3分钟英语即兴演讲（通用16篇）
good morning, ladies and gentlemen. i’d like to share my teaching dream with you. but before that, i want to say something about the beginning of this dream. in march this year, three teachers from australia came to our school. during the meeting, we exchanged a lot about education. i found that though we have almost the same teaching philosophy, we have different routines. what impressed me most was that their schools end at 3:00 in the afternoon and have no night classes. i can’t tell which kind of routine is better, but the sharp contrast made me think about a better education. the following is a dreamy school in my mind, in which there is no pressure but pleasure.
in this school, the buildings are well designed, close to nature. in the morning, children can read while enjoying the beautiful sunrise. in the evening, they can exercise by the lake reflecting the amazing sunset. in the spring, they can go to the wild, lie on the lawn, and watch the kite flying in the blue sky. in the summer, they can go to the forest, live in a cabin, and listen to the rhythm of the rain. …
students are free but polite and they respect each other. they can leave at 4:00 every afternoon, or perhaps earlier. they have the freedom to organize time. they can go to the library, go to the lab, the computer rooms or the playground. they’re self-motivated and have a strong thirst for knowledge. and there are no frequent exams and rankings. students won’t be forced to wear uniforms everyday, and there is no required hair style. everyday is so colorful that they are looking forward to the next day when going to bed at night,
every teacher in this school can give a course as they like. there is no tedious rating, no scraps of quantitative management and no rigid standard. teachers can fully display their personality in class, and they feel very happy and content to teach. every morning, on thoughts of giving lessons, they are excited. after class, they are delighted , with smiles on their faces. some experts, scholars and masters are also visiting teachers in this school.yang zhenning can give physics classes for a day. yi zhongtian opens lectures on chinese culture for a week. speaking of music, we can ask wang lihong to give music lectures, just as he did in oxford university. if necessary, we can also invite david beckham to speak something about the world cup …
the principal of the school focuses on education rather than waste time in endless meetings and social activities. teachers’ wages are not high but enough to live comfortably. there are no other things to do except to teach. there are no paper requirements, no titles and no ranks because they don’t need to be judged by those things. almost every teacher is a well-known scholar and master in a particular field. a language teacher may be a writer at the same time. a math teacher may try to overcome a world-class guess. a physics teacher can win invention awards and a music teacher may return from an international music competition again.
in short, in this school, the principal is satisfied, the teachers are happy and the students are joyful. that’s my dream.
for once the battle is lost, once our natural splendor is destroyed, it can never be recaptured. and once man can no longer walk with beauty or wonder at nature his spirit will wither and his sustenance be wasted.
. there your children's lives will be shaped. our society will not be great until every young mind is set free to scan the farthest reaches of thought and imagination. we are still far from that goal. today, 8 million adult americans, more than the entire population of , have not finished 5 years of school. nearly 20 million have not finished 8 years of school. nearly 54 million -- more than one quarter of all have not even finished high school.
each year more than 100,000 high school graduates, with proved ability, do not enter college because they cannot afford it. and if we cannot educate today's youth, what will we do in 1970 when elementary school enrollment will be 5 million greater than 1960? and high school enrollment will rise by 5 million. and college enrollment will increase by more than 3 million.
but more classrooms and more teachers are not enough. we must seek an educational system which grows in excellence as it grows in size. this means better training for our teachers. it means preparing youth to enjoy their hours of leisure as well as their hours of labor. it means exploring new techniques of teaching, to find new ways to stimulate the love of learning and the capacity for creation.
i intend to establish working groups to prepare a series of white house conferences and meetings -- on the cities, on natural beauty, on the quality of education, and on other emerging challenges. and from these meetings and from this inspiration and from these studies we will begin to set our course toward the great society.
nor can it rely solely on the strained resources of local authority. they require us to create new concepts of cooperation, a creative federalism, between the national capital and the leaders of local communities.
within your lifetime powerful forces, already loosed, will take us toward a way of life beyond the realm of our experience, almost beyond the bounds of our imagination.
toward a new age. you have the chance never before afforded to any people in any age. you can help build a society where the demands of morality, and the needs of the spirit, can be realized in the life of the nation.
will you join in the battle to give every citizen the full equality which god enjoins and the law requires, whatever his belief, or race, or the color of his skin?
will you join in the battle to build the great society, to prove that our material progress is only the foundation on which we will build a richer life of mind and spirit?
those who came to this land sought to build more than just a new country. they sought a new world. so i have come here today to your campus to say that you can make their vision our reality. so let us from this moment begin our work so that in the future men will look back and say: it was then, after a long and weary way, that man turned the exploits of his genius to the full enrichment of his life.
