馬丁路德金英語(yǔ)演講稿:我已達(dá)到頂峰(中英文)

這是馬丁.路德.金博士的最后一次演講，次日他被暗殺。在他發(fā)表這篇著名的演講的時(shí)候，他預(yù)感到了自己的命運(yùn)，因?yàn)樵谒麃?lái)孟菲斯之前已經(jīng)收到了各種各樣的死亡恐嚇。但是他用行動(dòng)作出了回答。他說(shuō)不要問(wèn)我?guī)土藙e人自己會(huì)有什么后果，而要問(wèn)“如果我不幫助別人，別人會(huì)有什么后果”。

演講時(shí)間：3 April 1968

Thank you very kindly, my friends. As I listened to Ralph Abernathy and his eloquent and generous introduction and then thought about myself, I wondered who he was talking about. It's always good to have your closest friend and associate to say something good about you. And Ralph Abernathy is the best friend that I have in the world. I'm delighted to see each of you here tonight in spite of a storm warning. You reveal that you are determined to go on anyhow.

Something is happening in Memphis; something is happening in our world. And you know, if I were standing at the beginning of time, with the possibility of taking a kind of general and panoramic view of the whole of human history up to now, and the Almighty said to me, "Martin Luther King, which age would you like to live in?" I would take my mental flight by Egypt and I would watch God's children in their magnificent trek from the dark dungeons of Egypt through, or rather across the Red Sea, through the wilderness on toward the promised land. And in spite of its magnificence, I wouldn't stop there.

I would move on by Greece and take my mind to Mount Olympus. And I would see Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, Euripides and Aristophanes assembled around the Parthenon. And I would watch them around the Parthenon as they discussed the great and eternal issues of reality. But I wouldn't stop there.

I would go on, even to the great heyday of the Roman Empire. And I would see developments around there, through various emperors and leaders. But I wouldn't stop there.

I would even come up to the day of the Renaissance, and get a quick picture of all that the Renaissance did for the cultural and aesthetic life of man. But I wouldn't stop there.

I would even go by the way that the man for whom I am named had his habitat. And I would watch Martin Luther as he tacked his ninety-five theses on the door at the church of Wittenberg. But I wouldn't stop there.

I would come on up even to 1863, and watch a vacillating President by the name of Abraham Lincoln finally come to the conclusion that he had to sign the Emancipation Proclamation. But I wouldn't stop there.

I would even come up to the early thirties, and see a man grappling with the problems of the bankruptcy of his nation. And come with an eloquent cry that we have nothing to fear but "fear itself." But I wouldn't stop there.

Strangely enough, I would turn to the Almighty, and say, "If you allow me to live just a few years in the second half of the 20th century, I will be happy."

Now that's a strange statement to make, because the world is all messed up. The nation is sick. Trouble is in the land; confusion all around. That's a strange statement. But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you see the stars. And I see God working in this period of the twentieth century in a way that men, in some strange way, are responding.

Something is happening in our world. The masses of people are rising up. And wherever they are assembled today, whether they are in Johannesburg, South Africa; Nairobi, Kenya; Accra, Ghana; New York City; Atlanta, Georgia; Jackson, Mississippi; or Memphis, Tennessee -- the cry is always the same: "We want to be free."

And another reason that I'm happy to live in this period is that we have been forced to a point where we are going to have to grapple with the problems that men have been trying to grapple with through history, but the demands didn't force them to do it. Survival demands that we grapple with them. Men, for years now, have been talking about war and peace. But now, no longer can they just talk about it. It is no longer a choice between violence and nonviolence in this world; it's nonviolence or nonexistence. That is where we are today.

And also in the human rights revolution, if something isn't done, and done in a hurry, to bring the colored peoples of the world out of their long years of poverty, their long years of hurt and neglect, the whole world is doomed. Now, I'm just happy that God has allowed me to live in this period to see what is unfolding. And I'm happy that He's allowed me to be in Memphis.

I can remember -- I can remember when Negroes were just going around as Ralph has said, so often, scratching where they didn't itch, and laughing when they were not tickled. But that day is all over. We mean business now, and we are determined to gain our rightful place in God's world.

And that's all this whole thing is about. We aren't engaged in any negative protest and in any negative arguments with anybody. We are saying that we are determined to be men. We are determined to be people. We are saying -- We are saying that we are God's children. And that we are God's children, we don't have to live like we are forced to live.

