Vice President Johnson, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chief Justice, President Eisenhower, Vice President Nixon, President Truman, reverend clergy, fellow citizens:
约翰逊副总统、议长先生、首席大法官、艾森豪威尔总统、尼克松副总统、楚门总统、尊敬的神父以及同胞们：

We observe today not a victory of party, but a celebration of freedom — symbolizing an end, as well as a beginning — signifying renewal, as well as change. For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forebears prescribed nearly a century and three-quarters ago.
今天我们庆祝的不是政党的胜利，而是自由的胜利。这象征着一个结束，也象征着一个开端；意味着延续也意味着变革。因为我已在你们和全能的上帝面前，宣读了我们的先辈在170多年前拟定的庄严誓言。

The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe — the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.
现在的世界已大不相同了。人类的巨手掌握着既能消灭人间的各种贫困，又能毁灭人间的各种生活的力量。但我们的先辈为之奋斗的那些革命信念，在世界各地仍然有着争论。这个信念就是：人的权利并非来自国家的慷慨，而是来自上帝恩赐。

We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans — born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.
今天，我们不敢忘记我们是第一次革命的继承者。让我们的朋友和敌人同样听见我此时此地的讲话：火炬已经传给新一代美国人。这一代人在本世纪诞生，在战争中受过锻炼，在艰难困苦的和平时期受过陶冶，他们为我国悠久的传统感到自豪－－他们不愿目睹或听任我国一向保证的、今天仍在国内外作出保证的人权渐趋毁灭。

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
让每个国家都知道－－不论它希望我们繁荣还是希望我们衰落－－为确保自由的存在和自由的胜利，我们将付出任何代价，承受任何负担，应付任何艰难，支持任何朋友，反抗任何敌人。

This much we pledge — and more.
这些就是我们的保证－－而且还有更多的保证。

To those old allies whose cultural and spiritual origins we share, we pledge the loyalty of faithful friends. United there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided there is little we can do — for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder.
对那些和我们有着共同文化和精神渊源的老盟友、我们保证待以诚实朋友那样的忠诚。我们如果团结一致，就能在许多合作事业中无往不胜；我们如果分歧对立，就会一事无成－－因为我们不敢在争吵不休、四分五裂时迎接强大的挑战。

To those new states whom we welcome to the ranks of the free, we pledge our word that one form of colonial control shall not have passed away merely to be replaced by a far more iron tyranny. We shall not always expect to find them supporting our view. But we shall always hope to find them strongly supporting their own freedom — and to remember that, in the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.
对那些我们欢迎其加入到自由行列中来的新国家，我们格守我们的誓言：决不让一种更为残酷的暴政来取代一种消失的殖民统治。我们并不总是指望他们会支持我们的观点。但我们始终希望看到他们坚强地维护自己的自由－－而且要记住，在历史上，凡愚蠢地狐假虎威者，终必葬身虎口。

To those people in the huts and villages of half the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required — not because the Communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.
对世界各地身居茅舍和乡村、为摆脱普遍贫困而斗争的人们，我们保证尽最大努力帮助他们自立，不管需要花多长时间－－之所以这样做，并不是因为共产党可能正在这样做，也不是因为我们需要他们的选票，而是因为这样做是正确的。自由社会如果不能帮助众多的穷人，也就无法挽救少数富人。

To our sister republics south of our border, we offer a special pledge: to convert our good words into good deeds, in a new alliance for progress, to assist free men and free governments in casting off the chains of poverty. But this peaceful revolution of hope cannot become the prey of hostile powers. Let all our neighbors know that we shall join with them to oppose aggression or subversion anywhere in the Americas. And let every other power know that this hemisphere intends to remain the master of its own house.
对我国南面的姐妹共和国，我们提出一项特殊的保证－－在争取进步的新同盟中，把我们善意的话变为善意的行动，帮助自由的人们和自由的政府摆脱贫困的枷锁。但是，这种充满希望的和平革命决不可以成为敌对国家的牺牲品。我们要让所有邻国都知道，我们将和他们在一起，反对在美洲任何地区进行侵略和颠覆活动。让所有其他国家都知道，本半球的人仍然想做自己家园的主人。

To that world assembly of sovereign states, the United Nations, our last best hope in an age where the instruments of war have far outpaced the instruments of peace, we renew our pledge of support — to prevent it from becoming merely a forum for invective, to strengthen its shield of the new and the weak, and to enlarge the area in which its writ may run.
对联合国，主权国家的世界性议事机构，我们在战争手段大大超过和平手段的时代里最后的、最美好的希望所在，我们重申予以支持：防止它仅仅成为谩骂的场所；加强它对新生国家和弱小国家的保护；扩大它的行使法令的管束范围。

Finally, to those nations who would make themselves our adversary, we offer not a pledge but a request: that both sides begin anew the quest for peace, before the dark powers of destruction unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or accidental self-destruction.
最后，对那些与我们作对的国家，我们提出一个要求而不是一项保证：在科学释放出可怕的破坏力量，把全人类卷入预谋的或意外的自我毁灭的深渊之前，让我们双方重新开始寻求和平。

We dare not tempt them with weakness. For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed.
我们不敢以怯弱来引诱他们。因为只有当我们毫无疑问地拥有足够的军备，我们才能毫无疑问地确信永远不会使用这些军备。

But neither can two great and powerful groups of nations take comfort from our present course — both sides overburdened by the cost of modern weapons, both rightly alarmed by the steady spread of the deadly atom, yet both racing to alter that uncertain balance of terror that stays the hand of mankind’s final war.
但是，这两个强大的国家集团都无法从目前所走的道路中得到安慰－－发展现代武器所需的费用使双方负担过重，致命的原子武器的不断扩散理所当然使双方忧心忡忡，但是，双方却争着改变那制止人类发动最后战争的不稳定的恐怖均势。

So let us begin anew — remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.
因此，让我们双方重新开始－－双方都要牢记，礼貌并不意味着怯弱，诚意永远有待于验证。让我们决不要由于畏惧而谈判。但我们决不能畏惧谈判。

Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us.
让双方都来探讨使我们团结起来的问题，而不要操劳那些使我们分裂的问题。

Let both sides, for the first time, formulate serious and precise proposals for the inspection and control of arms, and bring the absolute power to destroy other nations under the absolute control of all nations.
让双方首次为军备检查和军备控制制订认真而又明确的提案，把毁灭他国的绝对力量置于所有国家的绝对控制之下。

Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of science instead of its terrors. Together let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths, and encourage the arts and commerce.
让双方寻求利用科学的奇迹，而不是乞灵于科学造成的恐怖。让我们一起探索星球，征服沙漠，根除疾患，开发深海，并鼓励艺术和商业的发展。

Let both sides unite to heed, in all corners of the earth, the command of Isaiah — to “undo the heavy burdens, and [to] let the oppressed go free.”¹
让双方团结起来，在全世界各个角落倾听以赛亚的训令－－“解下轭上的索，使被欺压的得自由。”（注：《圣经·旧约全书·以塞亚书》第58章6节。）

And, if a beachhead of cooperation may push back the jungle of suspicion, let both sides join in creating a new endeavor — not a new balance of power, but a new world of law — where the strong are just, and the weak secure, and the peace preserved.
如果合作的滩头阵地能逼退猜忌的丛林，那么就让双方共同作一次新的努力；不是建立一种新的均势，而是创造一个新的法治世界，在这个世界中，强者公正，弱者安全、和平将得到维护。

All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days; nor in the life of this Administration; nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.
所有这一切不可能在今后一百天内完成，也不可能在今后一千天或者在本届政府任期内完成，甚至也许不可能在我们居住在这个星球上的有生之年内完成。但是，让我们开始吧。

In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course. Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty. The graves of young Americans who answered the call to service surround the globe.
公民们，我们方针的最终成败与其说掌握在我手中，不如说掌握在你们手中。自从合众国建立以来，每一代美国人都曾受到召唤去证明他们对国家的忠诚。响应召唤而献身的美国青年的坟墓遍及全球。

Now the trumpet summons us again — not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need — not as a call to battle, though embattled we are — but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, “rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation,”² a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself.
现在，号角已再次吹响－－不是召唤我们拿起武器，虽然我们需要武器；不是召唤我们去作战，虽然我们严阵以待。它召唤我们为迎接黎明而肩负起漫长斗争的重任，年复一年，从希望中得到欢乐，在磨难中保持耐性，对付人类共同的敌人－－专制、社团、疾病和战争本身。

Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance, North and South, East and West, that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic effort?
为反对这些敌人，确保人类更为丰裕的生活，我们能够组成一个包括东西南北各方的全球大联盟吗？你们愿意参加这一历史性的努力吗？

In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility — I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it. And the glow from that fire can truly light the world.
在漫长的世界历史中，只有少数几代人在自由处于最危急的时刻被赋予保卫自由的责任。我不会推卸这一责任，我欢迎这一责任。我不相信我们中间有人想同其他人或其他时代的人交换位置。我们为这一努力所奉献的精力、信念和忠诚，将照亮我们的国家和所有为国效劳的人，而这火焰发出的光芒定能照亮全世界。

And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.
因此，美国同胞们，不要问国家能为你们做些什么，而要问你们能为国家做些什么。

My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.
全世界的公民们，不要问美国将为你们做些什么，而要问我们共同能为人类的自由做些什么。

Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.
最后，不论你们是美国公民还是其他国家的公民，你们应要求我们献出我们同样要求于你们的高度力量和牺牲。问心无愧是我们唯一可靠的奖赏，历史是我们行动的最终裁判，让我们走向前去，引导我们所热爱的国家。我们祈求上帝的福佑和帮助，但我们知道，确切地说，上帝在尘世的工作必定是我们自己的工作。

President Hoover, Mr. Chief Justice, my friends:
胡佛总统，首席法官先生，朋友们：

This is a day of national consecration. And I am certain that on this day my fellow Americans expect that on my induction into the Presidency, I will address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation of our people impels.
This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure, as it has endured, will revive and will prosper.
今天，对我们的国家来说，是一个神圣的日子。我肯定，同胞们都期待我在就任总统时，会像我国目前形势所要求的那样，坦率而果断地向他们讲话。现在正是坦白、勇敢地说出实话，说出全部实话的最好时刻。我们不必畏首畏尾，不老老实实面对我国今天的情况。这个伟大的国家会一如既往地坚持下去，它会复兴和繁荣起来。

So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life, a leadership of frankness and of vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. And I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.
因此，让我首先表明我的坚定信念：我们唯一不得不害怕的就是害怕本身—一种莫名其妙、丧失理智的、毫无根据的恐惧，它把人转退为进所需的种种努力化为泡影。凡在我国生活阴云密布的时刻，坦率而有活力的领导都得到过人民的理解和支持，从而为胜利准备了必不可少的条件。我相信，在目前危急时刻，大家会再次给予同样的支持。

In such a spirit on my part and on yours we face our common difficulties. They concern, thank God, only material things. Values have shrunk to fantastic levels; taxes have risen; our ability to pay has fallen; government of all kinds is faced by serious curtailment of income; the means of exchange are frozen in the currents of trade; the withered leaves of industrial enterprise lie on every side; farmers find no markets for their produce; and the savings of many years in thousands of families are gone. More important, a host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence, and an equally great number toil with little return. Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment.
我和你们都要以这种精神，来面对我们共同的困难。感谢上帝，这些困难只是物质方面的。价值难以想象地贬缩了；课税增加了；我们的支付能力下降了；各级政府面临着严重的收入短缺；交换手段在贸易过程中遭到了冻结；工业企业枯萎的落叶到处可见；农场主的产品找不到销路；千家万户多年的积蓄付之东流。更重要的是，大批失业公民正面临严峻的生存问题，还有大批公民正以艰辛的劳动换取微薄的报酬。只有愚蠢的乐天派会否认当前这些阴暗的现实。

And yet our distress comes from no failure of substance. We are stricken by no plague of locusts. Compared with the perils which our forefathers conquered, because they believed and were not afraid, we have still much to be thankful for. Nature still offers her bounty and human efforts have multiplied it. Plenty is at our doorstep, but a generous use of it languishes in the very sight of the supply.
但是，我们的苦恼决不是因为缺乏物资。我们没有遭到什么蝗虫的灾害。我们的先辈曾以信念和无畏一次次转危为安，比起他们经历过的险阻，我们仍大可感到欣慰。大自然仍在给予我们恩惠，人类的努力已使之倍增。富足的情景近在咫尺，但就在我们见到这种　情景的时候，宽裕的生活却悄然离去。

Primarily, this is because the rulers of the exchange of mankind’s goods have failed, through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence, have admitted their failure, and have abdicated. Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men.
这主要是因为主宰人类物资交换的统治者们失败了，他们固执己见而又无能为力，因而已经认定失败了，并撒手不管了。贪得无厌的货币兑换商的种种行径。将受到舆论法庭的起诉，将受到人类心灵理智的唾弃。

True, they have tried. But their efforts have been cast in the pattern of an outworn tradition. Faced by failure of credit, they have proposed only the lending of more money. Stripped of the lure of profit by which to induce our people to follow their false leadership, they have resorted to exhortations, pleading tearfully for restored confidence. They only know the rules of a generation of self-seekers. They have no vision, and when there is no vision the people perish.
是的，他们是努力过，然而他们用的是一种完全过时的方法。面对信贷的失败，他们只是提议借出更多的钱。没有了当诱饵引诱人民追随他们的错误领导的金钱，他们只得求助于讲道，含泪祈求人民重新给予他们信心。他们只知自我追求者们的处世规则。他们没有眼光，而没有眼光的人是要灭亡的。

Yes, the money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. The measure of that restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit.
如今，货币兑换商已从我们文明庙宇的高处落荒而逃。我们要以千古不变的真理来重建这座庙宇。衡量这重建的尺度是我们体现比金钱利益更高尚的社会价值的程度。

Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy, the moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. These dark days, my friends, will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves, to our fellow men.
幸福并不在于单纯地占有金钱；幸福还在于取得成就后的喜悦，在于创造努力时的激情。务必不能再忘记劳动带来的喜悦和激励，而去疯狂地追逐那转瞬即逝的利润。如果这些暗淡的时日能使我们认识到，我们真正的天命不是要别人侍奉，而是为自己和同胞们服务，那么，我们付出的代价就完全是值得的。

Recognition of that falsity of material wealth as the standard of success goes hand in hand with the abandonment of the false belief that public office and high political position are to be valued only by the standards of pride of place and personal profit; and there must be an end to a conduct in banking and in business which too often has given to a sacred trust the likeness of callous and selfish wrongdoing. Small wonder that confidence languishes, for it thrives only on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection, and on unselfish performance; without them it cannot live.
认识到把物质财富当作成功的标准是错误的，我们就会抛弃以地位尊严和个人收益为唯一标准，来衡量公职和高级政治地位的错误信念；我们必须制止银行界和企业界的一种行为，它常常使神圣的委托混同于无情和自私的不正当行为。难怪信心在减弱，信心，只有靠诚实、信誉、忠心维护和无私履行职责。而没有这些，就不可能有信心。

Restoration calls, however, not for changes in ethics alone. This Nation is asking for action, and action now.
但是，复兴不仅仅只要改变伦理观念。这个国家要求行动起来，现在就行动起来。

Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. This is no unsolvable problem if we face it wisely and courageously. It can be accomplished in part by direct recruiting by the Government itself, treating the task as we would treat the emergency of a war, but at the same time, through this employment, accomplishing great — greatly needed projects to stimulate and reorganize the use of our great natural resources.
我们最大、最基本的任务是让人民投入工作。只要我信行之以智慧和勇气，这个问题就可以解决。这可以部分由政府直接征募完成，就象对待临战的紧要关头一样，但同时，在有了人手的情况下，我们还急需能刺激并重组巨大自然资源的工程。

Hand in hand with that we must frankly recognize the overbalance of population in our industrial centers and, by engaging on a national scale in a redistribution, endeavor to provide a better use of the land for those best fitted for the land.
我们齐心协力，但必须坦白地承认工业中心的人口失衡，我们必须在全国范围内重新分配，使土地在最适合的人手中发表挥更大作用。

Yes, the task can be helped by definite efforts to raise the values of agricultural products, and with this the power to purchase the output of our cities. It can be helped by preventing realistically the tragedy of the growing loss through foreclosure of our small homes and our farms. It can be helped by insistence that the Federal, the State, and the local governments act forthwith on the demand that their cost be drastically reduced. It can be helped by the unifying of relief activities which today are often scattered, uneconomical, unequal. It can be helped by national planning for and supervision of all forms of transportation and of communications and other utilities that have a definitely public character. There are many ways in which it can be helped, but it can never be helped by merely talking about it. We must act. We must act quickly.
明确地为提高农产品价值并以此购买城市产品所做的努力，会有助于任务的完成。避免许多小家庭业、农场业被取消赎取抵押品的权利的悲剧也有助于任务的完成。联邦、州、各地政府立即行动回应要求降价的呼声，有助于任务的完成。将现在常常是分散不经济、不平等的救济活动统一起来有助于任务的完成。对所有公共交通运输，通讯及其他涉及公众生活的设施作全国性的计划及监督有助于任务的完成。许多事情都有助于任务完成，但这些决不包括空谈。我们必须行动，立即行动。

And finally, in our progress towards a resumption of work, we require two safeguards against a return of the evils of the old order. There must be a strict supervision of all banking and credits and investments. There must be an end to speculation with other people’s money. And there must be provision for an adequate but sound currency.
最后，为了重新开始工作，我们需要两手防御，来抗御旧秩序恶魔卷土从来；一定要有严格监督银行业、信贷及投资的机制：一定要杜绝投机；一定要有充足而健康的货币供应。

These, my friends, are the lines of attack. I shall presently urge upon a new Congress in special session detailed measures for their fulfillment, and I shall seek the immediate assistance of the 48 States.
以上这些，朋友们，就是施政方针。我要在特别会议上敦促新国会给予详细实施方案，并且，我要向48个州请求立即的援助。

Through this program of action we address ourselves to putting our own national house in order and making income balance outgo. Our international trade relations, though vastly important, are in point of time, and necessity, secondary to the establishment of a sound national economy. I favor, as a practical policy, the putting of first things first. I shall spare no effort to restore world trade by international economic readjustment; but the emergency at home cannot wait on that accomplishment.
通过行动，我们将予以我们自己一个有秩序的国家大厦，使收入大于支出。我们的国际贸易，虽然很重要，但现在在时间和必要性上，次于对本国健康经济的建立。我建议，作为可行的策略、首要事务先行。虽然我将不遗余力通过国际经济重新协调所来恢复国际贸易，但我认为国内的紧急情况无法等待这重新协调的完成。

The basic thought that guides these specific means of national recovery is not nationally — narrowly nationalistic. It is the insistence, as a first consideration, upon the interdependence of the various elements in and parts of the United States of America — a recognition of the old and permanently important manifestation of the American spirit of the pioneer. It is the way to recovery. It is the immediate way. It is the strongest assurance that recovery will endure.
指导这一特别的全国性复苏的基本思想并非狭隘的国家主义。我首先考虑的是坚持美国这一整体中各部分的相互依赖性—这是对美国式的开拓精神的古老而永恒的证明的体现。这才是复苏之路，是即时之路，是保证复苏功效持久之路。

In the field of world policy, I would dedicate this Nation to the policy of the good neighbor: the neighbor who resolutely respects himself and, because he does so, respects the rights of others; the neighbor who respects his obligations and respects the sanctity of his agreements in and with a world of neighbors.
在国际政策方面，我将使美国采取睦邻友好的政策。做一个决心自重，因此而尊重邻国的国家。做一个履行义务，尊重与他国协约的国家。

If I read the temper of our people correctly, we now realize, as we have never realized before, our interdependence on each other; that we can not merely take, but we must give as well; that if we are to go forward, we must move as a trained and loyal army willing to sacrifice for the good of a common discipline, because without such discipline no progress can be made, no leadership becomes effective.
如果我对人民的心情的了解正确的话，我想我们已认识到了我们从未认识的问题，我们是互相依存的，我们不可以只索取，我们还必须奉献。我们前进时，必须象一支训练有素的忠诚的军队，愿意为共同的原则而献身，因为，没有这些原则，就无法取得进步，领导就不可能得力。

We are, I know, ready and willing to submit our lives and our property to such discipline, because it makes possible a leadership which aims at the larger good. This, I propose to offer, pledging that the larger purposes will bind upon us, bind upon us all as a sacred obligation with a unity of duty hitherto evoked only in times of armed strife.
我们都已做好准备，并愿意为此原则献出生命和财产，因为这将使志在建设更美好社会的领导成为可能。我倡议，为了更伟大的目标，我们所有的人，以一致的职责紧紧团结起来。这是神圣的义务，非战乱，不停止。

With this pledge taken, I assume unhesitatingly the leadership of this great army of our people dedicated to a disciplined attack upon our common problems.
有了这样的誓言，我将毫不犹豫地承担领导伟大人民大军的任务，致力于对我们普遍问题的强攻。

Action in this image, action to this end is feasible under the form of government which we have inherited from our ancestors. Our Constitution is so simple, so practical that it is possible always to meet extraordinary needs by changes in emphasis and arrangement without loss of essential form. That is why our constitutional system has proved itself the most superbly enduring political mechanism the modern world has ever seen.
这样的行动，这样的目标，在我们从祖先手中接过的政府中是可行的。我们的宪法如此简单，实在。它随时可以应付特殊情况，只需对重点和安排加以修改而不丧失中心思想，正因为如此，我们的宪法体制已自证为是最有适应性的政治体制。

It has met every stress of vast expansion of territory, of foreign wars, of bitter internal strife, of world relations. And it is to be hoped that the normal balance of executive and legislative authority may be wholly equal, wholly adequate to meet the unprecedented task before us. But it may be that an unprecedented demand and need for undelayed action may call for temporary departure from that normal balance of public procedure.
它已应付过巨大的国土扩张、外战、内乱及国际关系所带来的压力。而我们还希望行使法律的人士做到充分的平等，能充分地担负前所未有的任务。但现在前所未有的对紧急行动的需要要求国民暂时丢弃平常生活节奏，紧迫起来。让我们正视面前的严峻岁月，怀着举国一致给我们带来的热情和勇气，怀着寻求传统的、珍贵的道德观念的明确意识，怀着老老少少都能通过克尽职守而得到的问心无愧的满足。我们的目标是要保证国民生活的圆满和长治久安。

I am prepared under my constitutional duty to recommend the measures that a stricken nation in the midst of a stricken world may require. These measures, or such other measures as the Congress may build out of its experience and wisdom, I shall seek, within my constitutional authority, to bring to speedy adoption.
根据宪法赋予我的职责、我准备提出一些措施，而一个受灾世界上的受灾国家也许需要这些措施。对于这些措施，以及国会根据本身的经验和智慧可能制订的其他类似措施，我将在宪法赋予我的权限内，设法迅速地予以采纳。

But, in the event that the Congress shall fail to take one of these two courses, in the event that the national emergency is still critical, I shall not evade the clear course of duty that will then confront me. I shall ask the Congress for the one remaining instrument to meet the crisis — broad Executive power to wage a war against the emergency, as great as the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe.
但是，如果国会拒不采纳这两条路线中的一条，如果国家紧急情况依然如故，我将下回避我所面临的明确的尽责方向。我将要求国会准许我使用唯一剩下的手殷来应付危机——向非常情况开战的广泛的行政权，就像我们真的遭到外敌人侵时授予我那样的广泛权力。

For the trust reposed in me, I will return the courage and the devotion that befit the time. I can do no less.
对大家寄予我的信任，我一定报以时代所要求的勇气和献身精神，我会竭尽全力。

We face the arduous days that lie before us in the warm courage of national unity; with the clear consciousness of seeking old and precious moral values; with the clean satisfaction that comes from the stern performance of duty by old and young alike. We aim at the assurance of a rounded, a permanent national life.
让我们正视面前的严峻岁月，怀着举国一致给我们带来的热情和勇气，怀着寻求传统的、珍贵的道德观念的明确意识，怀着老老少少都能通过克尽职守而得到的问心无愧的满足。我们的国标是要保证国民生活的圆满和长治久安。

We do not distrust the — the future of essential democracy. The people of the United States have not failed. In their need they have registered a mandate that they want direct, vigorous action. They have asked for discipline and direction under leadership. They have made me the present instrument of their wishes. In the spirit of the gift I take it.
我们并不怀疑基本民主制度的未来。合众国人民并没有失败。他们在困难中表达了自己的委托，即要求采取直接而有力的行动。他们要求有领导的纪律和方向。他们现在选择了我作为实现他们的愿望的工具。我接受这份厚赠。

In this dedication — In this dedication of a Nation, we humbly ask the blessing of God.
在此举国奉献之际，我们谦卑地请求上帝赐福。愿上帝保信我们大家和每一个人，愿上帝在未来的日子里指引我。

May He protect each and every one of us.

