麦帅为子祈祷文
 

麦克阿瑟将军

 

主啊!

请陶冶我儿子,使他成为一个坚强的人,

能够知道自己什么时候是软弱的;

使他成为一个勇敢的人,

能够在畏惧的时候认清自己,谋求补救;使他在诚实的败之中,

能够自豪而不屈,在获得成功之际,能够谦逊而温和。

请陶冶我的儿子,使他不要以愿望代替实际作为;使他能够认识主—

并且晓得自知乃是知识的基石。

我祈求你,不要引导他走上安逸舒适的道路,而要让他遭受困难与挑

战的磨炼和策励。让他藉此学习在风暴之中挺立起来,让他藉此学习

对失败的人加以同情。

请陶冶我的儿子,使他的心地纯洁,目标高超;在企图驾驭他人之前,

先能驾驭自己;对未来善加筹划,但是永不忘记过去。

在他把以上诸点都已做到之后,还要赐给他充分的幽默感,

使他可以永远保持严肃的态度,但绝不自视非凡,过于拘执。

请赐给他谦逊,使他可以永远记住真实伟大的朴实无华,真实智慧的

虚怀若谷,和真实力量的温和蕴藉。

然后,作为他的父亲的我,才敢低声说道:「我已不虚此生!」
 

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A Father's Prayer
by General Douglas MacArthur
 

Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when

he is weak, and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid;

one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and

humble and gentle in victory.
 

Build me a son whose wishbone will not be where his backbone

should be; a son who will know Thee and that to know himself is

the foundation stone of knowledge.
 

Lead him, I pray, not in the path of ease and comfort, but under the

stress and spur of difficulties and challenge. Here let him learn to

stand up in the storm; here let him learn compassion for those who

fail.
 

Build me a son whose heart will be clean, whose goal will be high;

a son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men;

one who will learn to laugh, yet never forget how to weep; one who

will reach into the future, yet never forget the past.
 

And after all these things are his, add, I pray, enough of a sense of

humor, so that he may always be serious, yet never take himself

too seriously. Give him humility, so that he may always remember

the simplicity of greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, the

meekness of true strength.
 

Then I, his father, will dare to whisper, "I have not lived in vain".