Every one of us, rich or poor, should at least have one or two good friends. My friends will listen to me when I want to speak, will wipe my eyes when I cry, will take care of me when I am sick, and my friends will go together with me side by side through this journey of life.
我们每个人,不论富裕还是贫穷,至少应该有一个或两个好朋友。我的朋友会听我说,如果我想说话,要擦去我的眼睛当我哭泣,会照顾我在我生病时,我的朋友将与我一起肩并肩在这人生旅程。
Friendship is a kind of treasure in our lives. It is actually like a bottle of wine, the longer it is kept, the sweeter it will be. It is also like a cup of tea. When we are thirsty, it will be our best choice, but when we have enough time to enjoy ourselves, it is also the most fragrant drink.
友谊是一种财宝在我们的生活。它实际上是像一瓶酒,越久保留,这将是更香甜。它就像一杯茶。当我们口渴时,这将是对我们最好的选择,但当我们有足够的时间去玩得很开心的,它也是最芬芳的饮料。
All of us have to spare some time for personal lives. We have to find the chance to express our emotion and love. When staying with our friends, we can release ourselves completely. We can do whatever we want, we can laugh together, talk together, and even cry to-gether. I should say that being together with our best friends is the most wonderful moment of our lives.
我们所有的人都要花点时间来个人的生活。我们必须找到机会来表达我们的感情和爱。当住在我们的朋友,我们可以放松自己完全。我们可以做任何我们想要的,我们能一起大声笑,一起交谈,甚至哭泣下。我应该说,是我们最好的朋友一起是最精彩的时刻,我们的生活。
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen!
I am glad to be here to share my opinions with all of you. My topic today is about Internet.
With the development of technology, more and more people are fond of using Internet. It is particularly popular among young people. Just like the coin has two sides, internet also has its own advantages and disadvantages.
First of all, the Internet has brought people great convenience in getting information, entertainment and contact with each other. As for our students, it is a useful tool when we meet problems. When we are tired, a piece of light music will help us relax. If we have free time, we can enjoy movies or interesting cartoons. What’s more, we can also watch live programs on the internet or see it later if we are not available at that time.
But there is also bad influence. Some of the young teenagers are addicted to computer games, and some even play games all night. Because of lacking in sleep, those students can not focus on in the class . As a result, they may fail in the exam. When they realize it is wrong to spend too much time playing games, it’s already too late.
I have remembered such a piece of news . An excellent student flunked (考试不及格) because he could not concentrate on his study for being too indulged in computer games. He spent nearly all the money on games, which was earned by his father's selling blood. When his father knelt down to beg him to return to school, he was too numb to show any regret.
The most serious harm of computer games come from their contents, which affects teenagers ' mental health. Many games involve violence, such as fighting and killing. When they enjoy the pleasure of success, a violent turn of mind is developed and rooted in them, which may induce future violent behaviour in their life.
So when computers' entertaining function is highly spoken of ,such a problem does deserve our serious concern.
In addition, long time's working before computer also does harm to health. The radiation from the computer can arose many uncomfortable feelings., like a headache, poor eyesight.
At last, people who are fond of making friends on line should also be careful. Many convicts use Internet as a way to cheat. Although it has many disadvantages , Internet has become an indispensable part of people's life in recent years. In my point of view, it’s wrong to blame Internet itself, it’s all depend on the way we use it. If we use it in a right way, it can be one of the best friends in our life.
That 's all , thank you !
Some say growing up in rich family promotes children's personality and character. Some think otherwise. What's your opinion? Why?
