First Inaugural Address (A)

(Franklin D. Roosevelt)
Mar. 4, 1933

President Hoover, Mister Chief Justice, my friends:
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 impelled. 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. 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. 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.
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.
True, they have tried, but their efforts have been cast in the pattern 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.
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.
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. 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.
Restoration calls, however, not for changes in ethics alone. This nation is asking for action, and action now. 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. 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.

consecration n.供献, 奉献, 献祭仪式
induction n.感应, 感应现象, 归纳
preeminently adv 卓越地；杰出地
paralyze vt.使瘫痪, 使麻痹
curtailment n.缩减, 缩短
grim adj.严酷的
distress n.悲痛, 穷困, 不幸, 危难, 忧伤 v.使悲痛, 使穷困, 使忧伤
plague n.瘟疫, 麻烦, 苦恼, 灾祸 vt.折磨, 使苦恼, 使得灾祸
locust n.[动]蝗虫, 蚱蜢, 蝉
peril n.危险
bounty n.慷慨, 宽大, 施舍, 奖励金
languish vi.憔悴, 凋萎, 衰退, 苦思
stubbornness n.倔强, 顽强
incompetence n.无能力, 不适当 [律]无行为能力,法律上无资格
abdicate v.退位, 放弃(职位,权力等)
unscrupulous adj.肆无忌惮的, 无道德的, 不谨慎的
indict vt.起诉, 控告, 指控, 告发
resort vi.求助, 诉诸, 采取(某种手段等), 常去 n.凭借, 手段, 常去之地, 胜地
exhortation n.劝告, 讲道词, 训词
chase n.追赶, 追击 vt.追赶, 追逐, 雕镂
evanescent adj.渐消失的, 易消散的, 会凋零的
falsity n.虚伪, 虚假, 不老实, 不忠实, 谎言
overbalance v.失去平衡
engaging adj.动人的, 有魅力的, 迷人的

我们唯一应该害怕的就是害怕本身
1933.3.4
富兰克林•罗斯福
今天，对我们的国家来说，是一个神圣的日子。我肯定，同胞们都期待我在就任总统时，会像我国目前形势所要求的那样，坦率而坚定地向他们讲话。现在正是坦诚、大胆地说出实情，说出全部实情的最佳时刻。我们不必畏首畏尾，不老老实实面对我国今天的情况。这个伟大的国家会一如既往地永存，它会复兴和繁荣起来。因此，首先让我表明我的坚定信念：我们唯一应该害怕的就是害怕本身——一种莫名其妙、丧失理智的、毫无根据的恐惧，会把人转退为进所需的种种努力化为泡影。每当我们的国家生活在阴云密布的时刻，坦诚而有活力的领导都获得了人民的理解和支持，这是我们获胜的必备条件。我相信，在目前危急时刻，你们会再次给予同样的支持。我和你们都要以这种精神，来面对我们共同的困难。感谢上帝，这些困难只是物质方面的。价值难以想象地贬缩了；苛税增加了；我们的支付能力下降了；各级政府面临着严重的收入短缺；交易手段在贸易过程中遭到了冻结；工业企业枯萎的落叶到处可见；农场主的产品找不到销路；千家万户多年的积蓄付之东流。更重要的是，大批失业人员正面临严峻的生存问题，还有大批的人正以艰辛的劳动换取微薄的报酬。只有愚蠢的乐天派会否认当前这些阴暗的现实。
但是，我们的苦恼决不是因为物质的缺乏。我们没有遭到什么蝗虫的灾害。我们的先辈曾凭着信念和无畏一次次转危为安，与他们经历过的险阻相比，我们应该大感欣慰。大自然仍在给予我们恩惠，人类的努力已使之倍增。富足的日子就在眼前，但就在我们将要见到这种情景的时候，过量的索取，使得宽裕的生活却悄然离去。这主要是因为主宰人类物质交换的统治者们失败了，他们固执己见和无能为力导致了他们的失败，他们已经承认失败，并撒手不管了。贪得无厌的货币兑换商的种种行径，将受到舆论法庭的起诉，将受到人类心灵的唾弃。
的确，他们也曾努力过。但是，他们用的是一种完全过时的传统方法。面对信贷的失败，他们只是提议借出更多的钱。没有了引诱人民追随他们的错误领导的金钱，他们只得求助于讲道，含泪祈求人民重新给予他们信心。他们只知自我追求者们的处世之道。他们没有眼光，而没有眼光的人是注定要灭亡的。
如今，货币兑换商已从我们文明庙宇的高处落荒而逃。我们要以千古不变的真理来重建这座庙宇。我们将把比金钱利益更高尚的社会价值融进衡量重建的尺度。
幸福并不在于单纯地占有金钱；幸福还在于取得成就后的喜悦，在于努力创造时的激情。再也不要忘记劳动带来的喜悦和激励，而去疯狂地追逐那转瞬即逝的利润。朋友们，如果这些暗淡的日子能使我们认识到，我们真正的天命不是要别人侍奉，而是为自己和同胞们服务，那么，我们付出的代价就完全值得。
认识到把物质财富当作成功的标准是错误的，我们就会抛弃以地位尊严和个人收益为唯一标准，来衡量公职和高级政治地位的错误信念；我们必须结束银行界和企业界的一种行为，它常常使神圣的委托混同于无情和自私的不正当行为。难怪信心在减弱，信心，只有靠诚实、信誉、忠心维护和无私履行职责才能坚实，而没有这些，就不可能有信心。然而，复兴不仅仅只要改变伦理观念，整个国家要行动起来，现在就行动起来。
我们最大、最基本的任务是让人民有工作。只要我行之以智慧和勇气，这个问题就可以解决。这可以部分由政府直接征募完成，就像对待临战的紧要关头一样，但同时，在有了人手的情况下，我们还急需能刺激并重组巨大自然资源的工程。我们齐心协力，但必须坦白地承认工业中心的人口失衡。我们必须在全国范围内重新分配土地，使土地在最适合的人手中发挥更大作用。

First inaugural Address（A） mp3