A Word that Has Changed the WorldHumanity—a Word that Revives Man’s Conscience Distinguished friends, ladies and gentlemen,Good morning!What a piece of work is man; how noble in reason; how infinite in faculty, in form and moving how express and admirable; in action how like an angel; in apprehension how like a god!When we hear the above lines from Hamlet we might deem them undoubtedly as the declaration of humanity. They are no differences from the trumpets for the toppledown of the dominance of divinity; they are torches to light the darkness and impetus to awaken human conscience on reason. In appreciation of the beauty of man and greatness of humanity, the world stepped on the road of the revival of cherishable cultural heritage and departed with no turning back from the mysterious world. God’s absolute authority gave way to earthly one, unselfish sacrifice for religion was replaced by heartfelt devotion to the progress of human race and ode to God was transferred to songs of man’s dignity andelegance.Without the awareness of humanity, there is no possibility for the birth of Mona Lisa,whose quietly folded hands, whose gaze that is directed at the observer and the ambiguity of the smile, have been yearned for and dreamed of by many a generation;Without the awareness of humanity, there is no chance for the emergence of Moses, David,Sistine frescoes and School of Athens;Without the awareness of humanity, Copernicus could never have set up the heliocentric theory; Galileo could have not proved the invalidity of Ptolemaic system; Kepler’s Laws would have been buried in the ruins of history; Newton’s universal gravitation would have been criticized as heresy.Ladies and gentlemen, the emphasis on humanity is the bulwark of human progress, it is the watershed of ignorance and intelligence and the engine to drag the train of history out from the valley of obscurity to the road of brightness and enlightenment.Let humanity be, and all is light!Thanks for your attention.A Word that Has Changed the WorldThinking—a Word that Separates Wisdom from StupidityDistinguished judges, ladies and gentlemen,Good morning!The other day I came across a handsome guy by the lake in our campus. His voice, shouted at the top of his lungs, might have spurred the sleeping fish deep at the bottom out of the surface of water and inspired the leaves of trees nearby to wave at the gale of hurricanes from the Carribean Sea. He was so devoted and so breathless that I was pulled by my curiosity to approach and ask him. “I really admire at your spirit of learning, what are you engaging in then?”“I am speaking English,”he responded. “What’s it about?”“I don’t know and I don’t care, but I have done what I can,”was his reply. I was stunned to hear that.Dear friends, what amazement he might have brought us!English, quite similar to other sciences, is a complex and ever-changing world, if one were to attain realknowledge about it, he might have been successful only if he approached English by applying the way of observation, questioning, experiment and calculation. Descartes says, “I doubt, therefore I think; I think, therefore I am.”Learning without thinking leads one to nowhere and thinking without learning leaves one puzzled.Maybe some of us might rebuke me by saying that practice makes perfect and the courage and diligence of the guy should be given an incentive. To be frank, I don’t want to satirize him for he might be taken as an example of enthusiasm and positiveness. What I am trying to say here at the moment is that a wise man puts his mouth deep in his heart yet a fool one wears his heart at his mouth. Speaking without thinking is more like physical exercises than mental perfection.Rodin is famous for his wisdom because The Thinker he sculpts shows to advantage the durable power of thoughts; Michelangelo is towering in the field of arts because art is to him the means by which he expresses his vision of man, man’s beauty, his own anguish and energy, a means by which he makes inquiry into thereality.Thinking is the word that has made the world from primitive ignorance into modern civilization and it is the most effective tool to separate wisdom from stupidity.Thanks a lot.A Word that Has Changed the World Globalization—a Tool to Diminish Cultures Distinguished friends, ladies and gentlemen,Good morning!If you have any interest in listing out the most heated words in the new decade, globalization might be on the top. But if you take a look at the screen of TV, you may easily detect that nearly all programs, even popular ones, are no exception than grapes from the same vineyard; if you, with high expectation and ernest desire, spend time and money to visit a new city, you might nine in ten times be depressed in finding that compared with other cities you have been to there are no slightest scraps of uniqueness and attraction concerning the scenery, the food, the stores or even the dressing styles of the local people.We have heard too much of the benefits of globalization. But if it is in the price of extinction of cultures, where does its advantage lie?We are forced to assimilate to other countries.In the name of