第一篇：8美國總統肯尼迪就職演說(1961年)

1961年美國總統肯尼迪就職演說

Inaugural Address of John F.Kennedy

FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 1961

Vice President Johnson, Mr.Speaker, Mr.Chief Justice, President Eisenhower, Vice President Nixon, President Truman, reverend clergy, fellow citizens, 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 I before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forebears l prescribed nearly a century and three quarters ago.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.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.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, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.This much we pledge--and more.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.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.To those peoples in the huts and villages across 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.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.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.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.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.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.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.Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us.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.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.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.”

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.All this will not be finished in the first 100 days.Nor will it be finished in the first 1,000 days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet.But let us begin.In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than in 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.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”--a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself.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?

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 shank 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.And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country.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.Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us 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.火炬已經傳給新一代美國人

約翰-肯尼迪 就職演講

星期五,1961年1月20日

首席法官先生、艾森豪威爾總統、尼克松副總統、杜魯門總統、尊敬的牧師、各位公民：

今天我們慶祝的不是政黨的勝利，而是自由的勝利。這象征著一個結束，也象征著一個開端，表示了一種更新，也表示了一種變革。因為我已在你們和全能的上帝面前，宣讀了我們的先輩在170多年前擬定的莊嚴誓言。現在的世界已大不相同了，人類的巨手掌握著既能消滅人間的各種貧困，又能毀滅人間的各種生活的力量。但我們的先輩為之奮斗的那些革命信念，在世界各地仍然有著爭論。這個信念就是：人的權利井非來自國家的慷慨，而是來自上帝恩賜。

今天，我們不敢忘記我們是第一次革命的繼承者。讓我們的朋友和敵人同樣聽見我此時此地的講話：火炬已經傳給新一代美國人。這一代人在本世紀誕生，在戰爭中受過鍛煉，在艱難困苦的和平時期受過陶冶，他們為我國悠久的傳統感到自豪——他們不愿目睹或聽任我國一向保證的、今天仍在國內外作出保證的人權漸趨毀滅。

讓每個國家都知道——不論它希望我們繁榮還是希望我們衰落——為確保自由的存在和自由的勝利，我們將付出任何代價，承受任何負擔，應付任何艱難，支持任何朋友，反抗任何敵人。

這些就是我們的保證——而且還有更多的保證。

對那些和我們有著共同文化和精神淵源的老盟友，我們保證待以誠實朋友那樣的忠誠。我們如果團結一致，就能在許多合作事業中無在而下勝；我們如果分歧對立，就會一事無成——因為我們不敢在爭吵下休、四分五裂時迎接強大的挑戰。

對那些我們歡迎其加入到自由行列中來的新國家，我們格守我們的誓言：決不讓一種更為殘酷的暴政來取代一種消失的殖民統治。我們并不總是指望他們會支持我們的觀點。但我們始終希望看到他們堅強地維護自己的自由——而且要記住，在歷史上，凡愚蠢地騎在虎背上謀求權力的人，都是以葬身虎口而告終。

對世界各地身居茅舍和鄉村，為擺脫普遍貪困而斗爭的人們，我們保證盡量大努力幫助他們自立，不管需要花多長時間——之所以這樣做，并不是因為共產黨可能正在這樣做，也不是因為我們需要他們的選票，而是因為這樣做是正確的，自由社會如果不能幫助眾多的窮人，也就無法保全少數富人。

對我國南面的姐妹共和國，我們提出一項特殊的保證——在爭取進步的新同盟中，把我們善意的話變為善意的行動，幫助自由的人們和自由的政府擺脫貧困的枷鎖。但是，這種充滿希望的和平革命決不可以成為敵對國家的犧牲品。我們要讓所有鄰國都知道，我們將和他們在一起，反對在美洲任何地區進行侵略和顛覆活動。讓所有其他國家都知道，本半球的人仍然想做自己家園的主人。

聯合國是主權國家的世界性議事機構，是我們在戰爭手段大大超過和平手段的時代里最后的、最美好的希望所在。因此，我們重申予以支持；防止它僅僅成為謾罵的場所；加強它對新生國家和弱小國家的保護；擴大它的行使法令的管束范圍。

最后，對那些想與我們作時的國家，我們提出一個要求而不是一項保證：在科學釋放出可怕的破壞力 量，把全人類卷人到預謀的或意外的自我毀滅的深淵之前，讓我們雙方重新開始尋求和平。

我們不敢以怯弱來引誘他們。因為只有當我們毫無疑問地擁有足夠的軍備，我們才能毫無疑問地確信永遠下會使用這些軍備。

但是，這兩個強大的國家集團都無法從目前所走的道路中得到安慰——發展現代武器所需的費用使雙方負擔過重，致命的原子武器的不斷擴散理所當然使雙方憂心忡忡，但是，雙方卻在爭著改變那制止人類發動最后戰爭的不移定的恐怖均勢。因此，讓我們雙方重新開始——雙方都要牢記。禮貌并不意味著怯弱，誠意永遠有侍于驗證。讓我們決不要由于畏懼而談判。但我們決不能畏懼談判。

讓雙方都來探討使我們團結起來的問題，而不要操勞那些使我們分裂的問題。

讓雙方首次為軍備檢查和軍備控制制訂認真而又明確的提案，把毀滅他國的絕對力量置于所有國家的絕對控制之下。

讓雙方尋求利用科學的奇跡，而不是乞靈于科學造成的恐怖。讓我們一起探索星球，征服沙漠，根除疾患，開發深梅，并鼓勵藝術和商業的發展。

讓雙方團結起來，在全世界各個角落傾聽以賽亞的訓令——“解下軛上的索，使被欺壓的得自由。”

如果合作的灘頭陣地的逼退猜忌的叢林，那么就讓雙方共同作一次新的努力：不是建立一種新的均勢，而是創造一個新的法治世界，在這個世界中，強者公正，弱者安全，和平將得到維護。

所有這一切下可能在第一個一百天內完成，也不可能在第一個一千天或者在本屆政府任期內完成，甚至也許不可能在我們居住在這個星球上的有生之年內完成。但是，讓我們開始吧。

公民們，我們方針的最終成敗與其說掌握在我手中，不如說掌握在你們手中。自從合眾國建立以來，每一代美國人都曾受到召喚去證明他們對國家的忠誠。響應召喚而獻身的美國青年的墳墓遍及全球。

現在，號角已再次吹響——不是召喚我們拿起武器，雖然我們需要武器，不是召喚我們去作戰，雖然我們嚴陣以待。它召喚我們為迎接黎明而肩負起漫長斗爭的重任，年復一年，“從希望中得到歡樂，在苦難中保持堅韌”，去反對人類共同的敵人——專制、貧困、疾病和戰爭本身。

為反對這些敵人，確保人類更為豐裕的生活，我們能夠組成一個包括東西南北各方的全球大聯盟嗎？你們愿意參加這一歷史性的努力嗎？

在漫長的世界歷史中，只有少數幾代人在自由處于最危急的時刻被賦予保衛自由的責任。我不會推卸這一責任，我歡迎這一責任。我不相信我們中間有人想同其他人或其他時代的人交換位置。我們為這一努力所奉獻的精力、信念和忠誠，將照亮我們的國家和所有力國效勞的人，而這火焰發出的光芒定能照亮全世界。

因此，美國同胞們，不要問國家能力你們做些什么，而要問你們能為國家做些什么。

全世界的公民們，不要間美國將為你們做些什么，而要問我們共同能為人類的自中做些什么。

最后，不論你們是美國公民還是其他國家的公民，你們應該要求我們現出我們同樣要求于你們地高度力量和犧牲。問心無愧是我們唯一可靠的獎賞，歷史是我們行動的最終裁判，讓我們走向前去，引導我們所珍愛的國家。我們祈求上帝的福佑和幫助，但我們知道，確切的說，上帝在塵世的工作必定是我們自己的工作。1949年美國總統杜魯門就職演說