Now, what does all of this mean in this great period of history? It means that we've got to stay together. We've got to stay together and maintain unity. You know, whenever Pharaoh wanted to prolong the period of slavery in Egypt, he had a favorite, favorite formula for doing it. What was that? He kept the slaves fighting among themselves. But whenever the slaves get together, something happens in Pharaoh's court, and he cannot hold the slaves in slavery. When the slaves get together, that's the beginning of getting out of slavery. Now let us maintain unity.

Secondly, let us keep the issues where they are. The issue is injustice. The issue is the refusal of Memphis to be fair and honest in its dealings with its public servants, who happen to be sanitation workers. Now, we've got to keep attention on that. That's always the problem with a little violence. You know what happened the other day, and the press dealt only with the window-breaking. I read the articles. They very seldom got around to mentioning the fact that one thousand, three hundred sanitation workers are on strike, and that Memphis is not being fair to them, and that Mayor Loeb is in dire need of a doctor. They didn't get around to that.

Now we're going to march again, and we've got to march again, in order to put the issue where it is supposed to be -- and force everybody to see that there are thirteen hundred of God's children here suffering, sometimes going hungry, going through dark and dreary nights wondering how this thing is going to come out. That's the issue. And we've got to say to the nation: We know how it's coming out. For when people get caught up with that which is right and they are willing to sacrifice for it, there is no stopping point short of victory.

We aren't going to let any mace stop us. We are masters in our nonviolent movement in disarming police forces; they don't know what to do. I've seen them so often. I remember in Birmingham, Alabama, when we were in that majestic struggle there, we would move out of the 16th Street Baptist Church day after day; by the hundreds we would move out. And Bull Connor would tell them to send the dogs forth, and they did come; but we just went before the dogs singing, "Ain't gonna let nobody turn me around."

Bull Connor next would say, "Turn the fire hoses on." And as I said to you the other night, Bull Connor didn't know history. He knew a kind of physics that somehow didn't relate to the transphysics that we knew about. And that was the fact that there was a certain kind of fire that no water could put out. And we went before the fire hoses; we had known water. If we were Baptist or some other denominations, we had been immersed. If we were Methodist, and some others, we had been sprinkled, but we knew water. That couldn't stop us.

And we just went on before the dogs and we would look at them; and we'd go on before the water hoses and we would look at it, and we'd just go on singing "Over my head I see freedom in the air." And then we would be thrown in the paddy wagons, and sometimes we were stacked in there like sardines in a can. And they would throw us in, and old Bull would say, "Take 'em off," and they did; and we would just go in the paddy wagon singing, "We Shall Overcome." And every now and then we'd get in jail, and we'd see the jailers looking through the windows being moved by our prayers, and being moved by our words and our songs. And there was a power there which Bull Connor couldn't adjust to; and so we ended up transforming Bull into a steer, and we won our struggle in Birmingham. Now we've got to go on in Memphis just like that. I call upon you to be with us when we go out Monday.

Now about injunctions: We have an injunction and we're going into court tomorrow morning to fight this illegal, unconstitutional injunction. All we say to America is, "Be true to what you said on paper." If I lived in China or even Russia, or any totalitarian country, maybe I could understand some of these illegal injunctions. Maybe I could understand the denial of certain basic First Amendment privileges, because they hadn't committed themselves to that over there. But somewhere I read of the freedom of assembly. Somewhere I read of the freedom of speech. Somewhere I read of the freedom of press. Somewhere I read that the greatness of America is the right to protest for right. And so just as I say, we aren't going to let dogs or water hoses turn us around, we aren't going to let any injunction turn us around. We are going on.

We need all of you. And you know what's beautiful to me is to see all of these ministers of the Gospel. It's a marvelous picture. Who is it that is supposed to articulate the longings and aspirations of the people more than the preacher? Somehow the preacher must have a kind of fire shut up in his bones. And whenever injustice is around he tell it. Somehow the preacher must be an Amos, and saith, "When God speaks who can but prophesy?" Again with Amos, "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream." Somehow the preacher must say with Jesus, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me," and he's anointed me to deal with the problems of the poor."

