第一篇:克林顿中英文就职演讲稿
January 20, 1993
My fellow citizens :
Today we celebrate the mystery of American renewal.This ceremony is held in the depth of winter.But, by the words we speak and the faces we show the world, we force the spring.A spring reborn in the world's oldest democracy, that brings forth the vision and courage to reinvent America.When our founders boldly declared America's independence to the world and our purposes to the Almighty, they knew that America, to endure, would have to change.Not change for change's sake, but change to preserve
America's ideals;life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness.Though we march to the music of our time, our mission is timeless.Each generation of Americans must define what it means to be an American.On behalf of our nation, I salute my predecessor, President Bush, for his half-century of service to America.And I thank the millions of men and women whose steadfastness and sacrifice triumphed over Depression, fascism and Communism.Today, a generation raised in the shadows of the Cold War assumes new responsibilities in a world warmed by the sunshine of freedom but threatened still by ancient hatreds and new plagues.Raised in unrivaled prosperity, we inherit an economy that is still the world's strongest, but is weakened by business failures, stagnant wages, increasing inequality, and deep divisions among our people.When George Washington first took the oath I have just sworn to uphold, news traveled slowly across the land by horseback and across the ocean by boat.Now, the sights and sounds of this ceremony are broadcast instantaneously to billions around the world.Communications and commerce are global;investment is mobile;
technology is almost magical;and ambition for a better life is now universal.We earn our livelihood in peaceful competition with people all across the earth.Profound and powerful forces are shaking and remaking our world, and the urgent question of our time is whether we can make change our friend and not our enemy.This new world has already enriched the lives of millions of Americans who are able to compete and win in it.But when most people are working harder for less;when others cannot work at all;when the cost of health care devastates families and threatens to bankrupt many of our enterprises, great and small;when fear of crime robs law-abiding citizens of their freedom;and when millions of poor children cannot even imagine the lives we are calling them to lead, we have not made change our friend.We know we have to face hard truths and take strong steps.But we have not done so.Instead, we have drifted, and that drifting has eroded our resources, fractured our economy, and shaken our confidence.Though our challenges are fearsome, so are our strengths.And Americans have ever been a restless, questing, hopeful people.We must bring to our task today the vision and will of those who came before us.From our revolution, the Civil War, to the Great Depression to the civil rights movement, our people have always mustered the determination to construct from these crises the pillars of our history.Thomas Jefferson believed that to preserve the very foundations of our nation, we would need dramatic change from time to time.Well, my fellow citizens, this is our time.Let us embrace it.Our democracy must be not only the envy of the world but the engine of our own renewal.There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America.And so today, we pledge an end to the era of deadlock and drift;a new season of American renewal has begun.To renew America, we must be bold.We must do what no generation has had to do before.We must invest more in our own people, in their jobs, in their future, and at the same time cut our massive debt.And we must do so in a world in which we must compete for every opportunity.It will not be easy;it will require sacrifice.But it can be
done, and done fairly, not choosing sacrifice for its own sake, but for our own sake.We must provide for our nation the way a family provides for its children.美国复兴的新时代 比尔•克林顿 第一次就职演讲
星期三,1993年1月20日
同胞们:
今天,我们庆祝美国复兴的奇迹。这个仪式虽在隆冬举行,然而,我们通过自己的言语和向世界展示的面容、却促使春回大地--回到了世界上这个最古老的民主国家,并带来了重新创造美国的远见和勇气。
当我国的缔造者勇敢地向世界宣布美国独立,并向上帝表明自 己的目的时,他们知道,美国若要永存,就必须变革。不是为变革而变革,而是为了维护美国的理想--为了生命、自由和追求幸福而变革。尽管我们随着当今时代 的节拍前进,但我们的使命永恒不变。每一代美国人,部必须为作为一个美国人意味着什么下定义。今天,在冷战阴影下成长起来的一代人,在世界上负起了新的责 任。这个世界虽然沐浴着自由的阳光,但仍受到旧仇宿怨和新的祸患的威胁。
我们在无与伦比的繁荣中长大,继承了仍然是世界上最强大的经济。但由于企业倒闭,工资增长停滞、不平等状况加剧,人民的分歧加深,我们的经济已经削弱。
当乔治•华盛顿第一次宣读我刚才宜读的誓言时,人们骑马把 那个信息缓慢地传遍大地,继而又来船把它传过海洋。而现在,这个仪式的情景和声音即刻向全球几十亿人播放。通信和商务具有全球性,投资具有流动性;技术几 乎具有魔力;改善生活的理想现在具有普遍性。今天,我们美国人通过同世界各地人民进行和平竞争来谋求生存。各种深远而强大的力量正在震撼和改造我们的世 界,当今时代的当务之急是我们能否使变革成为我们的朋友,而不是成为我们的敌人。
这个新世界已经使几百万能够参与竞争并且取胜的美国人过上 了富裕的生活。但是,当多数人干得越多反而挣得越少的时候,当有些人根本不可能工作的时候,当保健费用的重负使众多家庭不堪承受、使大大小小的企业濒临破 产的时候,当犯罪活动的恐惧使守法公民不能自由行动的时候,当千百万贫穷儿童甚至不能想象我们呼唤他们过的那种生活的时候,我们就没有使变革成为我们的朋 友。我们知道,我们必须面对严酷的事实真相,并采取强有力的步骤。但我们没有这样做,而是听之任之,以致损耗了我们的资源,破坏了我们的经济,动摇了我们 的信心。
我们面临惊人的挑战,但我们同样具有惊人的力量,美国人历来是不安现状、不断追求和充满希望的民族,今天,我们必须把前人的远见卓识和坚强意志带到我们的任务中去。从革命,内战,大萧条,直到民权运动,我国人民总是下定决心,从历次危机中构筑我国历史的支柱。
托马斯•杰斐逊认为,为了维护我国的根基,我们需要时常进行激动人心的变革。美国同胞们,我们的时代就是变革的时代,让我们拥抱这个时代吧!
