Our Family Creed [洛氏家训]

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小洛克斐勒 (John D. Rockefeller, Jr., 1874-1960) 于1941年7月8日透过电台广播，发表了一篇小巧精致的演说，将他家族世代相传的庭训公诸于世。这篇措辞简洁而又意涵周延的家训刻在纽约曼哈顿「洛克斐勒中心」溜冰场入口处的花岗岩上，十分美观，吸引了无数游客好奇敬佩的眼光。

Our Family Creed

They are the principles on which my wife and I have tried to bring up our family. They are the principles in which my father believed and by which he governed his life. They are the principles, many of them, which I learned at my mother’s knee.

They point the way to usefulness and happiness in life, to courage and peace in death.

If they mean to you what they mean to me, they may perhaps be helpful also to our sons for their guidance and inspiration

Let me state them:

I believe in the supreme worth of the individual and in his right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

I believe that every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty.

I believe that the law was made for man and not man for the law; that government is the servant of the people and not their master.

I believe in the dignity of labor, whether with head or hand; that the world owes no man a living but that it owes every man an opportunity to make a living.

I believe that thrift is essential to well-ordered living and that economy is a prime requisite of a sound financial structure, whether in government, business, or personal affairs.

I believe that truth and justice are fundamental to an enduring social order.

I believe in the sacredness of a promise, that a man’s word should be as good as his bond, that character—not wealth or power or position—is of supreme worth.

I believe that the rendering of useful service is the common duty of mankind and that only in the purifying fire of sacrifice is the dross of selfishness consumed and the greatness of the human soul set free.

I believe in an all-wise and all-loving God, named by whatever name, and that the individual’s highest fulfillment, greatest happiness, and widest usefulness are to be found in living in harmony with his will.

I believe that love is the greatest thing in the world; that it alone can overcome hate; that right can and will triumph over might.

These are the principles, however formulated, for which all good men and women throughout the world, irrespective of race or creed, education, social position, or occupation, are standing, and for which many of them are suffering and dying.

These are the principles upon which alone a new world recognizing the brotherhood of man and the fatherhood of God can be established.

这些信条是我太太和我努力用以持家育子的原则。它们是我父亲坚决相信并藉以安身立命的原则。它们当中很多是我在母亲膝前学到的原则。
这些信条指示我们一条活得快乐有用、死得勇敢安详的道路。
如果它们对你的意义正如对我一样，它们或许也将有助于使我们的子女获得引导和启发。
　让我加以陈述如下：
相信个人至高无上的价值及其生存、自由与追求幸福的权利。
我相信每一项权利都伴随着一种职责；每一个机会都伴随着一种义务；每一种拥有都伴随着一种责任。
相信法律系为人而制订，人并非为法律而存在；政府是人民的仆人，而非人民的主人。
我相信劳动的尊严，不论是脑力或体力的劳动；世界不欠任何人生计，但它欠每人一个谋生的机会。
我相信俭朴是井然有序的生活所必需；节约是健全的财务结构之主要条件，不论是政府、企业或个人之事务皆是如此。
我相信真理与正义是社会秩序长久维系的基础。
我相信诺言的神圣，一句承诺应该如同契约一般有效；品格一而非财富或权势或地位－具有至为崇高的价值。
我相信提供有用的服务是人类共同的责任，唯有在牺牲奉献的炼火中，自私自利的渣滓始能烧毁，而人类灵魂的伟大也才能发挥出来。
我相信全能博爱的上帝，不论其名称为何；而个人最高的成就，最大的幸福以及最广的用途都将在符合上帝意旨的生活中始能找到。
我相信爱是世界上最伟大的东西；只有爱能够克服仇恨；公理能够而且必将战胜强权。
不管如何陈述，这些就是全世界所有善良的男女，不分种族、信仰、教育、地位或职业，所共同支持的原则，为了这些原则，他们当中许多人正在熬受苦难或死亡。
唯有在这些信条的基础上，一个肯定人类手足情和上帝慈父爱的新世界始能建立起来。