Well, it's quite a question argued by people all the time. I think a person's personality has little relation to his family economic level. It's commonly said that a child in rich family will has more chances and better choice for his study. However, if the kid himself isn't aware of this, that is all in vain. It's not unusual that many children from rich family are quite rude and conceited although they are always receive the best education. Then, how about the poor family's children? There is another saying that adversity cultivates heroes. To be honest, I disagree with it too. Poor children should learn harder and catch every chance to strengthen themselves. However, the reality is often not like that. Subjectively speaking, poor children are easy to feel inferior and thus can't study well. Even if they study well, they hardly do well in practicing ability. Objectively speaking, poor children can hardly receive good and plentiful education because of the economic limit. That will cause deficiency in some literal or artistic talent such as music or dance. Therefore, I think children's personality have little relation to their family situation.
Good morning/afternoon!
First thing first, I gotta say,wow,it's funny thing to be given a chance like that.Trurh be told,I really got a little bit nervous before I stand right here ,so called 'stage fright'.If you look specifically on me .You may find my hands shaking,pretty assembles the guy who suffered from Pakinson's disease,and legs wobbling ,like I caught so-called ball leg. Okay,let's stop going around the bush and get back to my topic today.I really like to talk a funny story I have just heard.
A lady called Lucy emigrated to United States several years ago.Her spoken English is not that fluent .And one day,she is just sitting on the couch with his U.S friends Mandy watching Sit-Com.A noise of bump had the attention of Mandy,which led her to go out of the house trying to figure out what had happened.Can you imagine that Mandy go straight out with merely a sweater.So Lucy shouted at her,"Lucy ,turn your clothes on." What suprised her most,beyond her wildest imagination, is that almost all the male in this country took their head out of the window.Admittedly,Lucy made a mistake here .The word spitted means Mandy is totally naked to the reason that male looked out of the window.The right sentence shall be,"put your clothing on."The story inspires you to take a careful look on the vast difference between eastern and western culture.
That's full of it,thank you for your time!
i love sport.
Sport is something that everyone can enjoy. It can be played by individuals and as a team.
there are many type of sport, the most common ones are basketball, tennis, table tennis, netball, swimming and a lot of others that i can't possibly name.
i bet no one on this world can name all of them
The reason why sport is so popular for all age groups is because Sport help us to a healthier and fitter body and life.
Everyone wants to stay health and fit, so they won't be sick very often. Sport always help our body function properly and build muscles.
i believe many people love sport. those who doesn;t like sport, may i suggest you to try one of two.
it is a chance to exercise and be health and fit.During sport, you can make new friends and feel the team spirt.
SO come on and have fun!
Keep Your Direction
What would you do if you failed? Many people may choose to give up. However, the surest way to success is to keep your direction and stick to your goal.On your way to success, you must keep your direction. It is just like a lamp, guiding you in darkness and helping you overcome obstacles on your way. Otherwise, you will easily get lost or hesitate to go ahead.Direction means objectives. You can get nowhere without an objective in life.You can try to write your objective on paper and make some plans to achieve it. In this way, you will know how to arrange your time and to spend your time properly. And you should also have a belief that you are sure to succeed as long as you keep your direction all the time.
坚持你的方向
翻译：如果失败了你会怎么做?很多人可能会选择放弃。然而，要想成功，最可靠的方法就是坚持你的方向和目标。在通往成功的路上，你必须坚持你的方向。它就像一盏灯，在黑暗中为你指路，帮助你度过难关。否则，你很容易就会迷失方向或犹豫不前。方向意味着目标。人生如果没有目标，将一事无成。你可以试着把你的目标写在纸上，并制定实现目标的计划。这样，你就会懂得如何合理安排时间，如何正确地支配时间。而且你还要有这样的信念：只要你一直坚持自己的方向，你就一定可以成功。
today, as people live a better life, they chase for more enjoyment. we can see from the news that when the holiday comes, there are so many people gather in the scenery site. people like to travel today, they can take a plane, take the bus or even take a bike. on my opinion, the best way to travel is by train. first, it is very cheap. compare with other ways, such as plane and bus, train is less expensive, people can save a lot of money. besides, taking the train is much safer. people don’t have to worry about crush, which is more happen in the plane or bus. second, we can enjoy the scenery in the train. though the train is very slow, we can have a good sight of the beautiful scenery, when we go to tibet, we can see different colors and different mountains during the trip. taking the train is the best way to travel.