And I want to commend the preachers, under the leadership of these noble men: James Lawson, one who has been in this struggle for many years; he's been to jail for struggling; he's been kicked out of Vanderbilt University for this struggle, but he's still going on, fighting for the rights of his people. Reverend Ralph Jackson, Billy Kiles; I could just go right on down the list, but time will not permit. But I want to thank all of them. And I want you to thank them, because so often, preachers aren't concerned about anything but themselves. And I'm always happy to see a relevant ministry.

It's all right to talk about "long white robes over yonder," in all of its symbolism. But ultimately people want some suits and dresses and shoes to wear down here! It's all right to talk about "streets flowing with milk and honey," but God has commanded us to be concerned about the slums down here, and his children who can't eat three square meals a day. It's all right to talk about the new Jerusalem, but one day, God's preacher must talk about the new New York, the new Atlanta, the new Philadelphia, the new Los Angeles, the new Memphis, Tennessee. This is what we have to do.

Now the other thing we'll have to do is this: Always anchor our external direct action with the power of economic withdrawal. Now, we are poor people. Individually, we are poor when you compare us with white society in America. We are poor. Never stop and forget that collectively -- that means all of us together -- collectively we are richer than all the nations in the world, with the exception of nine. Did you ever think about that? After you leave the United States, Soviet Russia, Great Britain, West Germany, France, and I could name the others, the American Negro collectively is richer than most nations of the world. We have an annual income of more than thirty billion dollars a year, which is more than all of the exports of the United States, and more than the national budget of Canada. Did you know that? That's power right there, if we know how to pool it.

We don't have to argue with anybody. We don't have to curse and go around acting bad with our words. We don't need any bricks and bottles. We don't need any Molotov cocktails. We just need to go around to these stores, and to these massive industries in our country, and say, "God sent us by here, to say to you that you're not treating his children right. And we've come by here to ask you to make the first item on your agenda fair treatment, where God's children are concerned. Now, if you are not prepared to do that, we do have an agenda that we must follow. And our agenda calls for withdrawing economic support from you."

And so, as a result of this, we are asking you tonight, to go out and tell your neighbors not to buy Coca-Cola in Memphis. Go by and tell them not to buy Sealtest milk. Tell them not to buy -- what is the other bread? -- Wonder Bread. And what is the other bread company, Jesse? Tell them not to buy Hart's bread. As Jesse Jackson has said, up to now, only the garbage men have been feeling pain; now we must kind of redistribute the pain. We are choosing these companies because they haven't been fair in their hiring policies; and we are choosing them because they can begin the process of saying they are going to support the needs and the rights of these men who are on strike. And then they can move on town -- downtown and tell Mayor Loeb to do what is right.

But not only that, we've got to strengthen black institutions. I call upon you to take your money out of the banks downtown and deposit your money in Tri-State Bank. We want a "bank-in" movement in Memphis. Go by the savings and loan association. I'm not asking you something that we don't do ourselves at SCLC. Judge Hooks and others will tell you that we have an account here in the savings and loan association from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. We are telling you to follow what we are doing. Put your money there. You have six or seven black insurance companies here in the city of Memphis. Take out your insurance there. We want to have an "insurance-in."

Now these are some practical things that we can do. We begin the process of building a greater economic base. And at the same time, we are putting pressure where it really hurts. I ask you to follow through here.

Now, let me say as I move to my conclusion that we've got to give ourselves to this struggle until the end. Nothing would be more tragic than to stop at this point in Memphis. We've got to see it through. And when we have our march, you need to be there. If it means leaving work, if it means leaving school -- be there. Be concerned about your brother. You may not be on strike. But either we go up together, or we go down together.

Let us develop a kind of dangerous unselfishness. One day a man came to Jesus, and he wanted to raise some questions about some vital matters of life. At points he wanted to trick Jesus, and show him that he knew a little more than Jesus knew and throw him off base....

Now that question could have easily ended up in a philosophical and theological debate. But Jesus immediately pulled that question from mid-air, and placed it on a dangerous curve between Jerusalem and Jericho. And he talked about a certain man, who fell among thieves. You remember that a Levite and a priest passed by on the other side. They didn't stop to help him. And finally a man of another race came by. He got down from his beast, decided not to be compassionate by proxy. But he got down with him, administered first aid, and helped the man in need. Jesus ended up saying, this was the good man, this was the great man, because he had the capacity to project the "I" into the "thou," and to be concerned about his brother.