May He guide me in the days to come.

Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Senate, and of the House of Representatives:
副总统先生、议长先生、参众两院各位议员：

Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 — a date which will live in infamy — the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

The United States was at peace with that nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its government and its emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific.

Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American island of Oahu, the Japanese ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to our Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. And while this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or of armed attack.
昨天， 1941年12月7日——必须永远记住这个耻辱的日子——美利坚合众国受到了日本帝国海空军突然的蓄意的进攻。美国和日本是和平相处的，根据日本的请求仍在同它的政府和天皇进行会谈，以期维护太平洋和平。实际上，就在日本空军中队已经开始轰炸美国瓦湖岛之后的一小时，日本驻美国大使还向我们的国务卿提交了对美国最近致日方信函的正式答复。虽然复函声称继续现行外交谈判似已无用，但并未包含有关战争或武装进攻的威胁或暗示。

It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time, the Japanese government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.
历史将会证明，夏威夷距日本这么遥远，表明这次进攻是经过许多天或甚至许多个星期精心策划的。在此期间，日本政府蓄意以虚伪的声明和表示继续维护和平的愿望来欺骗美国。

The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. I regret to tell you that very many American lives have been lost. In addition, American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.
昨天对夏威夷岛的进攻给美国海陆军部队造成了严重的损害。我遗憾地告诉各位，很多美国人丧失了生命，此外，据报，美国船只在旧金山和火奴鲁鲁（檀香山）之间的公海上也遭到了鱼雷袭击。

Yesterday, the Japanese government also launched an attack against Malaya.
昨天，日本政府已发动了对马来亚的进攻。

Last night, Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong.
昨夜，日本军队进攻了香港。

Last night, Japanese forces attacked Guam.
昨夜，日本军队进攻了关岛。

Last night, Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands.
昨夜，日本军队进攻了菲律宾群岛。

Last night, the Japanese attacked Wake Island.
昨夜，日本人进攻了威克岛。

And this morning, the Japanese attacked Midway Island.
今晨，日本人进攻了中途岛。

Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation.
因此，日本在整个太平洋区域采取了突然的攻势。昨天和今天的事实不言自明。美国的人民已经形成了自己的见解，并且十分清楚这关系到我们国家的安全和生存的本身。

As commander in chief of the Army and Navy, I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense. But always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us.
作为陆海军，总司令，我已指示，为了我们的防务采取一切措施。

No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.
但是，我们整个国家都将永远记住这次对我们进攻的性质。不论要用多长时间才能战胜这次预谋的入侵，美国人民以自己的正义力量一定要赢得绝对的胜利。

I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us.
我们现在预言，我们不仅要做出最大的努力来保卫我们自己，我们还将确保这种形式的背信弃义永远不会再危及我们。我这样说，相信是表达了国会和人民的意志。

Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger.
敌对行动已经存在。无庸讳言，我国人民、我国领土和我国利益都处于严重危险之中。

With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph — so help us God.
I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7th, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese empire.
相信我们的武装部队——依靠我国人民的坚定决心－－我们将取得必然的胜利，愿上帝帮助我们！我要求国会宣布：自1941年12月7日星期日日本发动无端的、卑鄙的进攻时起，美国和日本帝国之间已处于战争状态。

We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.

我们将战斗到底。我们将在法国作战，我们将在海洋中作战，我们将以越来越大的信心和越来越强的力量在空中作战，我们将不惜一切代价保卫本土，我们将在海滩作战，我们将在敌人的登陆点作战，我们将在田野和街头作战，我们将在山区作战。我们绝不投降，即使我们这个岛屿或这个岛屿的大部分被征服并陷于饥饿之中——我从来不相信会发生这种情况——我们在海外的帝国臣民，在英国舰队的武装和保护下也会继续战斗，直到新世界在上帝认为适当的时候，拿出它所有一切的力量来拯救和解放这个旧世界。

Hello, Chicago!
芝加哥，你好！

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
如果有人怀疑美国是个一切皆有可能的地方，怀疑美国奠基者的梦想在我们这个时代依然燃烧，怀疑我们民主的力量，那么今晚这些疑问都有了答案。

It’s the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference.
学校和教堂门外的长龙便是答案。排队的人数之多，在美国历史上前所未有。为了投票，他们排队长达三、四个小时。许多人一生中第一次投票，因为他们认为这一次大选结果必须不同以往，而他们手中的一票可能决定胜负。

It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled — Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of red states and blue states; we are, and always will be, the United States of America.
无论年龄，无论贫富，无论民主党人或共和党人，无论黑人、白人，无论拉美裔、亚裔、印地安人, 无论同性恋、异性恋，无论残障人、健全人，所有的人，他们向全世界喊出了同一个声音：我们并不隶属 “红州”与“蓝州”的对立阵营，我们属于美利坚合众国，现在如此，永远如此！

It’s the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.
长久以来，很多人说：我们对自己的能量应该冷漠，应该恐惧，应该怀疑。但是，历史之轮如今已在我们手中，我们又一次将历史之轮转往更美好的未来。

It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.
漫漫征程，今宵终于来临。特殊的一天，特殊的一次大选，特殊的决定性时刻，美国迎来了变革。

I just received a very gracious call from Sen. McCain. He fought long and hard in this campaign, and he’s fought even longer and harder for the country he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine, and we are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader. I congratulate him and Gov. Palin for all they have achieved, and I look forward to working with them to renew this nation’s promise in the months ahead.
刚才，麦凯恩参议员很有风度地给我打了个电话。在这次竞选中，他的努力持久而艰巨。为了这个他挚爱的国家，他的努力更持久、更艰巨。他为美国的奉献超出绝大多数人的想象。他是一位勇敢无私的领袖，有了他的奉献，我们的生活才更美好。我对他和佩林州长的成绩表示祝贺。同时，我也期待着与他们共同努力，再续美国辉煌。

I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on that train home to Delaware, the vice-president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.
我要感谢我的竞选搭档——当选副总统乔.拜登。为了与他一起在斯克兰顿市街头长大、一起坐火车返回特拉华州的人们，拜登全心全意地竟选，他代表了这些普通人的声音。

I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last 16 years, the rock of our family and the love of my life, our nation’s next first lady, Michelle Obama. Sasha and Malia, I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy that’s coming with us to the White House. And while she’s no longer with us, I know my grandmother is watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight, and know that my debt to them is beyond measure.
我要感谢下一位第一夫人米歇尔.奥巴马。她是我家的中流砥柱，是我生命中的最爱。没有她在过去16年来的坚定支持，今晚我就不可能站在这里。我要感谢两个女儿萨沙和玛丽娅，我太爱你们两个了，你们将得到一条新的小狗，它将与我们一起入住白宫。我还要感谢已去世的外婆，我知道此刻她正在天上注视着我。她与我的家人一起造就了今天的我。今夜我思念他们，他们对我的恩情比山高、比海深。

To my campaign manager, David Plouffe; my chief strategist, David Axelrod; and the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics — you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you’ve sacrificed to get it done.
我要感谢我的竞选经理大卫.普鲁夫，感谢首席策划师大卫.阿克塞罗德以及整个竞选团队，他们是政治史上最优秀的竞选团队。你们成就了今夜，我永远感谢你们为今夜所付出的一切。

But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to — it belongs to you.
但最重要的是，我将永远不会忘记这场胜利真正属于谁—-是你们！

I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn’t start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington — it began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston.
我从来不是最有希望的候选人。起初，我们的资金不多，赞助人也不多。我们的竞选并非始于华盛顿的华丽大厅，而是起于德莫奈地区某家的后院、康科德地区的某家客厅、查尔斯顿地区的某家前廊。

It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give $5 and $10 and $20 to this cause. It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation’s apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who volunteered and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this earth. This is your victory.
劳动大众从自己的微薄积蓄中掏出5美元、10美元、20美元，拿来捐助我们的事业。年轻人证明了他们绝非所谓“冷漠的一代”。他们远离家乡和亲人，拿着微薄的报酬，起早摸黑地助选。上了年纪的人也顶着严寒酷暑，敲开陌生人的家门助选。无数美国人自愿组织起来，充当自愿者。正是这些人壮大了我们的声势。他们的行动证明了在两百多年以后，民有、民治、民享的政府并未从地球上消失。这是你们的胜利。

I know you didn’t do this just to win an election, and I know you didn’t do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime — two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century. Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how they’ll make the mortgage, or pay their doctor’s bills, or save enough for college. There is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats to meet and alliances to repair.
你们这样做，并不只是为了赢得一场大选，更不是为了我个人。你们这样做，是因为你们清楚未来的任务有多么艰巨。今晚我们在欢庆，明天我们就将面对一生之中最为严峻的挑战－－两场战争、一个充满危险的星球，还有百年一遇的金融危机。今晚我们在这里庆祝，但我们知道在伊拉克的沙漠里，在阿富汗的群山中，许许多多勇敢的美国人醒来后就将为了我们而面临生命危险。许许多多的父母会在孩子熟睡后仍难以入眠，他们正在为月供、医药费，孩子今后的大学费用而发愁。我们需要开发新能源，创造就业机会，建造新学校，迎接挑战和威胁，并修复与盟国的关系。

The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year, or even one term, but America — I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you: We as a people will get there.
前方道路还很漫长，任务艰巨。一年之内，甚至一届总统任期之内，我们可能都无法完成这些任务。但我从未像今晚这样对美国满怀希望，我相信我们会实现这个目标。我向你们承诺－－我们美利坚民族将实现这一目标！

There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won’t agree with every decision or policy I make as president, and we know that government can’t solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it’s been done in America for 221 years — block by block, brick by brick, callused hand by callused hand.
我们会遇到挫折，会出师不利，会有许多人不认同我的某一项决定或政策。政府并不能解决所有问题，但我会向你们坦陈我们所面临的挑战。我会聆听你们的意见，尤其是在我们意见相左之时。最重要的是，我会让你们一起重建这个国家。用自己的双手，从一砖一瓦做起。这是美国立国221年以来的前进方式，也是惟一的方式。

What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek — it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you.
21个月前那个隆冬所开始的一切，绝不应在这一个秋夜结束。我们所寻求的变革并不只是赢得大选，这只是给变革提供了一个机会。假如我们照老路子办事，就没有变革；没有你们，就没有变革。

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it’s that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers. In this country, we rise or fall as one nation — as one people.
让我们重新发扬爱国精神，树立崭新的服务意识、责任感，每个人下定决心，一起努力工作，彼此关爱；让我们牢记这场金融危机带来的教训：不能允许商业街挣扎的同时却让华尔街繁荣。在这个国家，我们作为同一个民族，同生死共存亡。

Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House — a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.
党派之争、琐碎幼稚，长期以来这些东西荼毒了我们的政坛。让我们牢记，当来自伊利诺伊州的一位先生首次将共和党大旗扛进白宫时，伴随着他的是自强自立、个人自由、国家统一的共和党建党理念。这也是我们所有人都珍视的理念。虽然民主党今晚大胜，但我们态度谦卑，并决心弥合阻碍我们进步的分歧。

As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, “We are not
enemies, but friends… Though passion may have strained, it must
not break our bonds of affection.” And, to those Americans whose
support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote, but I
hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your president,
too.
当年,林肯面对的是一个远比目前更为分裂的国家。他说：“我们不是敌人，而是朋友……虽然激情可能不再，但是我们的感情纽带不会割断。”对于那些现在并不支持我的美国人，我想说，虽然我没有赢得你们的选票，但我听到了你们的声音，我需要你们的帮助，我也将是你们的总统。

And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world — our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear this world down: We will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: We support you. And to all those who have wondered if America’s beacon still burns as bright: Tonight, we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.
对于关注今夜结果的国际人士，不管他们是在国会、皇宫关注，还是在荒僻地带收听电台，我们的态度是：我们美国人的经历各有不同，但我们的命运相关，新的美国领袖诞生了。对于想毁灭这个世界的人们，我们必将击败你们。对于追求和平和安全的人们，我们将支持你们。对于怀疑美国这盏灯塔是否依然明亮的人们，今天晚上我们已再次证明：美国的真正力量来源并非军事威力或财富规模，而是我们理想的恒久力量：民主、自由、机会和不屈的希望。

For that is the true genius of America — that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
美国能够变革，这才是美国真正的精髓。我们的联邦会不断完善。我们已经取得的成就，将为我们将来能够并且必须取得的成就增添希望。

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that’s on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She’s a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election, except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.
这次大选创造了多项“第一”，诞生了很多将流芳后世的故事，但今晚令我最为难忘的却是一位在亚特兰大投票的妇女：安妮.库波尔。她和无数排队等候投票的选民没有什么差别，唯一的不同是她高龄106岁。

She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons — because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.
在她出生的那个时代，黑奴制刚刚废除。那时路上没有汽车，天上没有飞机。当时像她这样的人由于两个原因不能投票－－一第一因为她是女性，第二个原因是她的肤色。

And tonight, I think about all that she’s seen throughout her century in America — the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can’t and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes, we can.
今天晚上，我想到了安妮在美国过去一百年间的种种经历：心痛和希望，挣扎和进步，那些我们被告知我们办不到的年代，以及我们现在这个年代。现在，我们坚信美国式信念──是的，我们能！

At a time when women’s voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes, we can.
在那个年代，妇女的声音被压制，她们的希望被剥夺。但安妮活到了今天，看到妇女们站起来了，可以大声发表意见了，有选举权了。是的，我们能。

When there was despair in the Dust Bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes, we can.
安妮经历了上世纪三十年代的大萧条。农田荒芜，绝望笼罩美国大地。她看到了美国以新政、新的就业机会以及崭新的共同追求战胜了恐慌。是的，我们能。

When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes, we can.
二战时期，炸弹袭击我们的海港，全世界受到独裁专制威胁，安妮见证了一代美国人的英雄本色，他们捍卫了民主。是的，我们能。

She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that “We Shall Overcome.” Yes, we can.
安妮经历了蒙哥马利公交车事件、伯明翰黑人暴动事件、塞尔马血腥周末事件。来自亚特兰大的一位牧师告诉人们：我们终将胜利。是的，我们能。

A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes, we can.
人类登上了月球、柏林墙倒下了，科学和想像把世界连成了一块。今年，在这次选举中，安妮的手指轻触电子屏幕，投下自己的一票。她在美国生活了106年，其间有最美好的时光，也有最黑暗的时刻，她知道美国能够变革。是的，我们能。

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves: If our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
美利坚，我们已经一路走来，我们已经看到了那么多变化，但我们仍有很多事情要做。今夜，让我们问自己这样一个问题：假如我们的孩子能够活到下一个世纪，假如我的女儿们有幸与安妮一样长寿，她们将会看到怎样的改变？我们又取得了怎样的进步？

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time — to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.
现在，我们获得了回答这个问题的机会。这是我们的时刻，我们的时代。让我们的人民重新就业，为我们的孩子打开机会的大门；恢复繁荣，促进和平；让美国梦重放光芒，再证这一根本性真理，那就是：团结一致，众志成城；一息尚存，希望就在；倘若有人嘲讽和怀疑，说我们不能，我们就以这一永恒信条回应，因为它凝聚了整个民族的精神——是的，我们能！

Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America.
谢谢大家！愿上帝保佑你们，保佑美利坚合众国。

A MORE PERFECT UNION

March 18, 2008 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

“We the people, in order to form a more perfect union.”
Two hundred and twenty-one years ago, in a hall that still stands across the street, a group of men gathered and, with these simple words, launched America’s improbable experiment in democracy. Farmers and scholars; statesmen and patriots, who had traveled across an ocean to escape tyranny and persecution , finally made real their declaration of independence at a Philadelphia convention that lasted through the spring of 1787.

The document they produced was eventually signed but ultimately unfinished. It was stained by this nation’s original sin of slavery, a question that divided the colonies and brought the convention to a stalemate until the founders chose to allow the slave trade to continue for at least twenty more years, and to leave any final resolution to future generations.
Of course, the answer to the slavery question was already embedded within our Constitution a Constitution that had at its very core the ideal of equal citizenship under the law; a Constitution that promised its people liberty, and justice, and a union that could be and should be perfected over time. And yet words on a parchment would not be enough to deliver slaves from bondage , or provide men and women of every color and creed their full rights and obligations as citizens of the United States. What would be needed were Americans in successive generations who were willing to do their part—through protests and struggle, on the streets and in the courts, through a civil war and civil disobedience and always at great risk—to narrow that gap between the promise of our ideals and the reality of their time.

This was one of the tasks we set forth at the beginning of this campaign—to continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring, and more prosperous America. I chose to run for the presidency at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together—unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction—toward a better future for our children and our grandchildren.

This belief comes from my unyielding faith in the decency and generosity of the American people. But it also comes from my own American story.

I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a Depression to serve in Patton ’s army during World War II and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth while he was overseas. I’ve gone to some of the best schools in America and lived in one of the world’s poorest nations. I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slaves and slave owners—an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters. I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles, and cousins of every race and every hue scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.

It’s a story that hasn’t made me the most conventional candidate. But it is a story that has seared into my genetic makeup the idea that this nation is more than the sum of its parts—that out of many, we are truly one.

Throughout the first year of this campaign, against all predictions to the contrary, we saw how hungry the American people were for this message of unity. Despite the temptation to view my candidacy through a purely racial lens , we won commanding victories in states with some of the whitest populations in the country. In South Carolina, where the Confederate flag still flies, we built a powerful coalition of African Americans and white Americans.

This is not to say that race has not been an issue in the campaign. At various stages in the campaign, some commentators have deemed me either “too black” or “not black enough.” We saw racial tensions bubble to the surface during the week before the South Carolina primary. The press has scoured every exit poll for the latest evidence of racial polarization , not just in terms of white and black, but black and brown as well.

And yet, it has only been in the last couple of weeks that the discussion of race in this campaign has taken a particularly divisive turn.

On one end of the spectrum , we’ve heard the implication that my candidacy is somehow an exercise in affirmative action ; that it’s based solely on the desire of wide-eyed liberals to purchase racial reconciliation on the cheap. On the other end, we’ve heard my former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, use incendiary language to express views that have the potential not only to widen the racial divide, but views that denigrate both the greatness and the goodness of our nation, that rightly offend white and black alike.

I have already condemned, in unequivocal terms, the statements of Reverend Wright that have caused such controversy. For some, nagging questions remain. Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely—just as I’m sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests , or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed.

But the remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren’t simply controversial. They weren’t simply a religious leader’s effort to speak out against perceived injustice. Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country—a view that sees white racism as endemic , and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America; a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam.

As such, Reverend Wright’s comments were not only wrong but divisive , divisive at a time when we need unity; racially charged at a time when we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems—two wars, a terrorist threat, a failing economy, a chronic health care crisis, and potentially devastating climate change; problems that are neither black or white or Latino or Asian, but rather problems that confront us all.

Given my background, my politics, and my professed values and ideals, there will no doubt be those for whom my statements of condemnation are not enough. Why associate myself with Reverend Wright in the first place, they may ask? Why not join another church? And I confess that if all that I knew of Reverend Wright were the snippets of those sermons that have run in an endless loop on the television and YouTube, or if Trinity United Church of Christ conformed to the caricatures being peddled by some commentators, there is no doubt that I would react in much the same way.

But the truth is, that isn’t all that I know of the man. The man I met more than twenty years ago is a man who helped introduce me to my Christian faith, a man who spoke to me about our obligations to love one another, to care for the sick and lift up the poor. He is a man who served his country as a U.S. Marine , who has studied and lectured at some of the finest universities and seminaries in the country, and who for over thirty years led a church that serves the community by doing God’s work here on Earth—by housing the homeless, ministering to the needy , providing day care services and scholarships and prison ministries, and reaching out to those suffering from HIV/AIDS.

In my first book, Dreams from My Father, I described the experience of my first service at Trinity:
People began to shout, to rise from their seats and clap and cry out , a forceful wind carrying the reverend’s voice up into the rafters . And in that single note—hope!—I heard something else; at the foot of that cross , inside the thousands of churches across the city, I imagined the stories of ordinary black people merging with the stories of David and Goliath , Moses and Pharaoh , the Christians in the lion’s den , Ezekiel ’s field of dry bones. Those stories—of survival, and freedom, and hope—became our story, my story; the blood that had spilled was our blood, the tears our tears; until this black church, on this bright day, seemed once more a vessel carrying the story of a people into future generations and into a larger world. Our trials and triumphs became at once unique and universal, black and more than black; in chronicling our journey, the stories and songs gave us a means to reclaim memories that we didn’t need to feel shame about—memories that all people might study and cherish—and with which we could start to rebuild.

That has been my experience at Trinity. Like other predominantly black churches across the country, Trinity embodies the black community in its entirety—the doctor and the welfare mom, the model student and the former gangbanger . Like other black churches, Trinity’s services are full of raucous laughter and sometimes bawdy humor. They are full of dancing, clapping, screaming, and shouting that may seem jarring to the untrained ear. The church contains in full the kindness and cruelty, the fierce intelligence and the shocking ignorance, the struggles and successes, the love and, yes, the bitterness and bias that make up the black experience in America.