Do I Need To Like Myself?
Yes! People who don't like themselves are a pain in the neck!
Usually, people with a poor self-image use one of two irritating strategies. They either:
a) criticize you a lot or
b) they criticize themselves a lot.
STRATEGY A: They criticize you a lot. They figure that by criticizing other people they can feel better about themselves.
Let's take Fred, who feels inferior. Fred thinks he has a big nose and piggy eyes. He also secretly feels a bit stupid.
So what's his strategy to feel better about himself? He criticizes all his friends. He has names for them like “Flathead”, “Chicken Legs” and “Dogbrain”. Whenever someone else makes a mistake, he announces it to the whole class. (He probably doesn't even realize he criticizes people—or why he does it.)
If you have parents, friends or brothers and sisters who don't like themselves—they might criticize you and everyone around them. Just remember that they criticize you because they have a problem. If you remember that they are actually hurting inside, you won't get so upset by their behaviour.
STRATEGY B: Some people who don't like themselves criticize themselves a lot. They use reverse psychology...
Take Mary who doesn't like herself. She's always telling you, “You are prettier than me. You are smarter. Nobody likes me.” She's hoping that you will reply, “No Mary! You are clever. You are beautiful.” After a while, people like Mary get on your nerves!
In a nutshell
When we don't like ourselves, we irritate other people. We also put ourselves through a lot of stress. When we accept ourselves a little better, we don't play these games.
How Can I Like Myself﹖
In our hearts, most of us believe we should be doing better. We think that we should have gotten higher grades. We want to be popular and hang out with the “in” crowd. We feel we don't measure up to our parents' expectations. Our parents help to confirm this idea when they ask, “Why can't you be more like your brother?”
Whenever you are feeling low, be your own best friend. Accept that, up to now, you have lived your life the best way you know how. No one sets out to screw up their life! Like anyone, you've done the odd stupid thing. With more information you'll likely do better in the future.
Liking yourself means forgiving yourself. If you have made some serious mistakes, if you have hurt some people—and yourself—feeling guilty won't help.
If you are feeling guilty about something, you have already suffered enough. Being guilty for another six months won't help anybody.
Forget perfection and aim for improvement.
It's a funny thing. When you forgive yourself for your own mistakes, you automatically begin to let others off the hook for the same things.
“But I'm Not Brilliant...”
You might look at yourself and say, “I'm not as beautiful as my sister, I'm not as talented as my friends and I'm not brilliant at anything! How can I feel good about me?”
Fact: Nobody is good at everything and most of us have those thoughts!
But here's the lowdown! Talent and beauty are very useful—but there are plenty of talented and beautiful people around whom we don't necessarily admire. And some of them are a pan in the butt!
The qualities most of us value above all others are honesty, courage, persistence, generosity and humility. Take a look at this list and you'll find something interesting. You aren't born with these things. You develop them. Anyone can have them! If you want self-respect, and respect from others, you don't have to be an Einstein or a super-model.
You simply work at developing your own honesty, determination, generosity, humility and courage. It is called “character”.
In a nutshell
How you feel about yourself is in your hands.
非得喜欢自己吗?
确实如此!不喜欢自己的人很讨厌!
通常，自我感觉不好的人会采用两种策略，要么老是挑剔别人，要么总是挑剔自己。
策略一：老是挑剔别人。他们以为挑别人的错就能自我感觉良好。
比如说弗雷德吧，他就觉得自己不如别人。弗雷德感到自己长了一个大鼻子、两只猪眼睛，还暗自感觉脑子有点笨。
那他想感觉好一点怎么办呢?于是就挑所有朋友的毛病，给他们起一些怪名字，什么“平头”啊，“鸡腿”啊，“狗脑”啊等等。每当有人犯错误，他就对全班同学宣布。 (他很可能压根儿就没意识到在批评别人，或者为什么要这么做。)
如果你父母、朋友或兄弟姊妹不喜欢自己，他们可能挑剔你和身边的每一个人。请记住，他们挑剔你是因为他们有问题。其实他们内心有伤痛，记住这一点，你就不会对他们的行为感到特别心烦了。
策略二：有些不喜欢自己的人老说自己不好。他们的心理正好相反。
拿玛丽来说吧，她就不喜欢自己。她总对别人说，“你比我漂亮。你比我聪明。谁都不喜欢我。”她心里其实希望对方这样回答，“不对，玛丽!你很聪明，很漂亮。”不用多久，玛丽这种人就会令人生厌。
简言之
不喜欢自己，就会去烦别人。同时自身也会承受很大的压力。对自己好一点，就不会去玩那些烦人的把戏了。
怎样才能喜欢自己?