我们的民主制度不仅要成为举世称羡的目标,而且要成为举国复兴的动力。美国没有任何错误的东西不能被正确的东西所纠正。因此,我们今天立下誓言,要结束这个僵持停顿、放任自流的时代,一个复兴美国的新时代已经开始。
我们要复兴美国,就必须鼓足勇气。我们必须做前人无需做的 事情。我们必须更多地投资于人民,投资于他们的工作和未来,与此同时,我们必须减少巨额债务。而且,我们必须在一个需要为每个机会而竞争的世界上做到这一 切。这样做并不容易:这样做要求作出
牺牲。但是,这是做得到的,而且能做得公平合理。我们不是为牺牲而牺牲,我们必须像家庭供养子女那样供养自己的国家。
我国的缔造者是用子孙后代的眼光来审视自己的。我们也必须 这样做。凡是注意过孩子蒙?o人睡的人,都知道后代意味着什么,后代就是将要到来的世界--我们为之坚持自己的理想,我们向之借用这个星球,我们对之负有 神圣的责任。我们必须做美国最拿手的事情:为所有的人提供更多的机会,要所有的人负起更多的责任。
第二篇:克林顿就职演讲稿-中英文对照
克林顿就职演讲稿-中英文对照
Inaugural Address of George W.Bush January 20 2001 President Clinton distinguished guests and my fellow citizens: The peaceful transfer of authority is rare in history yet common in our country.With asimple oath we affirm old traditions and make new beginnings.As I begin I thank President Clinton for his service to our nation and I thank VicePresident Gore for a contest conducted with spirit and ended with grace.I am honored and humbled to stand here where so many of Americas leaders havecome before me and so many will follow.We have a place all of us in a long story.A story we continue but whose end we willnot see.It is the story of a new world that became a friend and liberator of the old a storyof a slave-holding society that became a servant of freedom the story of a power thatwent into the world to protect but not possess to defend but not to conquer.It is theAmerican story.A story of flawed and fallible people united across the generations bygrand and enduring ideals.The grandest of these ideals is an unfolding American promisethat everyone belongs that everyone deserves a chance that no insignificant person wasever born.Americans are called upon to enact this promise in our lives and in our lawsand though our nation has sometimes halted and sometimes delayed we must follow noother course.Through much of the last century Americas faith in freedom and democracy was arock in a raging sea.Now it is a seed upon the wind taking root in many nations.Ourdemocratic faith is more than the creed of our country it is the inborn hope of ourhumanity an ideal we carry but do not own a trust we bear and pass along and evenafter nearly 225 years we have a long way yet to travel.While many of our citizens prosper others doubt the promise even the justice of ourown country.The ambitions of some Americans are limited by failing schools and hiddenprejudice and the circumstances of their birth and sometimes our differences run so deepit seems we share a continent but not a country.We do not accept this and we will notallow it.Our unity our union is the serious work of leaders and citizens in everygeneration and this is my solemn pledge I will work to build a single nation of justice andopportunity.I know this is in our reach because we are guided by a power larger thanourselves who creates us equal in His image and we are confident in principles that uniteand lead us onward.America has never been united by blood or birth or soil.We are bound by ideals thatmove us beyond our backgrounds lift us above our interests and teach us what it meansto be citizens.Every child must be taught these principles.Every citizen must uphold themand every immigrant by embracing these ideals makes our country more not lessAmerican.Today we affirm a new commitment to live out our nations promise through civilitycourage compassion and character.America at its best matches a commitment toprinciple with a concern for civility.A civil society demands from each of us good will andrespect fair dealing and forgiveness.Some seem to believe that our politics can afford tobe petty because in a time of peace the stakes of our debates appear small.But thestakes for America are never small.If our country does not lead the cause of freedom itwill not be led.If we do not turn the hearts of children toward knowledge and character wewill lose their gifts and undermine their idealism.If we permit our economy to drift anddecline the vulnerable will suffer most.We must live up to the calling we share.Civility isnot a tactic or a sentiment.It is the determined choice of trust over cynicism of communityover chaos.This commitment if we keep it is a way to shared accomplishment.America at its best is also courageous.Our national courage has been clear in timesof depression and war when defending common dangers defined our common good.Now
we must choose if the example of our fathers and mothers will inspire us or condemnus.We must show courage in a time of blessing by confronting problems instead ofpassing them on to future generations.Together we will reclaim Americas schools before ignorance and apathy claim moreyoung lives we will reform Social Security and Medicare sparing our children fromstruggles we have the power to prevent we will reduce taxes to recover the momentumof our economy and reward the effort and enterprise of working Americans we will buildour defenses beyond challenge lest weakness invite challenge and we will confrontweapons of mass destruction so that a new century is spared new horrors.The enemies of liberty and our country should make no mistake America remainsengaged in the world by history and by choice shaping a balance of power that favorsfreedom.We will defend our allies and our interests we will show purpose withoutarrogance we will meet aggression and bad faith with resolve and strength and to allnations we will speak for the values that gave our nation birth.America at its best is compassionate.In the quiet of American conscience we knowthat deep persistent poverty is unworthy of our nations promise.Whatever our views ofits cause we can agree that children at risk are not at fault.Abandonment and abuse arenot acts of God they are failures of love.The proliferation of prisons however necessaryis no substitute for hope and order in our souls.Where there is suffering