节选七
In this symposium, better is it to only sit in silence. To express one's feelings as the end draws near is too intimate a task. That I would mention only one thought that comes to me as a listener-in: the riders in a race do not stop short when they reach the goal, there is a little finishing canter before coming to a standstill, there is time to hear the kind voice of friends, and to say to oneself, the work is done.
But just as one says that, the answer comes, the race is over, but the work never is done while the power to work remains. The canter that brings you to a standstill need not be only coming to rest; it cannot be while you still live. But to live is to function, that is all there is in living. So I end with a land from a Latin voice: death, death, clutches my ear, and says, live, I am coming. --By Oliver Wendell Holmes
中文翻译：
此刻，沉默是金。要在生命即将完结之时表达个人感受并非易事。但我只是想谈谈作为一名倾听者的看法。骑士们并非一到终点就立刻止步。他们继续缓步向前，倾听朋友们的欢呼。他们虽然告诉自己行程已经结束了。
正如人们所说结果出来了，比赛结束了。但只要动力仍在，人生之旅就尚未结束。终点之后的慢跑并非停止不前，因为活着便不能如此。活着就要有所作为，这才是生命的真谛。最后谨以一句古拉丁格言与各位共勉：死神不至，奋斗不止。--[美]奥利佛-文德尔-荷默斯
节选八
The grandest of these ideals is an unfolding American promise that everyone belongs, that everyone deserves a chance that no insignificant person was ever born. Americans are called to enact this promise in our lives and in our laws. And though our nation has sometimes halted, and sometimes delayed, we must follow no other course.
Through much of the last century, America's faith in freedom and democracy was a rock in a raging sea. Now it is a seed upon the wind, taking root in many nations. Our democratic faith is more than the creed of our country, it is the inborn hope of our humanity, an ideal we carry but do not own, a trust we bear and pass along. And even after nearly 225 years, we have a long way yet to travel. --By George W. Bush
中文翻译：
这些理想中最伟大的是正在慢慢实现的美国的承诺，这就是：每个人都有自身的价值，每个人都有成功的机会，每个人天生都会有所作为的。美国人民肩负着一种使命，那就是要竭力将这个诺言变成生活中和法律上的现实。虽然我们的国家过去在追求实现这个承诺的途中停滞不前甚至倒退，但我们仍将坚定不移地完成这一使命。
在上个世纪的大部分时间里，美国自由民主的信念犹如汹涌大海中的岩石。现在它更像风中的种子，把自由带给每个民族。在我们的国家，民主不仅仅是一种信念，而是全人类的希望；民主，我们不会独占，而会竭力让大家分享；民主，我们将铭记于心并且不断传播。225年过去了，我们仍有很长的路要走。--[美]乔治-布什
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