内心里，大多数人都认为自己应该比现在强。我们认为考试分数应该再高一些。我们想受人欢迎，跟那些“时髦的”人在一起。我们感到达不到父母的期望。父母也证实了这一点。他们会问，“你就不能向你哥哥多学一点?”
无论何时你感觉不良，你要做自己最亲密的朋友。要承认到目前为止，你是在以你所知的最佳方式生活。谁都不会成心破坏自己的生活。你跟别人一样做了些奇怪而愚蠢的事。你如果知道得多一些，将来就会做得好一些。
喜欢自己意味着原谅自己。如果你犯了严重的错误，如果你伤害了别人，伤害了自己，内疚是不管用的。
如果你为某事感到内疚，你已经受到了足够的折磨。再内疚半年，对人对己都无济于事。
忘记完善，立志改善
这是很有趣的一件事。一旦你原谅自己的过错，就会自动不再追究别人同样的错误。
“但是我不很出色……”
你也许会将自己审视一番，说，“我没姐姐那么漂亮，也没朋友那么聪明，我哪方面都不出色!叫我怎么感觉良好?”
事实是：没有谁是万能的，而且大多数人都有你这种想法。
不过真相是这样的!才智和美貌很有用，但是聪明漂亮的人我们并不一定就羡慕，这样的人在我们周围大有人在。再说有些人不过是徒有虚名而已!
大多数人最看重的品质是诚实、勇敢、顽强、慷慨和谦逊。只要看看这一串词语，就能发现一件有趣的事。这些品质不是与生俱来的，是后天培养的。人人都能拥有!想自重并受人尊重，不一定非得是爱因斯坦或超级名模。
你只需努力培养自己的诚实、坚毅、慷慨、谦逊和勇敢就行了。这就叫“品格”。
简言之
自我感觉如何全看你如何把握。
A little boy asked his mother: “Why are you crying?”
“Because I am a woman.” She told him.
“I don’t understand” he said.
His mum just hugged him and said: “And you never will.”
Later the little boy asked his father: “ Why does mother seem to cry for no reason?”
“All woman cry for no reason.” Was all his dad could say.
The little boy grow up and became a man, still wondering why women cry.
Finally he put in a call to God, when God got on the phone, he asked, “God, why do women cry so easily?”
God said: “ When I made the women, she had to be special. I made her shoulders strong enough to carry the weight of the world; yet, gentle enough to give comfort.
I gave her inner strength to endure childbirth, and the rejections many times comes from her children.
I gave her hardness that allows her to keep going when everyone else gives up, and take care of her family through sickness and fatigue without complains.
“I gave her the sensitivity to love her children under any and all circumstances, even her children has hurt her very badly.
“I gave her strength to carry her husband through his faults and fashioned her from his rib to protect his heart.”
“I gave her the wisdom to know that a good husband never hurts his wife, but sometimes tests her strength and resolve to stand beside him unfalteringly.”
“And finally, I gave her a tear to shed. That is her exclusively to use whenever it is needed.”
“You see the beauty of a women is not the clothes she wears, the figure she carries, or the way she combs her hair.”
“The beauty of a women must be seen in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where the love resides.
In universities, students should take history courses no matter what field they study. Do you agree?