there is duty.Americans in need are not strangers they are citizens not problems but priorities and allof us are diminished when any are hopeless.Government has great responsibilities forpublic safety and public health for civil rights and common schools.Yet compassion is thework of a nation not just a government.Some needs and hurts are so deep they will onlyrespond to a mentors touch or a pastors prayer.Church and charity synagogue andmosque lend our communities their humanity and they will have an honored place in ourplans and in our laws.Many in our country do not know the pain of poverty but we canlisten to those who do.I can pledge our nation to a goal When we see that woundedtraveler on the road to Jericho we will not pass to the other side.America at its best is a place where personal responsibility is valued and expected.Encouraging responsibility is not a search for scapegoats it is a call to conscience.Though it requires sacrifice it brings a deeper fulfillment.We find the fullness of life notonly in options but in commitments.We find that children and community are thecommitments that set us free.Our public interest depends on private character on civicduty and family bonds and basic fairness on uncounted unhonored acts of decencywhich give direction to our freedom.Sometimes in life we are called to do great things.Butas a saint of our times has said every day we are called to do small things with great love.The most important tasks of a democracy are done by everyone.I will live and lead bythese principles to advance my convictions with civility to pursue the public interest withcourage to speak for greater justice and compassion to call for responsibility and try tolive it as well.In all of these ways I will bring the values of our history to the care of ourtimes.What you do is as important as anything government does.I ask you to seek acommon good beyond your comfort to defend needed reforms against easy attacks toserve your nation beginning with your neighbor.I ask you to be citizens.Citizens notspectators citizens not subjects responsible citizens building communities of serviceand a nation of character.Americans are generous and strong and decent not because we believe in ourselvesbut because we hold beliefs beyond ourselves.When this spirit of citizenship is missingno government program can replace it.When this spirit is present no wrong can standagainst it.After the Declaration of Independence was signed Virginia statesman John Pagewrote to Thomas Jefferson We know the race is not to the swift nor the battle to thestrong.Do you not think an angel rides in the whirlwind and directs this storm Much timehas passed since Jefferson arrived for his inauguration.The years and changesaccumulate but the themes of this day he would know our nations grand story ofcourage and its simple dream of dignity.We are not this storys author who fills time and eternity with His purpose.Yet Hispurpose is achieved in our duty and our duty is fulfilled in service to one another.Nevertiring never yielding never finishing we renew that purpose today to make our countrymore just and generous to affirm the dignity of our lives and every life.This work continues.This story goes on.And an angel still rides in the whirlwind anddirects this storm.God bless you all and God bless America.参考中文翻译: 乔治-布什 2001 年就职演说 谢谢大家 尊敬的芮恩奎斯特大法官,卡特总统,布什总统,克林顿总统,尊敬的来宾们,我的同胞们,这次权利的和平过渡在历史上是罕见的,但在美国是平常的。我们以朴素的宣誓庄严地维护了古老的传统,同时开始了新的历程。首先,我要感谢克林顿总统为这个国家作出的贡献,也感谢副总统戈尔在竞选过程中的热情与风度。站在这里,我很荣幸,也有点受宠若惊。在我之前,许多美国领导人从这里起步在我之后,也会有许多领导人从这里继续前进。在美国悠久的历史中,我们每个人都有自己的位置我们还在继续推动着历史前进,但是我们不可能看到它的尽头。这是一部新世界的发展史,是一部后浪推前浪的历史。这是一部美国由奴隶制社会发展成为崇尚自由的社会的历史。这是一个强国保护而不是占有世界的历史,是捍卫而不是征服世界的历史。这就是美国史。它不是一部十全十美的民族发展史,但它是一部在伟大和永恒理想指导下几代人团结奋斗的历史。这些理想中最伟大的是正在慢慢实现的美国的承诺,这就是:每个人都有自身的价值,每个人都有成功的机会,每个人天生都会有所作为的。美国人民肩负着一种使命,那就是要竭力将这个诺言变成生活中和法律上的现实。虽然我们的国家过去在追求实现这个承诺的途中停滞不前甚至倒退,但我们仍将坚定不移地完成这一使命。在上个世纪的大部分时间里,美国自由民主的信念犹如汹涌大海中的岩石。现在它更像风中的种子,把自由带给每个民族。在我们的国家,民主不仅仅是一种信念,而是全人类的希望。民主,我们不会独占,而会竭力让大家分享。民主,我们将铭记于心并且不断传播。225 年过去了,我们仍有很长的路要走。有很多公民取得了成功,但也有人开始怀疑,怀疑我们自己的国家所许下的诺言,甚至怀疑它的公正。失败的教育,潜在的偏见和出身的环境限制了一些美国人的雄心。有时,我们的分歧是如此之深,似乎我们虽身处同一个大陆,但不属于同一个国家。我们不能接受这种分歧,也无法容许它的存在。我们的团结和统一,是每一代领导人和每一个公民的严肃使命。在此,我郑重宣誓:我将竭力建设一个公正、充满机会的统一国家。我知道这是我们的目标,因为上帝按自己的身形创造了我们,上帝高于一切的力量将引导我们前进。对这些将我们团结起来并指引我们向前的原则,我们充满信心。血缘、出身或地域从未将美国联合起来。只有理想,才能使我们心系一处,超越自己,放弃个人利益,并逐步领会何谓公民。每个孩子都必须学习这些原则。每个公民都必须坚持这些原则。每个移民,只有接受这些原则,才能使我们的国家不丧失而更具美国特色今天,我们在这里重申一个新的信念,即通过发扬谦恭、勇气、同情心和个性的精神来实现我们国家的理想。美国在它最鼎盛时也没忘记遵循谦逊有礼的原则。一个文明的社会需要我们每个人品质优良,尊重他人,为人公平和宽宏大量。有人认为我们的政治制度是如此的微不足道,因为在和平年代,我们所争论的话题都是无关紧要的。但是,对我们美国来说,我们所讨论的问题从来都不是什么小事。如果我们不领导和平事业,那么和平将无人来领导如果我们不引导我们的孩子们真心地热爱知识、发挥个性,他们的天分将得不到发挥,理想将难以实现。如果我们不采取适当措施,任凭经济衰退,最大的受害者将是平民百姓。我们应该时刻听取时代的呼唤。谦逊有礼不是战术也不是感情用事。这是我们最坚定的选择--在批评声中赢得信任在混乱中寻求统一。如果遵循这样的承诺,我们将会享有共同的成就。美国有强大的国力作后盾,将会勇往直前。在大萧条和战争时期,我们的人民在困难面前表现得无比英勇,克服我们共同的困难体现了我们共同的优秀品质。现在,我们正面临着选择,如果我们作出正确的选择,祖辈一定会激励我们如果我们的选择是错误的,祖辈会谴责我们的。上帝正眷顾着这个国家,我们必须显示出我们的勇气,敢于面对问题,而不是将它们遗留给我们的后代。我们要共同努力,健全美国的学校教育,不能让无知和冷漠吞噬更多的年轻生命。我们要改革社会医疗和保险制度,在力所能及的范围内拯救我们的孩子。我们要减低税收,恢复经济,酬劳辛勤工作的美国人民。我们要防患于未然,懈怠会带来麻烦。我们还要阻止武器泛滥,使新的世纪摆脱恐怖的威胁。反对自由和反对我们国家的人应该明白:美国仍将积极参与国际事务,力求世界力量的均衡,让自由的力量遍及全球。这是历史的选择。我们会保护我们的盟国,捍卫我们的利益。我们将谦逊地向世界人民表示我们的目标。我们将坚决反击各种侵略和不守信用的行径。我们要向全世界宣传孕育了我们伟大民族的价值观。正处在鼎盛时期的美国也不缺乏同情心。当我们静心思考,我们就会明了根深蒂固的贫穷根本不值得我国作出承诺。无论我们如何看待贫穷的原因,我们都必须承认,孩子敢于冒险不等于在犯错误。放纵与滥用都为上帝所不容。这些都是缺乏爱的结果。监狱数量的增长虽然看起来是有必要的,但并不能代替我们心中的希望-人人遵纪守法。哪里有痛苦,我们的义务就在哪里。对我们来说,需要帮助的美国人不是陌生人,而是我们的公民不是负担,而是急需救助的对象。当有人陷入绝望时,我们大家都会因此变得渺小。对公共安全和大众健康,对民权和学校教育,政府都应负有极大的责任。然而,同情心不只是政府的职责,更是整个国家的义务。有些需要是如此的迫切,有些伤痕是如此的深刻,只有导师的爱抚、牧师的祈祷才能有所感触。不论是教堂还是慈善机构、犹太会堂还是清真寺,都赋予了我们的社会它们特有的人性,因此它们理应在我们的建设和法律上受到尊重。我们国家的许多人都不知道贫穷的痛苦。但我们可以听到那些感触颇深的人们的倾诉。我发誓我们的国家要达到一种境界:当我们看见受伤的行人倒在远行的路上,我们决不会袖手旁观。正处于鼎盛期的美国重视并期待每个人担负起自己的责任。鼓励人们勇于承担责任不是让人们充当替罪羊,而是对人的良知的呼唤。虽然承担责任意味着牺牲个人利益,但是你能从中体会到一种更加深刻的成就感。我们实现人生的完整不单是通过摆在我们面前的选择,而且是通过我们的实践来实现。