And this helps explain, perhaps, my relationship with Reverend Wright. As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptized my children. Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect. He contains within him the contradictions—the good and the bad—of the community that he has served diligently for so many years.

I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother—a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.

These people are a part of me. And they are a part of America, this country that I love.

Some will see this as an attempt to justify or excuse comments that are simply inexcusable. I can assure you it is not. I suppose the politically safe thing would be to move on from this episode and just hope that it fades into the woodwork. We can dismiss Reverend Wright as a crank or a demagogue , just as some have dismissed Geraldine Ferraro, in the aftermath of her recent statements, as harboring some deep-seated racial bias .

But race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now. We would be making the same mistake that Reverend Wright made in his offending sermons about America—to simplify and stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distorts reality.

The fact is that the comments that have been made and the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that we’ve never really worked through—a part of our union that we have yet to perfect. And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American.

Understanding this reality requires a reminder of how we arrived at this point. As William Faulkner once wrote, “The past isn’t dead and buried. In fact, it isn’t even past.” We do not need to recite here the history of racial injustice in this country. But we do need to remind ourselves that so many of the disparities that exist in the African-American community today can be directly traced to inequalities passed on from an earlier generation that suffered under the brutal legacy of slavery and Jim Crow.

Segregated schools were, and are, inferior schools; we still haven’t fixed them, fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education, and the inferior education they provided, then and now, helps explain the pervasive achievement gap between today’s black and white students.

Legalized discrimination —where blacks were prevented, often through violence, from owning property, or loans were not granted to African-American business owners, or black home owners could not access FHA mortgages, or blacks were excluded from unions, or the police force, or fire departments—meant that black families could not amass any meaningful wealth to bequeath to future generations. That history helps explain the wealth and income gap between black and white, and the concentrated pockets of poverty that persist in so many of today’s urban and rural communities.

A lack of economic opportunity among black men, and the shame and frustration that came from not being able to provide for one’s family, contributed to the erosion of black families—a problem that welfare policies for many years may have worsened. And the lack of basic services in so many urban black neighborhoods—parks for kids to play in, police walking the beat, regular garbage pick up, and building code enforcement—all helped create a cycle of violence, blight , and neglect that continues to haunt us.

This is the reality in which Reverend Wright and other African Americans of his generation grew up. They came of age in the late fifties and early sixties, a time when segregation was still the law of the land and opportunity was systematically constricted. What’s remarkable is not how many failed in the face of discrimination, but rather how many men and women overcame the odds, how many were able to make a way out of no way for those like me who would come after them.

But for all those who scratched and clawed their way to get a piece of the American Dream, there were many who didn’t make it—those who were ultimately defeated, in one way or another, by discrimination. That legacy of defeat was passed on to future generations—those young men and increasingly young women who we see standing on street corners or languishing in our prisons, without hope or prospects for the future. Even for those blacks who did make it, questions of race, and racism, continue to define their worldview in fundamental ways. For the men and women of Reverend Wright’s generation, the memories of humiliation and doubt and fear have not gone away; nor has the anger and the bitterness of those years. That anger may not get expressed in public, in front of white coworkers or white friends. But it does find voice in the barbershop or around the kitchen table. At times, that anger is exploited by politicians, to gin up votes along racial lines, or to make up for a politician’s own failings.

And occasionally it finds voice in the church on Sunday morning, in the pulpit and in the pews . The fact that so many people are surprised to hear that anger in some of Reverend Wright’s sermons simply reminds us of the old truism that the most segregated hour in American life occurs on Sunday morning. That anger is not always productive; indeed, all too often it distracts attention from solving real problems; it keeps us from squarely facing our own complicity in our condition, and prevents the African-American community from forging the alliances it needs to bring about real change. But the anger is real; it is powerful; and to simply wish it away, to condemn it without understanding its roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races.

In fact, a similar anger exists within segments of the white community. Most working- and middle-class white Americans don’t feel that they have been particularly privileged by their race. Their experience is the immigrant experience—as far as they’re concerned, no one’s handed them anything, they’ve built it from scratch . They’ve worked hard all their lives, many times only to see their jobs shipped overseas or their pension dumped after a lifetime of labor. They are anxious about their futures, and feel their dreams slipping away ; in an era of stagnant wages and global competition, opportunity comes to be seen as a zero sum game , in which your dreams come at my expense. So when they are told to bus their children to a school across town, when they hear that an African American is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed, when they’re told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced, resentment builds over time.

Like the anger within the black community, these resentments aren’t always expressed in polite company. But they have helped shape the political landscape for at least a generation. Anger over welfare and affirmative action helped forge the Reagan Coalition. Politicians routinely exploited fears of crime for their own electoral ends. Talk-show hosts and conservative commentators built entire careers unmasking bogus claims of racism while dismissing legitimate discussions of racial injustice and inequality as mere political correctness or reverse racism.

Just as black anger often proved counterproductive, so have these white resentments distracted attention from the real culprits of the middle-class squeeze —a corporate culture rife with inside dealing, questionable accounting practices, and short-term greed; a Washington dominated by lobbyists and special interests; economic policies that favor the few over the many. And yet, to wish away the resentments of white Americans, to label them as misguided or even racist, without recognizing they are grounded in legitimate concerns— this, too, widens the racial divide, and blocks the path to understanding.

This is where we are right now. It’s a racial stalemate we’ve been stuck in for years. Contrary to the claims of some of my critics, black and white, I have never been so naive as to believe that we can get beyond our racial divisions in a single election cycle, or with a single candidacy—particularly a candidacy as imperfect as my own.
But I have asserted a firm conviction—a conviction rooted in my faith in God and my faith in the American people—that working together we can move beyond some of our old racial wounds, and that in fact we have no choice if we are to continue on the path of a more perfect union.

For the African-American community, that path means embracing the burdens of our past without becoming victims of our past. It means continuing to insist on a full measure of justice in every aspect of American life. But it also means binding our particular grievances—for better health care, and better schools, and better jobs—to the larger aspirations of all Americans—the white woman struggling to break the glass ceiling, the white man who has been laid off, the immigrant trying to feed his family. And it means taking full responsibility for our own lives—by demanding more from our fathers, and spending more time with our children, and reading to them, and teaching them that while they may face challenges and discrimination in their own lives, they must never succumb to despair or cynicism; they must always believe that they can write their own destiny.

Ironically, this quintessentially American—and yes, conservative— notion of self-help found frequent expression in Reverend Wright’s sermons. But what my former pastor too often failed to understand is that embarking on a program of self-help also requires a belief that society can change.

The profound mistake of Reverend Wright’s sermons is not that he spoke about racism in our society. It’s that he spoke as if our society was static; as if no progress has been made; as if this country—a country that has made it possible for one of his own members to run for the highest office in the land and build a coalition of white and black, Latino and Asian, rich and poor, young and old—is still irrevocably bound to a tragic past. But what we know— what we have seen—is that America can change. That is the true genius of this nation. What we have already achieved gives us hope—the audacity to hope—for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

In the white community, the path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails the African- American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination and current incidents of discrimination—while less overt than in the past—are real and must be addressed. Not just with words, but with deeds—by investing in our schools and our communities; by enforcing our civil rights laws and ensuring fairness in our criminal justice system; by providing this generation with ladders of opportunity that were unavailable for previous generations. It requires all Americans to realize that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams; that investing in the health, welfare, and education of black and brown and white children will ultimately help all of America prosper.

In the end, then, what is called for is nothing more, and nothing less, than what all the world’s great religions demand—that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Let us be our brother’s keeper, Scripture tells us. Let us be our sister’s keeper. Let us find that common stake we all have in one another, and let our politics reflect that spirit as well.

For we have a choice in this country. We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism. We can tackle race only as spectacle, as we did in the OJ trial—or in the wake of tragedy, as we did in the aftermath of Katrina— or as fodder for the nightly news. We can play Reverend Wright’s sermons on every channel, every day, and talk about them from now until the election, and make the only question in this campaign whether or not the American people think that I somehow believe or sympathize with his most offensive words. We can pounce on some gaffe by a Hillary supporter as evidence that she’s playing the race card , or we can speculate on whether white men will all flock to John McCain in the general election regardless of his policies.
We can do that.

But if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we’ll be talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then another one. And nothing will change.

That is one option. Or, at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say, “Not this time.” This time we want to talk about the crumbling schools that are stealing the future of black children and white children and Asian children and Hispanic children and Native American children. This time we want to reject the cynicism that tells us that these kids can’t learn; that those kids who don’t look like us are somebody else’s problem. The children of America are not those kids, they are our kids, and we will not let them fall behind in a twenty-first-century economy. Not this time.

This time we want to talk about how the lines in the emergency room are filled with whites and blacks and Hispanics who do not have health care, who don’t have the power on their own to overcome the special interests in Washington, but who can take them on if we do it together.

This time we want to talk about the shuttered mills that once provided a decent life for men and women of every race, and the homes for sale that once belonged to Americans from every religion, every region, every walk of life. This time we want to talk about the fact that the real problem is not that someone who doesn’t look like you might take your job; it’s that the corporation you work for will ship it overseas for nothing more than a profit.

This time we want to talk about the men and women of every color and creed who serve together, and fight together, and bleed together under the same proud flag. We want to talk about how to bring them home from a war that never should’ve been authorized and never should’ve been waged, and we want to talk about how we’ll show our patriotism by caring for them, and their families, and giving them the benefits they have earned.

I would not be running for President if I didn’t believe with all my heart that this is what the vast majority of Americans want for this country. This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected. And today, whenever I find myself feeling doubtful or cynical about this possibility, what gives me the most hope is the next generation—the young people whose attitudes and beliefs and openness to change have already made history in this election.

There is one story in particular that I’d like to leave you with today—a story I told when I had the great honor of speaking on Dr. King’s birthday at his home church, Ebenezer Baptist, in Atlanta .

There is a young, twenty-three-year-old white woman named Ashley Baia who organized for our campaign in Florence , South Carolina. She had been working to organize a mostly African-American community since the beginning of this campaign, and one day she was at a round-table discussion where everyone went around telling their stories and why they were there.

And Ashley said that when she was nine years old, her mother got cancer. And because she had to miss days of work, she was let go and lost her health care. They had to file for bankruptcy, and that’s when Ashley decided that she had to do something to help her mom.

She knew that food was one of their most expensive costs, and so Ashley convinced her mother that what she really liked and really wanted to eat more than anything else was mustard and relish sandwiches. Because that was the cheapest way to eat.

She did this for a year until her mom got better, and she told everyone at the round table that the reason she joined our campaign was so that she could help the millions of other children in the country who want and need to help their parents, too.

Now Ashley might have made a different choice. Perhaps somebody told her along the way that the source of her mother’s problems were blacks who were on welfare and too lazy to work, or Hispanics who were coming into the country illegally. But she didn’t. She sought out allies in her fight against injustice.

Anyway, Ashley finishes her story and then goes around the room and asks everyone else why they’re supporting the campaign. They all have different stories and reasons. Many bring up a specific issue. And finally they come to this elderly black man who’s been sitting there quietly the entire time. And Ashley asks him why he’s there. And he does not bring up a specific issue. He does not say health care or the economy. He does not say education or the war. He does not say that he was there because of Barack Obama. He simply says to everyone in the room, “I am here because of Ashley.”

“I am here because of Ashley.” By itself, that single moment of recognition between that young white girl and that old black man is not enough. It is not enough to give health care to the sick, or jobs to the jobless, or education to our children.

But it is where we start. It is where our union grows stronger. And as so many generations have come to realize over the course of the two hundred and twenty-one years since a band of patriots signed that document in Philadelphia, that is where the perfection begins.

“我们—人民，为建立一个更加完美的联邦的人民。”

　　221年前，在至今仍屹立于街对面的一个大厅里，一群人在那里集会，并用上述这些简单的文字，开始了一场几无可能的美利坚民主实验。这些农场主、学者、政治家和爱国人士为躲避暴政和迫害而穿越大洋来到美洲，并最终在1787年持续了整个春季的费城大会上使他们的独立宣言变为现实。

　　他们制定的这份文件虽最终获得签署，但并未彻底完成。它被这个国家的奴隶制原罪所玷污。在是否废除奴隶制这一问题上，各殖民地意见分歧，整个大会曾一度陷入僵局，最后联邦创建者们选择允许奴隶贸易再延续至少20年，并将这一问题留待后人最终解决。

　　当然，对奴隶制这一问题的答案已经深深植入了我们的《宪法》之中—《宪法》的核心就是公民依法享有平等的公民权；它承诺给予人民自由和公正，以及一个能够且应该随着时间推移而逐步完善起来的联邦。

　　然而，羊皮纸上的承诺并不足以使奴隶们摆脱制度的束缚，或使不同肤色、不同信仰的男女被赋予作为美利坚合众国公民应享有的一切权利和应承担的全部义务。还需要一代又一代美国人履行自己的职责—无论是通过街头和法庭上的抗议和斗争，还是通过内战和温和反抗，并始终冒着巨大风险，去缩小我们理想中的承诺与现实之间的差距。

　　这就是我们在竞选初期所提出的任务之一—继续前人的长征，继续为建立一个更加公正、平等、自由、有爱心和繁荣的美利坚长征。之所以选择在这一历史时刻竞选总统，是因为我深信，我们只有通过并肩努力才能解决我们这个时代的问题—只有通过进一步完善这个联邦，并且认识到我们的经历虽各不相同但都怀着共同的希望；我们可能相貌不同、来自不同的地方，但我们都想朝着同一个方向前进，只有这样，才能为我们的子孙创造一个更美好的未来。

　　这个信念源于我对美国人民的正统和慷慨坚信不疑，也源于我自己的美国故事。

　　我的父亲是肯尼亚黑人，母亲是堪萨斯州白人，而帮助他们将我抚养成人的是我的白人外祖父母。我的外祖父熬过了大萧条，第二次世界大战期间曾在巴顿将军的部队里服役。外祖父海外征战期间，外祖母则在莱文沃思堡的一条炮弹生产装配线上工作。我曾在美国一些最好的学校就读，也曾在世界上最贫穷的国家中生活过。我娶了一位美国黑人为妻，她身体里同时流淌着奴隶和奴隶主的血液—我们又将这条血脉传给了我们的两个宝贝女儿。我那种族各异、肤色也不尽相同的兄弟姐妹、叔舅甥侄们分散在世界三大洲。有生之年我都不会忘记，我的故事在地球上其他任何一个国家都不可能发生。

　　这个故事虽没有将我塑造成一位最符合传统的候选人，但它却将这样一个观念深深烙在了我的基因中，那就是这个国家不只是各部分的相加—而是真正意义上的合众为一。

　　在这次竞选的第一年里，与所有预言不同的是，我们看到了美国人民对团结一心这一理念的渴望。即便有人试图以纯粹种族的眼光来审视我参选一事，我们还是在这个国家的一些白人人口比例最高的州获得了重大胜利。在邦联旗帜依然飘扬的南卡罗来纳州，我们建立了一个由非裔美国人和美国白人组成的强大联盟。

　　但这也并不意味着种族问题在本次竞选活动中不足以成为问题。在不同的竞选阶段，一些评论员要么认为我“太黑”，要么认为我“不够黑”。我们看到，在南卡罗来纳州初选前一周里，紧张的种族关系问题还是浮出了水面。媒体也未放过每一次选后民意调查，以求发现不只是黑人和白人之间，还有黑人和棕色人种之间种族分化的最新证据。

　　但是，直到最近几周，本次竞选中关于种族的讨论才走到了一个极具分裂性的转折点。

　　在声音的一端，我们听到的是这样的暗示，称我的候选人资格是执行“平权措施”的结果，完全是出于天真的自由派欲廉价求得种族和解的意愿。而声音的另一端，则是我原来的牧师杰里迈亚·赖特用煽动性的语言来表达他的一些观点，而这些观点不仅可能扩大种族分裂，而且诋毁了我们国家的伟大和善良，并同时冒犯了白人和黑人。

　　我已明确地对赖特牧师引起争论的那些言论做出了谴责。然而，有些人依然对此疑虑重重。我以前是否知道他有时会对美国的内政外交进行猛烈抨击？我当然知道。我以前在教堂里有没有听过他发表有可能被视为具有争议性的观点？我当然听过。我是不是强烈反对他的政治观点？千真万确—正如我确信你们中很多人也都听到过你们的牧师、神父或拉比发表过你们不敢苟同的意见一样。

　　但最近引起轩然大波的言论绝不仅仅是有争议性而已，它也不单是一个宗教领袖对所见之不公正现象进行毫无保留的言语鞭笞，而是表达了对这个国家的一种极度扭曲的观点—它认为白人种族主义是美国特有的，并把美国的弊病置于我们所知的美国其他优点之上；这种观点还认为中东冲突的症结在于如以色列这样的坚定盟友所采取的行动，而不在于伊斯兰教极端分子乖张、仇恨的意识形态。

　　这样看来，赖特牧师的观点不只错误，还具有分裂性，而此时我们需要的却是团结；他的一些看法还充满了种族怨气，而我们此刻需要的却是同心协力地解决一系列重大问题—两场战争、恐怖主义威胁、衰退的经济、旷日持久的医保危机，以及极具破坏性的气候变化问题。这些问题不是黑人、白人、拉美裔人和亚裔人中任何一方的问题，而是我们大家共同面临的问题。

　　由于我的个人背景、政治经历、价值观和理想等原因，总会有一些人对我不依不饶。他们可能会问，为什么一开始要与赖特牧师交往？为什么不加入另一个教会？我承认，若我所了解的关于赖特牧师的一切仅限于电视或YouTube网站上那些翻来覆去播放的布道片段，若三一联合基督教会确实如某些评论员所讽刺、所描绘的那样，那么我必然也会做出大致相同的反应。

　　但事实却是，上述这些并不是我所认识的赖特的全部。20多年前与他初遇时，是他引我进入了基督教的信仰殿堂，教导我与众人互相关爱，教导我要尽到照顾病人、扶助穷困的责任。他曾加入海军陆战队为这个国家服役，曾在这个国家的一些精英学府和神学院中求学和讲学。他主持教会30多年，勤恳服务于邻里社区，在俗世之中传播上帝的福祉—收留无家可归的人、帮助缺衣少食的人、照管幼儿、奖励学生、教化犯人，还向艾滋病患者和病毒感染者伸出援手。

　　在我的第一本书《父亲的梦想》里，我这样描述第一次在三一教会参加礼拜的情形：

　　人们开始呼喊、起身鼓掌、喝彩，这些声音如一阵疾风般将牧师的声音带上了房椽。在他那声简单地对“希望”的呼喊中，我仿佛听到了一些别的东西；在那个十字架的下方，在遍布于这个城市的成千座教堂里，我想象着，有多少普通黑人的故事与大卫和歌利亚、摩西和法老、狮穴里的基督徒和以西结①看到枯骨遍地的故事融合在一起。这些关于生存、自由和希望的故事成了我们的故事、我自己的故事；故事里抛洒的热血是我们的热血，洒下的眼泪是我们的眼泪；直至这样明媚的一天，这个黑人教堂仿佛成了一艘航船，满载着一个民族的故事驶向我们的后代、驶向一个更为广阔的世界。我们的苦难与成功立刻变得既独一无二又非常普遍，它们属于黑人，却又不仅属于黑人；在记录我们这段历程时，这些故事和歌曲得以让我们重拾往日记忆，一段我们无须为之感到羞耻的记忆—或许所有人都应去正视和珍惜它—然后，我们借此重建生活。

　　那就是我在三一教堂的经历。像全国各地其他以黑人信徒为主的教堂一样，三一教堂将黑人群体的各个阶层集合起来—有医生和靠福利度日的母亲，也有模范生和黑帮混混。和其他黑人教堂一样，三一教堂的礼拜充满了喧闹的笑声，时而掺杂一些粗俗的幽默，还有在不常来的人看来甚至难以接受的舞蹈、掌声、尖叫和大喊。教堂将美国黑人经历中的一切都包含其中，仁慈与残酷、绝顶的智慧与惊人的无知、奋斗与成功—是的，还有爱与辛酸以及偏见。

　　这或许可以更好地解释我与赖特牧师之间的关系。他也许并非完人，但他待我却如家人一般。他坚定了我的信念，主持了我的婚礼，还给我的孩子洗礼。在与他的对话中，我从未听到他对其他族裔发表过任何诋毁性的言论。在与白人的交往中，他从来都是以礼相待、以敬相交。他是个矛盾体—有好的一面也有不好的一面，这正如他多年勤恳服务的社区一样。

　　我若断绝与他的关系，就如同断绝与黑人族群的关系。与他断绝关系，就好比与我的白人外祖母断绝关系—她是一个抚养我长大、为我一再牺牲、爱我如同爱世上其他一切的女人，也是一个曾坦言惧怕在街头与她擦肩而过的黑人男子，并时常将那些让我厌倦的种族偏见言论挂在嘴边的女人。

　　这些人都是我的一部分，他们也是美国的一部分，是我深爱的这个国家的一部分。

　　有人会认为，这是企图对那些不可宽恕的言论进行辩护或开脱。但请你们相信我，事实并非如此。我想，或许政治上比较安全的做法就是将此事抛诸脑后，希望它随时间慢慢淡去。我们大可将赖特牧师视为一个思想怪异的人或煽动家，正像有人在听到杰拉尔丁·费拉罗最近发表的言论后，便认为她心中抱有根深蒂固的种族偏见一样，对他们嗤之以鼻。

　　但是，我认为种族问题在这个国家目前已到了不容忽视的地步了。否则，我们同样可能犯下赖特牧师在他那关于美国的、引起众怒的布道辞中所犯的错误—将消极面简单化、常规化、放大化到足以歪曲事实的程度。

　　事实是，过去几周中出现的一些言论和浮现出来的问题反映了这个国家种族问题的复杂性，而我们尚未将其真正解决—这也是亟待我们去完善的一方面。若我们将之搁置或干脆退缩回各自的角落，我们就永远无法走到一起，解决诸如医保、教育和就业之类的问题。

　　要了解这一现实，还须认清我们是如何走进今日这样的窘境之中的。威廉·福克纳曾写道：“过去并未死去也没有被埋葬。实际上，它根本就还没有过去。”我们无须去复述这个国家种族歧视的历史，但我们必须提醒自己，今日非裔美国人群体中存在的众多不公正现象可直接追溯到奴隶制和“吉姆·克劳法”①时期一代代谬种流传的不平等。

　　实行种族隔离的学校过去是、如今仍是劣等学校。在布朗诉教育理事会案50年后的今天，我们还未真正整顿过这些学校。它们提供的劣等教育，无论是当年还是如今，都解释了为何今天的黑人学生和白人学生之间普遍存在成绩差距。