Now you know, we use our imagination a great deal to try to determine why the priest and the Levite didn't stop. At times we say they were busy going to a church meeting, an ecclesiastical gathering, and they had to get on down to Jerusalem so they wouldn't be late for their meeting. At other times we would speculate that there was a religious law that "One who was engaged in religious ceremonials was not to touch a human body twenty-four hours before the ceremony." And every now and then we begin to wonder whether maybe they were not going down to Jerusalem -- or down to Jericho, rather to organize a "Jericho Road Improvement Association." That's a possibility. Maybe they felt that it was better to deal with the problem from the causal root, rather than to get bogged down with an individual effect.

But I'm going to tell you what my imagination tells me. It's possible that those men were afraid. You see, the Jericho road is a dangerous road. I remember when Mrs. King and I were first in Jerusalem. We rented a car and drove from Jerusalem down to Jericho. And as soon as we got on that road, I said to my wife, "I can see why Jesus used this as the setting for his parable." It's a winding, meandering road. It's really conducive for ambushing. You start out in Jerusalem, which is about 1200 miles -- or rather 1200 feet above sea level. And by the time you get down to Jericho, fifteen or twenty minutes later, you're about 2200 feet below sea level. That's a dangerous road. In the days of Jesus it came to be known as the "Bloody Pass." And you know, it's possible that the priest and the Levite looked over that man on the ground and wondered if the robbers were still around. Or it's possible that they felt that the man on the ground was merely faking. And he was acting like he had been robbed and hurt, in order to seize them over there, lure them there for quick and easy seizure. And so the first question that the priest asked -- the first question that the Levite asked was, "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?" But then the Good Samaritan came by. And he reversed the question: "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?"

That's the question before you tonight. Not, "If I stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to my job. Not, "If I stop to help the sanitation workers what will happen to all of the hours that I usually spend in my office every day and every week as a pastor?" The question is not, "If I stop to help this man in need, what will happen to me?" The question is, "If I do not stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to them?" That's the question.

Let us rise up tonight with a greater readiness. Let us stand with a greater determination. And let us move on in these powerful days, these days of challenge to make America what it ought to be. We have an opportunity to make America a better nation. And I want to thank God, once more, for allowing me to be here with you.

You know, several years ago, I was in New York City autographing the first book that I had written. And while sitting there autographing books, a demented black woman came up. The only question I heard from her was, "Are you Martin Luther King?" And I was looking down writing, and I said, "Yes." And the next minute I felt something beating on my chest. Before I knew it I had been stabbed by this demented woman. I was rushed to Harlem Hospital. It was a dark Saturday afternoon. And that blade had gone through, and the X-rays revealed that the tip of the blade was on the edge of my aorta, the main artery. And once that's punctured, your drowned in your own blood -- that's the end of you.

It came out in the New York Times the next morning, that if I had merely sneezed, I would have died. Well, about four days later, they allowed me, after the operation, after my chest had been opened, and the blade had been taken out, to move around in the wheel chair in the hospital. They allowed me to read some of the mail that came in, and from all over the states and the world, kind letters came in. I read a few, but one of them I will never forget. I had received one from the President and the Vice-President. I've forgotten what those telegrams said. I'd received a visit and a letter from the Governor of New York, but I've forgotten what that letter said. But there was another letter that came from a little girl, a young girl who was a student at the White Plains High School. And I looked at that letter, and I'll never forget it. It said simply,

Dear Dr. King,

I am a ninth-grade student at the White Plains High School."

And she said,

While it should not matter, I would like to mention that I'm a white girl. I read in the paper of your misfortune, and of your suffering. And I read that if you had sneezed, you would have died. And I'm simply writing you to say that I'm so happy that you didn't sneeze.

And I want to say tonight -- I want to say tonight that I too am happy that I didn't sneeze. Because if I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been around here in 1960, when students all over the South started sitting-in at lunch counters. And I knew that as they were sitting in, they were really standing up for the best in the American dream, and taking the whole nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the Founding Fathers in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been around here in 1961, when we decided to take a ride for freedom and ended segregation in inter-state travel.

If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been around here in 1962, when Negroes in Albany, Georgia, decided to straighten their backs up. And whenever men and women straighten their backs up, they are going somewhere, because a man can't ride your back unless it is bent.

If I had sneezed -- If I had sneezed I wouldn't have been here in 1963, when the black people of Birmingham, Alabama, aroused the conscience of this nation, and brought into being the Civil Rights Bill.