我们知道,通过对整个社会和我们的孩子们尽我们的义务,我们将得到最终自由。我们的公共利益依赖于我们独立的个性依赖于我们的公民义务,家庭纽带和基本的公正依赖于我们无数的、默默无闻的体面行动,正是它们指引我们走向自由。在生活中,有时我们被召唤着去做一些惊天动地的事情。但是,正如我们时代的一位圣人所言,每一天我们都被召唤带着挚爱去做一些小事情。一个民主制度最重要的任务是由大家每一个人来完成的。我为人处事的原则包括:坚信自己而不强加于人,为公众的利益勇往直前,追求正义而不乏同情心,勇担责任而决不推卸。我要通过这一切,用我们历史上传统价值观来哺育我们的时代。同胞们,你们所做的一切和政府的工作同样重要。我希望你们不要仅仅追求个人享受而忽略公众的利益要捍卫既定的改革措施,使其不会轻易被攻击要从身边小事做起,为我们的国家效力。我希望你们成为真正的公民,而不是旁观者,更不是臣民。你们应成为有责任心的公民,共同来建设一个互帮互助的社会和有特色的国家。美国人民慷慨、强大、体面,这并非因为我们信任我们自己,而是因为我们拥有超越我们自己的信念。一旦这种公民精神丧失了,无论何种政府计划都无法弥补它。一旦这种精神出现了,无论任何错误都无法抗衡它。在《独立宣言》签署之后,弗吉尼亚州的政治家约翰佩齐曾给托马斯杰弗逊写信说:我们知道,身手敏捷不一定就能赢得比赛,力量强大不一定就能赢得战争。难道这一切不都是上帝安排的吗 杰斐逊就任总统的那个年代离我们已经很远了。时光飞逝,美国发生了翻天覆地的变化。但是有一点他肯定能够预知,即我们这个时代的主题仍然是:我们国家无畏向前的恢宏故事和它追求尊严的纯朴梦想。我们不是这个故事的作者,是杰斐逊作者本人的伟大理想穿越时空,并通过我们每天的努力在变为现实。我们正在通过大家的努力在履行着各自的职责。带着永不疲惫、永不气馁、永不完竭的信念,今天我们重树这样的目标:使我们的国家变得更加公正、更加慷慨,去验证我们每个人和所有人生命的尊严。这项工作必须继续下去。这个故事必须延续下去。上帝会驾驭我们航行的。愿上帝保佑大家愿上帝保佑美国
第三篇:2010卡梅隆就职中英文演讲稿
英国保守党领袖卡梅伦12日晨就任首相,并发表就职演讲。卡梅伦称,他计划组建一个由保守党和自由民主党组成的联合政府。以下为卡梅伦演讲全文(中英文对照):
HER MAJESTY the queen has asked me to form a new government and I have accepted。女王陛下已经授权予我组建新政府,我已接受了这一任命。
Before I talk about that new government, let me say something about the one that has just passed.Compared with a decade ago, this country is more open at home and more compassionate abroad, and that is something we should all be grateful for。在谈论新政府之前,请允许我谈一谈最近刚刚发生过的一件事情。与十年前相比,这个国家对内更加开放,对外更加富有同情心,我们都应该为此感到高兴。
On behalf of the whole country I’d like to pay tribute to the outgoing prime minister, for his long record of dedicated public service。
我谨代表这个国家,对长期致力于公共服务的前任首相深表赞扬。
In terms of the future, our country has a hung parliament where no party has an overall majority and we have some deep and pressing problems – a huge deficit, deep social problems and a political system in need of reform。
就未来而言,我们的议会无任何党派占明显多数,我们面临着一些深刻而紧迫的问题庞大的赤字、深刻的社会问题以及需要改革政治制度。
For those reasons, I aim to form a proper and full coalition between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.I believe that is the right way to provide this country with the strong, the stable, the good and decent government that I think we need so badly。
基于这些原因,我计划在保守党和自由民主党间组建适当并充分的联盟。我想,这是为国家提供一个我认为我们非常需要的强大、稳定、完善、体面的政府的正确途径。Nick Clegg and I are both political leaders who want to put aside party
differences and work hard for the common good and for the national interest.I believe that is the best way to get the strong government that we need, decisive government that we need today。
尼克·克莱格(Nick Clegg)和我都是希望撇开党派差异、为公益事业、为国家利益而努力的领导人。我认为,这是打造我们所需要的强大政府的最佳途径,是打造今天我们需要的果断的政府的最佳途径。
I came into politics because I love this country, I think its best days still lie ahead and I believe deeply in public service.And I think the service our country needs right now is to face up to our really big challenges, to confront our problems, to take difficult decisions, to lead people through those difficult decisions, so that together we can reach better times ahead。
我之所以从政,是因为我热爱这个国家,我相信最好的日子还在前面,我深信公共服务。我认为,服务国家最重要的是直面我们真正的大挑战,直面我们的问题,做出艰难的决定,并领导人民克服这些困难,这样我们就能够一起迈向更美好的明天。
One of the tasks that we clearly have is to rebuild trust in our political system.Yes, that’s about cleaning up expenses;yes, that’s about reforming parliament;and yes, it’s about making sure people are in control and that the politicians are always their servants and never their masters。
很明显,我们的任务之一就是重建对政治体系的信任。是的,这就要求我们清理开支、改革议会、保证对人民的管理并确保政治家始终是人们的公仆,而非主人。
But I believe it’s also something else.It’s about being honest about what government can achieve.Real change is not what government can do on its own.Real change is when everyone pulls together, comes together, works together, when we all exercise our responsibilities to ourselves, to our families, to our communities and to others。
但是我相信还有其他方面。这关乎于要诚实地表现政府可能达到的业绩。真正的变革不是仅靠政府之力就能完成的。真正的变革需要所有人齐心协力、众志成城,需要我们每个人完成自己的责任,为自己,为家庭,为社会,也为其他人。
And I want to help build a more responsible society here in Britain, one where we don’t just ask ‘what are my entitlements?’ but ‘what are my
responsibilities?’.One where we don’t just ask ‘what am I just owed?’ but more ‘what can I give?’.And a guide for that society, that those who can, should, and those who can’t, we will always help。
我希望帮助不列颠建立一个更加有责任感的社会。在这样一个社会,我们不会只问“我们的权利是什么”,而是要问“我们的责任是什么”;在这样一个社会,我们不会只问“我应该感激谁”,而是问“我能够给与什么”。为了实现这样的社会,不管是对那些能够做到、愿意做到还是不能做到的人,我们都应该始终给与帮助。
I want to make sure that my government always looks after the elderly, the frail, the poorest in our country.We must take everyone through with us on some of the difficult decisions that we have ahead。
我希望你们知道,我的政府一直在照顾我们国家的老者、弱者和贫困者。我们必须让大家和我们一起面对一些我们之前曾面对过的困难决定。
Above all, it will be a government that will be built on some clear values – values of freedom, values of fairness, and values of responsibility。
总而言之,这将是一个建立在有着清晰价值观上的政府——这个价值观就是自由、公平和责任。
I want us to build an economy that rewards work, I want us to build a society with stronger families and stronger communities, and I want a political system that people can trust and look up to once again。
我希望我们能够打造这样一个让工作有所回报的经济体制,我希望我们能够建设一个拥有更坚固家庭、更完善社区的社会,我希望带来一个人民能够信任并且再次令人民尊敬的政治体系。
This is going to be hard and difficult work.A coalition will throw up all sorts of challenges.But I believe together we can provide that strong and stable government that our country needs, based on those values – rebuilding family, rebuilding community, above all rebuilding responsibility in our country。
这需要艰苦卓绝的工作。联合政府将面对各种各样的挑战。但是我坚信,基于这样的价值观——重建家庭、重建社区、重建我们国家的责任感,我们能够提供我们国家所需要的坚强而稳定的政府。
Those are the things that I care about, those are the things that this government will now start work on doing。
这些是我关心的事情,也是这个政府即刻开始致力于处理的事情。
Thank you very much。谢谢。
第四篇:克林顿1993年就职演讲
January 20, 1993, Inaugural Address of William J.Clinton(克林顿1993年就职演讲)My fellow citizens :(同胞们)
Today we celebrate the mystery of American renewal.今天,我们庆祝振兴美国这件令人感到异常惊奇的事。