　　合法化的歧视—如常常通过暴力手段禁止黑人拥有财产、不向非裔美国企业主发放贷款、黑人家庭买房无法享受联邦住宅管理局抵押贷款，或将黑人排斥在工会、警队或消防队之外—意味着黑人家庭将无法积累起一定量的财富传之后代。这段历史解释了为什么黑人和白人之间存在财富和收入差距，以及如今众多城乡社区中一些地区的贫困痼疾。

　　黑人男子缺少工作机会的现状，以及因不能支持家庭生活而产生的羞耻感和挫败感，加剧了黑人家庭所承受的冲击—而政府多年来的福利政策将该问题进一步恶化。众多城市黑人社区面临着基础服务的匮乏—儿童乐园、巡警、定期垃圾回收以及强制建筑标准—所有这一切导致了我们无法摆脱的暴力、破坏和忽视的恶性循环。

　　赖特牧师和他同时的非裔美国人正是在这样的环境中长大的。他们于20世纪50年代末、60年代初的时候成年，当时这边土地仍旧实行种族隔离政策，他们能获得的机会在制度上受到了限制。然而，值得注意的并不是有多少人在种族歧视压力面前失败，而是有多少人克服了重重困难、在毫无出路的绝境中努力为像我这样的后来人开辟出一条道路来。

　　然而，纵使有一些美国黑人通过摸爬滚打最终小小成就了自己那份美国梦，可还有多少人无法实现自己的梦想—他们以这样或那样的方式被种族歧视这个敌人完全打败。失败的阴影在后代的生活中继续延续—年轻的黑人男子和越来越多的青年女子，或闲立街角，或在狱中消磨着自己的意志，对未来不抱任何希望和憧憬。即使是那些成功实现了美国梦的黑人，他们的世界观依然从根本上被种族和种族歧视问题所主导。对赖特牧师那一代黑人男女而言，屈辱、怀疑和恐惧的记忆并未从他们脑海中消散，而那段岁月里的愤怒和辛酸也仍旧难以忘却。他们也许不会在公开场合表达这种愤怒，也不会在白人同事或白人朋友面前宣泄。但在理发店里或茶余饭后，这种情感便找到了发泄的渠道。曾几何时，他们的这种愤怒被政客们加以利用，沿着种族界线来捞取选票，或用来掩盖政客自己的不足。

　　有时，我们还会在周日清晨的教堂礼拜上、讲坛上和做礼拜的人群中听到类似情感的宣泄。很多人在听到赖特牧师布道辞中的愤怒之声后大感惊讶，其实这不过是提醒我们注意这样一个事实，那就是在美国人的生活中，种族隔离意识最为强烈的时刻便是周日早晨这段时间。这种发泄其实无济于事，反而常常将我们的注意力从解决实际问题上转移开来；它让我们一直未能正视我们自己对此境况应负的责任，并妨碍了非裔美国人群体组成一个能带来真正变革的联盟。但是，这种愤怒之情是实际存在的，也是强烈的；仅仅希望它自行消失，或在未认清其根源之前对其加以谴责，只会不断拉大种族间误解的鸿沟。

　　事实上，类似的愤怒也存在于白人群体之中。劳工阶层和中产阶级中的很多美国白人都觉得自己并没有因身为白人而获得特权。他们的经历就是移民的经历—对他们而言，从未有人平白赠与过他们任何东西，他们靠的完全是白手起家。一生勤奋耕耘的他们，常常眼见工作机会流向海外或一生辛苦劳碌后的养老金缩水。他们为未来焦虑不已，感到梦想也正悄然远离；在这个薪酬停滞、全球竞争的时代，所谓机会也成了一场零和博弈—你的成功必然以我的失败为代价。所以，当他们得知自己的孩子必须坐着校车到外区上学；当他们听说非裔美国人在找工作或上大学时享受优待，原因是这些非裔美国人在历史上受过不公正的对待，而这种不公正却非现代白人之过；当他们得知自己对城区犯罪的忧虑有种族偏见之嫌，随着时间的推移，他们心中便产生了怨愤。

　　与黑人的愤怒一样，这些怨恨一般不在有礼貌的交往中显露出来，但它却塑造了延续至少一代人时间的美国政治形势。对福利政策和平权措施的不满催生出了“里根联盟”。政客们不断利用人们对犯罪活动的忧惧来捞取选票。脱口秀主持人和保守的时政评论员则一味地指责种族歧视一说有多么荒唐，同时认为关于种族不公和不平等问题的合理讨论只不过是政治正确或逆向歧视的表现。

　　正如黑人宣泄愤怒却常常适得其反一样，白人的这些怨恨也让他们忽视了导致中产阶级困境的罪魁祸首—充斥着内幕交易、令人生疑的财务行为和追求短期利益贪婪行为的企业文化，被政治说客和特殊利益集团占领的华盛顿，还有偏向少数人利益的经济政策。然而，祈求白人的怨恨自行消失或给他们贴上受人误导或种族主义者的标签，而未认识到他们忧虑的理由—这同样也会扩大种族隔阂，阻碍种族间达成相互理解。

　　这就是我们目前的处境，一个胶着多年的种族僵局。与一些批评我的人—无论黑人还是白人—所持观点相反的是，我从未如此天真地认为，因为一次选举或因为一个候选人—尤其是像我这样一个并不完美的候选人，我们就能使种族问题迎刃而解。

　　但是，我已坚定地表达了我的不渝信念—它植根于我对上帝的信仰和对美国人民的信心—携起手来我们才能治愈种族问题的一些痼疾，事实上，若想在完善联邦的道路上继续走下去，我们已别无选择。

　　对非裔美国人而言，这条道路意味着去坦然接受历史的包袱，而不要成为历史的受害者；还意味着要在美国生活的各个方面继续坚持实现全面公正。但这同样也意味着要将我们的委屈与不满（如要求更好的医疗卫生条件、更好的教育、更好的工作）与全体美国人—欲努力打破职场限制的白人妇女、失业的白人男子和为养家糊口而打拼的移民—更大的追求结合在一起；意味着我们要对自己的生活负责—要求做父亲的尽更多的义务，花更多时间与孩子相处，给他们读书，教导他们在面对挑战和歧视时，绝不要屈服于绝境或愤世嫉俗，必须永远坚信自己可以书写自己的命运。

　　具有讽刺意味的是，自立自助这个美国经典、保守主义的信条，也常常在赖特牧师的布道中体现出来。但我的老牧师往往忽略了一点，自立自助必须建立在这样一个信念之上，那就是相信社会可以变革。

　　赖特布道中最深层次的错误，不是他指出了社会上的种族歧视问题，而是在他看来，我们这个社会是停滞不前的，没有取得过任何进步；这个国家—一个能够让其教众之一竞选这片土地上的最高公职，并建立一个由白人和黑人、拉美裔人和亚裔人以及贫富老幼组成的联邦国家—注定无法走出悲剧的过去。但我们所知道并目睹的是，美国可以改变。这才是这个国家的真正本质。我们已经取得的成就赋予我们希望—以及敢于希望的勇气—去成就我们将来有能力成就并且必须成就的事业。

　　对白人而言，塑造一个更加完美的合众国意味着要承认困扰着非裔美国人的那些问题并非他们自行臆造；种族歧视的流毒和当前发生的歧视事件—虽然不像以前那样明显—是真实存在的，而且必须得到解决。要解决它不能仅仅停留在口头上，而要实际行动起来—加大对学校和社区的投入；严格执行民权法律，确保刑事司法体系的公正；向这一代人提供更多前人所无法企及的发展机会。要让所有美国人都意识到，你的成功并不一定要建立在我的失败之上；对健康、福利以及各种族儿童教育问题上做出的投资，最终都将促进美国的繁荣昌盛。

　　最终我们所呼吁的，正是世界上所有伟大宗教要求的那样—你们愿意别人怎样对待你们，你们也要怎样对待别人。《圣经》教导我们要成为兄弟的守护者，那就让我们也成为姐妹的守护者。让我们寻找彼此间的共同利益，并将该精神贯彻到我们的政治生活中去。

　　我们国家总是面临着选择。我们可以接受一种滋长分裂、冲突和愤世嫉俗态度的政治。我们可以将种族问题处理成一场如辛普森案那样的闹剧—或在悲剧发生后再来亡羊补牢，正如卡特里娜飓风来袭之后—又或者使之成为夜间新闻的谈资。我们可以在每个频道、每天都播放赖特牧师的布道，从此一直纠缠于他所讲的字字句句直至选举结束，使此次竞选活动只存在唯一一个话题，即美国人是否认为我对赖特极具冒犯性的言论表示认同或支持。我们可以对希拉里的某个支持者的失态大做文章，并由此指责她在打种族牌。或者，我们还可以猜测是不是全体白人男性选民都会不顾其具体政策而在大选中将票投给约翰·麦凯恩。

　　我们可以这么做。

　　倘若我们这么做了，我可以告诉你，下次选举中，我们又会开始讨论一些旁枝末节、无关紧要的问题，如此一而再、再而三，无穷无尽，而一切都得不到改变。

　　当然，那只是我们的一个选项。又或者，我们可以在此时此刻的选举中走到一起来，向世人宣告“这次再也不能这样了”。这一次，我们要谈谈每况愈下的学校，它们正在吞噬各族孩子的未来。这一次，我们要摒弃那种厌世嘲讽的态度，抛却那些认为这些孩子不可教、那些非我族裔的孩子是别人的问题的想法。美国的孩子们不应受到如此冷遇，他们是我们的孩子，我们不能让他们在21世纪的竞争中落伍。这一次，再不能这样。

　　这一次，我们要谈谈拥挤在急诊室里的白人、黑人和拉美裔人，他们没有医疗保险，仅凭自己的力量也无法与华盛顿特殊利益集团抗衡。但如若我们同心协力，他们便能与之好好较量一番。

　　这一次，我们要谈谈破败的工厂，它们曾一度让各种族的劳动者过上了体面的生活；还有那些抵押待售的房屋，曾几何时，它们属于来自各宗教、各地区和各行各业的美国民众。这一次，我们要谈谈这样一个事实，那就是，真正的问题不是那些与你相貌不同的人可能抢走你的饭碗，而是你所工作的公司把工作机会转移到海外，而其目的不过是追求利润而已。

　　这一次，我们要谈谈那些肤色不同、信仰各异的男女，他们在同一面令人骄傲的旗帜下，一起服役，一起战斗，一起流血。我们要谈谈怎样才能让他们从一场本不该批准和发动的战争中回家，我们还想谈谈怎样通过关爱他们和他们的家人，以及给予他们应得的待遇，来体现我们的爱国主义。

　　若非完全相信这是大多数美国人对这个国家发出的心声，我便不会参加此次总统竞选。这个联邦可能永远无法成就完美，但多少年来的经验却证明了它总能获得改善。如今，每当我对这种可能性表示怀疑或不屑的时候，年轻的一代人给了我最多的希望—他们的态度、信念和对变革的包容已经在这次选举中创造了历史。

　　今天，我想给大家带来一个特别的故事—在马丁·路德·金博士诞辰那天，我有幸在其生前主持的亚特兰大埃比尼泽浸礼会教堂讲过这个故事。

　　有这样一位23岁的年轻白人女士，名叫阿什利·拜亚，她负责组织我们在南卡罗来纳州弗洛伦斯市的竞选活动。从竞选一开始，她便一直致力于将一个非裔美国人为主的社区组织起来。一天，她参加了一个圆桌讨论会，每一位与会者都轮流讲述了他们各自的经历以及他们到这里（参加助选）的原因。

　　阿什利说，她9岁那年，妈妈患上了癌症，因此很多天没能上班，结果被雇主开除，医疗保险也就此化为泡影。她们一家只能申请破产，而正是在这个时候，阿什利决定要帮自己的妈妈做些事情。

　　她知道全家在食物方面开销最大，于是阿什利让妈妈相信，她真正喜欢吃的、最想吃的就是芥末泡菜三明治，因为这样吃最便宜。

　　阿什利就这么吃了一年，直至妈妈身体见好。她告诉参加讨论的每一个人，她之所以加入我们的助选活动，是因为她能通过这种方式来为这个国家许许多多想要并需要帮父母做点事情的孩子们提供帮助。

　　阿什利本可以做出一个不同的选择。也许有人曾不断告诉她，她母亲的问题源于那些靠福利维生、懒惰而不愿劳作的黑人，或是非法入境的拉美裔人。但阿什利并没有听信这些，而是选择与大家联合起来，与不公正现象做斗争。

　　阿什利讲完了她的故事之后，又挨个儿问房间里每一个人支持竞选的原因。大家都有不同的故事和理由，很多人都谈到了具体的事情。最后，轮到了一位黑人老者，他一直默默坐在一旁，没有什么言语。阿什利问他为什么来这儿，他没有讲述什么具体的故事，没有说到医保或经济方面的原因，没谈起教育或战争问题，也不是因为巴拉克·奥巴马。他只是告诉在场的每一个人：“我来这儿是因为阿什利。”

　　“我来这儿是因为阿什利。”单就这句话而言，这个年轻白人姑娘和一个年长的黑人男子之间那一刻达成的认同还无法改变什么。它还不足以为病弱者解决医保问题，为失业者找到工作，或为孩子们提供教育机会。

　　但它却是我们的新起点，是我们这个联邦日益强大的起点。221年前，一群爱国志士在费城签署了那份宣言。而正如一代又一代美国人在这221年的历程中已经意识到的那样：这，就是走向完善的起点。

Hello, everybody! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. All right, everybody go ahead and have a seat. How is everybody doing today? (Applause.) How about Tim Spicer? (Applause.) I am here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we’ve got students tuning in from all across America, from kindergarten through 12th grade. And I am just so glad that all could join us today. And I want to thank Wakefield for being such an outstanding host. Give yourselves a big round of applause. (Applause.)
嗨，大家好！你们今天过得怎么样？我现在和弗吉尼亚州阿林顿郡韦克菲尔德高中的学生们在一起，全国各地也有从幼儿园到高三的众多学生们通过电视关注这里，我很高兴你们能共同分享这一时刻。

I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it’s your first day in a new school, so it’s understandable if you’re a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now — (applause) — with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you’re in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer and you could’ve stayed in bed just a little bit longer this morning.
我知道，对你们中的许多人来说，今天是开学的第一天，你们中的有一些刚刚进入幼儿园或升上初高中，对你们来说，这是在新学校的第一天，因此，假如你们感到有些紧张，那也是很正常的。我想也会有许多毕业班的学生们正自信满满地准备最后一年的冲刺。不过，我想无论你有多大、在读哪个年级，许多人都打心底里希望现在还在放暑假，以及今天不用那么早起床。

I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived overseas. I lived in Indonesia for a few years. And my mother, she didn’t have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school, but she thought it was important for me to keep up with an American education. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday. But because she had to go to work, the only time she could do it was at 4:30 in the morning.
我可以理解这份心情。小时候，我们家在印度尼西亚住过几年，而我妈妈没钱送我去其他美国孩子们上学的地方去读书，因此她决定自己给我上课——时间是每周一到周五的凌晨4点半。

Now, as you might imagine, I wasn’t too happy about getting up that early. And a lot of times, I’d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I’d complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and she’d say, “This is no picnic for me either, buster.” (Laughter.)
显然，我不怎么喜欢那么早就爬起来，很多时候，我就这么在厨房的桌子前睡着了。每当我埋怨的时候，我妈总会用同一副表情看着我说：“小鬼，你以为教你我就很轻松？”

So I know that some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I’m here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I’m here because I want to talk with you about your education and what’s expected of all of you in this new school year.
所以，我可以理解你们中的许多人对于开学还需要时间来调整和适应，但今天我站在这里，是为了和你们谈一些重要的事情。我要和你们谈一谈你们每个人的教育，以及在新的学年里，你们应当做些什么。

Now, I’ve given a lot of speeches about education. And I’ve talked about responsibility a lot.
我做过许多关于教育的讲话，也常常用到“责任”这个词。

I’ve talked about teachers’ responsibility for inspiring students and pushing you to learn.
我谈到过教师们有责任激励和启迪你们，督促你们学习。

I’ve talked about your parents’ responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and you get your homework done, and don’t spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with the Xbox.
我谈到过家长们有责任看管你们认真学习、完成作业，不要成天只会看电视或打游戏机。

I’ve talked a lot about your government’s responsibility for setting high standards, and supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren’t working, where students aren’t getting the opportunities that they deserve.
我也很多次谈到过政府有责任设定高标准严要求、协助老师和校长们的工作，改变在有些学校里学生得不到应有的学习机会的现状。

But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, the best schools in the world — and none of it will make a difference, none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities, unless you show up to those schools, unless you pay attention to those teachers, unless you listen to your parents and grandparents and other adults and put in the hard work it takes to succeed. That’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education.
但哪怕这一切都达到最好，哪怕我们有最尽职的教师、最好的家长、和最优秀的学校，假如你们不去履行自己的责任的话，那么这一切努力都会白费。——除非你每天准时去上学、除非你认真地听老师讲课、除非你把父母、长辈和其他大人们说的话放在心上、除非你肯付出成功所必需的努力，否则这一切都会失去意义。

I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself. Every single one of you has something that you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide.
而这就是我今天讲话的主题：对于自己的教育，你们中每一个人的责任。首先，我想谈谈你们对于自己有什么责任。你们中的每一个人都会有自己擅长的东西，每一个人都是有用之材，而发现自己的才能是什么，就是你们要对自己担起的责任。教育给你们提供了发现自己才能的机会。

Maybe you could be a great writer — maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper — but you might not know it until you write that English paper — that English class paper that’s assigned to you. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor — maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or the new medicine or vaccine — but you might not know it until you do your project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a senator or a Supreme Court justice — but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.
或许你能写出优美的文字——甚至有一天能让那些文字出现在书籍和报刊上——但假如不在英语课上经常练习写作，你不会发现自己有这样的天赋；或许你能成为一个发明家、创造家——甚至设计出像今天的iPhone一样流行的产品，或研制出新的药物与疫苗——但假如不在自然科学课程上做上几次实验，你不会知道自己有这样的天赋；或许你能成为一名议员或最高法院法官，但假如你不去加入什么学生会或参加几次辩论赛，你也不会发现自己的才能。

And no matter what you want to do with your life, I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You cannot drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to train for it and work for it and learn for it.
而且，我可以向你保证，不管你将来想要做什么，你都需要相应的教育。——你想当名医生、当名教师或当名警官？你想成为护士、成为建筑设计师、律师或军人？无论你选择哪一种职业，良好的教育都必不可少，这世上不存在不把书念完就能拿到好工作的美梦，任何工作，都需要你的汗水、训练与学习。

And this isn’t just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. The future of America depends on you. What you’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.
不仅仅对于你们个人的未来有重要意义，你们的教育如何也会对这个国家、乃至世界的未来产生重要影响。今天你们在学校中学习的内容，将会决定我们整个国家在未来迎接重大挑战时的表现。

You’ll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You’ll need the insights and critical-thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You’ll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.
你们需要在数理科学课程上学习的知识和技能，去治疗癌症、艾滋那样的疾病，和解决我们面临的能源问题与环境问题；你们需要在历史社科课程上培养出的观察力与判断力，来减轻和消除无家可归与贫困、犯罪问题和各种歧视，让这个国家变得更加公平和自由；你们需要在各类课程中逐渐累积和发展出来的创新意识和思维，去创业和建立新的公司与企业，来制造就业机会和推动经济的增长。

We need every single one of you to develop your talents and your skills and your intellect so you can help us old folks solve our most difficult problems. If you don’t do that — if you quit on school — you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country.
我们需要你们中的每一个人都培养和发展自己的天赋、技能和才智，来解决我们所面对的最困难的问题。假如你不这么做——假如你放弃学习——那么你不仅是放弃了自己，也是放弃了你的国家。

Now, I know it’s not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.
当然，我明白，读好书并不总是件容易的事。我知道你们中的许多人在生活中面临着各种各样的问题，很难把精力集中在专心读书之上。

I get it. I know what it’s like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mom who had to work and who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn’t always able to give us the things that other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and I felt like I didn’t fit in.
我知道你们的感受。我父亲在我两岁时就离开了家庭，是母亲一人将我们拉扯大，有时她付不起帐单，有时我们得不到其他孩子们都有的东西，有时我会想，假如父亲在该多好，有时我会感到孤独无助，与周围的环境格格不入。

So I wasn’t always as focused as I should have been on school, and I did some things I’m not proud of, and I got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse.
因此我并不总是能专心学习，我做过许多自己觉得丢脸的事情，也惹出过许多不该惹的麻烦，我的生活岌岌可危，随时可能急转直下。

But I was — I was lucky. I got a lot of second chances, and I had the opportunity to go to college and law school and follow my dreams. My wife, our First Lady Michelle Obama, she has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn’t have a lot of money. But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.
但我很幸运。我在许多事上都得到了重来的机会，我得到了去大学读法学院、实现自己梦想的机会。我的妻子——现在得叫她第一夫人米歇尔奥巴马了——也有着相似的人生故事，她的父母都没读过大学，也没有什么财产，但他们和她都辛勤工作，好让她有机会去这个国家最优秀的学校读书。

Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don’t have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job and there’s not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don’t feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren’t right.
你们中有些人可能没有这些有利条件，或许你的生活中没有能为你提供帮助和支持的长辈，或许你的某个家长没有工作、经济拮据，或许你住的社区不那么安全，或许你认识一些会对你产生不良影响的朋友，等等。

But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life — what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home — none of that is an excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude in school. That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. There is no excuse for not trying.
但归根结底，你的生活状况——你的长相、出身、经济条件、家庭氛围——都不是疏忽学业和态度恶劣的借口，这些不是你去跟老师顶嘴、逃课、或是辍学的借口，这些不是你不好好读书的借口。

Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you, because here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future.
你的未来，并不取决于你现在的生活有多好或多坏。没有人为你编排好你的命运，在美国，你的命运由你自己书写，你的未来由你自己掌握。

That’s what young people like you are doing every day, all across America.
而在这片土地上的每个地方，千千万万和你一样的年轻人正是这样在书写着自己的命运。

Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn’t speak English when she first started school. Neither of her parents had gone to college. But she worked hard, earned good grades, and got a scholarship to Brown University — is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to becoming Dr. Jazmin Perez.
例如德克萨斯州罗马市的贾斯敏佩雷兹（Jazmin Perez）。刚进学校时，她根本不会说英语，她住的地方几乎没人上过大学，她的父母也没有受过高等教育，但她努力学习，取得了优异的成绩，靠奖学金进入了布朗大学，如今正在攻读公共卫生专业的博士学位。

I’m thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who’s fought brain cancer since he was three. He’s had to endure all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer — hundreds of extra hours — to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind. He’s headed to college this fall.
我还想起了加利福尼亚州洛斯拉图斯市的安多尼舒尔兹（Andoni Schultz），他从三岁起就开始与脑癌病魔做斗争，他熬过了一次次治疗与手术——其中一次影响了他的记忆，因此他得花出比常人多几百个小时的时间来完成学业，但他从不曾落下自己的功课。这个秋天，他要开始在大学读书了。