Inaugural Address of Harry S.Truman

THURSDAY, JANUARY 20, 1949

Mr.Vice President, Mr.Chief Justice, and fellow citizens, I accept with humility the honor which the American people have conferred upon me.I accept it with a deep resolve to do all that I can for the welfare of this Nation and for the peace of the world.In performing the duties of my office, I need the help and prayers of every one of you.I ask for your encouragement and your support.The tasks we face are difficult, and we can accomplish them only if we work together.Each period of our national history has had its special challenges.Those that confront us now are as momentous as any in the past.Today marks the beginning not only of a new administration, but of a period that will be eventful, perhaps decisive, for us and for the world.It may be our lot to experience, and in large measure to bring about, a major turning point in the long history of the human race.The first half of this century has been marked by unprecedented and brutal attacks on the rights of man, and by the two most frightful wars in history.The supreme need of our time is for men to learn to live together in peace and harmony.The peoples of the earth face the future with grave uncertainty, composed almost equally of great hopes and great fears.In this time of doubt, they look to the United States as never before for good will, strength, and wise leadership.It is fitting, therefore, that we take this occasion to proclaim to the world the essential principles of the faith by which we live, and to declare our aims to all peoples.The American people stand firm in the faith which has inspired this Nation from the beginning.We believe that all men have a right to equal justice under law and equal opportunity to share in the common good.We believe that all men have the right to freedom of thought and expression.We believe that all men are created equal because they are created in the image of God.From this faith we will not be moved.The American people desire, and are determined to work for, a world in which all nations and all peoples are free to govern themselves as they see fit, and to achieve a decent and satisfying life.Above all else, our people desire, and are determined to work for, peace on earth--a just and lasting peace--based on genuine agreement freely arrived at by equals.In the pursuit of these aims, the United States and other like-minded nations find themselves directly opposed by a regime with contrary aims and a totally different concept of life.That regime adheres to a false philosophy which purports to offer freedom, security, and greater opportunity to mankind.Misled by this philosophy, many peoples have sacrificed their liberties only to learn to their sorrow that deceit and mockery, poverty and tyranny, are their reward.That false philosophy is communism.Communism is based on the belief that man is so weak and inadequate that he is unable to govern himself, and therefore requires the rule of strong masters.Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with reason and justice.Communism subjects the individual to arrest without lawful cause, punishment without trial, and forced labor as the chattel of the state.It decrees what information he shall receive, what art he shall produce, what leaders he shall follow, and what thoughts he shall think.Democracy maintains that government is established for the benefit of the individual, and is charged with the responsibility of protecting the rights of the individual and his freedom in the exercise of his abilities.Communism maintains that social wrongs can be corrected only by violence.Democracy has proved that social justice can be achieved through peaceful change.Communism holds that the world is so deeply divided into opposing classes that war is inevitable.Democracy holds that free nations can settle differences justly and maintain lasting peace.These differences between communism and democracy do not concern the United States alone.People everywhere are coming to realize that what is involved is material well-being, human dignity, and the right to believe in and worship God.I state these differences, not to draw issues of belief as such, but because the actions resulting from the Communist philosophy are a threat to the efforts of free nations to bring about world recovery and lasting peace.Since the end of hostilities, the United States has invested its substance and its energy in a great constructive effort to restore peace, stability, and freedom to the world.We have sought no territory and we have imposed our will on none.We have asked for no privileges we would not extend to others.We have constantly and vigorously supported the United Nations and related agencies as a means of applying democratic principles to international relations.We have consistently advocated and relied upon peaceful settlement of disputes among nations.We have made every effort to secure agreement on effective international control of our most powerful weapon, and we have worked steadily for the limitation and control of all armaments.We have encouraged, by precept and example, the expansion of world trade on a sound and fair basis.Almost a year ago, in company with 16 free nations of Europe, we launched the greatest cooperative economic program in history.The purpose of that unprecedented effort is to invigorate and strengthen democracy in Europe, so that the free people of that continent can resume their rightful place in the forefront of civilization and can contribute once more to the security and welfare of the world.Our efforts have brought new hope to all mankind.We have beaten back despair and defeatism.We have saved a number of countries from losing their liberty.Hundreds of millions of people all over the world now agree with us, that we need not have war--that we can have peace.The initiative is ours.We are moving on with other nations to build an even stronger structure of international order and justice.We shall have as our partners countries which, no longer solely concerned with the problem of national survival, are now working to improve the standards of living of all their people.We are ready to undertake new projects to strengthen the free world.In the coming years, our program for peace and freedom will emphasize four major courses of action.First, we will continue to give unfaltering support to the United Nations and related agencies, and we will continue to search for ways to strengthen their authority and increase their effectiveness.We believe that the United Nations will be strengthened by the new nations which are being formed in lands now advancing toward self-government under democratic principles.Second, we will continue our programs for world economic recovery.This means, first of all, that we must keep our full weight behind the European recovery program.We are confident of the success of this major venture in world recovery.We believe that our partners in this effort will achieve the status of self-supporting nations once again.In addition, we must carry out our plans for reducing the barriers to world trade and increasing its volume.Economic recovery and peace itself depend on increased world trade.Third, we will strengthen freedom-loving nations against the dangers of aggression.We are now working out with a number of countries a joint agreement designed to strengthen the security of the North Atlantic area.Such an agreement would take the form of a collective defense arrangement within the terms of the United Nations Charter.We have already established such a defense pact for the Western Hemisphere by the treaty of Rio de Janeiro.The primary purpose of these agreements is to provide unmistakable proof of the joint determination of the free countries to resist armed attack from any quarter.Each country participating in these arrangements must contribute all it can to the common defense.If we can make it sufficiently clear, in advance, that any armed attack affecting our national security would be met with overwhelming force, the armed attack might never occur.I hope soon to send to the Senate a treaty respecting the North Atlantic security plan.In addition, we will provide military advice and equipment to free nations which will cooperate with us in the maintenance of peace and security.Fourth, we must embark on a bold new program for making the benefits of our scientific advances and industrial progress available for the improvement and growth of underdeveloped areas.More than half the people of the world are living in conditions approaching misery.Their food is inadequate.They are victims of disease.Their economic life is primitive and stagnant.Their poverty is a handicap and a threat both to them and to more prosperous areas.For the first time in history, humanity possesses the knowledge and the skill to relieve the suffering of these people.The United States is pre-eminent among nations in the development of industrial and scientific techniques.The material resources which we can afford to use for the assistance of other peoples are limited.But our imponderable resources in technical knowledge are constantly growing and are inexhaustible.I believe that we should make available to peace-loving peoples the benefits of our store of technical knowledge in order to help them realize their aspirations for a better life.And, in cooperation with other nations, we should foster capital investment in areas needing development.Our aim should be to help the free peoples of the world, through their own efforts, to produce more food, more clothing, more materials for housing, and more mechanical power to lighten their burdens.We invite other countries to pool their technological resources in this undertaking.Their contributions will be warmly welcomed.This should be a cooperative enterprise in which all nations work together through the United Nations and its specialized agencies wherever practicable.It must be a worldwide effort for the achievement of peace, plenty, and freedom.With the cooperation of business, private capital, agriculture, and labor in this country, this program can greatly increase the industrial activity in other nations and can raise substantially their standards of living.Such new economic developments must be devised and controlled to benefit the peoples of the areas in which they are established.Guarantees to the investor must be balanced by guarantees in the interest of the people whose resources and whose labor go into these developments.The old imperialism--exploitation for foreign profit--has no place in our plans.What we envisage is a program of development based on the concepts of democratic fair-dealing.All countries, including our own, will greatly benefit from a constructive program for the better use of the world's human and natural resources.Experience shows that our commerce with other countries expands as they progress industrially and economically.Greater production is the key to prosperity and peace.And the key to greater production is a wider and more vigorous application of modern scientific and technical knowledge.Only by helping the least fortunate of its members to help themselves can the human family achieve the decent, satisfying life that is the right of all people.Democracy alone can supply the vitalizing force to stir the peoples of the world into triumphant action, not only against their human oppressors, but also against their ancient enemies--hunger, misery, and despair.On the basis of these four major courses of action we hope to help create the conditions that will lead eventually to personal freedom and happiness for all mankind.If we are to be successful in carrying out these policies, it is clear that we must have continued prosperity in this country and we must keep ourselves strong.Slowly but surely we are weaving a world fabric of international security and growing prosperity.We are aided by all who wish to live in freedom from fear--even by those who live today in fear under their own governments.We are aided by all who want relief from the lies of propaganda--who desire truth and sincerity.We are aided by all who desire self-government and a voice in deciding their own affairs.We are aided by all who long for economic security--for the security and abundance that men in free societies can enjoy.We are aided by all who desire freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom to live their own lives for useful ends.Our allies are the millions who hunger and thirst after righteousness.In due time, as our stability becomes manifest, as more and more nations come to know the benefits of democracy and to participate in growing abundance, I believe that those countries which now oppose us will abandon their delusions and join with the free nations of the world in a just settlement of international differences.Events have brought our American democracy to new influence and new responsibilities.They will test our courage, our devotion to duty, and our concept of liberty.But I say to all men, what we have achieved in liberty, we will surpass in greater liberty.Steadfast in our faith in the Almighty, we will advance toward a world where man's freedom is secure.To that end we will devote our strength, our resources, and our firmness of resolve.With God's help, the future of mankind will be assured in a world of justice, harmony, and peace.四項主要的行動方針