This ceremony is held in the depth of winter.But, by the words we speak and the faces we show the world, we force the spring.A spring reborn in the world's oldest democracy, that brings forth the vision and courage to reinvent America.尽管这个仪式在隆冬举行,但是,我们所说的话,我们向全世界所显示的面貌,将促使春天的早日来临。春天重新降临到这个世界上最古老的民主国家,它给我们带来了重新塑造美国的构想和勇气。
When our founders boldly declared America's independence to the world and our purposes to the Almighty, they knew that America, to endure, would have to change.Not change for change's sake, but change to preserve America's ideals;life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness.Though we march to the music of our time, our mission is timeless.Each generation of Americans must define what it means to be an American.当我们的缔造者们大胆地向全世界宣布美国的独立,向上帝宣布我们的目的时,他们知道,美国要长久地存在下去,就必须改革。我们不是为改革而改革,而是为了保持美国的理想——生活、自由和追求幸福。虽然我们伴随着时代的乐曲前进,我们的使命却是永恒的。每一代美国人都必须明确作为一个美国人意味着什么。
On behalf of our nation, I salute my predecessor, President Bush, for his half-century of service to America.And I thank the millions of men and women whose steadfastness and sacrifice triumphed over Depression, fascism and Communism.我的前任布什总统为美国服务了半个世纪,在此,我代表我们的国家向他致以崇高的敬意。Today, a generation raised in the shadows of the Cold War assumes new responsibilities in a world warmed by the sunshine of freedom but threatened still by ancient hatreds and new plagues.我还要向千百万人民表示感谢,他们以坚定的信念和牺牲战胜了经济萧条、法西斯主义。今天,在冷战的阴影下成长起来的一代人在世界上已肩负起新的责任。这个世界虽然沐浴在自由的阳光下,但仍然面临着旧的仇恨和新的灾祸的威胁。
Raised in unrivaled prosperity, we inherit an economy that is still the world's strongest, but is weakened by business failures, stagnant wages, increasing inequality, and deep divisions among our people.我们在无与伦比的繁荣中成长,继承了一个仍然是世界上最强大经济,但是,商业失败、工资停滞、不平等加剧,以及我们自己的人民四分五裂,削弱了这个经济。
When George Washington first took the oath I have just sworn to uphold, news traveled slowly across the land by horseback and across the ocean by boat.Now, the sights and sounds of this ceremony are broadcast instantaneously to billions around the world.当乔治华盛顿第一次发出我刚才宣誓信守的誓言时,消息缓慢地通过骑马传遍大陆和乘船漂洋过海。而今,这个仪式的情景和声音可以立即向全世界数十亿人广播。
Communications and commerce are global;investment is mobile;technology is almost magical;and ambition for a better life is now universal.We earn our livelihood in peaceful competition with people all across the earth.通讯和商业是全球性的,投资是流动性的,技术几乎是神秘的,而要求改善生活的强烈愿望
是全世界人民共同的。今天,我们美国人是和全世界人民在和平竞争中谋求我们的生计。Profound and powerful forces are shaking and remaking our world, and the urgent question of our time is whether we can make change our friend and not our enemy.各种根深蒂固和强大的势力正在动摇和重新塑造我们的世界。我们时代迫切需要解决的问题是,我们能否使改革成为我们的朋友,而不是我们的敌人。
This new world has already enriched the lives of millions of Americans who are able to compete and win in it.But when most people are working harder for less;when others cannot work at all;when the cost of health care devastates families and threatens to bankrupt many of our enterprises, great and small;when fear of crime robs law-abiding citizens of their freedom;and when millions of poor children cannot even imagine the lives we are calling them to lead, we have not made change our friend.尽管这个新的世界已经使千百万能够在其中竞争并取胜的美国人富裕起来了,但是,在大多数人更加拼命地工作而收入却在减少的时候,在还有人根本找不到工作的时候,在卫生保健费用使许多人倾家荡产、使大大小小的企业行将倒闭的时候,在恐惧犯罪而使奉公守法的公民丧失自由的时候,在千百万贫困儿童甚至难以想象我们正召唤他们去过的那种生活的时候,我们却还没有使改革成为我们的朋友。
We know we have to face hard truths and take strong steps.But we have not done so.Instead, we have drifted, and that drifting has eroded our resources, fractured our economy, and shaken our confidence.我们知道,我们必须正视严酷的现实并且采取有力的措施,但是,我们没有这样做。相反,我们所奉行的是放任自流的政策,这种政策已经削弱了我们的力量,破坏了我们的经济,动摇了我们的信心。
Though our challenges are fearsome, so are our strengths.And Americans have ever been a restless, questing, hopeful people.We must bring to our task today the vision and will of those who came before us.虽然我们的挑战是可畏的,但我们的力量也是可畏的。美国人民从来就是一个不甘寂寞、勇于探索和充满希望的人民。我们必须使我们今天的任务体现我们前人的远见和意志。
From our revolution, the Civil War, to the Great Depression to the civil rights movement, our people have always mustered the determination to construct from these crises the pillars of our history.从美国革命到南北战争,到大萧条,到民权运动,我们的人民总是下定决心,从这些危机中摆脱出来去建立我们历史的支柱。
Thomas Jefferson believed that to preserve the very foundations of our nation, we would need dramatic change from time to time.Well, my fellow citizens, this is our time.Let us embrace it.托马斯杰斐逊认为,要保持我们国家的基础,我们就需要不时地进行改革。同胞们,这是我们的时代,让我们去拥抱它。
Our democracy must be not only the envy of the world but the engine of our own renewal.There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America.我们的民主制度不仅要为全世界所仰慕,还必须成为我们自我振兴的发动机。美国完全有能力自己解救自己。
And so today, we pledge an end to the era of deadlock and drift;a new season of American renewal has begun.To renew America, we must be bold.We must do what no generation has had to do before.We must invest more in our own people, in their jobs, in their future, and at the same time cut our massive debt.And we must do so in a world in which we must compete for every
opportunity.It will not be easy;it will require sacrifice.But it can be done, and done fairly, not choosing sacrifice for its own sake, but for our own sake.We must provide for our nation the way a family provides for its children.因此,今天我们决心结束这个僵持停顿和放任自流的时代。一个振兴美国的新时代已经到来。要振兴美国,我们必须有足够的勇气和胆量。我们必须对自己的人民——对他们的工作和对他们的未来——增加投资,同时削减我们的巨额债务。在一个我们必须靠竞争才能获得每个机会的世界上,我们一定要这样做。虽然,这不是一件轻而易举的事,它需要作出牺牲。但是,我们能够做到,而且能够做得很好。我们不是为了牺牲而牺牲,而是为我们自己的利益而牺牲。我们必须像一个家庭抚育它的孩子那样抚育我们的国家。
Our Founders saw themselves in the light of posterity.We can do no less.Anyone who has ever watched a child's eyes wander into sleep knows what posterity is.Posterity is the world to come;the world for whom we hold our ideals, from whom we have borrowed our planet, and to whom we bear sacred responsibility.We must do what America does best: offer more opportunity to all and demand responsibility from all.我们的缔造者们是从子孙后代的角度来审视他们自己的行为。我们也必须这样做。任何曾经注意过孩子的双眼朦胧进入梦乡的人,都知道后代是什么。后代是未来的世界。为了他们,我们满怀理想。从他们那里,我们借用了这块地球,对他们,我们负有神圣的责任。我们必须尽美国之所能:向所有人提供更多的机会,要求所有人承担更多的责任。