And then there’s Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods in the city, she managed to get a job at a local health care center, start a program to keep young people out of gangs, and she’s on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.And Jazmin, Andoni, and Shantell aren’t any different from any of you. They face challenges in their lives just like you do. In some cases they’ve got it a lot worse off than many of you. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their lives, for their education, and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same.
又比如在我的家乡，伊利诺斯州芝加哥市，身为孤儿的香特尔史蒂夫（Shantell Steve）换过多次收养家庭，从小在治安很差的地区长大，但她努力争取到了在当地保健站工作的机会、发起了一个让青少年远离犯罪团伙的项目，很快，她也将以优异的成绩从中学毕业，去大学深造。贾斯敏、安多尼和香特尔与你们并没有什么不同。和你们一样，他们也在生活中遭遇各种各样的困难与问题，但他们拒绝放弃，他们选择为自己的教育担起责任、给自己定下奋斗的目标。我希望你们中的每一个人，都能做得到这些。

That’s why today I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education — and do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending some time each day reading a book. Maybe you’ll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you’ll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all young people deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you’ll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, by the way, I hope all of you are washing your hands a lot, and that you stay home from school when you don’t feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.
因此，在今天，我号召你们每一个人都为自己的教育定下一个目标——并在之后，尽自己的一切努力去实现它。你的目标可以很简单，像是完成作业、认真听讲或每天阅读——或许你打算参加一些课外活动，或在社区做些志愿工作；或许你决定为那些因为长相或出身等等原因而受嘲弄或欺负的孩子做主、维护他们的权益，因为你和我一样，认为每个孩子都应该能有一个安全的学习环境；或许你认为该学着更好的照顾自己，来为将来的学习做准备……当然，除此之外，我希望你们都多多洗手、感到身体不舒服的时候要多在家休息，免得大家在秋冬感冒高发季节都得流感。

But whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it. I know that sometimes you get that sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work — that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star. Chances are you’re not going to be any of those things.
不管你决定做什么，我都希望你能坚持到底，希望你能真的下定决心。我知道有些时候，电视上播放的节目会让你产生这样那样的错觉，似乎你不需要付出多大的努力就能腰缠万贯、功成名就——你会认为只要会唱rap、会打篮球或参加个什么真人秀节目就能坐享其成，但现实是，你几乎没有可能走上其中任何一条道路。

The truth is, being successful is hard. You won’t love every subject that you study. You won’t click with every teacher that you have. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right at this minute. And you won’t necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.
因为，成功是件难事。你不可能对要读的每门课程都兴趣盎然，你不可能和每名带课教师都相处顺利，你也不可能每次都遇上看起来和现实生活有关的作业。而且，并不是每件事，你都能在头一次尝试时获得成功。

That’s okay. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most failures. J.K. Rowling’s — who wrote Harry Potter — her first Harry Potter book was rejected 12 times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. He lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, “I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that’s why I succeed.
“但那没有关系。因为在这个世界上，最最成功的人们往往也经历过最多的失败。J.K.罗琳的第一本《哈利·波特》被出版商拒绝了十二次才最终出版；迈克尔·乔丹上高中时被学校的篮球队刷了下来，在他的职业生涯里，他输了几百场比赛、投失过几千次射篮，知道他是怎么说的吗？“我一生不停地失败、失败再失败，这就是我现在成功的原因。”

These people succeeded because they understood that you can’t let your failures define you — you have to let your failures teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently the next time. So if you get into trouble, that doesn’t mean you’re a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to act right. If you get a bad grade, that doesn’t mean you’re stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.
他们的成功，源于他们明白人不能让失败左右自己——而是要从中吸取经验。从失败中，你可以明白下一次自己可以做出怎样的改变；假如你惹了什么麻烦，那并不 说明你就是个捣蛋贵，而是在提醒你，在将来要对自己有更严格的要求；假如你考了个低分，那并不说明你就比别人笨，而是在告诉你，自己得在学习上花更多的时间。

No one’s born being good at all things. You become good at things through hard work. You’re not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don’t hit every note the first time you sing a song. You’ve got to practice. The same principle applies to your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right. You might have to read something a few times before you understand it. You definitely have to do a few drafts of a paper before it’s good enough to hand in.
没有哪一个人一生出来就擅长做什么事情的，只有努力才能培养出技能。任何人都不是在第一次接触一项体育运动时就成为校队的代表，任何人都不是在第一次唱一 首歌时就找准每一个音，一切都需要熟能生巧。对于学业也是一样，你或许要反复运算才能解出一道数学题的正确答案，你或许需要读一段文字好几遍才能理解它的意思，你或许得把论文改上好几次才能符合提交的标准。这都是很正常的。

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength because it shows you have the courage to admit when you don’t know something, and that then allows you to learn something new. So find an adult that you trust — a parent, a grandparent or teacher, a coach or a counselor — and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.
不要害怕提问。不要不敢向他人求助。——我每天都在这么做。求助并不是软弱的表现，恰恰相反，它说明你有勇气承认自己的不足、并愿意去学习新的知识。所以，有不懂时，就向大人们求助吧——找个你信得过的对象，例如父母、长辈、老师、教练或辅导员——让他们帮助你向目标前进。

And even when you’re struggling, even when you’re discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you, don’t ever give up on yourself, because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.
你要记住，哪怕你表现不好、哪怕你失去信心、哪怕你觉得身边的人都已经放弃了你——永远不要自己放弃自己。因为当你放弃自己的时候，你也放弃了自己的国家。

The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough. It’s about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.
美国不是一个人们遭遇困难就轻易放弃的国度，在这个国家，人们坚持到底、人们加倍努力，为了他们所热爱的国度，每一个人都尽着自己最大的努力，不会给自己留任何余地。

It’s the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and they founded this nation. Young people. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google and Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.
250年前，有一群和你们一样的学生，他们之后奋起努力、用一场革命最终造就了这个国家；75年前，有一群和你们一样的学生，他们之后战胜了大萧条、赢得 了二战；就在20年前，和你们一样的学生们，他们后来创立了Google、Twitter和Facebook，改变了我们人与人之间沟通的方式。

So today, I want to ask all of you, what’s your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a President who comes here in 20 or 50 or 100 years say about what all of you did for this country?
因此，今天我想要问你们，你们会做出什么样的贡献？你们将解决什么样的难题？你们能发现什么样的事物？二十、五十或百年之后，假如那时的美国总统也来做一次开学演讲的话，他会怎样描述你们对这个国家所做的一切？

Now, your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books and the equipment and the computers you need to learn. But you’ve got to do your part, too. So I expect all of you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don’t let us down. Don’t let your family down or your country down. Most of all, don’t let yourself down. Make us all proud.
你们的家长、你们的老师和我，每一个人都在尽最大的努力，确保你们都能得到应有的教育来回答这些问题。例如我正在努力为你们提供更安全的教室、更多的书籍、更先进的设施与计算机。但你们也要担起自己的责任。因此我要求你们在今年能够认真起来，我要求你们尽心地去做自己着手的每一件事，我要求你们每一个人都有所成就。请不要让我们失望——不要让你的家人、你的国家和你自己失望。你们要成为我们骄傲，我知道，你们一定可以做到。

Thank you very much, everybody. God bless you. God bless America. Thank you.
谢谢大家，上帝保佑你们，上帝保佑美国。

MR. OBAMA: Thank you. Thank you so much. Vice President Biden, Mr. Chief Justice, Members of the United States Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens:
谢谢，非常感谢大家。拜登副总统、首席大法官先生、国会议员们、尊敬的各位嘉宾、亲爱的公民们。

Each time we gather to inaugurate a president, we bear witness to the enduring strength of our Constitution. We affirm the promise of our democracy. We recall that what binds this nation together is not the colors of our skin or the tenets of our faith or the origins of our names. What makes us exceptional – what makes us American – is our allegiance to an idea, articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago:
每一次我们集会庆祝总统就职都是在见证美国宪法的持久力量。我们都是在肯定美国民主的承诺。我们重申，将这个国家紧密联系在一起的不是我们的肤色，也不是 我们信仰的教条，更不是我们名字的来源。让我们与众不同，让我们成为美国人的是我们对于一种理念的恪守。200多年前，这一理念在一篇宣言中被清晰阐述：

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
“我们认为下述真理是不言而喻的，人人生而平等。造物主赋予他们若干不可剥夺的权利，包括生存、自由和追求幸福的权利。”

Today we continue a never-ending journey, to bridge the meaning of those words with the realities of our time. For history tells us that while these truths may be self-evident, they have never been self-executing; that while freedom is a gift from God, it must be secured by His people here on Earth. The patriots of 1776 did not fight to replace the tyranny of a king with the privileges of a few or the rule of a mob. They gave to us a Republic, a government of, and by, and for the people, entrusting each generation to keep safe our founding creed.
今天，我们继续着这一未竟的征程，架起这些理念与我们时代现实之间的桥梁。因为历史告诉我们，即便这些真理是不言而喻的，它们也从来不会自动生效。因为虽然自由是上帝赋予的礼物，但仍需要世间的子民去捍卫。1776年，美国的爱国先驱们不是只为了推翻国王的暴政而战，也不是为赢得少数人的特权，建立暴民的统治。先驱们留给我们一个共和国，一个民有、民治、民享的政府。他们委托每一代美国人捍卫我们的建国信条。

For more than two hundred years, we have.
在过去的200多年里，我们做到了。

Through blood drawn by lash and blood drawn by sword, we learned that no union founded on the principles of liberty and equality could survive half-slave and half-free. We made ourselves anew, and vowed to move forward together.
从奴役的血腥枷锁和刀剑的血光厮杀中我们懂得了，建立在自由与平等原则之上的联邦不能永远维持半奴隶和半自由的状态。我们赢得了新生，誓言共同前进。

Together, we determined that a modern economy requires railroads and highways to speed travel and commerce; schools and colleges to train our workers。
我们共同努力，建立起现代的经济体系。架设铁路与高速公路，加速了旅行和商业交流。建立学校与大学，培训我们的工人。

Together, we discovered that a free market only thrives when there are rules to ensure competition and fair play.
我们一起发现，自由市场的繁荣只能建立在保障竞争与公平竞争的原则之上。

Together, we resolved that a great nation must care for the vulnerable, and protect its people from life’s worst hazards and misfortune.
我们共同决定让这个伟大的国家远离危险，保护她的人民不受生命威胁和不幸的侵扰。

Through it all, we have never relinquished our skepticism of central authority, nor have we succumbed to the fiction that all society’s ills can be cured through government alone. Our celebration of initiative and enterprise; our insistence on hard work and personal responsibility, these are constants in our character.
一路走来，我们从未放弃对集权的质疑。我们同样不屈服于这一谎言：一切的社会弊端都能够只靠政府来解决。我们对积极向上与奋发进取的赞扬，我们对努力工作与个人责任的坚持，这些都是美国精神的基本要义。

But we have always understood that when times change, so must we; that fidelity to our founding principles requires new responses to new challenges; that preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action. For the American people can no more meet the demands of today’s world by acting alone than American soldiers could have met the forces of fascism or communism with muskets and militias. No single person can train all the math and science teachers we’ll need to equip our children for the future, or build the roads and networks and research labs that will bring new jobs and businesses to our shores. Now, more than ever, we must do these things together, as one nation, and one people.
我们也理解，时代在变化，我们同样需要变革。对建国精神的忠诚，需要我们肩负起新的责任，迎接新的挑战。保护我们的个人自由，最终需要所有人的共同努力。 因为美国人不能再独力迎接当今世界的挑战，正如美国士兵们不能再像先辈一样，用步枪和民兵同敌人(法西斯主义与共产主义)作战。一个人无法培训所有的数学 与科学老师，我们需要他们为了未来去教育孩子们。一个人无法建设道路、铺设网络、建立实验室来为国内带来新的工作岗位和商业机会。现在，与以往任何时候相比，我们都更需要团结合作。作为一个国家，一个民族团结起来。

This generation of Americans has been tested by crisis that steeled our resolve and proved our resilience. A decade of war is now ending. An economic recovery has begun. America’s possibilities are limitless, for we possess all the qualities that this world without boundaries demands: youth and drive; diversity and openness; an endless capacity for risk and a gift for reinvention. My fellow Americans, we are made for this moment, and we will seize it – so long as we seize it together.
这一代美国人经历了危机的考验，经济危机坚定了我们的决心，证明了我们的恢复力。长达十年的战争正在结束，经济的复苏已经开始。美国的可能性是无限的，因为我们拥有当今没有边界的世界所需要的所有品质：年轻与活力、多样性与开放、无穷的冒险精神以及创造的天赋才能。我亲爱的同胞们，我们正是为此刻而生，我们更要在此刻团结一致，抓住当下的机会。

For we, the people, understand that our country cannot succeed when a shrinking few do very well and a growing many barely make it. We believe that America’s prosperity must rest upon the broad shoulders of a rising middle class. We know that America thrives when every person can find independence and pride in their work; when the wages of honest labor liberate families from the brink of hardship. We are true to our creed when a little girl born into the bleakest poverty knows that she has the same chance to succeed as anybody else, because she is an American, she is free, and she is equal, not just in the eyes of God but also in our own.
因为我们，美国人民，清楚如果只有不断萎缩的少数人群体获得成功，而大多数人不能成功，我们的国家就无法成功。我们相信，美国的繁荣必须建立在不断上升的中产阶级的宽阔臂膀之上，我们知道美国的繁荣只有这样才能实现。只有当每个人都能找到工作中的自立与自豪时才能实现。只有当诚实劳动获得的薪水足够让家庭 摆脱困苦的悬崖时才能实现。我们忠诚于我们的事业，保证让一个出生于最贫穷环境中的小女孩都能知道，她有同其他所有人一样的成功机会。因为她是一个美国人，她是自由的、平等的。她的自由平等不仅由上帝来见证，更由我们亲手保护。

We understand that outworn programs are inadequate to the needs of our time. We must harness new ideas and technology to remake our government, revamp our tax code, reform our schools, and empower our citizens with the skills they need to work harder, learn more, and reach higher. But while the means will change, our purpose endures: a nation that rewards the effort and determination of every single American. That is what this moment requires. That is what will give real meaning to our creed.
我们知道，我们已然陈旧的程序不足以满足时代的需要。我们必须应用新理念和新技术重塑我们的政府，改进我们的税法，改革我们的学校，让我们的公民拥有他们所需要的技能，更加努力地工作，学更多的知识，向更高处发展。这意味着变革，我们的目标是：国家可以奖励每个美国人的努力和果断。这是现在需要的。这将给我们的信条赋予真正的意义。

We, the people, still believe that every citizen deserves a basic measure of security and dignity. We must make the hard choices to reduce the cost of health care and the size of our deficit. But we reject the belief that America must choose between caring for the generation that built this country and investing in the generation that will build its future. For we remember the lessons of our past, when twilight years were spent in poverty, and parents of a child with a disability had nowhere to turn. We do not believe that in this country, freedom is reserved for the lucky, or happiness for the few. We recognize that no matter how responsibly we live our lives, any one of us, at any time, may face a job loss, or a sudden illness, or a home swept away in a terrible storm. The commitments we make to each other – through Medicare, and Medicaid, and Social Security – these things do not sap our initiative; they strengthen us. They do not make us a nation of takers; they free us to take the risks that make this country great.
我们，人民，仍然认为，每个公民都应当获得基本的安全和尊严。我们必须做出艰难抉择，降低医疗成本，缩减赤字规模。但我们拒绝在照顾建设国家的这一代和投 资即将建设国家的下一代间做出选择。因为我们记得过去的教训：老年人的夕阳时光在贫困中度过，家有残障儿童的父母无处求助。我们相信，在这个国家，自由不只是那些幸运儿的专属，或者说幸福只属于少数人。我们知道，不管我们怎样负责任地生活，我们任何人在任何时候都可能面临失业、突发疾病或住房被可怕的飓风摧毁的风险。　我们通过医疗保险、联邦医疗补助计划、社会保障项目向每个人做出承诺，这些不会让我们的创造力衰竭，而是会让我们更强大。这些不会让我们成为充满不劳而获者的国度，这些让我们敢于承担风险，让国家伟大。

We, the people, still believe that our obligations as Americans are not just to ourselves, but to all posterity. We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations. Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires, and crippling drought, and more powerful storms. The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But America cannot resist this transition; we must lead it. We cannot cede to other nations the technology that will power new jobs and new industries – we must claim its promise. That is how we will maintain our economic vitality and our national treasure – our forests and waterways; our croplands and snowcapped peaks. That is how we will preserve our planet, commanded to our care by God. That’s what will lend meaning to the creed our fathers once declared.
我们，人民，仍然相信，我们作为美国人的义务不只是对我们自己而言，还包括对子孙后代。我们将应对气候变化的威胁，认识到不采取措施应对气候变化就是对我 们的孩子和后代的背叛。一些人可能仍在否定科学界的压倒性判断，但没有人能够避免熊熊火灾、严重旱灾、更强力风暴带来的灾难性打击。通向可再生能源利用的 道路是漫长的，有时是困难的。但美国不能抵制这种趋势，我们必须引领这种趋势。我们不能把制造新就业机会和新行业的技术让给其他国家，我们必须明确这一承 诺。这是我们保持经济活力和国家财富（我们的森林和航道，我们的农田与雪峰）的方法。这将是我们保护我们星球的办法，上帝把这个星球托付给我们。这将给我们的建国之父们曾宣布的信条赋予意义。

We, the people, still believe that enduring security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war. Our brave men and women in uniform, tempered by the flames of battle, are unmatched in skill and courage. Our citizens, seared by the memory of those we have lost, know too well the price that is paid for liberty. The knowledge of their sacrifice will keep us forever vigilant against those who would do us harm. But we are also heirs to those who won the peace and not just the war, who turned sworn enemies into the surest of friends, and we must carry those lessons into this time as well.
我们，人民，仍然相信持久的安全与和平，不需要持续的战争。我们勇敢的士兵经受了战火的考验，他们的技能和勇气是无可匹敌的。我们的公民依然铭记着那些阵亡者，他们非常清楚我们为自由付出的代价。明白他们的牺牲将让我们永远对那些试图伤害我们的势力保持警惕。但我们也是那些赢得和平而不只是战争的人们的后代，他们将仇敌转变成最可靠的朋友，我们也必须把这些经验带到这个时代。

We will defend our people and uphold our values through strength of arms and rule of law. We will show the courage to try and resolve our differences with other nations peacefully – not because we are naïve about the dangers we face, but because engagement can more durably lift suspicion and fear. America will remain the anchor of strong alliances in every corner of the globe; and we will renew those institutions that extend our capacity to manage crisis abroad, for no one has a greater stake in a peaceful world than its most powerful nation. We will support democracy from Asia to Africa; from the Americas to the Middle East, because our interests and our conscience compel us to act on behalf of those who long for freedom. And we must be a source of hope to the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the victims of prejudice – not out of mere charity, but because peace in our time requires the constant advance of those principles that our common creed describes: tolerance and opportunity; human dignity and justice.
我们将通过强大的军力和法制保护我们的人民，捍卫我们的价值观。我们将展现试图和平解决与其它国家分歧的勇气，但这不是因为我们对面临的危险持幼稚的态 度，而是因为接触能够更持久地化解疑虑和恐惧。美国将在全球保持强大的联盟，我们将更新这些能扩展我们应对海外危机能力的机制。因为作为世界上最强大的国家，我们在世界和平方面拥有最大的利益。我们将支持从亚洲到非洲、从美洲至中东的民主国家，因为我们的利益和良心驱使我们代表那些想获得自由的人们采取行 动。我们必须成为贫困者、病患者、被边缘化的人士、异见受害者的希望来源，不仅仅是出于慈善，也是因为这个时代的和平需要不断推进我们共同信念中的原则： 宽容和机遇，人类尊严与正义。

We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths – that all of us are created equal – is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone; to hear a King proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth.
我们，人民，今天昭示的最明白的事实是——我们所有人都是生而平等的，这是依然引领我们的恒星。它引领我们的先辈穿越纽约塞尼卡瀑布城（女权抗议事件）、 塞尔马（黑人权力事件）和石墙骚乱（同性恋与警察发生的暴力事件），引领着所有的男性和女性，留下姓名和没留姓名的人。在伟大的征程中，一路上留下足迹的 人。曾经听一位牧师说，我们不能独自前行。马丁-路德-金说，我们个人的自由与地球上每个灵魂的自由不可分割。

It is now our generation’s task to carry on what those pioneers began. For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers, and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts. Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law – for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well. Our journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote. Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity; until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country. Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for, and cherished, and always safe from harm.
继续先辈开创的事业是我们这代人的任务。直到我们的妻子、母亲和女儿的回报能够与她们的努力相称，我们的征途才会结束。我们的征途不会终结，我们要让同性恋的兄弟姐妹在法律之下得到与其他人同样的待遇。如果我们真正是生而平等的，那么我们对彼此的爱也应该是平等的。我们的征途没有结束，直到没有公民需要等待数个小时去行使投票权。我们的征途不会结束，直到我们找到更好的方法迎接努力、有憧憬的移民，他们依旧视美国是一块充满机会的土地。直到聪颖年轻的学生 和工程师为我们所用，而不是被逐出美国。我们的征途不会结束，直到我们所有的儿童，从底特律的街道到阿巴拉契亚的山岭，再到康涅狄格州纽镇安静的小巷，直到他们得到关心和珍视，永远避免受到伤害。

That is our generation’s task – to make these words, these rights, these values – of Life, and Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness – real for every American. Being true to our founding documents does not require us to agree on every contour of life; it does not mean we will all define liberty in exactly the same way, or follow the same precise path to happiness. Progress does not compel us to settle centuries-long debates about the role of government for all time – but it does require us to act in our time.
那是我们这一代的任务——让生存、自由和追求幸福的言语、权力和价值切实体现在每个美国人的身上。我们的立国根本没有要求我们将每个人的生活一致化。这并不意味着，我们会以完全一样的方式去定义自由，沿着同样的道路通向幸福。进步不会终止几个世纪以来一直纠结的关于政府角色的争论，但这要求我们现在就采取行动。

For now decisions are upon us, and we cannot afford delay. We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate. We must act, knowing that our work will be imperfect. We must act, knowing that today’s victories will be only partial, and that it will be up to those who stand here in four years, and forty years, and four hundred years hence to advance the timeless spirit once conferred to us in a spare Philadelphia hall.
目前是由我们决策，我们不能拖延。我们不能将绝对主义当作原则，或者以表象代替政治，或将中伤视作理性的辩论。我们必须行动，要意识到我们的工作并不完美。我们必须行动，意识到今天的胜利是并不完全的。这些将有赖于未来4年、40年或是400年致力于这项事业的人，去推进当年在费城制宪会议大厅传承给我们的永恒精神。