哈里-杜魯門 就職演講

星期四,1949年1月20日

我國歷史上的各個時期都面臨過特殊的挑戰。我們現在面臨的挑戰和過去面臨的任何挑戰一樣嚴重，今天不僅標志著一屆新政府的起點，而且標志著一個新時期的開始。對我們來說，對整個世界來說，這個時期特是個多事之秋，也許還將是決定性的歲月。也許命運注定我們要去體驗，或者在更大程度上是去促成人類漫長歷史中的一個重大轉折。本世紀上半葉的特點是，人權遭到史無前例的粗暴踐踏，并經歷了歷史上最可怕的兩場戰爭。我們這個時代最迫切的需要是學會和睦相處。

世界各國人民都懷著忐忑不安的心情面對著未來，他們既充滿希望又滿腹憂慮。在這疑慮的時刻，他們比以往任何時候更期待著合眾國的善意、力量以及明智的領導。

因此，我們審時度勢，利用這一時機向全世界宣布指導我們生活的信念的基本原則，向所有的民族宜布我們的目標。

在今后幾年，我們的和平自由綱領將著重于四項主要的行動方針。

第一，我們將繼續堅定不移地支持聯合國及其有關機構，繼續尋求各種方法來加強這些機構的權威和增加這些機構的效率。今天，不少新的國家正在成立，正在民主原則的指引下向自治方向邁進，我們相信，聯合國將因這些新國家而得到加強。

第二，我們將繼續執行我們制定的世界經濟復興計劃。

這意味著我們必須首先全力支持歐洲復興計劃。對于世界復興中這一重大事業的成功，我們充滿了信心。我們相信，通過這項工作，我們的伙伴將再一次取得自給國家的地位。此外，我們還必須執行為減少世界貿易壁壘、增加世界貿易額而制定的計劃。經濟復興與和平本身都取決于世界貿易的增加。

第三，我們要加強熱愛自由的國家的力量，以抵御侵略的威脅。

我們和許多國家一起，正在為增加北大西洋地區的安全面起草一項共同協議。這種協議將根據聯合國憲章的規定，采取集體防御協定的形式。

我們已經根據里約熱內盧公約為西半球建立了這樣一個防御同盟。

這些協議的主要目的是明確表示自由國家抵抗來自任何地方的武裝進攻的共同決心。參加這些協議的每個國家必須為共同防御貢獻出全部力量。

如果我們能預先充分地表明，任何影響到我們國家安全的武裝進攻必將遭到強大的抵抗，那么武裝進攻也許就永遠不會發生。

我希望關于北大西洋安全計劃的條約不久將呈送參議院。

此外，我們還將向在維護和平與安全時同我們進行合作的自由國家，提供軍事顧問和軍事裝備。

第四，我們必須著手擬定一項大膽的新計劃，使不發達地區的進步與發展能受益于我們的先進的科學和發達的工業。

全世界半數以上的人口正瀕臨悲慘的境地，他們食不果腹、疾患加身。他們的經濟生活原始落后，滯綴不振。無論對于他們自己還是對于比較繁榮的地區來說，他們的貧困既是一種阻礙又是一種威脅。

人類有史以來第一次掌握了能解除這些人苦難的知識和技術。

合眾國在工業和科學技術發展方面居各國之首。盡管我們用來援助其他國家人民的物質資源是有限的，但我們在技術知識方面的資源卻是無法估量的，是不斷增長和用之不竭的。

我認為，為了幫助各愛好和平民族實現他們對美好生活的愿望，我們應該使他們受惠于我們豐富的技術知識。同時，我們還應該和其他國家合作，支持對急待開發的地區進行投資。

我們的目標應該是幫助世界上各個自由民族通過他們自己的努力，生產更多的食物，更多的衣物，更多的建筑材料，以及更多的機器來減輕他們的負擔。

我們吁請其他國象匯集他們的技術力量以進行這項工作。我們熱烈歡迎他們作出貢獻。這應該是一種合作事業，所有國家通過聯合國及其專門機構在任何可行的方面為此共同工作。這必須是在世界范圍內為實現和平、繁榮和自由而作出的努力。

在我國企業、私人資本、農業和勞工等方面的協作下，這一計劃能夠極大促進其他國家的工業活動，從實質上提高他們的生活水平。

這種新的經濟發展必須加以規劃和控制，從而使被開發地區的人民有所得益。在保證投資者利益的同時，必須兼顧人民的利益，因為在這些經濟發展中傾注著人民的才智和勞動。

在我們的計劃中，剝削他國利潤的老牌帝國主義沒有立足之地。我們擬定的是一個以民主的公平交易的概念為基礎的發展規劃。

所有國家，包括我國在內，將極大地受益于為更合理地使用世界上的人力資源和自然資源而制定的一項建設性計劃。經驗證明，我們同其他國家的貿易將隨著這些國家在工業和經濟上的發展而擴大。

提高生產是繁榮與和平的關鍵，而提高生產的關鍵是更廣泛、更積極地運用現代科學技術知識。

人類大家庭只有通過幫助最不幸的成員自助，才能享受體面的、令人滿意的生活，而所有人郁有權過上這樣的生活。

只有民主政治才能產生生機勃勃的力量，以激勵世界人民不僅為反抗人類的壓迫者，而且壓力反抗人類古老的敵人——饑餓、貧困、失望——而斗爭。

根據這四項主要的行動方針，我們希望有助于創造各種條件，最終實現個人自由和全人類的幸福。

1933年美國總統羅斯福就職演說

First Inaugural Address of Franklin D.Roosevelt

SATURDAY, MARCH 4, 1933

I am certain that 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 Nation 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.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 vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory.I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.In such a spirit on my part and on yours we face our common difficulties.They concern, thank God, only material things.Values have shrunken 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;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.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.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 abdicated.Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men.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 know only the rules of a generation of self-seekers.They have no vision, and when there is no vision the people perish.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 the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit.Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money;it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits.These dark days 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 and to our fellow men.Recognition of the 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, on unselfish performance;without them it cannot live.Restoration calls, however, not for changes in ethics alone.This Nation asks for action, and action now.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 greatly needed projects to stimulate and reorganize the use of our natural resources.Hand in hand with this 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.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, State, and 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, and unequal.It can be helped by national planning for and supervision of all forms of transportation and of communications and other utilities which have a definitely public character.There are many ways in which it can be helped, but it can never be helped merely by talking about it.We must act and act quickly.Finally, in our progress toward 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.There 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 several States.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.The basic thought that guides these specific means of national recovery is not narrowly nationalistic.It is the insistence, as a first consideration, upon the interdependence of the various elements in all parts of the United States--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 the recovery will endure.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.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 is made, no leadership becomes effective.We are, I know, ready and willing to submit our lives and property to such discipline, because it makes possible a leadership which aims at a larger good.This I propose to offer, pledging that the larger purposes will bind upon us all as a sacred obligation with a unity of duty hitherto evoked only in time of armed strife.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.Action in this image and to this end is feasible under the form of government which we have inherited from our ancestors.Our Constitution is so simple and 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 produced.It has met every stress of vast expansion of territory, of foreign wars, of bitter internal strife, of world relations.It is to be hoped that the normal balance of executive and legislative authority may be 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.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.But in the event that the Congress shall fail to take one of these two courses, and 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.For the trust reposed in me I will return the courage and the devotion that befit the time.I can do no less.We face the arduous days that lie before us in the warm courage of the national unity;with the clear consciousness of seeking old and precious moral values;with the clean satisfaction that comes from the stem performance of duty by old and young alike.We aim at the assurance of a rounded and permanent national life.We do not distrust 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.In this dedication of a Nation we humbly ask the blessing of God.May He protect each and every one of us.May He guide me in the days to come.我們唯一不得不害怕的就是害怕本身