It is time to break the bad habit of expecting something for nothing, from our government or from each other.Let us all take more responsibility, not only for ourselves and our families but for our communities and our country.To renew America, we must revitalize our democracy.现在,已经到了该破除那种只望政府或别人给予,而自己不愿付出的坏习惯的时候了。让我们大家都担负起更多的责任,不光是为我们自己和我们的家庭,而且是我们的社会和我们的国家。为振兴美国,我们必须给我们的民主制度带来新的活力。
This beautiful capital, like every capital since the dawn of civilization, is often a place of intrigue and calculation.Powerful people maneuver for position and worry endlessly about who is in and who is out, who is up and who is down, forgetting those people whose toil and sweat sends us here and pays our way.这个美丽的首都,就像文明出现以来的所有首都一样,往往是一个搞阴谋诡计和勾心斗角的地方。达官贵族们玩弄权术、争名夺利,随时都在担心谁进谁出、谁升谁降,忘记了那些用辛勤和汗水把我们送到这里,并为我们承担费用的人。
Americans deserve better, and in this city today, there are people who want to do better.And so I say to all of us here, let us resolve to reform our politics, so that power and privilege no longer shout down the voice of the people.Let us put aside personal advantage so that we can feel the pain and see the promise of America.Let us resolve to make our government a place for what Franklin Roosevelt called “bold, persistent experimentation,” a government for our tomorrows, not our yesterdays.Let us give this capital back to the people to whom it belongs.美国人应当生活得更好。今天,在这座城市里,人们希望把事情办得更好。所以,我要向在场的诸位说,让我们下定决心改革我们的政治,使人民的呼声不再被权力和特权所压倒。让我们抛开个人利益,这样,我们便能感受到美国的痛苦,也看到美国的希望。让我们下定决心,使我们的政府成为一个富兰克林罗斯福所说的,进行“大胆而持久的实验”的地方,即是说,成为一个着眼于未来,而不是留恋过去的政府。让我们把这个首都还给她所属的人民。To renew America, we must meet challenges abroad as well at home.There is no longer division
between what is foreign and what is domestic;the world economy, the world environment, the world AIDS crisis, the world arms race;they affect us all.为了振兴美国,我们必须迎接来自国内、国外的种种挑战。在什么是国外和什么是国内之间已不再有明确的界线。全球经济、全球环境、全球艾滋病危机和全球军备竞赛,这一切影响着所有的人。
Today, as an old order passes, the new world is more free but less stable.Communism's collapse has called forth old animosities and new dangers.Clearly America must continue to lead the world we did so much to make.今天,随着旧秩序被打破,新的世界更加自由,但又更加不稳定。共产主义的崩溃激起了旧的仇恨和新的危险。显然,美国必须继续领导这个我们曾经付出巨大努力而创造的世界。While America rebuilds at home, we will not shrink from the challenges, nor fail to seize the opportunities, of this new world.Together with our friends and allies, we will work to shape change, lest it engulf us.当我们致力于重建美国的时候,我们不会在这个新世界的挑战面前退缩,也不会坐失良机。我们将同我们的朋友和盟国一道,努力确定改革和发展方向,以免被改革所吞没。
When our vital interests are challenged, or the will and conscience of the international community is defied, we will act;with peaceful diplomacy when ever possible, with force when necessary.The brave Americans serving our nation today in the Persian Gulf, in Somalia, and wherever else they stand are testament to our resolve.当我们的国家利益受到挑战,或者国际社会的意志及公德遭到蔑视的时候,我们将尽可能地通过和平外交手段去解决。必要时也可以诉诸武力。今天,在波斯湾,在索马里,在其他地方,那些为国效力的美国勇士们都证明了我们的决心。
But our greatest strength is the power of our ideas, which are still new in many lands.Across the world, we see them embraced, and we rejoice.Our hopes, our hearts, our hands, are with those on every continent who are building democracy and freedom.Their cause is America's cause.然而,我们最大的实力是我们的思想力量。在许多国家,美国的思想还是一种新生力量。看到这些思想为世界各国所接受,我们感到由衷的高兴。我们的希望、我们的心,我们的手,同五大洲正在建设民主和自由的人民是联在一起的。他们的事业就是美国的事业。
The American people have summoned the change we celebrate today.You have raised your voices in an unmistakable chorus.You have cast your votes in historic numbers.And you have changed the face of Congress, the presidency and the political process itself.Yes, you, my fellow Americans have forced the spring.Now, we must do the work the season demands.美国人民呼唤我们今天庆祝的变革。你们异口同声地提高了自己的呼声。你们以前所未有的人数参加了投票。你们改变了国会、总统以及政治进程本身的面貌。同胞们,是的,你们已经促使春天提前到来了。现在,我们必须致力于这个时期所赋予我们的任务。
To that work I now turn, with all the authority of my office.I ask the Congress to join with me.But no president, no Congress, no government, can undertake this mission alone.My fellow Americans, you, too, must play your part in our renewal.I challenge a new generation of young Americans to a season of service;to act on your idealism by helping troubled children, keeping company with those in need, reconnecting our torn communities.There is so much to be done;enough indeed for millions of others who are still young in spirit to give of themselves in service, too.为了这个任务,我将充分行使我的职权。我请求国会同我合作。但是,任何一位总统,任何一个国会,任何一届政府,都无法独自承担这一使命。同胞们,你们也必须在国家的振兴中
发挥作用。我要求新一代美国青年按照你们的理想行动起来,帮助困难儿童,同患难者休戚与共,把我们这个四分五裂的社会重新凝为一体,为祖国贡献你们的力量。要做的事情太多——确实足以使千百万精神上依然年轻的其他人也投身其中。
In serving, we recognize a simple but powerful truth, we need each other.And we must care for one another.Today, we do more than celebrate America;we rededicate ourselves to the very idea of America.在振兴祖国的事业中,我们认识到一个简单而强有力的真理。我们不仅彼此需要,还必须相互关心。今天,我们不只是在庆祝美国,而且是在重新献身于美国的思想。
An idea born in revolution and renewed through two centuries of challenge.An idea tempered by the knowledge that, but for fate we, the fortunate and the unfortunate, might have been each other.An idea ennobled by the faith that our nation can summon from its myriad diversity the deepest measure of unity.An idea infused with the conviction that America's long heroic journey must go forever upward.这种思想是一种在革命中诞生、经过两个世纪的挑战而获得新生的思想。一种经受过这种认识锤炼的思想,即我们这些幸运者和不幸者,若非因为命运的安排,可能已经变换位置。一种因为这种信念而变得崇高的思想,即相信我们的国家能够从无数的分歧中求得最大程度的团结一致。一种充满信心的思想,即相信美国漫长而英勇的旅程定会永远向上。
And so, my fellow Americans, at the edge of the 21st century, let us begin with energy and hope, with faith and discipline, and let us work until our work is done.The scripture says, “And let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season, we shall reap, if we faint not.”