My fellow Americans, the oath I have sworn before you today, like the one recited by others who serve in this Capitol, was an oath to God and country, not party or faction – and we must faithfully execute that pledge during the duration of our service. But the words I spoke today are not so different from the oath that is taken each time a soldier signs up for duty, or an immigrant realizes her dream. My oath is not so different from the pledge we all make to the flag that waves above and that fills our hearts with pride.
我的美国同胞，我今天在你们面前宣读的誓词，如同在国会山服务的其他人曾宣读过的誓词一样，是对上帝和国家的誓词，不是对党派或是派别的，我们必须在任期 内忠实地履行这些承诺。但我今天宣读的誓词与士兵报名参军或者是移民实现梦想时所宣读的誓词没有多少差别。我的誓词与我们所有的人向我们头顶飘扬的、让我们心怀自豪的国旗所表达的誓言没有多大差别。

They are the words of citizens, and they represent our greatest hope.
这些是公民的誓词，代表着我们最伟大的希望。

You and I, as citizens, have the power to set this country’s course.
你和我，作为公民，都有为这个国家设定道路的权力。

You and I, as citizens, have the obligation to shape the debates of our time – not only with the votes we cast, but with the voices we lift in defense of our most ancient values and enduring ideals.
你和我，作为公民，有义务塑造我们时代的辩题，不仅是通过我们的选票，而且要为捍卫悠久的价值观和持久的理想发声。

Let each of us now embrace, with solemn duty and awesome joy, what is our lasting birthright. With common effort and common purpose, with passion and dedication, let us answer the call of history, and carry into an uncertain future that precious light of freedom.
现在让我们相互拥抱，怀着庄严的职责和无比的快乐，这是我们永恒的与生俱来的权利。有共同的努力和共同的目标，用热情与奉献，让我们回应历史的召唤，将珍贵的自由之光带入并不确定的未来。

Thank you, God Bless you, and may He forever bless these United States of America.
感谢你们，上帝保佑你们，愿上帝永远保佑美利坚合众国。

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you, General Caslen, for that introduction. General Trainor, General Clarke, faculty and staff at West Point, you have been outstanding stewards of this proud institution and outstanding mentors for the newest officers in the United States Army.
美国总统奥巴马：谢谢！非常感谢！谢谢！谢谢卡斯兰将军的介绍！特雷纳将军、克拉克将军、西点军校的教职工们，你们一直以来都是这所令人自豪的学府的优秀管理者，也是美国陆军新晋军官的杰出导师。

I’d like to acknowledge the Army’s leadership — General McHugh — Secretary McHugh, General Odierno, as well as Senator Jack Reed who is here and a proud graduate of West Point himself. To the class of 2014, I congratulate you on taking your place on the Long Gray Line.
我要向陆军领导层表示感谢，包括陆军部长麦克休将军以及参谋长奥迪耶诺将军，同时也要感谢到场的杰克-里德参议员，他是西点军校引以为荣的毕业生之一。2014级的毕业生们，祝贺你们承接了西点军魂的使命。

Among you is the first all-female command team: Erin Mauldin and Austen Boroff. In Calla Glavin, you have a Rhodes Scholar, and Josh Herbeck proves that West Point accuracy extends beyond the three point line. (Laughter.)
在你们当中，有美国首支女子指挥团队，包括艾琳-墨登和奥斯丁-波洛夫。卡拉-格莱文展现了一位罗兹学者的风采，而乔希-赫贝克则证明了西点的精准度远在三分线之外。（笑声）

To the entire class, let me reassure you in these final hours at West Point, as commander in chief, I hereby absolve all cadets who are on restriction for minor conduct offenses. (Laughter, applause.)
全体学员们，请安心度过你们在西点的最后时光，我以最高统帅的名义在此赦免所有因犯轻罪而关禁闭的学员。（笑声、掌声）

Let me just say that nobody ever did that for me when I was in school.
容我说一句，我当学生的时候，可从未有人这么做过。

I know you join me in extending a word of thanks to your families. Joe DeMoss, whose son James is graduating, spoke for a whole lot of parents when he wrote me a letter about the sacrifices you’ve made. “Deep inside,” he wrote, “we want to explode with pride at what they are committing to do in the service of our country.” Like several graduates, James is a combat veteran, and I would ask all of us here today to stand and pay tribute not only to the veterans among us, but to the more than 2.5 million Americans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as their families. (Applause.)
我知道，你们和我一样都要向自己的家人表示感谢。乔-狄摩斯是本届毕业生詹姆斯的父亲，他给我来信讲诉你们所作出的牺牲，也道出了许多父母的心声。他写道：“在我们的内心深处，我们为他们立志报效国家而感到无比自豪。”和多位毕业生一样，詹姆斯也是位战场老兵。我请今天在座的各位起立，向我们当中的老兵，也向250多万曾在伊拉克和阿富汗服役的美国人及其家属致敬。（掌声）

It is a particularly useful time for America to reflect on those who’ve sacrificed so much for our freedom, a few days after Memorial Day. You are the first class to graduate since 9/11 who may not be sent into combat in Iraq or Afghanistan. (Cheers, applause.)
这是继数天前阵亡将士纪念日后的又一个极有意义的时刻，让美国人民得以回想那些为我们的自由作出巨大牺牲的英雄。你们将是自911恐怖袭击以来，第一届不会被派到伊拉克或阿富汗参战的毕业生。（欢呼声、掌声）

When I first spoke at West Point in 2009, we still had more than 100,000 troops in Iraq. We were preparing to surge in Afghanistan. Our counterterrorism efforts were focused on al-Qaida’s core leadership — those who had carried out the 9/11 attacks. And our nation was just beginning a long climb out of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
2009年，我首次在西点发表演讲时，我们仍有10万多名士兵驻扎在伊拉克，也正准备增兵阿富汗。而我们的反恐重心则是基地组织的核心头目——正是他们发动了911恐怖袭击。此外，我们的国家正开始一段摆脱大萧条以来最严重经济危机的漫长历程。

Four and a half years later, as you graduate, the landscape has changed. We have removed our troops from Iraq. We are winding down our war in Afghanistan. Al-Qaida’s leadership on the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan has been decimated, and Osama bin Laden is no more. (Cheers, applause.) And through it all, we’ve refocused our investments in what has always been a key source of American strength: a growing economy that can provide opportunity for everybody who’s willing to work hard and take responsibility here at home.
四年半以后，就在你们毕业之际，情况已发生了转变。我们已从伊拉克撤军，正逐步结束阿富汗的战争。潜伏在巴基斯坦和阿富汗边境地区的基地组织头目已被斩草除根，而奥萨马-本-拉登也早已命丧黄泉。（欢呼声、掌声）在经历了这一切之后，我们又将关注重心调整到美国实力的重要源头上来，这个源头就是不断发展的经济，为每一个愿意努力工作并愿意承担起家国责任的人提供机会。

In fact, by most measures America has rarely been stronger relative to the rest of the world. Those who argue otherwise — who suggest that America is in decline or has seen its global leadership slip away — are either misreading history or engaged in partisan politics.
事实上，与世界上其他国家相比，美国在很多方面都处于强势地位。有些人持不同观点，他们认为美国正在衰弱或正失去世界的领导地位，这些人不是对历史存在误读，就是陷入了党派政治的泥潭。

Think about it. Our military has no peer. The odds of a direct threat against us by any nation are low, and do not come close to the dangers we faced during the Cold War. Meanwhile, our economy remains the most dynamic on Earth, our businesses the most innovative. Each year, we grow more energy independent. From Europe to Asia, we are the hub of alliances unrivaled in the history of nations.
你们想一想，我们的军队天下无敌，任何国家对我们构成直接威胁的几率极小，而且与我们在冷战时期所面临的危险相差甚远。同时，我们的经济活力仍居世界第一，企业的创新性也名列前茅。我们的能源独立性都在逐年增强。从欧洲到亚洲，我们是各国有史以来无人能敌的联盟轴心。

America continues to attract striving immigrants. The values of our founding inspire leaders in parliaments and new movements in public squares around the globe. And when a typhoon hits the Philippines, or schoolgirls are kidnapped in Nigeria, or masked men occupy a building in Ukraine, it is America that the world looks to for help. (Applause.) So the United States is and remains the one indispensable nation. That has been true for the century past, and it will be true for the century to come.
美国将继续吸纳奋发图强的外国移民。我们的建国理念激励着各国议会的领导人，也激励着世界各地在公共广场上发起的新运动。当台风袭击菲律宾的时候，当尼日利亚女学生遭到绑架的时候，当蒙面歹徒攻占乌克兰政府大楼的时候，全世界都翘首以待美国的援助之手。（掌声）因此，美国始终是一个无可取代的国家，上个世纪如此，下个世纪亦是如此。

But the world is changing with accelerating speed. This presents opportunity, but also new dangers. We know all too well, after 9/11, just how technology and globalization has put power once reserved for states in the hands of individuals, raising the capacity of terrorists to do harm.
但是，如今的世界瞬息万变。这为我们带来了机遇，也带来了新的危险。911恐怖袭击事件让我们清楚地认识到，科技和全球化发展是如何让原本由国家掌控的权力落入个人之手，令恐怖分子为非作歹的。

Russia’s aggression towards former Soviet states unnerves capitals in Europe while China’s economic rise and military reach worries its neighbors.
不久前，俄罗斯派兵入侵前苏联加盟共和国——乌克兰，这一军事动作牵动欧洲各国神经，与此同时，中国经济崛起及其军事走向则引发邻国担忧。

From Brazil to India, rising middle classes compete with us, and governments seek a greater say in global forums. And even as developing nations embrace democracy and market economies, 24-hour news and social media makes it impossible to ignore the continuation of sectarian conflicts, failing states and popular uprisings that might have received only passing notice a generation ago.
从巴西到印度，新兴中产阶级在与我们展开竞争，此外，各国谋求在国际事务中争取更多话语权。尽管发展中国家拥护民主、认同市场经济，但全天候新闻以及社交媒体报道使得人们无法对接连发生在这些国家的派系冲突、国家衰败与民众暴动等事件视而不见。然而，这些对于上一代人而言，只能引来他们的“侧目”罢了。

It will be your generation’s task to respond to this new world. The question we face, the question each of you will face, is not whether America will lead but how we will lead, not just to secure our peace and prosperity but also extend peace and prosperity around the globe.
如何能在新形势下有所作为的重担就要落在你们这一代的肩上了。摆在我们面前的问题，不是美国是否处在领导地位，而是她将如何引领各国；不只是美国能否实现繁荣发展，而是她如何能在全球范围内“播撒”和平与繁荣的“种子”，而这也是你们将来要面对的问题。

Now, this question isn’t new. At least since George Washington served as commander in chief, there have been those who warned against foreign entanglements that do not touch directly on our security or economic well-being.
这个问题并非新鲜。至少，自乔治-华盛顿就任总司令——即美国爆发独立战争以来，就存在一些警告的声音，表示反对美国卷入与本国国家安全或经济福祉无直接关联的外部纷争之中。

Today, according to self-described realists, conflicts in Syria or Ukraine or the Central African Republic are not ours to solve. And not surprisingly, after costly wars and continuing challenges here at home, that view is shared by many Americans.
现在，那些自诩为现实主义者的人认为，美国无需理会发生在叙利亚、乌克兰，以及中非共和国的冲突。的确，在经受了战争以及来自国内的多重挑战之后，这种观点为许多美国人所认同，这并不意外。

A different view, from interventionists from the left and right, says that we ignore these conflicts at our own peril, that America’s willingness to apply force around the world is the ultimate safeguard against chaos, and America’s failure to act in the face of Syrian brutality or Russian provocations not only violates our conscience, but invites escalating aggression in the future.
然而，干涉主义者对此持不同观点。他们认为，无视这些冲突最终会危及我们自身，美国在全球充当“世界警察”角色的意愿能 够最彻底地保卫世界安全，使其免于陷入混乱。而若美国对叙利亚的暴乱或俄罗斯的挑衅撒手不管、无所作为的话，那么这不仅违背我们的良心，也会使得这些行径 在未来愈演愈烈。

And each side can point to history to support its claims, but I believe neither view fully speaks to the demands of this moment. It is absolutely true that in the 21st century, American isolationism is not an option. We don’t have a choice to ignore what happens beyond our borders. If nuclear materials are not secure, that poses a danger to American citizens.
尽管双方的观点从历史角度看都成立，但我认为他们并没有充分反映当前形势下的需求。显然，对21世纪的美国而言，孤 立主义行不通。我们无法对发生在世界其他地区的事情漠然视之。例如，如果核燃料不安全，那么它就会威及美国人民的生命。

As the Syrian civil war spills across borders, the capacity of battle-hardened extremist groups to come after us only increases. Regional aggression that goes unchecked, whether in southern Ukraine or the South China Sea or anywhere else in the world, will ultimately impact our allies, and could draw in our military. We can’t ignore what happens beyond our boundaries.
随着叙利亚内战战火跨越边境，受战争洗礼的极端组织攻击美国的能力也在增强。地区冲突接踵而至，无论是在乌克兰南部地区、南海亦或是世界其他地方，如果我们对此坐视不管，最终这将危及美国盟友的利益，美军也会卷入其中。因此，我们必须时刻关注外界事态。

And beyond these narrow rationales, I believe we have a real stake — abiding self-interest — in making sure our children and our grandchildren grow up in a world where schoolgirls are not kidnapped; where individuals aren’t slaughtered because of tribe or faith or political belief.
此外，跳出这些狭隘的理论框架来看，我认为大家还存在着一个真正的共同关切——持久的个人利益，那就是要始终确保我们的子孙后代成长在这样一个世界当中，在那里，人们不会因为种族、信仰或政治理念的迥异而劫持女学生或滥杀无辜。

I believe that a world of greater freedom and tolerance is not only a moral imperative; it also helps keep us safe.
我认为，建设一个更加自由及包容的世界不仅在道德上势在必行，而且有助于维护我们自身安全。

But to say that we have an interest in pursuing peace and freedom beyond our borders is not to say that every problem has a military solution. Since World War II, some of our most costly mistakes came not from our restraint but from our willingness to rush into military adventures without thinking through the consequences, without building international support and legitimacy for our action, without leveling with the American people about the sacrifices required. Tough talk often draws headlines, but war rarely conforms to slogans. As General Eisenhower, someone with hard-earned knowledge on this subject, said at this ceremony in 1947, “War is mankind’s most tragic and stupid folly; to seek or advise its deliberate provocation is a black crime against all men.”
尽管我们有意向在全球倡导和平与自由，但这并不意味着我们要借助军事手段来解决每个问题。二战结束以来，我们所犯的那些严重的错误，皆源自我们倾向于以诉诸武力的方式来解决问题，而对后果考虑不周、缺乏国际支持及法律支持，也没有向美国人民交代他们需要作出的牺牲，以使他们心中有数。虽然强硬的表态时常占据报纸头条，但战争却很少与口号“步调一致”。正如对这个问题深有体会的艾森豪威尔将军（General Eisenhower），于1947年在西点军校毕业典礼上所说的那样：“战争是人类最悲惨、最愚笨的蠢行，无论是蓄意挑起战争，还是为其献计献策，这都是对全人类犯下的滔天罪行。”

Like Eisenhower, this generation of men and women in uniform know all too well the wages of war, and that includes those of you here at West Point. Four of the service members who stood in the audience when I announced the surge of our forces in Afghanistan gave their lives in that effort. A lot more were wounded.
与他一样，这一代的军人——无论男女，都对战争理解深刻。这其中也包括了你们西点毕业生。在我宣布增兵阿富汗时，听众当中的4名服役人员后来就在那里壮烈牺牲。此外，还有许多西点士兵受伤。

I believe America’s security demanded those deployments. But I am haunted by those deaths. I am haunted by those wounds. And I would betray my duty to you, and to the country we love, if I sent you into harm’s way simply because I saw a problem somewhere in the world that needed to be fixed, or because I was worried about critics who think military intervention is the only way for America to avoid looking weak.
我认为，出于维护美国国家安全的考虑，这些军事部署是很有必要的。但是，这些伤亡者的英魂和伤痛一直萦绕在我的脑海、令我难安。如果我将你们派上战场，仅仅是因为世界某地出现问题需要处理，或是担心批评家会将军事不作为视作是美国软弱的表现，那么，我就违背了自己对你们、对这个我们所爱国家的职责了。

Here’s my bottom line: America must always lead on the world stage. If we don’t, no one else will. The military that you have joined is, and always will be, the backbone of that leadership. But U.S. military action cannot be the only — or even primary — component of our leadership in every instance. Just because we have the best hammer does not mean that every problem is a nail.
我的底线是：美国必须在世界范围保持领导力。如果我们不能，没人能。你们所加入的美军，永远都是美国领导世界的中坚力量。但是美国的军事行动不是我们展现领导力的唯一方式，更不是主要部分。因为虽然我们有最好的锤子(美军)，但并不意味着每个问题都是钉子。

And because the costs associated with military action are so high, you should expect every civilian leader — and especially your commander in chief — to be clear about how that awesome power should be used. So let me spend the rest of my time describing my vision for how the United States of America, and our military, should lead in the years to come, for you will be part of that leadership.
因为军事行动代价极大，所以你们应该期望每个平民领袖——尤其是你们的总司令——清楚如何使用这一令人生畏的力量。所以，让我用剩下的时间来描述一下我的想法：关于美国和美军在未来几年应怎样领导世界，而你们将会成为领导世界力量的一部分。

First, let me repeat a principle I put forward at the outset of my presidency: The United States will use military force, unilaterally if necessary, when our core interests demand it — when our people are threatened; when our livelihoods are at stake; when the security of our allies is in danger.
首先，让我重申一下我在就任总统时提出的原则：当我们的核心利益需要的时候——我们的人民受到威胁、生计受到威胁、盟友的安全处于危险之中——如果有必要，美国将单方面使用军事力量。

In these circumstances, we still need to ask tough questions about whether our actions areproportional and effective and just. International opinion matters, but America should never ask permission to protect our people, our homeland or our way of life. (Applause.)
当然在这些情况下，我们仍然需要扪心自问，我们的行动是否合适有效公正。虽然国际舆论很重要，但是在保护我们的人民、祖国和生活方式这些问题上，美国不需要得到别人的许可。(掌声)

On the other hand, when issues of global concern do not pose a direct threat to the United States, when such issues are at stake, when crises arise that stir our conscience or push the world in a more dangerous direction but do not directly threaten us, then the threshold for military action must be higher. In such circumstances, we should not go it alone. Instead, we must mobilize allies and partners to take collective action. We have to broaden our tools to include diplomacy and development, sanctions and isolation, appeals to international law, and, if just, necessary and effective, multilateral military action. In such circumstances, we have to work with others because collective action in these circumstances is more likely to succeed, more likely to be sustained, less likely to lead to costly mistakes.
另一方面，当引起世界关注但没有直接威胁到美国利益的危机产生时，当这些问题亟待解决时，当能触动我们的良心或推动世界向更危险的方向发展但不对美国构成直接威胁的危机出现时，我们更不能轻易采取军事行动。在这种情况下，我们不应该单打独斗。相反，我们必须动员盟友和合作伙伴采取集体行动。我们应该广泛使用各种手段，包括外交和发展、制裁和孤立、诉诸于国际法，甚至在必要情况下采取多边军事行动。在这些情况下，我们必须与其他国家合作，因为集体行动更容易成功，持续性强，还可以减少代价惨痛的错误。”

This leads to my second point. For the foreseeable future, the most direct threat to America, at home and abroad, remains terrorism, but a strategy that involves invading every country that harbors terrorist networks is naive and unsustainable. I believe we must shift our counterterrorism strategy, drawing on the successes and shortcomings of our experience in Iraq and Afghanistan, to more effectively partner with countries where terrorist networks seek a foothold.
这引出了我的第二个观点。在可预见的未来，不管国内还是国外，对美国最直接的威胁仍是恐怖主义。但是，那种对每个包庇恐怖主义组织的国家都采取进攻手段的战略未免过于天真，也不可能长期进行。我认为，我们必须从伊拉克和阿富汗问题上汲取经验和教训，将美国打击恐怖主义的战略转变为与那些国内有恐怖组织基地的国家进行有效的伙伴合作。

And the need for a new strategy reflects the fact that today’s principal threat no longer comes from a centralized al-Qaida leadership. Instead it comes from decentralized al-Qaida affiliates and extremists, many with agendas focused in the countries where they operate. And this lessens the possibility of large-scale 9/11-style attacks against the homeland, but it heightens the danger of U.S. personnel overseas being attacked, as we saw in Benghazi. It heightens the danger to less defensible targets, as we saw in a shopping mall in Nairobi. So we have to develop a strategy that matches this diffuse threat, one that expands our reach without sending forces that stretch our military too thin or stir up local resentments.
并且，对新战略的需求反映出一个事实：今天我们主要的威胁不再是来自于基地组织的集中领导，而是来自分散的 “基地”组织分支机构和极端分子，其中很多都在他们从事活动的国家内进行活动。虽然这种情况降低了美国本土遭受大规模911式袭击的可能性，但是就像我们 在班加西（Benghazi）看到的那样，这会增加美国海外人员遇险的可能性。就像我们在内罗毕（Nairobi）购物商场看到的那样，这还会增加防备薄 弱目标遇险的可能性。因此，我们需要制定战略应对这种传播式的威胁，这一战略必须能够在不派遣军队、避免战线过长、避免引发当地不满情绪的前提下扩大我们 的影响力。

We need partners to fight terrorists alongside us. And empowering partners is a large part of what we have done and what we are currently doing in Afghanistan. Together with our allies, America struck huge blows against al-Qaida core and pushed back against an insurgency that threatened to overrun the country.
我们需要合作伙伴一起打击恐怖分子。我们在阿富汗已经完成和正在进行的工作，很大一部份是为了增进伙伴的自治能力。在 与盟友的共同努力下，美国给基地组织核心造成了沉重的打击，挫败了其试图颠覆国家的叛乱活动。

But sustaining this progress depends on the ability of Afghans to do the job. And that’s why we trained hundreds of thousands of Afghan soldiers and police. Earlier this spring, those forces — those Afghan forces — secured an election in which Afghans voted for the first democratic transfer of power in their history. And at the end of this year, a new Afghan president will be in office, and America’s combat mission will be over.
我们需要合作伙伴一起打击恐怖分子。我们在阿富汗已经完成和正在进行的工作，很大一部份是为了增进伙伴的自治能力。在与盟友 的共同努力下，美国给基地组织核心造成了沉重的打击，挫败了其试图颠覆国家的叛乱活动。

Now — (applause) — that was an enormous achievement made because of America’s armed forces. But as we move to a train and advise mission in Afghanistan, our reduced presence there allows us to more effectively address emerging threats in the Middle East and North Africa. So earlier this year I asked my national security team to develop a plan for a network of partnerships from South Asia to the Sahel.
现在——(掌声)——这就是美军取得的巨大成就。但是当我们在阿富汗的使命转向训练和顾问时，我们减少驻军以后可以更有效地应对中东和北非新出现的威胁。因此在今年早些时候，我让国家安全事务部门就南亚和萨赫勒地区的合作伙伴关系网制定了一个计划。