富蘭克林-羅斯福 第一次就職演講

星期六,1933年3月4日

我肯定，同胞們都期待我在就任總統時，會像我國目前形勢所要求的那樣，坦率而果斷地向他們講話。現在正是但白、勇敢地說出實話，說出全部實話的最好時刻，我們不必畏首畏尾，不著老實實面對我國今天的情況，這個偉大的國家會一如既住地堅持下去，它會復興和繁榮起來。因此，讓我首先表明我的堅定信念：我們唯一下得不害怕的就是害怕本身——一種莫明其妙的、喪失理智的、毫無根據的恐懼，它會把轉退為進所需的種種努力化為泡影。凡在我國生活陰云密布的時刻，坦率而有活力的領導都得到過人民的理解和支持，從而為勝利準備了必不可少的條件。我相信，在目前危急時刻，大家會再次給予同樣的支持。我和你們都要以這種槽神，來面對我們共同的困難。感謝上帝，這些困難只是物質方面的。價值難以想象地貶縮了；課稅增加了，我們的支付能力下降了；各級政府面臨著嚴重的收入短缺；交換手段在貿易過程中遭到了凍結；工業企業枯萎的落葉到處可見；農場主的產品找不到銷路；千家萬戶多年的積蓄付之東流。

更重要的是，大批失業公民正面臨嚴峻的生育問題，還有大批公民正以艱辛的勞動換取微薄的報酬。只有愚蠢的樂天派會否認當前這些陰暗的現實。但是，我們的苦惱決不是因為缺乏物資。我們沒有遭到什么蝗蟲災害。我們的先輩曾以信念和無畏一次次轉危為安，比起他們經歷過的險阻，我們仍大可感到欣慰。大自然仍在給予我們恩惠，人類的努力已使之倍增。富足的憎景近在咫尺，但就在我們見到這種情景的時候，寬裕的生活卻悄然離去。這主要是因為主宰人類物資交換的統治者們失敗了，他們固執己見而又無能為力，因而已經認定失敗，并撒手不管了，貪得無厭的貨幣兌換商的種種行徑，將受到輿論法庭的起訴，將受到人類心靈和理智的唾棄。

幸福并不在于單純地占有主錢；幸福還在于取得成就后的喜悅，在于創造性努力時的激情。務必不能再忘記勞動帶來的喜悅和激勵，而去瘋狂地追逐那轉瞬即逝的利潤。如果這些暗淡的時日能使我們認識到，我們真正的夭命不是要別人侍奉，而是為自己和同胞們服務，那么，我們付出的代價就完全是值得的。認識到把物質財富當作成功的標準是錯誤的，我們就會拋棄以地位尊嚴和個人收益為唯一標準。來衡量公職和高級政治地位的錯誤信念，我們必須制止銀行界和企業界的一種行為，它常常使神圣的委托混同于無情和自私的不正當行為，難怪信心在減弱，因為增強信心只有靠誠實、榮譽感、神圣的責任感，忠實地加以維護和無私地履行職責，而沒有這些，就不可能有信心。

但是，復興不僅僅要求改變倫理觀念。這個國家要求行動起來，現在就行動起來。

根據憲法賦予我的職責、我準備提出一些措施，而一個受災世界上的受災國家也許需要這些措施。對于這些措施，以及國會根據本身的經驗和智慧可能制訂的其他類似措施，我將在憲法賦予我的權限內，設法迅速地予以采納。

但是，如果國會拒不采納這兩條路線中的一條，如果國家緊急情況依然如故，我將下回避我所面臨的明確的盡責方向。我將要求國會準許我使用唯一剩下的手殷來應付危機——向非常情況開戰的廣泛的行政 權，就像我們真的遭到外敵人侵時授予我那樣的廣泛權力。

對大家寄予我的信任，我一定報以時代所要求的勇氣和獻身精神，我會竭盡全力。

讓我們正視面前的嚴峻歲月，懷著舉國一致給我們帶來的熱情和勇氣，懷著尋求傳統的、珍貴的道德觀念的明確意識，懷著老老少少都能通過克盡職守而得到的問心無愧的滿足。我們的國標是要保證國民生活的圓滿和長治久安。

我們并不懷疑基本民主制度的未來。合眾國人民并沒有失敗。他們在困難中表達了自己的委托，即要求采取直接而有力的行動。他們要求有領導的紀律和方向。他們現在選擇了我作為實現他們的愿望的工具。我接受這份厚贈。

在此舉國奉獻之際，我們謙卑地請求上帝賜福。愿上帝保佑我們大家和每一個人，愿上帝在未來的日子里指引我。

第二篇：肯尼迪就職演說評析

美國第三十五任總統John Fitzgerald Francis Kennedy(1917-1963)約翰.弗.肯尼迪1961年元月20日在首都華盛頓國會大廈前發表“就職演說”時，我在讀初中三年級，學的是俄語。直到1980年，我才在美國出版的“English For Today”“今日英語”教材的第五冊里閱讀到了這篇演說，而且還聽了這篇演說的實況錄音。現在這篇演說已被一字未刪地選入《Advanced English》“高級英語”（張漢熙主編，商務印書館出版發行），《21 Century College English》 “二十一世紀大學英語”（復旦大學，交通大學主編;高等教育出版社，復旦大學出版社出版發行）英語教材里作為高等院校的英語學習教材。1980年，那時大學外語教學還是很原始落后的。我想得到英語版的聯合國“人權宣言”，但在當時武漢的中南財經學院圖書館里沒有。找到武漢大學圖書館，那里才只有一本油印的“人權宣言”小冊子。我想得到英文版的“中華人民共和國刑法”這書，武漢的外文書店買不到。我托原北京地院外語老師去北京外國專家局找有關專家打聽此書，專家說，《刑法》英文譯文由他翻譯，正在他手里，由于沒有出版，他不能外借。肯尼迪“就職演說”是在演說之后十九年被我們看到。時過境遷，2009年元月20日，全世界幾乎所有的人都能從網上及各種媒體上聽到，見到，讀到美國第一位黑人總統奧巴馬的“就職演說”。雖然有的人看到的是被有些媒體屏掉了（Recall that earlier generations faced down Fascism and Communism not just with missiles and tanks but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions.我們在此回憶先輩，他們戰勝了法西斯主義和共產主義，靠的不僅是導彈，坦克；更是靠堅定的盟友和不移的信念。），（To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent know that you are on the wrong side of history but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.對于那些通過腐敗，欺騙，壓制異見來統治的人，你們應該知道你們站在了歷史的對立面。但是，如果你們愿意放開緊攥的拳頭，我們會向你們伸出一只手。）這些文字的演說，但是1961年那時代的人能聽到，見到，讀到的是完全不能與今天相比的了！

閱讀翻譯注釋

1、Mr.Chief Justice,President Eisenhower,Vice President Nixon,President Truman,Reverend Clergy,Fellow Citizens,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.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.首席法官先生，艾森豪威爾威爾總統，尼克松副總統，杜魯門總統，尊敬的神父，同胞們；我們今天慶祝的不是一次政黨的勝利而是慶祝自由精神的勝利-這不僅象征結束 –這還象征開始 – 意味著更新 – 也意味著變革。我在你們和全能的上帝面前宣讀了將近一百七十年前我們祖先擬定的同一庒嚴的誓言。現在，這世界已完全不同了。人類把消除各種貧窮及毀滅各種形式的生活的力量握在巨手中。然而，在全球，我們祖先為之奮斗的相同的革命信念仍然在爭論之中 – 這信念:人權不是來自國家的慷慨，而是來自上帝之手。

1：the same solemn oath: I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States,and will,to the best of my ability,preserve protest and defend the Constitution of the United States.同一庒嚴的誓詞：我鄭重地宣誓我一定滿懷信心地履任美國總統職務，盡我所能，維持，保護和防衛美國憲法。

2：林肯：four score and seven years ago,八十七年前；肯尼迪在此借用：nearly a century and three quarters ago接近一百七十五年前

2.． 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，我們不會忘記我們是第一次革命的后代。在此時此地，讓我們的朋友和敵人都聽到我們的講話：火炬已傳到了新一代美國人手里 – 生在本世紀，受過戰爭的考煉，經歷艱難困苦的和平磨煉，以我們古老的傳統而自豪 – 不愿意眼看著，不容忍我們美國一直承諾的,今天在美國及全球仍然在承諾的人權，不斷地遭受踐踏。