I disagree with it even though I do know history is important. I'm a student major in electricity. To be honest, I think there is little sense for students in university taking history courses no matter what field they study. Maybe many people would say, history is something left by our ancestors, so we shouldn't forget it. Yes, I agree with that. History need to be remembered. But in fact, we have been learning history from primary school. I really it's enough for people like me whose major has little relation to history. I just take history exam last year. For me, it was really a nightmare. I spent so much time on it and still can抰 remember all. Now that we're chosen engineering, I can't understand why we need and have to learn history again. The time spent on history learning should be used for our major courses.
A friend of mine named Paul received an automobile from his brother as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office, a street urchin was walking around the shiny new car, admiring it.
"Is this your car, Mister?" he said.
Paul nodded. "My brother gave it to me for Christmas." The boy was astounded. "You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn’t cost you nothing? Boy, I wish . . ." He hesitated.
Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for. He was going to wish he had a brother like that. But what the lad said jarred Paul all the way down to his heels.
"I wish," the boy went on, "That I could be a brother like that."
Paul looked at the boy in astonishment, then impulsively he added, "Would you like to take a ride in my car?"
"Oh yes, Id love that."
After a short ride, the boy turned with his eyes aglow, said, "Mister, would you mind driving in front of my house?"
Paul smiled a little. He thought he knew what the lad wanted. He wanted to show his neighbors that he could ride home in a big automobile. But Paul was wrong again. "Will you stop where those two steps are?" the boy asked.
He ran up the steps. Then in a little while Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little crippled brother. He sat him down on the bottom step, then sort of squeezed up against him and pointed to the car.
"There she is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn’t cost him a cent. And some day Im gonna give you one just like it . . . then you can see for yourself all the pretty things in the Christmas windows that Ive been trying to tell you about." Paul got out and lifted the lad to the front seat of his car. The shining-eyed older brother climbed in beside him and the three of them began a memorable holiday ride. That Christmas Eve, Paul learned
what Jesus meant when he said: "It is more blessed to give . . . "
thank you, mr. chairman.
mr. chairman, i join my colleague mr. rangel in thanking you for giving the junior members of this committee the glorious opportunity of sharing the pain of this inquiry. mr. chairman, you are a strong man, and it has not been easy but we have tried as best we can to give you as much assistance as possible.
earlier today, we heard the beginning of the preamble to the constitution of the united states: "we, the people." it's a very eloquent beginning. but when that document was completed on the seventeenth of september in 1787, i was not included in that "we, the people." i felt somehow for many years that george washington and alexander hamilton just left me out by mistake. but through the process of amendment, interpretation, and court decision, i have finally been included in "we, the people."
today i am an inquisitor. an hyperbole would not be fictional and would not overstate the solemnness that i feel right now. my faith in the constitution is whole; it is complete; it is total. and i am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction, of the constitution.
"who can so properly be the inquisitors for the nation as the representatives of the nation themselves?" "the subjects of its jurisdiction are those offenses which proceed from the misconduct of public men."¹ and that's what we're talking about. in other words, [the jurisdiction comes] from the abuse or violation of some public trust.
it is wrong, i suggest, it is a misreading of the constitution for any member here to assert that for a member to vote for an article of impeachment means that that member must be convinced that the president should be removed from office. the constitution doesn't say that. the powers relating to impeachment are an essential check in the hands of the body of the legislature against and upon the encroachments of the executive. the division between the two branches of the legislature, the house and the senate, assigning to the one the right to accuse and to the other the right to judge, the framers of this constitution were very astute. they did not make the accusers and the judgers -- and the judges the same person.
we know the nature of impeachment. we've been talking about it awhile now. it is chiefly designed for the president and his high ministers to somehow be called into account. it is designed to "bridle" the executive if he engages in excesses. "it is designed as a method of national inquest into the conduct of public men."² the framers confided in the congress the power if need be, to remove the president in order to strike a delicate balance between a president swollen with power and grown tyrannical, and preservation of the independence of the executive.
the nature of impeachment: a narrowly channeled exception to the separation-of-powers maxim. the federal convention of 1787 said that. it limited impeachment to high crimes and misdemeanors and discounted and opposed the term "maladministration." "it is to be used only for great misdemeanors," so it was said in the north carolina ratification convention. and in the virginia ratification convention: "we do not trust our liberty to a particular branch. we need one branch to check the other."