Today, as part of this effort, I am calling on Congress to support a new counterterrorism partnerships fund of up to $5 billion, which will allow us to train, build capacity and facilitate partner countries on the front lines. And these resources will give us flexibility to fulfill different missions, including training security forces in Yemen who’ve gone on the offensive against al-Qaida, supporting a multinational force to keep the peace in Somalia, working with European allies to train a functioning security force and border patrol in Libya and facilitating French operations in Mali.
今天，作为我们行动的一部分，我呼吁国会支持通过数额为50亿美元的新反恐合作基金，以帮助我们的同盟伙伴训练军队、提升能力、支援他们的前线。这些资金也让我们又更大的自由度完成各项任务。这些任务包括：为打击基地组织的也门政府训练安全部队以支持多国部队维护索马里地区和平，同欧洲盟友一起在利比亚训练出合格的安全部队和边防军，以及协助法国在马里的行动。

A critical focus of this effort will be the ongoing crisis in Syria. As frustrating as it is, there are no easy answers there, no military solution that can eliminate the terrible suffering anytime soon. As president, I made a decision that we should not put American troops into the middle of this increasingly sectarian civil war, and I believe that is the right decision. But that does not mean we shouldn’t help the Syrian people stand up against a dictator who bombs and starves his own people. And in helping those who fight for the right of all Syrians to choose their own future, we are also pushing back against the growing number of extremists who find safe haven in the chaos.
我们努力的重中之重是叙利亚危机。令人沮丧的是，解决这一危机没有捷径。军事行动不能立马消除当地人民的深重灾难。作为总统，我决定不派遣军队卷入这场愈演愈烈的宗派内战。我相信这是一个正确的决定。但是这并不意味着我们不去帮助叙利亚人民奋起反抗，反对杀害自己人民、让人民挨饿的独裁者。我们协助那些为了叙利亚人民能选择自己未来而奋斗的人，同时也积极打击在越来越多混乱之中找到避风港的极端分子。

So with the additional resources I’m announcing today, we will step up our efforts to support Syria’s neighbors — Jordan and Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq — as they contend with refugees and confront terrorists working across Syria’s borders. I will work with Congress to ramp up support for those in the Syrian opposition who offer the best alternative to terrorists and brutal dictators. And we will continue to coordinate with our friends and allies in Europe and the Arab World to push for a political resolution of this crisis and to make sure that those countries and not just the United States are contributing their fair share of support to the Syrian people.
有了今天我所宣布的资金，我们将会加大力度，支持约旦、黎巴嫩、土耳其、伊拉克这些叙利亚的邻国。因为他们得处理叙利亚边境的难民、并打击叙边境的恐怖活动。我将与国会一起，加大对叙利亚反对派的支持。他们是替代恐怖分子和残忍的独裁者管理叙利亚最好的选择。我们会继续与我们的朋友、欧洲盟友和阿拉伯世界一起合作，推进叙利亚危机的政治解决途径，以保证在支持叙利亚人民的努力中，并非仅有美国在做出努力，其他这些国家也都参与其中。

Let me make one final point about our efforts against terrorism. The partnerships I’ve described do not eliminate the need to take direct action when necessary to protect ourselves. When we have actionable intelligence, that’s what we do, through capture operations, like the one that brought a terrorist involved in the plot to bomb our embassies in 1998 to face justice, or drone strikes, like those we’ve carried out in Yemen and Somalia.
让我就我们在反恐上的努力最后说一点。我所描述的伙伴关系并不排除为了保护美国而采取直接行动的可能。只要我们有可靠的情报，我们就会采取行动，比如1998年在我们大使馆抓捕策划安放炸弹的恐怖分子的行动，又如我们在也门和索马里采取的无人机袭击。

There are times when those actions are necessary and we cannot hesitate to protect our people. But as I said last year, in taking direct action, we must uphold standards that reflect our values. That means taking strikes only when we face a continuing, imminent threat, and only where there is no certainty — there is near certainty of no civilian casualties, for our actions should meet a simple test: We must not create more enemies than we take off the battlefield.
有时我们必须马上采取行动，因为我们在保护国民方面决不能有半点犹豫。但就像我去年说的，采取直接行动时，我们也要坚守我们的价值观。这就意味着只有我们面临持续的或是眼前的威胁才会进行打击。在没有把握的时候，即便我们几乎能避免平民伤亡，我们的行动也必须达到一个简单的标准，那就是我们不能为了在战场上击毙敌人而树立更多的敌人。

I also believe we must be more transparent about both the basis of our counterterrorism actions and the manner in which they are carried out. We have to be able to explain them publicly, whether it is drone strikes or training partners. I will increasingly turn to our military to take the lead and provide information to the public about our efforts. Our intelligence community has done outstanding work and we have to continue to protect sources and methods, but when we cannot explain our efforts clearly and publicly, we face terrorist propaganda and international suspicion, we erode legitimacy with our partners and our people, and we reduce accountability in our own government.
我也相信我们必须在反恐行动的出发点和具体行动方式方面更为公开。不管是无人机打击或是训练盟友的军队，我们必 须向公众解释我们的行动。我将会要求美军带头，向公众提供与我们行动相关的信息。我们的情报机构工作出色，我们必须继续保护我们的信息来源和获取途径。但 如果我们不能清楚、公开地解释我们的行动，我们就会面对恐怖分子的大肆宣传和国际社会的质疑，就会在我们伙伴国和人民面前失去合法性，就会失去我们政府的 信誉。

And this issue of transparency is directly relevant to a third aspect of American leadership, and that is our effort to strengthen and enforce international order.
公开透明直接与美国领导地位的第三个方面相关，也就是我们强化国际秩序的努力。

After World War II, America had the wisdom to shape institutions to keep the peace and support human progress — from NATO and the United Nations, to the World Bank and IMF. These institutions are not perfect, but they have been a force multiplier. They reduce the need for unilateral American action and increase restraint among other nations.
二战之后，美国高瞻远瞩，设立了从北约、联合国到世界银行、国际货币组织一系列机构来维护人类和平、支持人类进步。这 些机构并不完美，但是他们将我们的力量放大了数倍。他们减少美国进行单边行动的需要，同时也增强了其他国家之间的制约能力。

Now, just as the world has changed, this architecture must change as well. At the height of the Cold War, President Kennedy spoke about the need for a peace based upon a gradual evolution in human institutions. And evolving these international institutions to meet the demands of today must be a critical part of American leadership.
现在，世界已经历巨变，这一框架也需改变。冷战时，肯尼迪总统曾谈到对于以人类机构逐渐改善为基础的和平的需要。对这些机构进行改进以达到今天的需求，是美国领导地位的重要一环。
Now, there are a lot of folks, a lot of skeptics who often downplay the effectiveness of multilateral action. For them, working through international institutions, like the U.N. or respecting international law, is a sign of weakness. I think they’re wrong. Let me offer just two examples why.
现在有许多人，也有许多质疑者经常贬低多边行动的有效性。对于他们而言，通过联合国这类的多边机构进行合作或者是尊重多边规则，是一种懦弱的表现。我认为他们错了。让我举两个例子来加以说明吧。

In Ukraine, Russia’s recent actions recall the days when Soviet tanks rolled into Eastern Europe. But this isn’t the Cold War. Our ability to shape world opinion helped isolate Russia right away. Because of American leadership, the world immediately condemned Russian actions, Europe and the G-7 joined with us to impose sanctions, NATO reinforced our commitment to Eastern European allies, the IMF is helping to stabilize Ukraine’s economy, OSCE monitors brought the eyes of the world to unstable parts of Ukraine.
俄罗斯最近在乌克兰的举动令我想起了苏联大批坦克开进东欧的情形。但是现在不是冷战时期。我们制造的国际舆论让俄罗斯在短时间内就被孤立。在美国的领导下，国际社会马上谴责俄罗斯的举动，欧洲和七国集团同我们一样对其实施制裁，北大西洋公约组织恪守我们对东盟的承诺，国际货币基金组织正在帮助稳定乌克兰的经济，欧洲安全和合作组织也在关注乌克兰不稳定地区的发展。

And this mobilization of world opinion and international institutions served as a counterweight to Russian propaganda and Russian troops on the border and armed militias in ski masks.
世界观点和国际机构立场的转变，可与俄罗斯的宣传、其边境的军队以及全副武装的士兵相抗衡。

This weekend, Ukrainians voted by the millions. Yesterday, I spoke to their next president. We don’t know how the situation will play out, and there will remain grave challenges ahead, but standing with our allies on behalf of international order, working with international institutions, has given a chance for the Ukrainian people to choose their future — without us firing a shot.
这周末，数百万的乌克兰公民会进行民主投票。昨天，我同他们下一届的总统进行了会谈。我们不知道情况会如何演变，前方也仍存在巨大的挑战，但是为了维护国际秩序，同我们的盟友一起，与国际组织进行合作，这给了乌克兰人民一个选择他们未来的机会一一这并不需要费一枪一弹。

Similarly, despite frequent warnings from the United States and Israel and others, the Iranian nuclear program steadily advanced for years. But at the beginning of my presidency, we built a coalition that imposed sanctions on the Iranian economy, while extending the hand of diplomacy to the Iranian government. And now we have an opportunity to resolve our differences peacefully. The odds of success are still long, and we reserve all options to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. But for the first time in a decade, we have a very real chance of achieving a breakthrough agreement, one that is more effective and durable than what we could have achieved through the use of force. And throughout these negotiations, it has been our willingness to work through multilateral channels that kept the world on our side.
类似的是，尽管美国、以色列及其他国家不断地对伊朗发出警告，伊朗核计划仍持续进行了好几年。在我担任总统职务初期，我们联合对伊朗的经济实行了制裁，但同时也帮助伊朗政府进行民主建设。现在我们有机会和平地解决我们的分歧。成功之路还十分漫长，我们要保留阻止伊朗获得核武器的各种手段。十年来我们第一次真正有机会达成一项突破性的协定，这比我们用武力达成协定来得更有效，效果也更持久。通过这些磋商，我们愿意通过多边途径让世界各国站在我们这一边。

The point is, this is American leadership. This is American strength.
重点是，这是在美国的领导下进行的。这是美国力量所在。

In each case, we built coalitions to respond to a specific challenge. Now we need to do more to strengthen the institutions that can anticipate and prevent problems from spreading.
对于不同的事件，我们会建立不同的联盟以应对不同的挑战。现在我们需要做更多来加强这些机构预测和预防问题扩散的能力。

For example, NATO is the strongest alliance the world has ever known but we’re now working with NATO allies to meet new missions both within Europe, where our eastern allies must be reassured, but also beyond Europe’s borders, where our NATO allies must pull their weight to counterterrorism and respond to failed states and train a network of partners.
比如，众所周知，北大西洋公约组织是世界上最强大的联盟之一，但是我们现在同它进行合作，以应对其在欧洲内部和其他 地区的新任务。在欧洲内部，我们的东部盟国必须获得保护。而在其他地区，我们北大西洋公约组织的盟国也必须有效地进行反恐活动，帮助失利的国家并培养我们 的伙伴国。

Likewise, the U.N. provides a platform to keep the peace in states torn apart by conflict. Now, we need to make sure that those nations who provide peacekeepers have the training and equipment to actually keep the peace so that we can prevent the type of killing we’ve seen in Congo and Sudan. We are going to deepen our investment in countries that support these peacekeeping missions because having other nations maintain order in their own neighborhoods lessens the need for us to put our own troops in harm’s way. It’s a smart investment. It’s the right way to lead. (Applause.)
同样地，联合国提供了一个平台，以维护那些因冲突而分裂的国家的和平。现在，我们需要确保那些提供了维和人员的 国家已接受了训练，配齐了装备，能够真正维护和平，这样我们就能防止我们在刚果和苏丹看到的那种杀戮。我们会加大对这些支持维和行动国家的投资。因为令其 他国家用自己的力量维持自己地盘的秩序，可以减少我们使用武力造成伤害的必要性。这是智慧的投资。这也是我们正确的领导之路。（掌声雷动）

Keep in mind, not all international norms relate directly to armed conflict. We have a serious problem with cyberattacks, which is why we’re working to shape and enforce rules of the road to secure our networks and our citizens. In the Asia Pacific, we’re supporting Southeast Asian nations as they negotiate a code of conduct with China on maritime disputes in the South China Sea, and we’re working to resolve these disputes through international law.
但是要记住，不是所有的国际准则都与军事冲突直接相关。我们面临着网络黑客攻击问题，这也是我们致力于实施和加强在网络中的行 为准则，以保护我们的互联网和我们的公民的原因。在亚太地区，我们支持东南亚国家同中国协商在中国南海海事纠纷中的行为准则，同时我们也支持通过国际法解 决这些纠纷。

That spirit of cooperation needs to energize the global effort to combat climate change, a creeping national security crisis that will help shape your time in uniform, as we are called on to respond to refugee flows and natural disasters, and conflicts over water and food, which is why, next year, I intend to make sure America is out front in putting together a global framework to preserve our planet.
我们需要用合作的精神激励全球努力应对气候变化，这是一个日益严重的国家安全危机，决定你们从军期间的整体形势。我们要 应对难民流动、自然灾害，水资源和食物的问题。这也是我下一年计划确保美国能够带头建立一个保护我们星球的全球框架的原因。

You see, American influence is always stronger when we lead by example. We cannot exempt ourselves from the rules that apply to everyone else. We can’t call on others to make commitments to combat climate change if a whole lot of our political leaders deny that it is taking place. We can’t try to resolve problems in the South China Sea when we have refused to make sure that the Law of the Sea Convention is ratified by the United States Senate, despite the fact that our top military leaders say the treaty advances our national security. That’s not leadership. That’s retreat. That’s not strength; that’s weakness. It would be utterly foreign to leaders like Roosevelt and Truman, Eisenhower and Kennedy.
大家知道，但凡美国以身说法，实现领导，美国的影响力就会加大。大家都普遍遵循的规则，我们不能不遵守；如果我们多数 领导人否认气候变化这一事实，我们也就无法号召大家齐心协力，共对气候变化。虽然我国军方高层领导人都认为《海洋法公约》的通过会提高我国的国家安全，但 如果我们无法确保美国参议院通过该公约，我们也就无法解决中国南海问题。这都不是领导，是退缩；不是强大，是软弱。这与罗斯福，杜鲁门，艾森豪威尔，肯尼 迪等领导人的风格截然相反。

I believe in American exceptionalism with every fiber of my being. But what makes us exceptional is not our ability to flout international norms and the rule of law; it is our willingness to affirm them through our actions.(Applause.)
我对美国例外主义深信不疑。但让我们例外的并不是美国通过实际行动重申国际准则与国际法，而是我们愿意通过实际行动彰显这些国际准则。（掌声）

And that’s why I will continue to push to close Gitmo, because American values and legal traditions do not permit the indefinite detention of people beyond our borders. (Applause.) That’s why we’re putting in place new restrictions on how America collects and uses intelligence — because we will have fewer partners and be less effective if a perception takes hold that we’re conducting surveillance against ordinary citizens. (Applause.) America does not simply stand for stability or the absence of conflict, no matter what the cost; we stand for the more lasting peace that can only come through opportunity and freedom for people everywhere — which brings me to the fourth and final element of American leadership: our willingness to act on behalf of human dignity.
这是我坚持推进关闭关塔那摩监狱的原因，美国价值观与法律传统不容许在美国境外无限期关押人员。（掌声）这是我们近来限制美国情报收集与使用方式的原因，如果美国一意孤行，继续监控普通民众的话，美国的合作伙伴势必会减少，效率势必会更为低下。（掌声）美国并不支持不惜任何代价维护稳定或消除冲突；我们支持拥护唯有机遇与自由可以为世界各国人民带来的更为持久的和平。这是我要谈的美国领导力量的第四个、也是最后一个要素，那就是我们愿为人类尊严而努力奋斗。

America’s support for democracy and human rights goes beyond idealism; it is a matter of national security. Democracies are our closest friends and are far less likely to go to war. Economies based on free and open markets perform better and become markets for our goods. Respect for human rights is an antidote to instability and the grievances that fuel violence and terror.
美国对民主与人权的主张胜过对理想主义的追求；这是关乎国家安全的大计。民主国家是美国最亲密的盟友，民主国家绝不可能走向战争。基于自由开放的经济体发挥着更加积极的作用，也逐渐成为我国产品的目的市场。尊重人权有利于改善动荡局势，缓和不满情绪，遏制暴力及恐怖的滋生。

A new century has brought no end to tyranny. In capitals around the globe — including, unfortunately, some of America’s partners — there has been a crackdown on civil society. The cancer of corruption has enriched too many governments and their cronies and enraged citizens from remote villages to iconic squares.
新世纪早已到来，暴政却还未终结。不幸地，在一些国家，包括美国的伙伴国家在内，镇压依然存在于公民社会中。腐败的毒瘤养富了政府官员及其裙带密友，但也激怒了全国各地的普通民众。

And watching these trends, or the violent upheavals in parts of the Arab world, it’s easy to be cynical. But remember that because of America’s efforts — because of American diplomacy and foreign assistance, as well as the sacrifices of our military — more people live under elected governments today than at any time in human history. Technology is empowering civil society in ways that no iron fist can control. New breakthroughs are lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. And even the upheaval of the Arab world reflects the rejection of an authoritarian order that was anything but stable, and now offers the long-term prospect of more responsive and effective governance.
想想这些现实潮流，想想阿拉伯世界的暴力动乱，我们很容易变得愤世嫉俗。但要记住，是美国的努力奋斗，美国的外交政策，美国的对外援助，还有美国军人的无私奉献，使得更多人在民选政府的管理之下安居乐业，这在历史上无可比拟。科技赋予公民社会更多权利，这也是铁臂金刚所控制不了的。得益于科技新突破，千百万人摆脱贫困。甚至是阿拉伯世界的动乱也反映了人们对动荡独裁秩序的摒弃，也产生了对一个更为有求必应的更有效率政府管理的长期愿景。

In countries like Egypt, we acknowledge that our relationship is anchored in security interests, from peace treaties to Israel to shared efforts against violent extremism. So we have not cut off cooperation with the new government, but we can and will persistently press for reforms that the Egyptian people have demanded.
在埃及这样的国家，我们承认从和平条约到与以色列共同对抗暴力极端主义等安全利益方面，我们的关系停滞不前。我们没有切断与埃及新政府的往来合作，但我们有能力，也会坚持推进埃及人民要求的各项改革措施。

And meanwhile, look at a country like Myanmar, which only a few years ago was an intractable dictatorship and hostile to the United States. Forty million people. Thanks to the enormous courage of the people in that country, and because we took the diplomatic initiative, American leadership, we have seen political reforms opening a once- closed society; a movement by Myanmar leadership away from partnership with North Korea in favor of engagement with America and our allies.
同时，再看看缅甸，仅仅几年前还是顽固独裁之地，还对美国持敌对态度。多亏四千万缅甸人的巨大勇气，多亏美国主动开启的外交之旅，多亏美国领导力量的共同作用，我们看到了可喜的政治变革，看到了一个曾经闭关的社会重新开放；缅甸领导人避与朝鲜合作，为的是实现与美国及美国同盟更好的交流往来。

We’re now supporting reform and badly needed national reconciliation through assistance and investment, through coaxing and, at times, public criticism. And progress there could be reversed, but if Myanmar succeeds we will have gained a new partner without having fired a shot — American leadership.
现在，通过投资援助、公开批评与感召劝服，我们支持缅甸改革、支持缅甸人民渴望的民族和解。发展进程可能会倒退逆转，如果不费一兵一卒，如果缅甸取得成功，我们也就多了个合作伙伴，这就是美国的领导力量。

In each of these cases, we should not expect change to happen overnight. That’s why we form alliances — not only with governments, but also with ordinary people. For unlike other nations, America is not afraid of individual empowerment. We are strengthened by it. We’re strengthened by civil society. We’re strengthened by a free press. We’re strengthened by striving entrepreneurs and small businesses. We’re strengthened by educational exchange and opportunity for all people and women and girls. That’s who we are. That’s what we represent. (Applause.)
任何时候我们不能指望改变一蹴而就。所以我们必须结盟，不仅与政府结盟，也与普通民众结成盟友。与其他国家不同，美国从不畏惧个人力量，而是从中汲取能量。公民社会，自由舆论，创业人才，小型企业，教育交流以及针对全社会面向妇女儿童敞开的机会之门无一不是我们的力量之源。这就是美国人，这才是美国梦。

I saw that through a trip to Africa last year, where American assistance has made possible the prospect of an AIDS-free generation, while helping Africans care themselves for their sick. We’re helping farmers get their products to market to feed populations once endangered by famine. We aim to double access to electricity in sub- Saharan Africa so people are connected to the promise of the global economy. And all this creates new partners and shrinks the space for terrorism and conflict.
去年的非洲之行让我看到美国向非洲伸出援手，治病救人，使得一代非洲人远离艾滋的愿景成为可能。我们帮助当地农民销售农产品，令倍受饥荒折磨的人们不再挨饿。我们为撒哈拉以南的非洲地区带去光明，让全球经济的累累硕果惠及当地百姓。如此一来，既催生了新的合作伙伴，也捣毁了恐怖主义与暴力冲突的温床。

Now, tragically, no American security operation can eradicate the threat posed by an extremist group like Boko Haram — the group that kidnapped those girls.
遗憾的是，目前美国安全行动还未能根除由极端组织带来的威胁，例如绑架女童的博科圣地（Boko Haram）。

And that’s we have to focus not just on rescuing those girls right away, but also on supporting Nigerian efforts to educate its youth. This should be one of the hard-earned lessons of Iraq and Afghanistan, where our military became the strongest advocate for diplomacy and development. They understood that foreign assistance is not an afterthought — something nice to do apart from our national defense, apart from our national security. It is part of what makes us strong.
我们要做的不仅是解救被困女童，还应支持尼日利亚发展青年教育事业。我们在伊拉克与阿富汗的宝贵经验表明美军已成为外交与发展最强劲的倡导者。战士们都明白对外援助并非事后诸葛亮，而是和国防及国土安全一样不可偏废的崇高事业。我们也因此变得强大。

Now, ultimately, global leadership requires us to see the world as it is, with all its danger and uncertainty. We have to be prepared for the worst, prepared for every contingency, but American leadership also requires us to see the world as it should be — a place where the aspirations of individual human beings really matters, where hopes and not just fears govern; where the truths written into our founding documents can steer the currents of history in the direction of justice. And we cannot do that without you.
现在，最后我要说引领全球的使命要求我们直视这个充满危险与动荡的世界。除了未雨绸缪，防患于未然，我们别无选择，但这并不妨碍我们勾画未来世界的蓝图——人人心怀希望，凡事不再畏惧，让写入宪章的真理引领我们在通往正义的大道上勇往直前。这一切就看你们的了。

