经典英语美文:冷漠的危险经典英语美文:冷漠的危险ThePerilofIndefferenceElieWiesel-April12,1999HolocaustsurvivorandNobelLaureate,ElieWiesel,gavethisimpassionedspeechintheEastRoomoftheWhiteHouseonApril12,1999,aspartoftheongoingMillenniumLectureseries,hostedbyPresidentBillClintonandFirstLadyHillaryRodhamClinton.ElieWiesel:Mr.President,Mrs.Clinton,membersofCongress,AmbassadorHolbrooke,Excellencies,friends:Fifty-fouryearsagototheday,ayoungJewishboyfromasmalltownintheCarpathianMountainswokeup,notfarfromGoethe"sbelovedWeimar,inaplaceofeternalinfamycalledBuchenwald.Hewasfinallyfree,buttherewasnojoyinhisheart.Hethoughtthereneverwouldbeagain.LiberatedadayearlierbyAmericansoldiers,herememberstheirrageatwhattheysaw.Andevenifhelivestobeaveryoldman,hewillalwaysbegratefultothemforthatrage,andalsofortheircompassion.Thoughhedidnotunderstandtheirlanguage,theireyestoldhimwhatheneededtoknow--thatthey,too,wouldremember,andbearwitness.Andnow,Istandbeforeyou,Mr.President--Commander-in-Chiefofthearmythatfreedme,andtensofthousandsofothers--andIamfilledwithaprofoundandabidinggratitudetotheAmericanpeople.GratitudeisawordthatIcherish.Gratitudeiswhatdefinesthehumanityofthehumanbeing.AndIamgratefultoyou,Hillary--orMrs.Clinton--forwhatyousaid,andforwhatyouaredoingforchildrenintheworld,forthehomeless,forthevictimsofinjustice,thevictimsofdestinyandsociety.AndIthankallofyouforbeinghere.Weareonthethresholdofanewcentury,anewmillennium.Whatwillthelegacyofthisvanishingcenturybe?Howwillitberememberedinthenewmillennium?Surelyitwillbejudged,andjudgedseverely,inbothmoralandmetaphysicalterms.Thesefailureshavecastadarkshadowoverhumanity:twoWorldWars,countlesscivilwars,thesenselesschainofassassinations--Gandhi,theKennedys,MartinLutherKing,Sadat,Rabin--bloodbathsinCambodiaandNigeria,IndiaandPakistan,IrelandandRwanda,EritreaandEthiopia,SarajevoandKosovo;theinhumanityinthegulagandthetragedyofHiroshima.And,onadifferentlevel,ofcourse,AuschwitzandTreblinka.Somuchviolence,somuchindifference.Whatisindifference?Etymologically,thewordmea