如果不深究其背景，麦克阿瑟在西点的讲话一直是我非常喜欢的（尽管我并不完全喜欢和同意后半部分），或许今天DUTY\HONOR\COUNTRY这些字眼变得或沉重或轻飘，甚至在有些人眼里变得可笑，但是，在这个既有苦难也有荣誉的2008即将结束的时刻，我还是愿意把我最喜欢的这些文字，或者说是这种精神copy在这里，作为送给自己新年的礼物：

As I was leaving the hotel this morning, a doorman asked me, "Where are you bound for, General?" And when I replied, "West Point," he remarked, "Beautiful place. Have you ever been there before?"

No human being could fail to be deeply moved by such a tribute as this [Thayer Award]. Coming from a profession I have served so long, and a people I have loved so well, it fills me with an emotion I cannot express. But this award is not intended primarily to honor a personality, but to symbolize a great moral code -- the code of conduct and chivalry of those who guard this beloved land of culture and ancient descent. That is the animation of this medallion. For all eyes and for all time, it is an expression of the ethics of the American soldier. That I should be integrated in this way with so noble an ideal arouses a sense of pride and yet of humility which will be with me always: Duty, Honor, Country.

Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. They are your rallying points: to build courage when courage seems to fail; to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith; to create hope when hope becomes forlorn.

Unhappily, I possess neither that eloquence of diction, that poetry of imagination, nor that brilliance of metaphor to tell you all that they mean. The unbelievers will say they are but words, but a slogan, but a flamboyant phrase. Every pedant, every demagogue, every cynic, every hypocrite, every troublemaker, and I am sorry to say, some others of an entirely different character, will try to downgrade them even to the extent of mockery and ridicule.

But these are some of the things they do. They build your basic character. They mold you for your future roles as the custodians of the nation's defense. They make you strong enough to know when you are weak, and brave enough to face yourself when you are afraid. They teach you to be proud and unbending in honest failure, but humble and gentle in success; not to substitute words for actions, not to seek the path of comfort, but to face the stress and spur of difficulty and challenge; to learn to stand up in the storm but to have compassion on those who fall; to master yourself before you seek to master others; to have a heart that is clean, a goal that is high; to learn to laugh, yet never forget how to weep; to reach into the future yet never neglect the past; to be serious yet never to take yourself too seriously; to be modest so that you will remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, the meekness of true strength. They give you a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions, a freshness of the deep springs of life, a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, of an appetite for adventure over love of ease. They create in your heart the sense of wonder, the unfailing hope of what next, and the joy and inspiration of life. They teach you in this way to be an officer and a gentleman.

And what sort of soldiers are those you are to lead? Are they reliable? Are they brave? Are they capable of victory? Their story is known to all of you. It is the story of the American man-at-arms. My estimate of him was formed on the battlefield many, many years ago, and has never changed. I regarded him then as I regard him now -- as one of the world's noblest figures, not only as one of the finest military characters, but also as one of the most stainless. His name and fame are the birthright of every American citizen. In his youth and strength, his love and loyalty, he gave all that mortality can give.

He needs no eulogy from me or from any other man. He has written his own history and written it in red on his enemy's breast. But when I think of his patience under adversity, of his courage under fire, and of his modesty in victory, I am filled with an emotion of admiration I cannot put into words. He belongs to history as furnishing one of the greatest examples of successful patriotism. He belongs to posterity as the instructor of future generations in the principles of liberty and freedom. He belongs to the present, to us, by his virtues and by his achievements. In 20 campaigns, on a hundred battlefields, around a thousand campfires, I have witnessed that enduring fortitude, that patriotic self-abnegation, and that invincible determination which have carved his statue in the hearts of his people. From one end of the world to the other he has drained deep the chalice of courage.

As I listened to those songs [of the glee club], in memory's eye I could see those staggering columns of the First World War, bending under soggy packs, on many a weary march from dripping dusk to drizzling dawn, slogging ankle-deep through the mire of shell-shocked roads, to form grimly for the attack, blue-lipped, covered with sludge and mud, chilled by the wind and rain, driving home to their objective, and for many, to the judgment seat of God.