"no one need be afraid" -- the north carolina ratification convention -- "no one need be afraid that officers who commit oppression will pass with immunity." "prosecutions of impeachments will seldom fail to agitate the passions of the whole community," said hamilton in the federalist papers, number 65. "we divide into parties more or less friendly or inimical to the accused."³ i do not mean political parties in that sense.
the drawing of political lines goes to the motivation behind impeachment; but impeachment must proceed within the confines of the constitutional term "high crime[s] and misdemeanors." of the impeachment process, it was woodrow wilson who said that "nothing short of the grossest offenses against the plain law of the land will suffice to give them speed and effectiveness. indignation so great as to overgrow party interest may secure a conviction; but nothing else can."
common sense would be revolted if we engaged upon this process for petty reasons. congress has a lot to do: appropriations, tax reform, health insurance, campaign finance reform, housing, environmental protection, energy sufficiency, mass transportation. pettiness cannot be allowed to stand in the face of such overwhelming problems. so today we are not being petty. we are trying to be big, because the task we have before us is a big one.
this morning, in a discussion of the evidence, we were told that the evidence which purports to support the allegations of misuse of the cia by the president is thin. we're told that that evidence is insufficient. what that recital of the evidence this morning did not include is what the president did know on june the 23rd, 1972.
the president did know that it was republican money, that it was money from the committee for the re-election of the president, which was found in the possession of one of the burglars arrested on june the 17th. what the president did know on the 23rd of june was the prior activities of e. howard hunt, which included his participation in the break-in of daniel ellsberg's psychiatrist, which included howard hunt's participation in the dita beard itt affair, which included howard hunt's fabrication of cables designed to discredit the kennedy administration.
we were further cautioned today that perhaps these proceedings ought to be delayed because certainly there would be new evidence forthcoming from the president of the united states. there has not even been an obfuscated indication that this committee would receive any additional materials from the president. the committee subpoena is outstanding, and if the president wants to supply that material, the committee sits here. the fact is that on yesterday, the american people waited with great anxiety for eight hours, not knowing whether their president would obey an order of the supreme court of the united states.
at this point, i would like to juxtapose a few of the impeachment criteria with some of the actions the president has engaged in. impeachment criteria: james madison, from the virginia ratification convention. "if the president be connected in any suspicious manner with any person and there be grounds to believe that he will shelter him, he may be impeached."
we have heard time and time again that the evidence reflects the payment to defendants money. the president had knowledge that these funds were being paid and these were funds collected for the 1972 presidential campaign. we know that the president met with mr. henry petersen 27 times to discuss matters related to watergate, and immediately thereafter met with the very persons who were implicated in the information mr. petersen was receiving. the words are: "if the president is connected in any suspicious manner with any person and there be grounds to believe that he will shelter that person, he may be impeached."
justice story: "impeachment" is attended -- "is intended for occasional and extraordinary cases where a superior power acting for the whole people is put into operation to protect their rights and rescue their liberties from violations." we know about the huston plan. we know about the break-in of the psychiatrist's office. we know that there was absolute complete direction on september 3rd when the president indicated that a surreptitious entry had been made in dr. fielding's office, after having met with mr. ehrlichman and mr. young. "protect their rights." "rescue their liberties from violation."
the carolina ratification convention impeachment criteria: those are impeachable "who behave amiss or betray their public trust."4 beginning shortly after the watergate break-in and continuing to the present time, the president has engaged in a series of public statements and actions designed to thwart the lawful investigation by government prosecutors. moreover, the president has made public announcements and assertions bearing on the watergate case, which the evidence will show he knew to be false. these assertions, false assertions, impeachable, those who misbehave. those who "behave amiss or betray the public trust."
james madison again at the constitutional convention: "a president is impeachable if he attempts to subvert the constitution." the constitution charges the president with the task of taking care that the laws be faithfully executed, and yet the president has counseled his aides to commit perjury, willfully disregard the secrecy of grand jury proceedings, conceal surreptitious entry, attempt to compromise a federal judge, while publicly displaying his cooperation with the processes of criminal justice. "a president is impeachable if he attempts to subvert the constitution."
if the impeachment provision in the constitution of the united states will not reach the offenses charged here, then perhaps that 18th-century constitution should be abandoned to a 20th-century paper shredder.
has the president committed offenses, and planned, and directed, and acquiesced in a course of conduct which the constitution will not tolerate? that's the question. we know that. we know the question. we should now forthwith proceed to answer the question. it is reason, and not passion, which must guide our deliberations, guide our debate, and guide our decision.
i yield back the balance of my time, mr. Chairman.
