Book 2 Unit 2
Jefferson died long ago, but may of his ideas still of great interest to us.
大學英語精讀第2冊第2單元.mp311:15
來自大學英語王老師
Lessons from Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States, may be less famous than George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, but most people remember at last one fact about him: he wrote the Declaration of Independence.
Although Jefferson lived more than 200 years ago, there is much that we learn from him today. Many of his ideas are especially interesting to modern youth. Here are some of the things he said and wrote:
Go and see. Jefferson believed that a free man obtains knowledge from many sources besides books and that personal investigation is important. When still a young man, he was appointed to a committee to find out whether the South Branch of the James River was deep enough to be used by large boats. While the other members of the committee sat in the state capitol and studied papers on the subject, Jefferson got into a canoe and made on-the-spot-observations.
You can learn from everyone. By birth and by education Jefferson belonged to the highest social class. Yet, in a day when few noble persons ever spoke to those of humble origins except to give an order, Jefferson went out of his way to talk with gardeners, servants, and waiters. Jefferson once said to the French nobleman, Lafayette, "You must go into the people's homes as I have done, look into their cooking pots and eat their bread. If you will only do this, you may find out why people are dissatisfied and understand the revolution that is threatening France."
Judge for yourself. Jefferson refused to accept other people's opinions without careful thought. "Neither believe nor reject anything," he wrote to his nephew, "because any other person has rejected or believed it. Heaved has given you a mind for judging truth and error. Use it."
Jefferson felt that the people "may safely be trusted to hear everything true and false, and to form a correct judgment. Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter."
Do what you believe is right. In a free country there will always be conflicting ideas, and this is a source of strength. It is conflict and not unquestioning agreement that keeps freedom alive. Though Jefferson was for many years the object of strong criticism, he never answered his critics. He expressed his philosophy in letters to a friend, "There are two sides to every question. If you take one side with decision and on it with effect, those who take the other side will of course resent your actions."
Trust the future; trust the young. Jefferson felt that the present should never be chained to customs which have lost their usefulness. "No society," he said, "can make a perpetual constitution, or even a perpetual law. The earth belongs to the living generation." He did not fear new ideas, nor did he fear the future. "How much pain," he remarked, "has been caused by evils which have never happened! I expect the best, not the worst. I steer my ship with hope, leaving fear behind."
Jefferson's courage and idealism were based on knowledge. He probably knew more than any other man of his age. He was an expert in agriculture, archeology, and medicine. He practiced crop rotation and soil conservation a century before these became standard practice, and he invented a plow superior to any other in existence. He influenced architecture throughout America, and he was constantly producing devices for making the tasks of ordinary life easier to perform.
Of all Jefferson's many talents, one is central. He was above all a good and tireless writer. His complete works, now being published for the first time, will fill more than fifty volumes. His talent as an author was soon discovered, and when the time came to write the Declaration of Independence at Philadelphia in 1776, the task of writing it was his. Millions have thrilled to his words: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…"
When Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of American independence, he left his countrymen a rich legacy of ideas and examples. American education owes a great debt to Thomas Jefferson, Who believed that only a nation of educated people could remain free.
課文翻譯
傑斐遜已謝世很久，但他的許多思想仍使我們很感興趣。
傑斐遜的遺訓
布魯斯·布利文
美國第三任總統托馬斯·傑斐遜也許不像喬治·華盛頓和亞伯拉罕·林肯那樣著名，但大多數人至少記得有關他的一件事實：是他寫的《獨立宣言》。
雖然傑斐遜生活在二百多年以前，但我們今天仍可以從他身上學到很多東西。他的許多思想對當代青年來說特別有意義。下面就是他講過和寫過的一些觀點：
自己去看。傑斐遜認為，一個自由的人除了從書本中獲取知識外，還可以從許多別的來源獲得知識；他認為，親自做調查是很重要的。在他還很年輕的時候，他就被任命為一個委員會的成員，去調查詹姆斯河南部支流的水深是否足以通行大型船隻。委員會的其他成員都坐在州議會大廈內研究有關這一問題的文件，而傑斐遜卻跳進一隻獨木舟去做現場觀測。
你可以向任何人學習。按出身及其所受的教育，傑斐遜均屬於最高的社會階層。然而，在那個貴人們除了發號施令以外很少跟出身卑賤的人說話的年代，傑斐遜卻常破例跟園丁、僕人和侍者交談。有一次傑斐遜曾這樣對法國貴族拉斐特說過：“你必須像我那樣到平民百姓的家裡去，看看他們的鍋裡煮些什麼，吃吃他們的麵包。只要你肯這樣做，你就會發現老百姓為什麼會不滿意，你就會理解正在威脅著法國的革命。”
自己作判斷。未經過認真的思考，傑斐遜絕不接受別人的意見。他在給侄子的信中寫道：“不要因為別的人相信或拒絕了什麼東西，你也就去相信它或拒絕它。上帝賜予你一個用來判斷真理和謬誤的頭腦。那你就運用它吧。”
傑斐遜覺得，人民“是完全可以信賴的，應該讓他們聽到一切真實和虛偽的東西，然後作出正確的判斷。倘使讓我來決定，我們是應該有一個政府而不要報紙呢還是應該有報紙而不要政府，我會毫不猶豫地選擇後者。”
做你認為是正確的事。在一個自由的國家裡總會有各種相互衝突的思想，而這正是力量的源泉。使自由保持活力的是衝突而不是絕對的一致。雖然有好多年傑斐遜一直受到激烈的批評，但他從不回應那些批評他的人。他在寫給一位朋友的信中表達了自己的觀點：“每個問題都有兩面。如果你堅決站在一面並根據它有效地採取行動，那麼，站在另一面的那些人當然會對你的行動怨恨不滿。”
相信未來，相信青年。傑斐遜認為，絕不可以用那些已經無用的習俗來束縛住“現在”的手腳。他說：“沒有哪個社會可以制訂一部永遠適用的憲法，甚至連一條永遠適用的法律也制訂不出來。地球是屬於活著的一代的。”他不害怕新思想，也不懼怕未來。他評論說：“有多少痛苦是由一些從未發生過的災難引起的啊！我期待的是最好的東西，而不是最壞的東西。我滿懷希望地駕駛著自己的航船，而把恐懼拋在後面。”
傑斐遜的勇氣和理想主義是以知識為基礎的。他懂得的東西也許比同時代的任何人都要多。在農業、考古學和醫學方面他都是專家。在人們普遍採用農作物輪作和土壤保持的做法之前一個世紀，他就這樣做了。他還發明瞭一種比當時任何一種都好的耕犁。他影響了整個美國的建築業，他還不斷地製造出各種機械裝置，使日常生活中需要做的許多工作變得更加容易。
在傑斐遜的眾多才能中，有一種是最主要的：他首先是一位優秀的、不知疲倦的作家。目前正在第一次出版的他的全集將超過五十卷。他作為一個作家的才能很快便被發現了，所以，當1776年在費城要撰寫《獨立宣言》的時刻來到時，這一任務便落在了他肩上。數以百萬計的人們讀到他寫的下列詞句都激動不已：“我們認為這些真理是不言而喻的：一切人生來就是平等的……”
1826年7月4日，正值美國獨立五十週年紀念日之際，傑斐遜與世長辭了。他給他的同胞留下了一份豐富的思想遺產和眾多的榜樣。托馬斯·傑斐遜對美國的教育事業作出了巨大的貢獻，他認為，只有受過教育的人民組成的國家才能保持自由。
本文由王樹振老師編輯整理，圖片來自網絡