3、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,in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.This much we pledge – and more.讓每一個希望我們好還是希望我們不好的國家知道，我們將不惜一切代價，承受一切負擔，面對各種困難，支持所有朋友，反對一切敵人，以捍衛和爭取自由的勝利。我們保證這些 – 而且不僅如此。

對偶：有意識地把詞意相對的詞語放在對稱的結構中形成對照。結構勻稱，整齊，詞的意義相反而互相襯托，使語言鮮明，使語義加強。

well or ill place and time

friend foe

united,little we can not do,divided,little we can do.(第四段)

If a free society can not help the many who are poor,it can not save the few who are rich.（第六段）

It was the best of times,it was the worst of times，It was the age of wisdom智慧,it was the age of foolishness愚蠢

It was the epoch of belief信仰，it was the epoch of incredulity懷疑

It was the season of light,it was the season of darkness，It was the spring of hope,it was the winter of despair絕望，We had everything before us,we had nothing before us，We were all going direct to heaven,we were all going direct the other way.狄更斯：《雙城記》

Tom gave up the brush with reluctance in his face,but eagerness in his heart.馬克。吐溫：<光榮的刷墻工>

排比：結構相同，意義并重，語氣一致的詞組或句子排列成串，形成一個整體。渲染，壯文勢，廣文義。使文章條理清楚，論點突出。

That we shall pay any price,bear any burden,meet any hardship,support any friend,oppose any foe，There was a song in every heart;there was cheer in every face and a spring in every step.Mark Twain:

4.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.對那些和我們有著共同文化和精神淵源的老盟友，我們保證對摯友的忠誠。團結一致，我們在許多合作事業中將無往不勝。四分五裂，我們將一事無成。-因為，意見分歧，各行其是，我們就不能對付強大的挑戰。

5.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 greater 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.對那些我們歡迎他們加入自由行列的新國家，我們保證對現我們的諾言：一種形式的殖民控制的結束，決不能被更為暴虐的專制來代替。我們不總是指望看到他們支持我們的觀點,但是，我們總是希望看到他們強烈的支持他們自己的自由 – 請記住，在過去，那些靠騎在虎背上愚蠢地尋找力量的人,必葬身虎腹。

1：One form of colonial control shall not have passed away merely to be replaced by a far greater iron tyranny.否定的轉移：

Man does not live that he may eat but eats that he may live.人活著，不是為了吃；但是,吃，人才活下來。

I do not think you are right.The machine did not stop for lack of oil.2：Those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.There once was a lady from Niger(尼日尓)，Who smiled as she rode on a tiger.They came back from the ride，With the lady inside，And the smile on the face of the tiger.6.To those peoples in the huts and villages across 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.對那些遍布在另一半地球上的茅屋荒村里，正在奮力打碎窮困鎖鏈的各民族；我們保證，無認需要多長時間，將盡最大的努力，來幫助他們幫助他們自己 – 不是因為共產黨可能做這些，也不是因為我們尋求他們在聯合國里的選票，而是這樣做是正確的。如果自由社會不能幫助那些眾多窮人，那么它就不能拯救少數富人。

7.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 mater of its own house.對那些我們邊界以南的各姐妹鄰邦，我們提出特別的保證 – 在為進步而締結成新的聯盟中，把我們良好的諾言轉變成有益的行動，支持自由的人們和自由的政府擺脫貧困的枷鎖。但是，這種充滿希望的和平革命不能成為敵對勢力的犧牲品。讓我們所有的鄰邦知道，我們將和他們一起反對美洲大陸上任何地方的侵略和顛覆。讓所有其他國家知道，西半球的人民決心繼續做自己家園的主人。

8.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.對聯合國，這個主權國家的世界性議會組織，在戰爭手段遠遠超過和平手段這一時代，我們最美好和最后的希望之所在，我們重申我們對聯合國支持的保證 – 防止它僅僅變成謾罵的講壇 – 加強對新生國家和弱小國家的保護 – 擴大聯合國的決議得以執行的范圍。

9.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，對那些一定要使自己成為我們敵手的國家，我們不是做出保證，而是提出要求：我們雙方重新開始謀求和平，不要等到被科學釋放出的毀滅性的巨大威力因有意或無意的自我毀滅而吞滅全人類。

10.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.我們決不用軟弱引誘他們，因為只有當我們的武力強大得無可懷疑，我們才能豪不懷疑地確

信這些

武

器

永

遠

不

被

使

用。

11.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，兩個偉大而強有力的國家集團都不能從我們現在的局勢中獲得安慰 – 雙方超負荷地負

擔現代武器的開支，雙方理所當然為致命的原子武器不斷地擴散而憂心忡忡。然而，雙方竟

爭著去改變這種遏制人類最后戰爭不確定的恐怖均勢。

12．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，讓我們重新開始 – 雙方都記住：禮讓并不表示軟弱，誠意永遠需要驗證。讓我們決不

因為害怕而談判。但是，讓我們決不害怕談判。

反復（Repetition）:反復使用同一個詞，句子或段落，借以加強語氣和感情，使文章產生突出 的效果。（羅嗦重復，則是語病）

To those old allies第四段至第九段共重復五次。

So let us begin anew 第十二段至第十六段共享了四次。

We pledge our best effort to help them help themselves.Let us never negotiate out of fear.But let us never fear to negotiate.英國詩人Thomas Hood的

Work – work – work!

Till the brain begins to swim!

Work – work – work，Till the eyes are heavy and dim(暗淡)。

Seam(縫合)，and gusset(縫三角形布料)and band（鑲邊，綁扎），Band,and gusset,and seam –

Till over the buttons I fall asleep.And sew them on a dream.描寫工作的繁重，單調，枯燥。

13.Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of laboring those problems which divide

us.讓雙方探討使我們團結的問題，而不要過分花精力于使我們分裂的那些問題。

14.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.讓雙方首次為軍備撿查及軍備控制制定嚴肅精確的計劃 – 把毀滅別的國家的絕對力量置于

所有國家的絕對控制之下。

15.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.讓雙方尋求實現科學創造的奇跡，而不是它的恐懼。讓我們一起探索星星，征服沙漠，根治

疾病，開發海底資源，發展藝術，促進貿易。

排比：explore the stars,conquer the deserts,eradicate disease,tap the ocean depths,and

Encourage the arts and commerce.16．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.”

讓雙方團結起來，在地球的每一個角落傾聽先知以賽亜的號令 – “卸下沉重的負擔，讓被壓

迫者獲得自由。

17.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.如果合作的灘頭可以逼退猜疑的叢林，就讓雙方攜手創造一種新的均勢，不是一種新的力量

均勢，而是一個法治的新世界，在那里，強者公允，弱者安全，和平得到保衛。

18．All this will not be finished in the first 100 days.Nor will it be finished in the first 1000 days,nor

in the life of this administration,nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet.But let us begin.所有這些不能在本屆政府任期內的第一個一百天里，一千天里，整個任期內完成；甚至也許

在這顆星球上,我們的一輩子都不能完成。但是，讓我們開始吧。

19.In your hands,my fellow citizens,more than in 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

are found around the globe.同胞們，我們事業最終的成敗不僅掌握在我手中，更是在你們的手中。自這個國家成立以來，一代代美國人被召喚去證明他們對國家的忠誠。響應國家召喚的年青美國人的墳墓遍布全

球。

20.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” – a struggle against the

common enemies of man:tyranny,poverty,disease,and war itself.現在號角又一次在召喚我們 – 不是號召背上武器，雖然我們需要武器；不是號召去戰斗，雖

然我們嚴陣以待；而是號召背上漫長黎明的斗爭重任，年復一年，“滿懷希望而歡欣鼓舞，磨

難中忍耐”-進行反對人類共同敵人的斗爭：暴政，貧窮，疾病及各種戰爭。

21.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?

