wise and all-loving God,named by whatever name,and that the individual’s highest fulfillment,greatest happiness and widest usefulness are to be found in living in harmony with His will.

I believe that love is the greatest thing in the world;that it alone can overcome hate;that right can and will triumph over might.

These are the principles,however formulated,for which all good men and women throughout the world,irrespective of race or creed,education,social position or occupation,are standing,and for which many of them are suffering and dying.

These are the principles upon which alone a new world recognizing the brotherhood of man and the fatherhood of God can be established.

译文参考

家族的信条

——约翰·戴维森·洛克菲勒的励志演讲

这些都是我和我的太太在教育我们子女时尽力遵守的原则。

其中一些原则是我的父辈深信不疑的为人处世的原则。

还有一些是我在我母亲膝下所学到的原则。这些信条为我指出了一条快乐生,勇敢死的安详之路。