If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have had a chance later that year, in August, to try to tell America about a dream that I had had.

If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been down in Selma, Alabama, to see the great Movement there.

If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been in Memphis to see a community rally around those brothers and sisters who are suffering.

I'm so happy that I didn't sneeze.

And they were telling me --. Now, it doesn't matter, now. It really doesn't matter what happens now. I left Atlanta this morning, and as we got started on the plane, there were six of us. The pilot said over the public address system, "We are sorry for the delay, but we have Dr. Martin Luther King on the plane. And to be sure that all of the bags were checked, and to be sure that nothing would be wrong with on the plane, we had to check out everything carefully. And we've had the plane protected and guarded all night."

And then I got into Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers?

Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountaintop.

And I don't mind.

Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!

And so I'm happy, tonight.

I'm not worried about anything.

I'm not fearing any man!

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!!

馬丁·路德·金演講稿：我已達(dá)至峰頂(中文版部分翻譯)

但是我要告訴你們我的想象力給我的啟示。很可能其實(shí)是這些人都覺得害怕，你看，耶利哥之路是一條危險(xiǎn)的路途。我還記得我和我的妻子第一次到耶路撒冷的情形。我們租了一輛車然后從耶路撒冷開往耶利哥，但我們上路之后，我就跟我妻子說(shuō)道:“我現(xiàn)在明白為什么耶穌要拿這條路來(lái)作比喻了。”這是一條蜿蜒曲折的道路，非常有利于埋伏，你從耶路撒冷出發(fā)，這大約是1200英里，也即海平面以上1200英尺。而當(dāng)15或者20分鐘之后，你到達(dá)耶利哥時(shí)，你卻在海平面以下2200英尺。那真是一條危險(xiǎn)的路途啊!在耶穌的時(shí)代，它就以“血腥之途(Bloody Pass)”而為人所知。而且你知道，可能那個(gè)利未人和那個(gè)教士檢查了地上的那個(gè)人，而懷疑那些盜賊是否仍在附近，抑或是他們認(rèn)為這個(gè)人僅僅是在偽裝，他只是裝作被搶劫了被打傷了，目的是為了抓住他們，引誘他們從而快速而簡(jiǎn)單的捉住他們。所以那個(gè)利未人的第一個(gè)問(wèn)題是：如果我停下來(lái)幫助這個(gè)人的話，有什么事會(huì)發(fā)生在我身上?但是接著那個(gè)好心的撒瑪利亞人(Samaritan)過(guò)來(lái)了，他顛倒著這個(gè)問(wèn)題：如果我不停下來(lái)幫助這個(gè)人的話他會(huì)怎么樣?這就是今晚擺在我們面前的問(wèn)題，不是“如果我停下來(lái)幫助這些環(huán)衛(wèi)工人的話，我的工作會(huì)有什么影響?”不是“如果我停下來(lái)幫助這些環(huán)衛(wèi)工人的話，那些我作為一個(gè)牧師花在辦公室里的一天接一天，一個(gè)禮拜接一個(gè)禮拜的時(shí)間會(huì)怎么樣?”問(wèn)題不是：“如果我?guī)椭诉@個(gè)需要幫助的人，我會(huì)怎么樣?”問(wèn)題是：“如果我不幫助這些環(huán)衛(wèi)工人的話，他會(huì)怎么樣?”這才是我們的問(wèn)題。

今晚讓我們以更高的積極性起來(lái)反抗吧!讓我們以更大的決心站起來(lái)!讓我們?cè)谶@偉大的時(shí)代繼續(xù)前行，在這有機(jī)會(huì)使美國(guó)成為真正的美國(guó)的時(shí)代!我們有這樣一個(gè)機(jī)會(huì)使美國(guó)成為一個(gè)更好的國(guó)家!同時(shí)，我要再一次感謝仁慈的主，讓我能和你們?cè)谝黄鹎靶?