counterterrorism, we have to standby and witness the sabotage of former friendly regimes although we know we have been away from the principles of peaceful coexistence;For the purpose of abiding by accepted international practices, we are in great reluctance to buy national loans issued by other countries and let those in need sweltering in the heat of utter poverty;In order to be regarded as responsible, we unwillingly close down those mills and factories that are incompatible with the international standard and make our beloved brothers and sisters be layoffs although the fortune they possess is inadequate even for their present needs;With the intention of making our kids global citizens, we parents impel them into various classes with the hope that they will be more superior to Mozart, Da Vinci, Tchaikovsky and Chomsky and will surely be popular when they are grown up.Ladies and gentlemen, globalization has made our lives more convenient, but if it is in violation of diversity, if it is in destruction of richness of cultures, I am not ready to embrace it.Thanks for your attention.A Word that Has Changed the World Equality—A Human Dream to be Realized Distinguished judges, ladies and gentlemen,Good morning!It is reported that several weeks ago an outstanding professor from a famous university announced in class that those students who didn’t buy i-pads had no chance of passing the course he conducted.I firmly believe that very professor wants to raise the interest of his students and keeps them in pace with the modern world. Maybe it’s better for him to use his i-pad to send an e-mail directly to President Obama and ask his majesty to be generous and kind-hearted in granting every Chinese an i-pad of the latest version in compensation for the loss of fortune we have suffered from American financial crisis.But my dear friends, that very professor is ignorant of one simple word—equality, equality of education, equality of freedom in choosing the way of studying endowed to every student.I just want to remind that very professor some facts:There is in equality as in innocence and virtue a satisfaction one can only feel in their enjoyment and a pleasure which can cease only when lost. Patrick Henry knows it, he says “Give me liberty, or give me death!”Gibran knows it, he writes”Life without equality is like a body without spirit.”We Chinese were humiliated by the notice “No dogs, nor Chinese, are allowed to enter!” on our own territory in the colonial era.We were deterred by attacks of nuclear warheads only because we’d supported our neighbor country for our own survival.We were forced to buy national loans of other nations, or financial i-pads, more exactly, because we might never share equality with them if we didn't.Ladies and gentlemen, equality, just like medicine, the test of its value is not in its taste, but in its effect. Every student, no matter what family background he has, has the unalienable right of pursuing knowledge in the preferable way; no one, no matter how renowned he might be, has the power to deprive the students of that privilege. Never!Thank you!A Word that Has Changed the WorldTry—A Word Entitled to WinnersDistinguished friends, ladies and gentlemen,Good morning!Losers are fond of finding excuses and the word that hangs on their lips most often is “if”. That word is the most effective means for them to complain about everything, like bad luck, awful environment, miserable family background, evil opponents, impotent partners or whatsoever. The most frequently uttered sentences by them are “If I had not done that, if I had not married that woman, if I had chosen another position, if I had been a little bit diligent…”Winners are not born successful, the word that they are interested in saying is “try”, which is quite contrary to “if”. The sentences that usually flash across their minds are “Next time I’ll try to do that the other way round, next time I’ll try not to miss the person I really cherish, I’ll try to be more outstanding on that positon, I’ll try to work harder and harder still…”Ladies and gentlemen, a man’s success is largely determined by one’s attitude rather than by one’s affluency or poverty. If one’s soul is immersed in the water of regrets and sorrows, his mind will surely be occupied with misery and tragedy. They will, like cumulative poison, wear away his will ceaselessly, consume his happiness unconsciously and decrease the opportunity of his success by and large. They are to some extent no different from tiny ant cells on the solid bank of life and will eventually be overwhelmed by huge waves when all is late.Forget about “if” and keep the word “try” in mind, this is the only way to muster one’s courage and confidence. The word “try” is essentially the sunlight, air and water in one’s life. Learn to be optimistic about the future and always remind of the importance of “next time”and remember to strive for personal dreams wholeheartedly and don't ever chain oneself with “if’. This is the secret of winners and this is good medicine to cure regrets and sorrows.Cherish every opportunity and the reward will be abundant.Thanks for your attention!。
