自由的精神 Spirit of Liberty（1/1）

勒尼德·汉德 / Learned Hand

勒尼德·汉德（1872—1961），美国最伟大的法官之一，生于纽约州阿尔伯尼，在哈佛大学完成学业。1909年，被任命为联邦法官，1924年进入美国上诉法院。从1939年到1951年，作为该法院的首席法官，以其才学、智慧和对民主原则的深刻信念成为全国最有影响的法官之一。

Acethe Hole

Uand these new words before you listen to this article.

1.liberty [lib?ti] n.自由，自主

2.defe [difa] v.精确地解释；界定；规定，确定

3.sparrow [sp?r??] n.麻雀

4.nsce [k?n??ns] n.良心

5.unbridled [?nbra?dld] adj.不受约束的；不受控制的；放纵的

We have gathered here to affir a faith, a faitha on purpose, a on nvi, a oion.

So ofhave chosen Arica as the nd of our adoption; the rest have e fro those who did the sa.For this reason we have sht to nsider ourselves a picked group, a group of those who had the urage to break fro the past and brave the dangers and the loneless of a strange nd.What was the object that nerved , or those who went before , to this choice? We sought liberty—freedo fro oppression, freedo fro want, freedo to be ourselves.This then we sought; this we now believe that we are by way of ng.What do we an when we say that first of all we seek liberty? I often wonder whether we do not rest our hopes too uch upon nstitutions, upon ws, and upon urts.These are false hopes; believe , these are false hopes.Liberty liesthe hearts of n and won; when it dies there, no nstitution, no w, no urtsave it; no nstitution, no w, no urteven do uch to help it.While it lies there, it needs no nstitution, no w, no urt to save it.And what is this liberty which t liethe hearts of n and won? It is not the ruthless, the unbridled will; it is not freedo to do as one likes.That is the denial of liberty, and leads straight to its overthrow.A societywhi regnize no check upon their freedo soon bees a society where freedo is the possession of only a savage few—as we have learo our sorrow.

What, then, is the spirit of liberty?

I ot defe it; Ionly tell you y own faith.The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right; the spirit of liberty is the spirit which seeks to uand the ds of those n and won; the spirit of liberty is the spirit which weighs their terest alongside its own without bias; the spirit of liberty rebers that not even a sparrow falls to earth unheeded; the spirit of liberty is the spirit of hi who, near o thoand years ago, taught ankd that lesson it has never learned, but has never quite fotten—that there ay be a kgdo where the least shall be heard and nsidered side-by-side with the greatest.And nowthat spirit, that spirit of an Ari which has never been, and which ay never be—nay, whiever will be except as the nsd urage of Aris create it—yetthe spirit of Arica which lies hiddenso forthe aspirations ofall;the spirit of that Arica for which our youngthis ont fightg and dyg;that spirit of liberty and of Arica so prospero, and safe, and ed, we shall have failed to grasp its ang, and shall have been truant to its proise, except as we strive to ake it a signal, a bean, a standard to which the best hopes of ankd will ever turn;you share that belief, I now ask you to raise your hand a withthis pledge:

I pledge allegiao the fg, of the Uates of Arica, and to the republic for which stands—oion, devisible, with liberty and jtice for all.