毕业典礼两分钟英语演讲稿范文 (一)
In ancient Greece, these were called Sophists – and they would have loved Twitter and Facebook.
Social media has given rise to a new golden age of sophistry – aided and abetted by blind partisanship. The only way to overcome it – the only way to lift our national discourse out of the gutter – is to heed Washington’s words and take pains to bring truth to light.
Those pains are the burden of citizenship in a democracy. And a great education does not relieve them. It intensifies them. This is especially true, I believe, for graduates of a university bearing the name Washington.
毕业典礼两分钟英语演讲稿范文 (二)
I can remember my mother -- a sweet lady -- looking at me, after we left the hospital, and saying, Joey, out of everything terrible that happens to you, something good will come if you look hard enough for it. She was right.
The incredible bond I have with my children is the gift I’m not sure I would have had, had I not been through what I went through. Who knows whether I would have been able to appreciate at that moment in my life, the heady moment in my life, what my first obligation was.
So I began to commute -- never intending to stay in Washington. And that's the God’s truth. I was supposed to be sworn in with everyone else that year in ’73, but I wouldn’t go down. So Mansfield thought I’d change my mind and not come, and he sent up the secretary of the Senate to swear me in, in the hospital room with my children.
毕业典礼两分钟英语演讲稿范文 (三)
The good news is the way to clean up the pollution can be found in [the] three words written on the cover of your diploma. It’s the motto of this great university: ‘Per Veritatem Vis’ (strength through truth). And it’s a motto that fits perfectly with a university named for George Washington.
In 1794, during President Washington’s second term, there was a faction ginning up support for secession. Washington recognized the threat it was…threat it posed – and he was confident that it would not succeed. He wrote in a letter, and I quote, ‘It is not difficult by concealment of some facts, and exaggeration of others to bias a well-meaning mind, at least for a while.’
But, he continued, ‘Truth will ultimately prevail where pains is taken to bring it to light.’
Now, I know the phrase ‘pains is taken’ probably just horrified every English major here. As kids, we were taught that Washington never told a lie, but they never told us he had trouble with subject-verb agreements.
毕业典礼两分钟英语演讲稿范文 (四)
I want you to know that, no matter where you are in life… No matter how low you have sunk… No matter how bleak your situation… This is NOT THE END.
This is not the end of your story
This is not the final chapter of your life.
I know it may be hard right now
But if you just hang in there
Stick it out
Stay with me for a little while…
You will find, that this tough moment will pass, and, if you are committed to USING this pain, using it to build your character, finding a greater MEANING for the pain, you will find that, in time, you can turn your life around, and help others going through the same struggles.
毕业典礼两分钟英语演讲稿范文 (五)
It means you’re willing to look foolish, you’re willing to run the risk of looking foolish in the service of what matters to you. And if you remember that, because some of the things your heart will tell you to do, will make you among your peers look foolish, or not smart, or not sophisticated. But we’ll all be better for people of your consequence to do it.
That’s what I want you to most remember. Not who spoke at the day you all assembled on this mall. You’re a remarkable class. I sure don't remember who the hell was my commencement speaker. (Laughter.) I know this is not officially commencement. But ask your parents when you leave here, who spoke at your commencement? It’s a commencement speaker aversion of a commencement speaker’s fate to be forgotten. The question is only how quickly. But you’re the best in your generation. And that is not hyperbole. And you're part of a remarkable generation.
毕业典礼两分钟英语演讲稿范文 (六)
finally, when leaders wrap themselves in the flag, or the national anthem, and try to make you think that critics of your government don’t love and respect our country, real patriotism isn’t about honoring symbols. Real patriotism is about bringing truth to light, and when action is required, standing up and taking action.
In other words, real patriotism is about taking pains. So if you remember nothing else from today, remember that phrase. Or, to make it even simpler, just remember: T-Pain.
Graduates, as you leave this great university, I hope you will take the pains that are necessary to preserve and extend our democracy. Take pains to understand the other side. Take pains to expose lies. Take pains to reject scapegoating and xenophobia. Take pains not to fall for easy answers. And take pains to hold our leaders accountable for their words and their deeds.
If you do that, I have no doubt that truth – and America – will prevail. And my generation will be able to say, as we pass the leadership torch to yours, the same words that Washington spoke with his last breath: ‘Tis well.
So tonight, have one last drink, maybe at T’s, dance to your own beat or to the beat of Ninja Turtle Backpack Guy, and tomorrow, get to work. The world needs you more than ever.
Congratulations, and good luck.
毕业典礼两分钟英语演讲稿范文 (七)
In fairness to George, ‘pains is taken’ is the way they spoke back then. Today, Washington would probably say ‘take pains.’ Or maybe T-Pain.