I do not know the dignity of their birth, but I do know the glory of their death.

They died unquestioning, uncomplaining, with faith in their hearts, and on their lips the hope that we would go on to victory.

Always, for them: Duty, Honor, Country; always their blood and sweat and tears, as we sought the way and the light and the truth.

And 20 years after, on the other side of the globe, again the filth of murky foxholes, the stench of ghostly trenches, the slime of dripping dugouts; those boiling suns of relentless heat, those torrential rains of devastating storms; the loneliness and utter desolation of jungle trails; the bitterness of long separation from those they loved and cherished; the deadly pestilence of tropical disease; the horror of stricken areas of war; their resolute and determined defense, their swift and sure attack, their indomitable purpose, their complete and decisive victory -- always victory. Always through the bloody haze of their last reverberating shot, the vision of gaunt, ghastly men reverently following your password of: Duty, Honor, Country.

The code which those words perpetuate embraces the highest moral laws and will stand the test of any ethics or philosophies ever promulgated for the uplift of mankind. Its requirements are for the things that are right, and its restraints are from the things that are wrong.

The soldier, above all other men, is required to practice the greatest act of religious training -- sacrifice.

In battle and in the face of danger and death, he discloses those divine attributes which his Maker gave when he created man in his own image. No physical courage and no brute instinct can take the place of the Divine help which alone can sustain him.

However horrible the incidents of war may be, the soldier who is called upon to offer and to give his life for his country is the noblest development of mankind.

You now face a new world -- a world of change. The thrust into outer space of the satellite, spheres, and missiles mark the beginning of another epoch in the long story of mankind. In the five or more billions of years the scientists tell us it has taken to form the earth, in the three or more billion years of development of the human race, there has never been a more abrupt or staggering evolution. We deal now not with things of this world alone, but with the illimitable distances and as yet unfathomed mysteries of the universe. We are reaching out for a new and boundless frontier.

We speak in strange terms: of harnessing the cosmic energy; of making winds and tides work for us; of creating unheard synthetic materials to supplement or even replace our old standard basics; to purify sea water for our drink; of mining ocean floors for new fields of wealth and food; of disease preventatives to expand life into the hundreds of years; of controlling the weather for a more equitable distribution of heat and cold, of rain and shine; of space ships to the moon; of the primary target in war, no longer limited to the armed forces of an enemy, but instead to include his civil populations; of ultimate conflict between a united human race and the sinister forces of some other planetary galaxy; of such dreams and fantasies as to make life the most exciting of all time.

And through all this welter of change and development, your mission remains fixed, determined, inviolable: it is to win our wars.

Everything else in your professional career is but corollary to this vital dedication. All other public purposes, all other public projects, all other public needs, great or small, will find others for their accomplishment. But you are the ones who are trained to fight. Yours is the profession of arms, the will to win, the sure knowledge that in war there is no substitute for victory; that if you lose, the nation will be destroyed; that the very obsession of your public service must be: Duty, Honor, Country.

Others will debate the controversial issues, national and international, which divide men's minds; but serene, calm, aloof, you stand as the Nation's war-guardian, as its lifeguard from the raging tides of international conflict, as its gladiator in the arena of battle. For a century and a half you have defended, guarded, and protected its hallowed traditions of liberty and freedom, of right and justice.

Let civilian voices argue the merits or demerits of our processes of government; whether our strength is being sapped by deficit financing, indulged in too long, by federal paternalism grown too mighty, by power groups grown too arrogant, by politics grown too corrupt, by crime grown too rampant, by morals grown too low, by taxes grown too high, by extremists grown too violent; whether our personal liberties are as thorough and complete as they should be. These great national problems are not for your professional participation or military solution. Your guidepost stands out like a ten-fold beacon in the night: Duty, Honor, Country.