Class of 2014, you have taken this time to prepare on the quiet banks of the Hudson. You leave this place to carry forward a legacy that no other military in human history can claim. You do so as part of a team that extends beyond your units or even our Armed Forces, for in the course of your service, you will work as a team with diplomats and development experts.
各位2014届毕业生，过去的你们是哈德逊河畔（西点军校所在地）的学子，而今后离开象牙塔的你们将承载这份荣耀延续美国军队的辉煌。作为部队的一员，每一位履行职责的你们终将汇聚成美国武装部队，因为在这一过程中，你们实际上是在同外交官与发展专家并肩作战。

You’ll get to know allies and train partners. And you will embody what it means for America to lead the world.
你们将结识盟友，培养搭档，用你们的实际行动告诉世界对美国来说领导世界意味着什么。

Next week I will go to Normandy to honor the men who stormed the beaches there. And while it’s hard for many Americans to comprehend the courage and sense of duty that guided those who boarded small ships, it’s familiar to you. At West Point, you define what it means to be a patriot.
下周，我将参加诺曼底登陆70周年纪念活动。尽管许多美国人难以对诺曼底号船员的魄力与责任感感同身受，但是你们可以。在西点军校，爱国者的形象由你们来塑造。

Three years ago Gavin White graduated from this academy. He then served in Afghanistan. Like the soldiers who came before him, Gavin was in a foreign land, helping people he’d never met, putting himself in harm’s way for the sake of his community and his family and the folks back home. Gavin lost one of his legs in an attack. I met him last year at Walter Reed. He was wounded but just as determined as the day that he arrived here at West Point. And he developed a simple goal. Today his sister Morgan will graduate. And true to his promise, Gavin will be there to stand and exchange salutes with her. (Cheers, applause.)
3年前，加文-怀特（Gavin White）从西点毕业，前往阿富汗服役。和每一位投身阿富汗前线的士兵一样，加文背井离乡，帮助素未谋面的当地人，为了军队，家人和美国人民的利益不辞劳苦。加文在一次战斗中不幸失去一条腿。去年我在沃尔特-里德(Walter Reed)陆军医疗中心见过他。尽管负了伤，他仍然像刚进西点时一样，不忘初心，并且立下另一个志愿。 今天，他的妹妹摩根（Morgan）也将从这里毕业。加文终于能够兑现当初的承诺，和妹妹互敬军礼。

We have been through a long season of war. We have faced trials that were not foreseen and we’ve seen divisions about how to move forward. But there is something in Gavin’s character, there is something in the American character, that will always triumph.
我们经历了战争的洗礼，经受过突如其来的考验，开辟出前进的道路。但是有一样东西烙在加文的骨子里，镌刻在美国人与生俱来的品质中，使得我们所向披靡。

Leaving here, you carry with you the respect of your fellow citizens. You will represent a nation with history and hope on our side. Your charge now is not only to protect our country, but to do what is right and just. As your commander in chief, I know you will. May God bless you. May God bless our men and women in uniform. And may God bless the United States of America. (Cheers, applause.)
你们心系祖国人民，离开西点。你们代表的是一个历经风雨，踌躇满志的美国。你们的使命不仅是保家卫国，更是伸张正义。身为最高统帅，我对你们充满信心。愿上帝保佑你们，保佑美国公民，保佑美利坚合众国。（欢呼，掌声）

On behalf of the great state of Illinois, crossroads of a nation, land of Lincoln, let me express my deep gratitude for the privilege of addressing this convention. Tonight is a particular honor for me because, let’s face it, my presence on this stage is pretty unlikely. My father was a foreign student, born and raised in a small village in Kenya. He grew up herding goats, went to school in a tin-roof shack. His father, my grandfather, was a cook, a domestic servant.
伟大的伊利诺伊州既是全国的交通枢纽，也是林肯的故乡，作为州代表，今天我将在大会致词，并为自己能有幸获此殊荣而倍感骄傲和自豪。今晚对我而言颇不寻常，我们得承认，我能站在这里本身就已意义非凡。我父亲是一个外国留学生，他原本生于肯尼亚的一个小村庄，并在那里长大成人。他小的时候还放过羊，上的学校简陋不堪，屋顶上仅有块铁皮来遮风挡雨。而他的父亲，也就是我的祖父，不过是个普通的厨子，还做过家佣。

But my grandfather had larger dreams for his son. Through hard work and perseverance my father got a scholarship to study in a magical place: America, which stood as a beacon of freedom and opportunity to so many who had come before. While studying here, my father met my mother. She was born in a town on the other side of the world, in Kansas. Her father worked on oil rigs and farms through most of the Depression. The day after Pearl Harbor he signed up for duty, joined Patton’s army and marched across Europe. Back home, my grandmother raised their baby and went to work on a bomber assembly line. After the war, they studied on the GI Bill, bought a house through FHA, and moved west in search of opportunity.
但祖父对父亲抱以厚望。凭借不懈的努力和坚忍不拔的毅力，父亲荣获赴美留学的机会，而且还拿到奖学金。美国这片神奇的土地，对于很多踏上这片国土的人而言，意味着自由和机遇。还在留学期间，父亲与母亲不期而遇。母亲来自完全不同的另一个世界，她生于堪萨斯的一个小镇。大萧条时期，外祖父为谋生计，曾在石油钻井打工，还曾在农场务农。日军偷袭珍珠港后的第二天，他就自愿应征入伍，在巴顿将军麾下，转战南北，横扫欧洲。在后方的家中，外祖母含辛茹苦，抚养子女，并在轰炸机装配线上找了份活计。战后，依据士兵福利法案, 他们通过联邦住宅管理局购置了一套房子，并举家西迁，谋求更大发展。

And they, too, had big dreams for their daughter, a common dream, born of two continents. My parents shared not only an improbable love; they shared an abiding faith in the possibilities of this nation. They would give me an African name, Barack, or “blessed,” believing that in a tolerant America your name is no barrier to success. They imagined me going to the best schools in the land, even though they weren’t rich, because in a generous America you don’t have to be rich to achieve your potential. They are both passed away now. Yet, I know that, on this night, they look down on me with pride.
他们对自己的女儿也寄予厚望，两家人虽然身在不同的非洲和美洲大陆，却有着共同的梦想。我的父母不仅不可思议地彼此相爱，而且还对这个国家有了不移的信念。他们赐予我一个非洲名字，巴拉克，意为“上天福佑”, 因为他们相信，在如此包容的国度中，这样的名字不应成为成功的羁绊。尽管他们生活并不宽裕，还是想方设法让我接受当地最好的教育，因为在这样一个富足的国度中，无论贫富贵贱，都同样有机会发展个人的潜力。现在他们都已不在人世，不过，我知道，他们的在天之灵，此时此刻正在骄傲地关注着我。

I stand here today, grateful for the diversity of my heritage, aware that my parents’ dreams live on in my precious daughters. I stand here knowing that my story is part of the larger American story, that I owe a debt to all of those who came before me, and that, in no other country on earth, is my story even possible. Tonight, we gather to affirm the greatness of our nation, not because of the height of our skyscrapers, or the power of our military, or the size of our economy. Our pride is based on a very simple premise, summed up in a declaration made over two hundred years ago, “We hold these truths to he self-evident, that all men are created equal. That they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
今天，我站在这里，对自己身上这种特殊的血统而心怀感激，而且我知道父母的梦想将在我的宝贝女儿身上继续延续；我站在这里，深知自己的经历只是千百万美国故事中的沧海一粟，更深知自己无法忘却那些更早踏上这片土地的先人，因为若不是在美国，我的故事无论如何都不可能发生。今夜，我们聚集一堂，再次证明这个国度的伟大之处，而这一切并不在于鳞次栉比的摩天大厦，也不在于傲视群雄的军备实力，更不在于稳健雄厚的经济实力。我们的自豪与荣耀来自一个非常简单的前提，两百多年前，它在一个著名的宣言中得以高度的概括：“我们认为以下真理不言而喻，人生来平等，造物主赐与他们以下不可剥夺的权利：生命、自由和对幸福的追求。”

That is the true genius of America, a faith in the simple dreams of its people, the insistence on small miracles. That we can tuck in our children at night and know they are fed and clothed and safe from harm. That we can say what we think, write what we think, without hearing a sudden knock on the door. That we can have an idea and start our own business without paying a bribe or hiring somebody’s son. That we can participate in the political process without fear of retribution, and that our votes will he counted - or at least, most of the time.
这才是真正的美国智慧，坚信自己的国民有着朴素无华的梦想， 坚信点滴的奇迹终会出现在身边。入夜，当我们为孩子掖好小被的同时，相信他们不会为衣食所累，不会为安全担忧。我们可以畅所欲言，无需担心不速之客会不请自来。我们有灵感，有想法，可以去实现，去创业，无须行贿或雇佣某些人物的子女作为筹码和条件。我们可以参政议政，不必担心打击报复，我们的选票至关重要，至少多数情况下，都是如此。

This year, in this election, we are called to reaffirm our values and commitments, to hold them against a hard reality and see how we are measuring up, to the legacy of our forbearers, and the promise of future generations. And fellow Americans - Democrats, Republicans, Independents - I say to you tonight: we have more work to do. More to do for the workers I met in Gale□□urg, Illinois, who are losing their union jobs at the Maytag plant that’s moving to Mexico, and now are having to compete with their own children for jobs that pay seven bucks an hour. More to do for the father I met who was losing his job and choking back tears, wondering how he would pay $4,500 a month for the drugs his son needs without the health benefits he counted on. More to do for the young woman in East St. Louis, and thousands more like her, who has the grades, has the drive, has the will, but doesn’t have the money to go to college.
在今年的选举中，特别重申了我们主张的价值和肩负的责任，以此来应对当下的艰难现实：并希望了解怎样才能更好秉承前辈的遗产，实现对子孙的承诺。诸位美国国民，无论你是民主党，还是共和党，抑或是无党派人士，今晚我想对大家说的是：我们需要作的事情还有很多很多，在伊利诺伊州盖尔斯堡(Galesburg), 由于Maytag洗衣机厂要迁至墨西哥，很多工人将失去工作，而现在唯一的选择就是和自己的子女一起竞争每小时7美元的低薪工作。我曾遇到一位强忍泪水的父亲，他也因此丢掉了工作，没有了经济来源，不知怎样才能为儿子支付得起每月4500美元的高昂医药费用，本可救命的医疗保险对他而言却遥不可及，我们应该为他们做点什么；在东圣路易斯市，有这样一个年轻女孩，她品学兼优，成绩出色，却因为没有钱，无法完成学业，与大学无缘，而像她这样的孩子还有千千万万，我们应该为他们做点什么。

Don’t get me wrong. The people I meet in small towns and big cities, in diners and office parks, they don’t expect government to solve all their problems. They know they have to work hard to get ahead and they want to. Go into the collar counties around Chicago, and people will tell you they don’t want their tax money wasted by a welfare agency or the Pentagon. Go into any inner city neighborhood, and folks will tell you that government alone can’t teach kids to learn. They know that parents have to parent, that children can’t achieve unless we raise their expectations and turn off the television sets and eradicate the slander that says a black youth with a book is acting white. No, people don’t expect government to solve all their problems. But they sense, deep in their bones, that with just a change in priorities, we can make sure that every child in America has a decent shot at life, and that the doors of opportunity remain open to all. They know we can do better. And they want that choice.
请正面理解我的意思。我在城市与乡镇，在餐厅和办公楼停车场，接触过很多民众，他们并不期待由政府出面，帮他们排忧解难。而是清楚地意识到，需要通过努力工作，去面对和解决所有的问题，而这也确实是他们真实的想法和愿望。走进芝加哥周边的城镇，大家会告诉你，希望自己辛苦缴纳的税款能够物尽其用，而不是让社会保障机构或五角大楼任意支配。走进市中心的街区，大家会告诉你，让孩子好好读书不能仅仅依靠政府的力量，父母也要尽职尽责，培养下一代，不让孩子整天沉溺于电视，对于黑人而言，更要和白人一样，让子女有接受教育的权利，而不是相反。人们并不是依赖政府来解决所有问题，但他们真诚地认为，只要政府把工作的重点有所调整，就可以使得每个孩子都能奋发图强，积极向上，让机遇大门向每个人敞开。他们深知，我们有能力做得更好，他们同样希望如此。

In this election, we offer that choice. Our party has chosen a man to lead us who embodies the best this country has to offer. That man is John Kerry. John Kerry understands the ideals of community, faith, and sacrifice, because they’ve defined his life. From his heroic service in Vietnam to his years as prosecutor and lieutenant governor, through two decades in the United States Senate, he has devoted himself to this country. Again and again, we’ve seen him make tough choices when easier ones were available. His values and his record affirm what is best in us.
在本次选举中，我们做出了这样的选择。民主党已选出一国之中品行最为高尚的人作为我们的领袖，带领大家实现这样的选择。他就是约翰•凯利, 他深刻地领悟了社区、信念和献身精神这些崇高的理想，因为这些铸就了他生命的全部。他曾在越南英勇作战，回国后出任过检察官和副州长，在美国参议院度过了20个春秋，把全部精力都投入到国家社稷大业之中。多少次，他面对艰难抉择，知难而上，不畏艰险，他的阅历和品行为我们树立了榜样。

John Kerry believes in an America where hard work is rewarded. So instead of offering tax breaks to companies shipping jobs overseas, he’ll offer them to companies creating jobs here at home. John Kerry believes in an America where all Americans can afford the same health coverage our politicians in Washington have for themselves. John Kerry believes in energy independence, so we aren’t held hostage to the profits of oil companies or the sabotage of foreign oil fields. John Kerry believes in the constitutional freedoms that have made our country the envy of the world, and he will never sacrifice our basic liberties nor use faith as a wedge to divide us. And John Kerry believes that in a dangerous world, war must be an option, but it should never he the first option.
约翰•凯利坚信，在美国，付出就会有回报，因此，对于那些在本土创造就业机会的公司，他会在税收上给与优惠，而将工作机会输送到海外的公司则不会享受到如此待遇。他坚信，美国应该实现标准的医疗保险，对普通百姓和华盛顿的政治家都一视同仁。他坚信能源自主的重要性，因此我们不会再因石油公司对利润的追求，或对国外油田的破坏而遭致威胁。他坚信美国应该成为世人艳羡的国度，因为国民的自由受到宪法的保护。他永远都不会让大家的基本自由受到影响，更不会以信仰为借口，来制造分裂。他还坚信当今世界的确存在危险因素，战争在所难免，但战争永远不会成为解决争端的首选。

A while back, I met a young man named Shamus at the VFW Hall in East Moline, Illinois. He was a good-looking kid, six-two or six-three, clear-eyed, with an easy smile. He told me he’d joined the Marines and was heading to Iraq the following week. As I listened to him explain why he’d enlisted, his absolute faith in our country and its leaders, his devotion to duty and service, I thought this young man was all any of us might hope for in a child. But then I asked myself: Are we serving Shamus as well as he was serving us?
前不久，在伊利诺伊州东莫林市的外战老兵俱乐部里，我偶遇一个年轻人，他叫沙莫斯，身高足有 2米，相貌英俊，目光清澈，笑容可掬。他说自己加入了海军陆战队, 一周后就将进驻伊拉克。当我听他讲述入伍的原因时，他讲到了对我们国家和领导人的绝对信赖，对军队的无上忠诚以及自身强烈的责任感，这让我感受到他身上具备的优良品质正是我们对子女的所有期待。然而，当我扪心自问：我们为他所做的一切，是否能与他的付出相当呢?

I thought of more than 900 service men and women, sons and daughters, husbands and wives, friends and neighbors, who will not be returning to their hometowns. I thought of families I had met who were struggling to get by without a loved one’s full income, or whose loved ones had returned with a limb missing or with nerves shattered, but who still lacked long-term health benefits because they were reservists. When we send our young men and women into harm’s way, we have a solemn obligation not to fudge the numbers or shade the truth about why they’re going, to care for their families while they’re gone, to tend to the soldiers upon their return, and to never ever go to war without enough troops to win the war, secure the peace, and earn the respect of the world.
我想到这次战争中已有900多名军人战死沙场，他们也有自己的家人和邻友，也许已是为人父母，还有年迈的双亲，却再也无法回到这些关爱他们的人身边。我想到自己遇到的那些家庭，他们或是要应对亲人阵亡，收入锐减所来的经济窘境，或是要面对肢体残缺的家人复原归来，甚至精神崩溃，却因其预备役军人的身份而无法享受长期的健康补贴，生活变得举步维艰。当这些可爱的年轻人舍身踏上征程，我们责无旁贷地要确认做出出兵决定的所有数据和理由确凿无误；我们责无旁贷地要替他们照顾好家人，而当他们荣归故里时，要关照他们的生活；当决定要介入战争、保卫和平和赢得世界的尊重之时，我们责无旁贷地要派驻足够数量的军队，以确保战士能凯旋而归。

Now let me be clear. We have real enemies in the world. These enemies must be found. They must be pursued and they must be defeated. John Kerry knows this. And just as Lieutenant Kerry did not hesitate to risk his life to protect the men who served with him in Vietnam, President Kerry will not hesitate one moment to use our military might to keep America safe and secure. John Kerry believes in America. And he knows it’s not enough for just some of us to prosper. For alongside our famous individualism, there’s another ingredient in the American saga.
请允许我阐明下述观点：在世界上，确实有人与我们为敌，我们必须找到他们，并予以坚决打击，获取胜利。约翰•凯利深知这一点，正如身为上尉的他在越南战场上出生入死，保护自己的下属一样，若他身为总统，也同样会义无反顾地运用军队的力量确保国家的安全。他对美国充满信心，而且深知仅有部分公民实现生活的富足还远远不够，而这要仰仗与我们闻名于世的个人主义相伴的另一种元素，正是因为它们，美国史册才熠熠生辉。

A belief that we are connected as one people. If there’s a child on the south side of Chicago who can’t read, that matters to me, even if it’s not my child. If there’s a senior citizen somewhere who can’t pay for her prescription and has to choose between medicine and the rent, that makes my life poorer, even if it’s not my grandmother. If there’s an Arab American family being rounded up without benefit of an attorney or due process, that threatens my civil liberties. It’s that fundamental belief - I am my brother’s keeper, I am my sister’s keeper - that makes this country work. It’s what allows us to pursue our individual dreams, yet still come together as a single American family. “E pluribus unum.” Out of many, one.
这就是我们作为一个民族荣辱与共的信仰。假如，芝加哥南部的一个孩子无法读书识字，即便他与我非亲非故，我也会心怀忐忑。如果有位老人因无法支付高昂的医疗费用，不得不在治病和租房之间痛苦抉择，即便她与我素未谋面，我也会如坐针毡，。假如，一个阿拉伯裔的美国家庭未经律师辩护，或诉讼程序就遭受不公正待遇，同样会让我寝食难安。正是这个基本信仰让这个国家发展到今天：我们都是一家人，我们都是兄弟姐妹。只有这样我们才能实现个人的梦想，才能成为一个美利坚大家庭。独木不成林，单弦不成音。

Yet even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes. Well, I say to them tonight, there’s not a liberal America and a conservative America - there’s the United States of America. There’s not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there’s the United States of America. The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I’ve got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don’t like federal agents poking around our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and have gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who supported it. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.
当我们在这里聚会的时候，也有人正准备分裂我们，那些操纵舆论的人和制作负面宣传的人，他们投身没有原则和不择手段的政治。今晚，我需要对这些人讲得是，美国人没有所谓自由和保守之分，世间只存在一个美利坚合众国。更没有所谓美国白人黑人之分，拉丁裔和亚裔之分，有的只是美利坚合众国一国的国民。有博学家愿意将我们的国家分成红蓝两色，红色代表共和党，蓝色代表民主党。但我想说得是即便在民主党中，我们也都信奉万能的主，我们不喜欢联邦的机构在共和党中间对我们的藏书指指点点， 我们在民主党中也有人执教少年棒球联盟，在共和党中也有同性恋朋友，有爱国人士支持伊拉克战争，也有爱国人士反对就伊出兵。我们都是一国之民，都效忠于伟大的星条旗，所有的人都热爱我们的祖国——美利坚合众国。

In the end, that’s what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope?
说到底，这才是本次选举的意义所在：我们所参与的政治应该是愤世嫉俗还是充满希望?

John Kerry calls on us to hope. John Edwards calls on us to hope. I’m not talking about blind optimism here - the almost willful ignorance that thinks unemployment will go away if we just don’t talk about it, or the health care crisis will solve itself if we just ignore it. No, I’m talking about something more substantial. It’s the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs; the hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores; the hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta; the hope of a millworker’s son who dares to defy the odds; the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too. The audacity of hope!
约翰•凯利号召我们要对未来满怀希望。这并不是说要盲目乐观。以为只要不谈论失业问题，这个问题就会自行消失；认为只要无视医疗危机的存在，它也会烟消云散。我所谈的是更为根本的问题。是因为存在希望，奴隶们围坐在火堆边，才会吟唱自由之歌；是因为存在希望才使得人们愿意远涉重洋，移民他乡；是因为希望，年轻的海军上尉才会在湄公河三角州勇敢的巡逻放哨，是因为希望，出身工人家庭的孩子才会敢于挑战自己的命运；是因为希望，我这个名字怪怪的瘦小子才相信美国这片热土上也有自己的容身之地。这就是无畏的希望。

In the end, that is God’s greatest gift to us, the bedrock of this nation; the belief in things not seen; the belief that there are better days ahead. I believe we can give our middle class relief and provide working families with a road to opportunity. I believe we can provide jobs to the jobless, homes to the homeless, and reclaim young people in cities across America from violence and despair. I believe that as we stand on the crossroads of history, we can make the right choices, and meet the challenges that face us. America!
最后，感谢上苍赐予我们最好的礼物，也就是这个国家赖以生存的基石，因为我们相信最好的东西尚未出现，更好的日子就在明天，我相信我们可以为中产阶级减负，让工人家庭走上希望之路，我相信我们可以为无业者创造就业机会，为无家可归者带来可以遮风挡雨的屋顶，让美国城市中年轻人从暴力和绝望的阴影中走出来。我相信今天的我们就站在历史的十字街头，我们可以做出正确的选择，迎接面临的挑战。

Tonight, if you feel the same energy I do, the same urgency I do, the same passion I do, the same hopefulness I do - if we do what we must do, then I have no doubt that all across the country, from Florida to Oregon, from Washington to Maine, th people will rise up in November, and John Kerry will be sworn in as president, and John Edwards will be sworn in as vice presidentm and this country will reclaim its promise, and out of this long political darkness a brighter day will come. Thank you and God bless you.
今晚，如果你我感同身受，有同样的力量、同样的急迫感、同样的冲动和同样的希望；如果我们都能行动起来，那么我相信，从佛罗里达到俄勒冈，从华盛顿到缅因州，全国人民将会在11月积极行动起来，使得 约翰•凯利、约翰•爱德华兹分别宣誓就任总统、副总统之职，而国家也将就此走出低谷、重振旗鼓。暗夜即将过去，黎明即将到来。谢谢大家，愿上帝保佑你们。