你們應(yīng)該知道，幾年前，那時(shí)我在紐約，為我的第一本書簽名，當(dāng)我坐在那里簽名的時(shí)候，一個(gè)精神有問(wèn)題的黑人婦女過(guò)來(lái)了，我聽到他問(wèn)的唯一一個(gè)問(wèn)題就是：“你是馬丁路德金嗎?”但是我正埋頭簽名，我回答道：“是啊。”接著下一秒我就感覺到我的胸部被什么東西刺中了，在我意識(shí)到的時(shí)候我已經(jīng)被這個(gè)精神有問(wèn)題的婦女刺中了。我即刻被送到了Harlem醫(yī)院，這是一個(gè)黑沉沉的禮拜六的下午。那柄刀穿透了我的胸部，通過(guò)X光片可以看到刀刃正好從主動(dòng)脈的邊緣穿過(guò)，一旦主動(dòng)脈被刺穿，你就會(huì)被你的血所淹沒，也就是你的生命將終結(jié)。第二天早上紐約時(shí)報(bào)上登出來(lái)了，如果我打了噴嚏的話，我就會(huì)死掉。四天之后，在手術(shù)之后，在我的胸口被打開刀刃被取出來(lái)之后，他們?cè)试S我坐在輪椅上在醫(yī)院里四處走走，他們?cè)试S我看一些從美國(guó)乃至世界各地郵寄來(lái)的信件，善意的來(lái)信。我看了一些，但是只有一封我永遠(yuǎn)都不會(huì)忘記。我收到了一封總統(tǒng)先生和副總統(tǒng)先生的來(lái)信，但我已經(jīng)忘了信上說(shuō)了什么了。我還接受了紐約市長(zhǎng)的訪問(wèn)以及他的一封信，我也幾經(jīng)忘了這封信上說(shuō)的什么了。但是有一封信，來(lái)自一個(gè)小姑娘，她在白原高校(White Plains High School)念書，我看了那封信，我終生難忘。信很簡(jiǎn)單：“親愛的金博士：我是一個(gè)在白原高校廿九年級(jí)的學(xué)生，”她說(shuō)，“這雖然沒有什么關(guān)系，但我還是要說(shuō)出來(lái)，我是個(gè)白人女孩，我在報(bào)紙上看到你的不幸，你的遭遇。并且我讀到如果你打了噴嚏的話，就會(huì)死掉，而我寫這封信給你其實(shí)只是想告訴你，我真的很高興你沒有打噴嚏。”

今晚我想說(shuō)，今晚，我想說(shuō)，我也很高興我沒有打噴嚏，因?yàn)槿绻莻€(gè)時(shí)候我打了噴嚏的話，1960年我就不會(huì)出現(xiàn)在這里，當(dāng)時(shí)整個(gè)南部的(黑人)學(xué)生開始了在午餐臺(tái)邊坐著吃飯，而我知道當(dāng)他們可以坐著吃飯的時(shí)候，他們正真正抬起頭來(lái)實(shí)現(xiàn)著美國(guó)夢(mèng)中最美妙的精神。他們帶著整個(gè)國(guó)家回歸到偉大的民主的源泉，這源泉由建國(guó)者們?cè)凇丢?dú)立宣言》和《憲法》中深深挖掘。那個(gè)時(shí)候我打了噴嚏的話，1961年，我不會(huì)出現(xiàn)在這里，那時(shí)我們決定搭上自由之車，終止在州與州之間旅行時(shí)存在的隔離。如果那個(gè)時(shí)候我打了噴嚏的話，1962年我不會(huì)出現(xiàn)在這里，當(dāng)時(shí)，在佐治亞的奧爾巴尼，人們決定挺直他們的腰桿，而一旦人們挺直了腰板，他們才會(huì)有所建樹，因?yàn)槿瞬荒芸钢城靶?，除非他的背斷掉了。如果那個(gè)時(shí)候我打了噴嚏的話，1963年我不會(huì)出現(xiàn)在這里，那時(shí)，阿拉巴馬伯明翰的黑人們喚起了這個(gè)國(guó)家的良知，使民權(quán)法案獲得了通過(guò)。如果那個(gè)時(shí)候我打了噴嚏的話，1964年我不會(huì)有機(jī)會(huì)告訴美國(guó)我一直以來(lái)的一個(gè)夢(mèng)想。如果那個(gè)時(shí)候我打了噴嚏的話，我不會(huì)在阿拉巴馬塞爾瑪目睹一場(chǎng)偉大的運(yùn)動(dòng)。如果那個(gè)時(shí)候我打了噴嚏的話，我不會(huì)在孟菲斯看到一個(gè)團(tuán)結(jié)了那么多飽受苦難的兄弟姐妹的社團(tuán)。我真的很高興我沒有打噴嚏。

而他們告訴我---現(xiàn)在，沒有。