为此,同胞们,在即将跨入21世纪的时候,让我们重新开始,鼓起勇气、满怀希望、坚定信念、遵守纪律,把我们的事业进行到底。《圣经》说:“我们行善,不可丧志,只要坚持,终有收获。”
From this joyful mountaintop of celebration, we hear a call to service in the valley.We have heard the trumpets.We have changed the guard.And now, each in our way, and with God's help, we must answer the call.在这个欢庆的高山之巅,我们听到山谷里传来为国效力的召唤。我们听到了号声。我们已经换岗。现在,我们每个人都必须以自己的方式在上帝的帮助下响应这一号召。
Thank you, and God bless you all.谢谢你们。愿上帝保佑大家。
第五篇:克林顿就职演讲双语
【美国总统就职演说系列】克林顿连任
作者:news 日期:2010年05月21日(2周前)
The Second Inaugural Address by Bill Clinton
January 20, 1997
My fellow citizens :
At this last presidential inauguration of the 20th century, let us lift our eyes toward the challenges that await us in the next century.It is our great good fortune that time and chance have put us not only at the edge of a new century, in a new millennium, but on the edge of a bright new prospect in human affairs, a moment that will define our course, and our character, for decades to come.We must keep our old democracy forever young.Guided by the ancient vision of a promised land, let us set our sights upon a land of new promise.The promise of America was born in the 18th century out of the bold conviction that we are all created equal.It was extended and preserved in the 19th century, when our nation spread across the continent, saved the union, and abolished the awful scourge of slavery.Then, in turmoil and triumph, that promise exploded onto the world stage to make this the American Century.And what a century it has been.America became the world's mightiest industrial power;saved the world from tyranny in two world wars and a long cold war;and time and again, reached out across the globe to millions who, like us, longed for the blessings of liberty.Along the way, Americans produced a great middle class and security in old age;built unrivaled centers of learning and opened public schools to all;split the atom and explored the heavens;invented the computer and the microchip;and deepened the wellspring of justice by making a revolution in civil rights for African Americans and all minorities, and extending the circle of citizenship, opportunity and dignity to women.Now, for the third time, a new century is upon us, and another time to choose.We began the 19th century with a choice, to spread our nation from coast to coast.We began the 20th century with a choice, to harness the Industrial Revolution to our values of free enterprise, conservation, and human decency.Those choices made all the difference.At the dawn of the 21st century a free people must now choose to shape the forces of the Information Age and the global society, to unleash the limitless potential of all our people, and, yes, to form a more perfect union.When last we gathered, our march to this new future seemed less certain than it does today.We vowed then to set a clear course to renew our nation.In these four years, we have been touched by tragedy, exhilarated by challenge, strengthened by achievement.America stands alone as the world's indispensable nation.Once again, our economy is the strongest on Earth.Once again, we are building stronger families, thriving communities, better educational opportunities, a cleaner environment.Problems that once seemed destined to deepen now bend to our
efforts: our streets are safer and record numbers of our fellow citizens have moved from welfare to work.And once again, we have resolved for our time a great debate over the role of government.Today we can declare: Government is not the problem, and government is not the solution.We,-the American people, we are the solution.Our founders understood that well and gave us a democracy strong enough to endure for centuries, flexible enough to face our common challenges and advance our common dreams in each new day.As times change, so government must change.We need a new government for a new century-humble enough not to try to solve all our problems for us, but strong enough to give us the tools to solve our problems for ourselves;a government that is smaller, lives within its means, and does more with less.Yet where it can stand up for our values and interests in the world, and where it can give Americans the power to make a real difference in their everyday lives, government should do more, not less.The preeminent mission of our new government is to give all Americans an opportunity,-not a guarantee, but a real opportunity to build better lives.Beyond that, my fellow citizens, the future is up to us.Our founders taught us that the preservation of our liberty and our union depends upon responsible citizenship.And we need a new sense of responsibility for a new century.There is work to do, work that government alone cannot do: teaching children to read;hiring people off welfare rolls;coming out from behind locked doors and shuttered windows to help reclaim our streets from drugs and gangs and crime;taking time out of our own lives to serve others.Each and every one of us, in our own way, must assume personal responsibility, not only for ourselves and our families, but for our neighbors and our nation.Our greatest responsibility is to embrace a new spirit of community for a new century.For any one of us to succeed, we must succeed as one America.The challenge of our past remains the challenge of our future, will we be one nation, one people, with one common destiny, or not? Will we all come together, or come apart? The divide of race has been America's constant curse.And each new wave of immigrants gives new targets to old prejudices.Prejudice and contempt, cloaked in the pretense of religious or political conviction are no different.These forces have nearly destroyed our nation in the past.They plague us still.They fuel the fanaticism of terror.And they torment the lives of millions in fractured nations all around the world.These obsessions cripple both those who hate and, of course, those who are hated, robbing both of what they might become.We cannot, we will not, succumb to the dark impulses that lurk in the far regions of the soul everywhere.We shall overcome them.And we shall replace them with the generous spirit of a people who feel at home with one another.Our rich texture of racial, religious and political diversity will be a Godsend in the 21st century.Great rewards will come to those who can live together, learn together, work together, forge new ties that bind together.As this new era approaches we can already see its broad outlines.Ten years ago,the Internet was the mystical province of physicists;today, it is a commonplace encyclopedia for millions of schoolchildren.Scientists now are decoding the blueprint of human life.Cures for our most feared illnesses seem close at hand.The world is no longer divided into two hostile camps.Instead, now we are building bonds with nations that once were our adversaries.Growing connections of commerce and culture give us a chance to lift the fortunes and spirits of people the world over.And for the very first time in all of history, more people on this planet live under democracy than dictatorship.My fellow Americans, as we look back at this remarkable century, we may ask, can we hope not just to follow, but even to surpass the achievements of the 20th century in America and to avoid the awful bloodshed that stained its legacy? To that question, every American here and every American in our land today must answer a resounding “Yes.”