But Washington, really, Washington’s point, and Washington U.’s motto, are principles I hope that all of you will take to heart: truth will prevail where pains are taken to bring it to light. And with truth comes strength.
The pains that every generation has taken to bring light are why secession didn’t succeed…secession didn’t succeed in 1794 or 1861. The pains taken by abolitionists, and suffragettes, and civil rights marchers, and marriage equality advocates brought America’s core truth to light: that all people are created equal.
And today…today, the necessity of taking pains to bring truth to light is greater than ever because the tools for spreading lies are more powerful than ever.
Since the dawn of democracy, there have always been those, to paraphrase Socrates, who try to make the weaker argument appear the stronger and who care more about winning debates than being truthful.
毕业典礼两分钟英语演讲稿范文 (八)
Look, at a Gridiron Dinner not long ago, the President said, I -- the President -- “I am learning to speak without a teleprompter, Joe is learning to speak with one.” (Laughter.) But if you looked at my speechwriters, you know why.And the granddaughter of one of my dearest friends in life -— a former Holocaust survivor, a former foreign policy advisor, a former Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Congressman Tom Lantos -— is graduating today. Mercina, congratulations, kiddo. (Applause.) Where are you? You are the sixth -- she’s the sixth sibling in her immediate family to graduate from Yale. Six out of 11, that's not a bad batting average. (Laughter.) I believe it’s a modern day record for the number of kids who went to Yale from a single family.
And, Mercina, I know that your mom, Little Annette is here. I don't know where you are, Annette. But Annette was part of the first class of freshman women admitted to Yale University. (Applause.)
And her grandmother, Annette, is also a Holocaust survivor, an amazing woman; and both I’m sure wherever they are, beaming today. And I know one more thing, Mercina, your father and grandfather are looking down, cheering you on.
毕业典礼两分钟英语演讲稿范文 (九)
All across America – at family gatherings, in social settings and workplaces, on college campuses, and certainly on social media, Americans are losing the ability to conduct civil and productive dialogue with those who hold different political views.
And that has profound effect…profound implications for our ability to function as a society. After all, when you can’t talk with one another, you can’t understand one another. When we can’t understand one another, we can’t work together. When we can’t work together, we can’t do anything, at least not anything big and important.
We face a lot of hard challenges in America today – from climate change to gun violence, to failing schools to the opioid epidemic, and on campuses, from the frightening trend towards racism, sexism, hatred, anti-Semitism and intolerance of unpopular views and opinions.
To have any hope of overcoming these challenges, we have to start by reclaiming our civic dialogue from those who are debasing and degrading it – and preventing us from getting things done.
All of you can help do that – no matter what your politics are and no matter what line of work you pursue later on. Maybe your passion is science or education, or the arts or education, or medicine or health care, or business. There is not a single issue that isn’t affected by political debates. And there is not a single issue that isn’t threatened by the breakdown in our civic discourse.
毕业典礼两分钟英语演讲稿范文 (十)
All of you have been part of this institution’s long tradition of advocacy and activism. Don’t leave it behind. Carry it with you, and take on this challenge to bring truth to light.
To help you get started, let me offer some quick advice for dealing with modern-day sophists who try to obscure – and deny – truth.
When those …when those in the political arena engage in name-calling and other schoolyard chants, and are trying to distract your attention away from the real issues and from their inability to address them or their unwillingness to put forward practical solutions – don’t be distracted.
When they tolerate attacks on minority groups, especially those who profess a faith that some find threatening, they are empowering those who traffic in hatred – don’t tolerate it.
When they denounce journalists as ‘enemies of the state,’ and declare any critical coverage to be ‘fake news,’ and dress up lies as ‘alternative facts,’ they are trying to fool you into trusting only the news that comes from their mouths – don’t be fooled.
When they exaggerate the risks we face from immigrants without talking about all the benefits they have brought to our country, they are preying on people’s fears – don’t let them get away with it.
When they tell…try to tell you who you can love, or even who you can be, they are either pandering for votes or playing God – don’t put up with it.
When they promise you a free lunch, or free college, or free medical care, or free income, remember that a bill always comes due – don’t let them pass the buck.
When they prevent speakers from being heard, by shouting them down or creating spaces where differing opinions are not permitted, they are trying to win arguments by bullying and censorship instead of facts and reason. Don’t let them suppress free speech even…even when you find that speech to be deplorable. Protecting their right to speak is the only way to protect your right to speak.
When people romanticize the past, just remember something my mother, who lived to 102, told me: the good old days were never that good.