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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 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". 麥帥為子祈禱文自從為人父母，才充分了解麥克阿瑟將軍「為子祈禱文」中對子女的殷殷期勉，也就是中文的「望子成龍、望女成鳳」，每次碰到小孩的懶惰、不聽話、不努力，實在是恨鐵不成鋼啊…但是，回頭想想，我自己小時候是否也一樣呢？ 本文網路上的翻譯有數種版本，這是我覺得最好的一個。原文中是否有"one who will learn to laugh, yet never forget how to weep;"這句，有的有，有的沒有，不知道哪裡有原版可以考證，這個翻譯是沒有這句的。
為子祈禱文 — 麥克阿瑟將軍 主啊！請陶冶我兒子，使他成為一個堅強的人，能夠知道自己什麼時候是軟弱的；使他成為一個勇敢的人，能夠在畏懼的時候認清自己，謀求補救；使他在誠實的失敗之中，能夠自豪而不屈，在獲得成功之際，能夠謙遜而溫和。
請陶冶我的兒子，使他不要以願望代替實際作為；使他能夠認識主—並且曉得自知乃是知識的基石。
我祈求你，不要引導他走上安逸舒適的道路，而要讓他遭受困難與挑戰的磨鍊和策勵。讓他藉此學習在風暴之中挺立起來，讓他藉此學習對失敗的人加以同情。
請陶冶我的兒子，使他的心地純潔，目標高超；在企圖駕馭他人之前， 先能駕馭自己；對未來善加籌畫，但是永不忘記過去。
在他把以上諸點都已做到之後，還要賜給他充分的幽默感，使他可以永遠保持嚴肅的態度，但絕不自視非凡，過於拘執。請賜給他謙遜，使他可以永遠記住真實偉大的樸實無華，真實智慧的虛懷若谷，和真實力量的溫和蘊藉。
然後，作為他的父親的我，才敢低聲說道：「我已不虛此生！」 |
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