This is the heart of our task.With a new vision of government, a new sense of responsibility, a new spirit of community, we will sustain America's journey.The promise we sought in a new land we will find again in a land of new promise.In this new land, education will be every citizen's most prized possession.Our schools will have the highest standards in the world, igniting the spark of
possibility in the eyes of every girl and every boy.And the doors of higher education will be open to all.The knowledge and power of the Information Age will be within reach not just of the few, but of every classroom, every library, every child.Parents and children will have time not only to work, but to read and play together.And the plans they make at their kitchen table will be those of a better home, a better job, the certain chance to go to college.Our streets will echo again with the laughter of our children, because no one will try to shoot them or sell them drugs anymore.Everyone who can work, will work, with today's permanent under class part of tomorrow's growing middle class.New miracles of medicine at last will reach not only those who can claim care now, but the children and hardworking families too long denied.We will stand mighty for peace and freedom, and maintain a strong defense against terror and destruction.Our children will sleep free from the threat of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons.Ports and airports, farms and factories will thrive with trade and innovation and ideas.And the world's greatest democracy will lead a whole world of democracies.Our land of new promise will be a nation that meets its obligations, a nation that balances its budget, but never loses the balance of its values.A nation where our grandparents have secure retirement and health care, and their grandchildren know we have made the reforms necessary to sustain those benefits for their time.A nation that fortifies the world's most productive economy even as it protects the great natural bounty of our water, air, and majestic land.And in this land of new promise, we will have reformed our politics so that the voice of the people will always speak louder than the din of narrow interests, regaining the participation and deserving the trust of all Americans.Fellow citizens, let us build that America, a nation ever moving forward toward
realizing the full potential of all its citizens.Prosperity and power, yes, they are important, and we must maintain them.But let us never forget: The greatest progress we have made, and the greatest progress we have yet to make, is in the human heart.In the end, all the world's wealth and a thousand armies are no match for the strength and decency of the human spirit.Thirty-four years ago, the man whose life we celebrate today spoke to us down there, at the other end of this Mall, in words that moved the conscience of a nation.Like a prophet of old, he told of his dream that one day America would rise up and treat all its citizens as equals before the law and in the heart.Martin Luther King's dream was the American Dream.His quest is our quest: the ceaseless striving to live out our true creed.Our history has been built on such dreams and labors.And by our dreams and labors we will redeem the promise of America in the 21st century.To that effort I pledge all my strength and every power of my office.I ask the members of Congress here to join in that pledge.The American people returned to office a President of one party and a Congress of another.Surely, they did not do this to advance the politics of petty bickering and extreme partisanship they plainly deplore.No, they call on us instead to be repairers of the breach, and to move on with America's mission.America demands and deserves big things from us,-and nothing big ever came from being small.Let us remember the timeless wisdom of Cardinal Bernardin, when facing the end of his own life.He said, “It is wrong to waste the precious gift of time, on acrimony and division.”
Fellow citizens, we must not waste the precious gift of this time.For all of us are on that same journey of our lives, and our journey, too, will come to an end.But the journey of our America must go on.And so, my fellow Americans, we must be strong, for there is much to dare.The demands of our time are great and they are different.Let us meet them with faith and courage, with patience and a grateful and happy heart.Let us shape the hope of this day into the noblest chapter in our history.Yes, let us build our bridge.A bridge wide enough and strong enough for every American to cross over to a blessed land of new promise.May those generations whose faces we cannot yet see, whose names we may never know, say of us here that we led our beloved land into a new century with the American Dream alive for all her children;with the American promise of a more perfect union a reality for all her people;with America's bright flame of freedom spreading throughout all the world.From the height of this place and the summit of this century, let us go forth.May God strengthen our hands for the good work ahead, and always, always bless our America.【中文译文】:
克林顿第二次就职演说
同胞们:
藉此二十世纪最后一届总统就职演说之际,让我们睁开眼睛迎接下一世纪我们将面临的挑战。所幸的是,时间和机遇不仅将我们置身于一个新世纪的边缘,一个新的千周年,而且将我们置身于人类事业一个崭新新的、光辉的边缘——一个决定我们未来数十年方向和地位的时刻。我们必须使我们古老的民主永葆青春。在“希望之乡”这一古老憧憬的指引下,让我们着眼于新的“希望之乡”。
美国的希望源于十八世纪一种无畏的信念:人生来皆平等。在十九世纪,我们的国家横跨大陆,拯救了联邦,废除了恐怖的奴隶制的蹂躏。
这一信念得以流传和扩展。然后,在辛劳和胜利之中,这种希望奔上了世界的舞台,使本世纪成为美国的世纪。
这是怎样的一个世纪啊。美国成为世界上最强大的工业大国,它把世界从两次世界大战和旷日持久的冷战的暴虐中拯救出来,并且一再向全球上百万像我们一样渴望自由赐福的人们伸出援助之手。
在这一进程中,美国产生 了庞大的中产阶级和老年人保险制度,建立了无与伦比的学习中心,并对全民开放公立学校,分裂了原子且探索了太空,发明了计算机和微芯片,通过发起一场非裔美国人和少数民族的民权革命,及扩大妇女的公民权利,就业机会和人身尊严,而深掘了正义之泉。
现在,也是第三次,一个新世纪来到我们面前,这又是一个选择的时候,我们进入十九世纪时有一个选择,使得我们国家从一个海岸扩展到另一个海岸,我们进入二十世纪时又有一个选择,使得工业革命能符合我们的价值观,即自由经营,水土保持,和恪守人类正义,这些选择使得一切迥然不同。
在二十一世纪曙光来临之际,一个自由的民族必须做出选择,去打造信息时代和全球一体化的力量。去释放全民无尽的潜能,并且,去成就一个更完美的联邦国家。
上次我们在此相聚时,我们向这个新未来的进军似乎没有今天这么明确,我们那时曾宣誓 确立新的道路,复兴我们的国家。
在这四年中,我们感到悲剧带来的触动,挑战带来的兴奋,成就带来的增强,美国作为世界不可缺少的国家巍然挺立,再一次,我们的经济是世界上最强大的经济,再一次,我们建设着更牢固的家庭,繁荣的社区,更好的教育机会,更清洁的环境,曾经似乎注定要恶化的问题现在也屈服于我们 的努力,我们的街道更安全,我们的同胞有创记录的人数已从福利走向工作。
再一次,我们解决了当前关于政府角色问题的巨大争论。今天我们可以宣告:政府不是问题的产生者,政府也不是问题的解决者,我们-美国人民-我们才是问题的解决者,我们的缔造者深深地了解这一点,他们给予我们的民主强壮的足以持续几个世纪。柔韧地足以在每一新的日子里迎接我们共同的挑战并推进我们共同的梦想。
同胞们,让我们建设这样的美国,一个永远前进,以充分发挥全民潜力的国家。是的,我们必须保持繁荣强大。但是,我们不能忘记:我们已取得的伟大成就,我们将取得的伟大的成就,就在人民心中。到最后,整个世界的财富和千支军队都无法与人类精神力量和精神文明相匹敌。
三十四年前,有一个人,他的一生为我们今天所歌颂,他就在那边,在广场的另一端对我们演讲,他的话打动了国民的良知。像是一个古时的预言家,他诉说着他的梦想:有一天美国终会站起来,在法律面前和人们心中所有公民都将得到平等对待。马丁·路德·金的梦是美国之梦。他的要求就是我们的要求,即不断努力实现我们生活信条。我们的历史就建立在这样的梦想和努力上。通过我们的梦想和努力,我们重赎二十一世纪美国的希望。
同胞们,我们不能浪费当前宝贵的时机。因为我们大家都在生命的同一旅途上,我们的旅途会有终点。但我们的美国之路必须走下去。
我们还看不到我们的后代的面孔,也永远不会知道他们的名字,但是当他们谈论到我们的时候,希望他们会说我们把祖国领进了新的世纪,把有活力的美国梦留给了所有的子孙
让我们从此地之峰,从世纪之巅前进。愿上帝给我们强有力的双手,做好未来的工作——并且,永远,永远保佑我们美国。
PS:如上做标记的部分,我实在是找不到中文版本了,要么大家主动参与一次,自我翻译一下吧,我也尝试着将我的翻译附上,谢谢大家的共享与参与。