我們能建立一個把東西南北連在一起的偉大全球聯盟來對付這些敵人，以確保全人類

更為豐碩的生活嗎？你們愿意加入到這一具有歷史意義的行動中來嗎？

22.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.在漫長的世界歷史里，只有少數的幾代人在自由面臨極大危險的時刻被賦予保衛自由的角色。

我不推卸這一責任 – 我歡迎它。我認為我們之中的任何人不會與別人或另一代人交換位置。

我們獻給這一事業的精力，信心，忠誠將照亮我們的國家和所有為國服務的人 – 這火焰發出 的光芒定能真正地照亮全世界。

23.And so,my fellow Americans,ask not what your country can do for you.Ask what you can do for

your country.因此，我的美國同胞們，不要問你們的國家能為你們做些什麼，而要問你們能為你們的國家

做些什麼。

24.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.我的世界各國的公民們，不要問美國將為你們做些什么，而要問我們大家一起能為人類的自

由做些什么。

反復：第二十三，第二十四段使用反復的修詞手法。

25.Finally,whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world,ask of us 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，無論我的美國同胞還是世界各國的公民們，請用我們要求于你們的力量和犧牲精

神同樣的高標準來要求我們。我們唯一確信的報賞是對得起我們的良心（我們問心無愧）,歷史是我們行動的最后見證人，讓我們領導我們所熱愛的國家向前進，請求上帝的保佑和幫

助，但是，要知道在這個星球上，上帝的工作真正的是我們自己的工作。

第三篇：肯尼迪就職演說

Inaugural Address(January 20,1961)By John F.Kennedy 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.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 belief for which our forebears fought is 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.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 these human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.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.This much we pledge—and more.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 co-operative ventures.Divided, there is little we can do, for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder.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.T o those peoples 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.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.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.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.講評“肯尼迪總統就職演說詞” ■北京外國語大學 李品偉 選評

美國總統就職演說詞獨具一格，而肯尼迪的講演更是其中一篇為人們注目的代表作，字字句句經過刻意雕琢，有許多值得品味推敲之處。

它講的是美國人為之驕傲的美國歷史傳統，講的是美國的外交政策。

半個世紀以前的國際形勢與今天大不相同：勢不兩立的兩大陣營、激烈的軍備競賽、持續的冷戰局面。這些在文章中可見端倪。

可是，在肯尼迪的全篇演說中，沒有直截了當地對國際形勢進行分析，更沒有一處提到一個國家的名字或具體事例，一切都隱晦、委婉、模糊不清，用的只是to friend and foe alike, to those nations who...等，沒有經歷或不熟悉那一段時期歷史的人也許會摸不著頭腦。不奇怪，這些在一定程度上代表了西方政治家的風格。

21世紀的今天，全球化(globali-zation)成了全世界所關注的問題，也成了人們天天在重復的一個詞語，從形勢上與此篇講演的背景很有可比較之處，但這里我們主要是就此篇講演中如何沿襲古希臘、羅馬的修辭、文風，如何精心選用圣經語言句式，講演稿如何注意音韻效果等問題分別舉例討論而已。因篇幅有限，只選用了前11段，未選全文。inaugural address 指就職演說詞。一般來說，演說詞在英語里是speech,用address這個詞是比較少的。如果要說兩者有什么差別的話，無非是風格上及使用場合上的區別。前者是一個普通的詞，而address從風格上來說更為莊重，指正式的致辭，除了總統演說詞之外，也用于學校畢業典禮上校長的演說詞等。

第一段第一個動詞observe一般作“觀察”解，但這里“觀察”一看就說不通，說不通就可以試著通過上下文來推斷或查一下詞典。如果你的詞典里observe有三個釋義，那么你就要注意第二或第三個釋義了，你的推斷如果是“慶祝”，那就對了，此時它的英語等同語應該是celebrate,其賓語可以是這篇文章中的victory,(a celebration of)freedom。其他常見的搭配還有什么呢？有節日（festivals），有生日（birthdays），有周年紀念（anniversaries）等。這幾個賓語中的birthday因為太普通了，可能用得少些。用得多的應該是anniversaries，因為它較之其他兩個更為莊重。

從選詞風格的角度來說，我們會注意到文章一開始有某些不太常用的詞，如：forebears, prescribes等，可以說forbears這個詞在中、小型詞典中往往是查不到的，你必須查較大的詞典。它的意思是祖先、祖宗，也就是我們一般熟悉的ancestor。兩者用法上有所不同，那就是ancestor的單數很常見，而forebear則總是以復數形式forebears出現，從風格上，更具古風。Collins Co Build的Essential English Dictionary關于這個字的旁注是：N count（可數名詞）/ usu.plural（一般復數）/ Formal（正式）；而ancestor的旁注則沒有后面兩點，由此可見兩者的細微差別。

prescribe這個動詞你不一定見得多，如見到，也多半是它的名詞形式prescription（處方）。prescription是常用詞，而動詞prescribe則較常用于正式場合。關于這個動詞同一詞典有這樣的第2條釋義：If someone prescribes an action or duty, they state formally that it must be carried out.它所指的動作與開醫藥處方是兩回事，意思不是別的而是“命令”，必須執行。

第二段以一個短句開始，與第一段的長句正好相反。唱歌讀詩有節奏，句子與句子、段與段的關聯也有節奏，如果一篇文章自始至終是緩慢而沉重的長句，讀起來就沉重、缺乏起伏。所以第二段的一個短句不單起著承上啟下的作用，而且還有速度上適當調節的作用，賦予了段落一種節奏感。

另外在用詞方面，你會注意到這里又一次出現了forebears，而且還有一個在層次和風格上可與之稱兄道弟的mortal hands與它做伴，在一般情況下我們見到的也許會是...holds in his hands the power to...，這里卻多了mortal這一個大家不一定熟悉的詞。mortal屬非常用詞，詞義可以是：不能不死的，不共戴天的，性命攸關的。在這里應作“凡人的”，“人類的”解。回過頭來想一下：非要這個詞嗎？沒有它不行嗎？當然是人的手，又會是誰的手呢？解答這個問題可以從兩方面來說，一是這是自古以來常用的搭配，無須刨根問底，二是在這里有了mortal這個詞，節奏鮮明，讀起來感覺更好些，...holds in his mortal hands首先有頭韻[h]，接著有2uldz, m0:tl, h*ndz，其中包含的元音（包括一般作為短元音的*）都有一定長度，它們所含濁輔音及旁流音構成的輔音連綴結尾賦予句子濃厚的韻味效果。

講演除了論點清楚，有說服力外，還要考慮如何在公眾場合中取得預期的最佳效果及如何調動人們的情緒，此外還需要掌握很多的技巧。它是一種學問，這種學問西方政治家們都要鉆研，他們往往把它作為一個課程來學習。如果你看過西方政治家的傳記一定已經注意到了這個問題。這實際上是一個始于希臘羅馬時期的西方傳統。對于“瘋狂英語”的倡導人李揚人們多有評論，但有一點是應該肯定的，那就是革“啞巴英語”的命，初學者應如此，達到一定程度后，仍然應該如此。講到這里，我們再來默默讀一下本篇第4段，這里包含的幾組頭韻與尾韻，使句子富有一種鮮明的節奏感、音樂感，如：pay any price, bear any burden, wishes us well or ill, oppose any foe（第４段）這類現象你可以在文章中找到很多，多朗讀一遍就會多發現一個，在此不一一舉例。當然除了頭韻、尾韻還有許多其他隱而不現的手段。以下我們抽出幾個以let開頭的句子作簡略的討論。所選的句子是：

Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch...to which we are committed today at home and around the world.（第3段）Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill,...the success of liberty.(第4段)在這樣一個嚴肅的講演中，也許有人會對出現let somebody do something這樣的結構感到不可思議，因為他們以為let somebody do something只是一個口語中的表達法，如Let me do it.Let's sing the song together.但他們不一定能意識到所提到的let結構有時表達的意思、語氣正好與口語中的截然相反，它們含有的是一種號召、命令的口吻。上面所選的兩個句子譯成漢語當然可以是：讓每個國家都知道，??； 從現在起，從這個地方開始，讓這個信息傳遞到我們的朋友，也傳遞到我們的敵人那里??。再考慮一下，這樣的口氣是否太婉轉了一些而與文章的格調不相稱呢？

為解答這一問題，我們不妨一起看一下當代美國慣用法詞典A Dictionary of Contemporary American Usage(Evans)的有關講解：let is also used to form a peculiar imperative（祈使句）that includes the speaker along with the person addressed, as in Let us be true to each other.這個句子有一種號召的口吻，us也指我們以外的某人或某些人。請再看《圣經》中“創世紀”第1章3，4，15段： 3.And God said, let there be light;and there was light.（上帝說要有光，就有了光。）4.And God saw the light, that it was good;and God divided the light from the darkness.（上帝看光是好的，就把明暗分開了。）