You are the leaven which binds together the entire fabric of our national system of defense. From your ranks come the great captains who hold the nation's destiny in their hands the moment the war tocsin sounds. The Long Gray Line has never failed us. Were you to do so, a million ghosts in olive drab, in brown khaki, in blue and gray, would rise from their white crosses thundering those magic words: Duty, Honor, Country.

This does not mean that you are war mongers.

On the contrary, the soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.

But always in our ears ring the ominous words of Plato, that wisest of all philosophers: "Only the dead have seen the end of war."

The shadows are lengthening for me. The twilight is here. My days of old have vanished, tone and tint. They have gone glimmering through the dreams of things that were. Their memory is one of wondrous beauty, watered by tears, and coaxed and caressed by the smiles of yesterday. I listen vainly, but with thirsty ears, for the witching melody of faint bugles blowing reveille, of far drums beating the long roll. In my dreams I hear again the crash of guns, the rattle of musketry, the strange, mournful mutter of the battlefield.

But in the evening of my memory, always I come back to West Point.

Always there echoes and re-echoes: Duty, Honor, Country.

Today marks my final roll call with you, but I want you to know that when I cross the river my last conscious thoughts will be of The Corps, and The Corps, and The Corps.

I bid you farewell.

中文版：今天早晨，当我走出旅馆时，看门人问道：“将军，您上哪去？”一听说我要去西
点，他说：“您从前去过吗？那可是个好地方！”
这样的荣誉是没有人不深受感动的。
长期以来，我从事这个职业，又如此热爱这个民族，能获得这样的荣誉简直使我无
法表达我的感情。
然而，这种奖赏主要并不意味着对个人的尊崇，而是象征一个伟大的道德准则：捍
卫这块可爱土地上的文化与古老传统的那些人的行为与品质的准则。
这就是这个大奖章的意义。
无论现在还是将来，它都是美国军人道德标准的一种体现。
我一定要遵循这个标准，结合崇高的理想，唤起自豪感，同时始终保持谦虚……
责任"荣誉"国家。