If There Were No After Life
Whether there’s afterlife, the answer has never been the same. The atheists deny after life, believing that our life is no more than from the cradle to the grave. They may care about their illustrious names after death; they may feel attached to the affection of their offspring, but they never lay their hopes on their afterlife. They may also say that good will be rewarded with good, and evil with evil, but they don’t really believe any retribution in their after life.
However, in the religious world or among the superstitious people, the belief in afterlife is very popular. They do not only believe in afterlife, but thousands of reincarnations as well. In the mysterious world, there are the paradise and the hell, the celestial beings and the gods, the Buddha and the Bodhisattvas.
Maybe they really believed it, or maybe they just wanted to make use of people’s veneration, the ancient emperors always declared that they were the real dragons, the sons of God, while the royal ministers claimed to be the reincarnations of various constellations. But can the stars reincarnate?
Many people burn incense and kowtow, do good deeds and strive for virtues, not just for the present, but mainly to let God see their sincerity so as to be reborn into a better afterlife, or to achieve the highest enlightenment after several lives of practice. They do believe in afterlife. But I can’t help asking: Suppose there were no afterlife, would you still do good deeds and strive for virtues? And If God does not see what you are doing, would you still be so upright and selfless? If you work, not for serving the public and liberating the others, but just for a better afterlife of your own, isn’t it a little too selfish? Comparing with this kind of believers, those who don’t believe in afterlife, but still keep doing good deeds, are the most sincere and honest philanthropists, because they do them not for themselves but for other.
You may wonder if I believe in afterlife. My answer is: I know nothing about my previous life, so I dare not make improper comments on afterlife. But I do hope there’s afterlife! Because our present life is so short that so many things slip away before our proper understanding. I have so many dreams, so many wishes, so many ambitions, as well as so many regrets and concerns. If there were no afterlife, all of them will remain unrealized!
I’m not contented with the present commonplace life, I’m very much attached to the affections that should have been mine but have been washed away by the hurrying time, and I yearn for the perfection and maturity if I could start all over again. So believe it or not, I’d rather there were afterlife.
It is easy to describe success in terms of money, fame and reputation. But I believe that success is not external. I believe that success comes from within. My definition of success is to be true to yourself, and be true to others. That means, that you must cherish your personal ideal even in the face of adversity. I also believe that success is not discriminatory. Success is not restricted to such a class of people, in fact, it may be achieved by any person irrespective of his race, creed, gender and economic background. A good example of success is that of Beethoven. He is one of the world's most famous composers, yet he was deaf. He could not hear the majestic pieces of music that he created. Yet, in the face of this adversity, he was able to maintain his ideals--that of composing music.
To exemplify what success means to me, I pose a question to all of you. What brings us together here today? I believe that it is the beauty of the spoken word. The effect of pause and the sound of rhetoric are unique to the spoken word. I believe the beauty of the spoken word is even stronger for those who have difficulty in expressing themselves.
These people are reclusive and had their emotions hidden within them. I once went to Australia and I saw two pictures, Once was drawn by a normal child, the other was drawn by a child with social inhibitions. The picture drawn by the normal child was simple and plain. The other was life-like, full of details and imagination. What this shows is that these are ideas, emotions and feelings that are locked internally in thesechildren.
My ideal is to be the key, spreading the beauty of the spoken words to these children. These children have been neglected, but I feel that I can and should help these children to find themselves and be able to express themselves.
I realize that this is a difficult task, and there are many obstacles on the way. But I believe in my ideals and I will stick to them--even in the face of adversity. We should never have a premature abortion of ideals--let the child, let our ideals, stand the challenge. For a life without ideals is not living.
Thank you!