It was a dark and ¹⁾stormy night. The officer on the bridge came to the captain and said, “Captain, Captain, there is a light in our sea ²⁾lane and they won’t move.”

     “What do you mean they won’t move? Tell them to move. Tell them ³⁾starboard right now.”

     The ⁴⁾signal was sent out, “Starboard, starboard.” The signal comes back, “Starboard yourself.”

     “I can’t believe this. What’s going on here? Let them know who I am.” The signal sent out, “This is the ⁵⁾mighty Missouri, starboard.” The signal comes back, “This is the lighthouse.”

     My friends, correct principles are lighthouses, they do not move. They are natural laws. We cannot break them. We can only break ourselves against them. We might as well learn them, ⁶⁾accommodate them, ⁷⁾utilize them and be ⁸⁾grateful for them. Then it enlarges us and ⁹⁾emancipates us and ¹⁰⁾empowers us.

      T.S. Eliot once said something I think is appropriate as we come to the conclusion of our visit together. He said, “We shall never cease from ¹¹⁾striving, and the end of all of our striving will be to arrive where we began and to know the place for the first time.”CE

18、正确的原则犹如灯塔

那是个漆黑的、狂风暴雨的夜晚，大副从驾驶室出来走向船长说：“船长，船长，我们的海道上有灯光，而且他们不愿移开。”

“他们不愿移开是什么意思？叫他们移开。告诉他们立即右偏。”

信号发了出去∶“右偏，右偏。”发回来的信号说：“你自己右偏。”

“我就不信。这是怎么了？让他们知道我是谁。”信号发出去：“这里是密苏里巨轮，请右偏。”信号发了回来：“这里是灯塔。”

朋友们，正确的原则犹如灯塔，他们不会移动。它们是自然法则。我们打破不了。我们要么让自己与它们相悖，要么去学习它们、调整它们、利用它们，并感激它们。然后我们自己得以发展，得以解放，得到使用这些原则的能力。

T·S·爱略特曾说过一句话，我认为很适合用来做此行的结束语。他说∶“我们将永不放弃奋斗，经过全力以赴的奋斗后，我们将到达出发之地，并重新认识这个地方。” CE