这三个神圣的名词庄严地提醒你应该成为怎样的人，可能成为怎样的人，一定要成
为怎样的人。
它们将使你精神振奋，在你似乎丧失勇气时鼓起勇气，似乎没有理由相信时重建信
念，几乎绝望时产生希望。
遗憾得很，我既没有雄辩的词令、诗意的想象，也没有华丽的隐喻向你们说明它们
的意义。
怀疑者一定要说它们只不过是几个名词，一句口号，一个浮夸的短词。
每一个迂腐的学究，每一个蛊惑人心的政客，每一个玩世不恭的人，每一个伪君
子，每一个惹是生非之徒，很遗憾，还有其他个性不甚正常的人，一定企图贬低它
们，甚至对它们进行愚弄和嘲笑。
但这些名词确能做到：塑造你的基本特性，使你将来成为国防卫士；使你坚强起
来，认清自己的懦弱，并勇敢地面对自己的胆怯。
它们教导你在失败时要自尊，要不屈不挠；
胜利时要谦和，不要以言语代替行动，不要贪图舒适；
要面对重压和困难，勇敢地接受挑战；
要学会巍然屹立于风浪之中，但对遇难者要寄予同情；
要先律己而后律人；
要有纯洁的心灵和崇高的目标；
要学会笑，但不要忘记怎么哭；
要向往未来，但不可忽略过去；
要为人持重，但不要太把自己当回事儿；
要谦虚，铭记真正伟大的纯朴，真正智慧的虚心，真正强大的温顺。
它们赋予你意志的韧性，想象的质量，感情的活力，从生命的深处焕发精神，以勇
敢的姿态克服胆怯，甘于冒险而不贪图安逸。
它们在你们心中创造奇妙的意想不到的希望，以及生命的灵感与欢乐。
它们就是以这种方式教导你们成为军人和君子。
你所率领的是哪一类士兵？他可靠吗？勇敢吗？他有能力赢得胜利吗？
他的故事你全都熟悉，那是一个美国士兵的故事。
我对他的估价是多年前在战场上形成的，至今没有改变。
那时，我把他看作是世界上最高尚的人；现在，我仍然这样看他。他不仅是一个军
事品德最优秀的人，而且也是一个最纯洁的人。
他的名字与威望是每一个美国公民的骄傲。
在青壮年时期，他献出了一切人类所赋予的爱情与忠贞。他不需要我及其他人的颂
扬，因为他已用自己的鲜血在敌人的胸前谱写了自传。
可是，当我想到他在灾难中的坚忍，在战火里的勇气，在胜利时的谦虚，我满怀的
赞美之情不禁油然而升。
他在历史上已成为一位成功爱国者的伟大典范；他在未来将成为子孙认识解放与自
由的教导者；现在，他把美德与成就献给我们。
在数十次战役中，在上百个战场上，在成千堆营火旁，我亲眼目睹他坚韧不拔的不
朽精神，热爱祖国的自我克制以及不可战胜的坚定决心，这些已经把他的形象铭刻
在他的人民心中。
从世界的这一端到另一端，他已经深深地为那勇敢的美酒所陶醉。
当我听到合唱队唱的这些歌曲，我记忆的目光看到第一次世界大战中步履蹒跚的小
队，从湿淋淋的黄昏到细雨蒙蒙的黎明，在透湿的背包的重负下疲惫不堪地行军，
沉重的脚踝深深地踏在炮弹轰震过的泥泞路上，与敌人进行你死我活的战斗。
他们嘴唇发青，浑身污泥，在风雨中战抖着，从家里被赶到敌人面前，许多人还被
赶到上帝的审判席上。
我不了解他们生得是否高贵，可我知道他们死得光荣。
他们从不犹豫，毫无怨恨，满怀信心，嘴边叨念着继续战斗，直到看到胜利的希望
才合上双眼。
这一切都是为了它们：责任"荣誉"国家。
当我们瞒珊在寻找光明与真理的道路上时，他们一直在流血、挥汗、洒泪。
20年以后，在世界的另一边，他们又面对着黑黝黝肮脏的散兵坑、阴森森恶臭的战
壕、湿淋淋污浊的坑道，还有那酷热的火辣辣的阳光、疾风狂暴的倾盆大雨、荒无
人烟的丛林小道。
他们忍受着与亲人长期分离的痛苦煎熬、热带疾病的猖獗蔓延。
他们坚定果敢的防御，他们迅速准确的攻击，他们不屈不挠的前进，他们全面彻底
的胜利——永恒的胜利——永远伴随着他们最后在血泊中的战斗。
在战斗中，那些苍白憔悴的人们的目光始终庄严地跟随着责任"荣誉"国家的口号。
这几个名词包合着最高的道德准则，并将经受任何为提高人类道德水准而传播的伦
理或哲学的检验。
它所提倡的是正确的事物，它所制止的是谬误的东西。
高于众人之上的战士要履行宗教修炼的最伟大行为——牺牲。
在战斗中，面对着危险与死亡，他显示出造物主按照自己意愿创造人类时所赋予的
品质。只有神明能帮助他、支持他，这是任何肉体的勇敢与动物的本能都代替不了
的。无论战争如何恐怖，召之即来的战士准备为国捐躯是人类最崇高的进化。
我的生命已近黄昏，暮色已经降临，我昔日的风采和荣誉已经消失。
它们随着对昔日事业的憧憬，带着那余晖消失了。
昔日的记忆奇妙而美好，浸透了眼泪和昨日微笑的安慰和抚爱。
我尽力但徒然地倾听，渴望听到吹奏起床号那微弱而迷人的旋律，以及远处战鼓急
促敲击的动人节奏。
我在梦幻中依稀又听到了大炮在轰鸣，又听到了滑膛枪在鸣放，又听到了战场上那
陌生、哀愁的呻吟。
然而，晚年的回忆经常将我带回到西点军校。
我的耳旁回响着，反复回响着：责任"荣誉"国家。
今天是我对你们进行最后一次的点名。
但我愿你们知道，当我到达彼岸时，我最后想的是：
学员队，学员队，还是学员队。

我向大家告别。