15.And let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth and it was so.（上帝說，天上要有光體，并要發光在天空、普照在大地上，事就這樣成了。）

最后，你一定也已經注意到此文中有不少運用了排比與對偶手段的句子。

如第6段中的United, there is little we cannot...Divided, there is little we can do,...第8段中的...not because the Communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes，but because it is right.及第3段中的 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 these human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.這里that賓語從句內所含的修飾語中有連續出現的過去分詞短語：born in..., tempered by..., disciplined by..., 也有連續出現的以形容詞開始的短語proud of..., unwilling to...，也有to which this nation..., and to which we are committed today at home and around the world這樣的定語從句。

第4段中...that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe...也是類似情況的排比。

當然這些排比有時鏗鏘有力，但不當則會顯得累贅、不自然，所以一定要注意恰當運用這種修辭手段。

→如果您認為本詞條還有待完善，請 編輯詞條 詞條內容僅供參考，如果您需要解決具體問題

第四篇：肯尼迪就職演說

肯尼迪就職演說

FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 196

1Vice President Johnson, Mr.Speaker, Mr.Chief Justice, President Eisenhower, Vice President Nixon, President Truman, reverend clergy, fellow citizens, 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 I before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forebears l prescribed nearly a century and three quarters ago.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.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.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, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.This much we pledge--and more.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.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.To those peoples in the huts and villages across 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.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.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.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.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.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.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.Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us.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.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.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.”

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.All this will not be finished in the first 100 days.Nor will it be finished in the first 1,000 days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet.But let us begin.In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than in 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.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”--a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself.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?

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 shank 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.And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country.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.Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us 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.中文譯文：

我們今天慶祝的并不是一次政黨的勝利，而是一次自由的慶典；它象征著結束，也象征著開始；意味著更新，也意味著變革。因為我已在你們和全能的上帝面前，作了跟我們祖先將近一又四分之三世紀以前所擬定的相同的莊嚴誓言。

現今世界已經很不同了，因為人在自己血肉之軀的手中握有足以消滅一切形式的人類貧困和一切形式的人類生命的力量。可是我們祖先奮斗不息所維護的革命信念，在世界各地仍處于爭論之中。那信念就是注

定人權并非來自政府的慷慨施與，而是上帝所賜。

我們今天不敢忘記我們是那第一次革命的繼承人，讓我從此時此地告訴我們的朋友，并且也告訴我們的敵人，這支火炬已傳交新一代的美國人，他們出生在本世紀，經歷過戰爭的鍛煉，受過嚴酷而艱苦的和平的熏陶，以我們的古代傳統自豪，而且不愿目睹或容許人權逐步被褫奪。對于這些人權我國一向堅貞不移，當前在國內和全世界我們也是對此力加維護的。

讓每一個國家知道，不管它盼我們好或盼我們壞，我們將付出任何代價，忍受任何重負，應付任何艱辛，支持任何朋友，反對任何敵人，以確保自由的存在與實現。

這是我們矢志不移的事--而且還不止此。

對于那些和我們擁有共同文化和精神傳統的老盟邦，我們保證以摯友之誠相待。只要團結，則在許多合作事業中幾乎沒有什么是辦不到的。倘若分裂，我們則無可作為，因為我們在意見分歧、各行其是的情況下，是不敢應付強大挑戰的。

對于那些我們歡迎其參與自由國家行列的新國家，我們要提出保證，絕不讓一種形成的殖民統治消失后，卻代之以另一種遠為殘酷的暴政。我們不能老是期望他們會支持我們的觀點，但我們卻一直希望他們能堅決維護他們自身的自由，并應記取，在過去，那些愚蠢得要騎在虎背上以壯聲勢的人，結果卻被虎所吞噬。

對于那些住在布滿半個地球的茅舍和鄉村中、力求打破普遍貧困的桎梏的人們，我們保證盡最大努力助其自救，不管需要多長時間。這并非因為共產黨會那樣做，也不是由于我們要求他們的選票，而是由于那樣做是正確的。自由社會若不能幫助眾多的窮人，也就不能保全那少數的富人。

對于我國邊界以內的各姐妹共和國，我們提出一項特殊的保證：要把我們的美好諾言化作善行，在爭取進步的新聯盟中援助自由人和自由政府來擺脫貧困的枷鎖。但這種為實現本身愿望而進行的和平革命不應成為不懷好意的國家的俎上肉。讓我們所有的鄰邦都知道，我們將與他們聯合抵御對美洲任何地區的侵略或顛覆。讓其它國家都知道，西半球的事西半球自己會管。

至于聯合國這個各主權國家的世界性議會，在今天這個戰爭工具的發展速度超過和平工具的時代中，它是我們最后的、最美好的希望。我們愿重申我們的支持諾言；不讓它變成僅供謾罵的講壇，加強其對于新國弱國的保護，并擴大其權力所能運用的領域。

最后，對于那些與我們為敵的國家，我們所要提供的不是保證，而是要求：雙方重新著手尋求和平，不要等到科學所釋出的危險破壞力量在有意或無意中使全人類淪于自我毀滅。

我們不敢以示弱去誘惑他們。因為只有當我們的武力無可置疑地壯大時，我們才能毫無疑問地確信永遠不會使用武力。

可是這兩個強有力的國家集團，誰也不能對當前的趨勢放心--雙方都因現代武器的代價而感到不勝負擔，雙方都對于致命的原子力量不斷發展而產生應有的驚駭，可是雙方都在競謀改變那不穩定的恐怖均衡，而此種均衡卻可以暫時阻止人類最后從事戰爭。

因此讓我們重新開始，雙方都應記住，謙恭并非懦弱的征象，而誠意則永遠須要驗證。讓我們永不因畏

懼而談判。但讓我們永不要畏懼談判。

讓雙方探究能使我們團結在一起的是什么問題，而不要虛耗心力于使我們分裂的問題。

讓雙方首次制訂有關視察和管制武器的真誠而確切的建議，并且把那足以毀滅其它國家的漫無限制的力量置于所有國家的絕對管制之下。

讓雙方都謀求激發科學的神奇力量而不是科學的恐怖因素。讓我們聯合起來去探索星球，治理沙漠，消除疾病，開發海洋深處，并鼓勵藝術和商務。

讓雙方攜手在世界各個角落遵循以賽亞的命令，去“卸下沉重的負擔??(并)讓被壓迫者得自由。”

如果建立合作的灘頭堡能夠遏制重重猜疑，那么，讓雙方聯合作一次新的努力吧，這不是追求新的權力均衡，而是建立一個新的法治世界，在那世界上強者公正，弱者安全，和平在握。

凡此種種不會在最初的一百天中完成，不會在最初的一千天中完成，不會在本政府任期中完成，甚或也不能在我們活在地球上的畢生期間完成。但讓我們開始。

同胞們，我們事業的最后成效，主要不是掌握在我手里，而是操在你們手中。自從我國建立以來，每一代的美國人都曾應召以驗證其對國家的忠誠。響應此項召喚而服軍役的美國青年人的墳墓遍布全球各處。

現在那號角又再度召喚我們--不是號召我們肩起武器，雖然武器是我們所需要的；不是號召我們去作戰，雖然我們準備應戰；那是號召我們年復一年肩負起持久和勝敗未分的斗爭，“在希望中歡樂，在患難中忍耐”；這是一場對抗人類公敵--暴政、貧困、疾病以及戰爭本身--的斗爭。

我們能否結成一個遍及東西南北的全球性偉大聯盟來對付這些敵人，來確保全人類享有更為富裕的生活?你們是否愿意參與這歷史性的努力?

在世界的悠久歷史中，只有很少幾個世代的人賦有這種在自由遭遇最大危機時保衛自由的任務。我決不在這責任之前退縮；我歡迎它。我不相信我們中間會有人愿意跟別人及別的世代交換地位。我們在這場努力中所獻出的精力、信念與虔誠、將照亮我們的國家以及所有為國家服務的人，而從這一火焰所聚出的光輝必能照明全世界。

所以，同胞們：不要問你們的國家能為你們做些什么，而要問你們能為國家做些什么。

全世界的公民：不要問美國愿為你們做些什么，而應問我們在一起能為人類的自由做些什么。

最后，不管你是美國的公民或世界它國的公民，請將我們所要求于你們的有關力量與犧牲的高標準拿來要求我們。我們唯一可靠的報酬是問心無愧，我們行為的最后裁判者是歷史，讓我們向前引導我們所摯愛的國土，企求上帝的保佑與扶攜，但我們知道，在這個世界上，上帝的任務肯定就是我們自己所應肩負的任務。

第五篇：美國總統就職演說

奧巴馬

Hello, Chicago.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.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 first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference.It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled.Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states.We are, and always will be, the United States of America.It's the answer that led those who've been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about 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.It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment change has come to America.A little bit earlier this evening, I received an extraordinarily gracious call from Sen.McCain.Sen.McCain fought long and hard in this campaign.And he's fought even longer and harder for the country that he loves.He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine.We are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader.I congratulate him;I congratulate Gov.Palin for all that they've achieved.And I look forward to working with them to renew this nation's promise in the months ahead.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 the train home to Delaware, the vice president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.And 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, the love of my life, the nation's next first lady Michelle Obama.Sasha and Malia I love you both more than you can imagine.And you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the new White House.And while she's no longer with us, I know my grandmother's watching, along with the family that made me who I am.I miss them tonight.I know that my debt to them is beyond measure.To my sister Maya, my sister Alma, all my other brothers and sisters, thank you so much for all the support that you've given me.I am grateful to them.1 And to my campaign manager, David Plouffe, the unsung hero of this campaign, who built the best--the best political campaign, I think, in the history of the United States of America.To my chief strategist David Axelrod who's been a partner with me every step of the way.To 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.But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to.It belongs to you.It belongs to you.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.It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give $5 and $10 and $20 to the 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.It drew strength from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on doors of perfect strangers, and 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 the Earth.This is your victory.And 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 the children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage or pay their doctors' bills or save enough for their child's college education.There's new energy to harness, new jobs to be created, new schools to build, and threats to meet, alliances to repair.The road ahead will be long.Our climb will be steep.We may not get there in one year or even in 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.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 the government can't solve 2 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 to 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, calloused hand by calloused hand.What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter cannot 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 can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of 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.Let's resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.Let's 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 and individual liberty and national unity.Those are values that 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.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 tonight, but I hear your voices.I need your help.And I will be your president, too.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 the world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand

To those--to those who would tear the 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.3 That's the true genius of America: that America can change.Our union can be perfected.What we've already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations.But one that's on my mind tonight's 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.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.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.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.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, a new sense of common purpose.Yes we can.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.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.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.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?

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 doubts and 4 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.Thank you.God bless you.And may God bless the United States of America.美國是一個任何事情都有可能發生的國家,對于這一點如果還有任何人心存懷疑,對民主的力量還表示疑慮的話,今晚就是對這一問題的最好回答。

這個答案早已經印在了到處懸掛在學校和教堂的競選條幅上,人們隨處可見;這些人們已經等待了三四個小時,對于他們當中的大多數,這是有生以來第一次經歷這樣的過程,因為他們堅信這一時刻注定與眾不同,而這種不同便有可能源自他們所發出的聲音。

這個答案出自這些人之口,無論是青年還是老年,窮人還是富人,民主黨還是共和黨,黑人還是白人,拉丁裔、亞裔還是美國本土人,同性戀者還是異性戀者,殘疾人還是非殘疾人——他們向世界發出了這樣的信息——我們從來不分紅色之州和藍色之州,我們永遠都是美利堅合眾國。

這個答案告訴了那些一直以來充滿焦慮、恐懼和懷疑的人們,我們可以將雙手放在歷史的轉折點上,將它再次帶向充滿希望的美好明天。

這一刻我們已經等待了太久,但是今晚,由于我們在這一決定性的時刻所作出的選擇,美國便迎來了它嶄新的一刻。

我剛剛接到了來自麥凱恩議員的電話。他在這場漫長而艱難的選舉中一直努力著,而他為他所熱愛的國家所付出的努力甚至更加艱辛而久遠。可能我們當中的很多人甚至都無法想象,麥凱恩議員從何時便開始為我們的國家奉獻自己,而我們卻早已享受到了這位勇敢無私的領導者為國家所做出的貢獻。對于他和佩林所付出的努力,我表示衷心的感謝,同時我也期待著,能夠和他們一同努力,共同實現我們這幾個月來所做出的承諾。

我要感謝我的競選伙伴,新當選的美國副總統喬·拜登,這一路走來,他始終遵循著自己內心深處的那個聲音,他始終代表著那些和他一起在斯克蘭頓街邊長大,一起坐著火車回到故鄉特拉華州的人們的聲音。

如果沒有過去這16年來摯友的支持,沒有穩定的家庭和對生活的愛,沒有我們國家的下一位第一夫人,米歇爾·奧巴馬,今晚我將不可能站在這里。薩莎和瑪麗亞,我愛你們,你們已經得到了一只新的小狗,它將和我們一起入住白宮。還有我的祖母,雖然她已經不能和我們一起分享這一刻,但是我知道,她正和我的家人一起,注視著我,陪我經歷著這一刻。我不會忘記,是他們養育我成人,今晚我是如此的想念他們,我知道,我所虧欠他們的,是永遠無法報答的恩情。

對我的競選負責人大衛·普羅菲,我的首席戰略家大衛·亞克瑟羅德以及有史以來最優秀的競選團隊,我想對你們說的是——是你們成就了今天的一切,我將永遠感激你們所付出的這一切。

但是,最重要的是,我將永遠不會忘記,這個勝利是真正屬于你們的!我一直都不是最有希望的那個候選人,一開始的時候我們便沒有那么多的資金或支持。我們的競選之路并不是從華盛頓的高樓禮堂中開始的,它從德梅因的后院、協和酒店的客廳以及查爾斯頓的門廊中邁出了第一步。

它由那些需要從自己有限的存款中拿出5美元、10美元和20美元的工人們建立起來;那些摒棄了他們那一代人冷漠神話的年輕人,那些遠離家鄉親人在外打拼卻只能賺得微薄工資的人們,那些抵抗著刺骨的寒冷和灼人的炎熱敲響了陌生人家大門的人們,是你們給了它 成長的力量;數以百萬計的美國人民自愿組織起來,他們想要去證明兩個多世紀之后,一個由人民組成的政府,一個屬于人民的政府,一個為了人民的政府是不會從地球上消亡的,這就是屬于你們的勝利!我知道,你們這樣做并不只是想贏得一場選舉,我也知道,你們這樣做并不是為我一個人。你們這樣做,是因為你們了解前方的任務是如何的艱巨。甚至就在我們慶祝的同時,我們也清楚地明白,明天將要面臨的挑戰是多么巨大——兩大戰爭,一個處于危險中的星球,本世紀最嚴重的經濟危機。就在我們站在這里的同時,我們清楚地知道,還有許多勇敢的美國人正在伊拉克的沙漠和阿富汗的群山中醒來,為了我們而冒著生命的危險。還有許許多多的父母們,只有在自己的孩子入睡后才能躺下,他們為房子的貸款和醫院的賬單還有孩子們的學費而發愁。放心,我們會注入新的能量,創造新的就業機會,建設新的學校,面對威脅與挑戰,修復我們的聯盟。

前方的道路還很漫長。我們所面臨的山峰是險峻的。或許一年甚至很長一段時間我們都無法攀上峰頂,但是美國——我從來沒有像今晚這樣堅信,我們最終一定會到達。我向你保證——我們的民族最終會到達山頂的。

也許會有挫折坎坷,作為總統我所做出的決定和政策必定會遭到一些人的反對,而我們也知道政府不能夠解決所有問題。但是我將會誠實地告訴你們我們所面對的挑戰。我會耐心傾聽你們的心聲,尤其是在遇到分歧的時候。而最重要的是,我將會讓你們加入到重建我們國家的隊伍當中來,沿著美國這221年來一直所走的那條道路——一塊塊磚瓦,一雙雙手,一點點堆砌出我們的家園。

21個月之前的那個冬天所開始的,不會在這個秋天的夜晚結束。這個勝利本身并不是我們所要找尋的改變——這只是一個改變的機會。如果我們回到老路上,那么一切都不會得到改變。沒有你們,這一切也不會得到改變。

那么,就讓我們重新召喚起愛國主義、公仆之心以及國家責任的精神來,每個人都參與其中,一起努力,不單只是關心自身,而是互相照顧。讓我們記住這場經濟危機所教會我們的一點,如果主街道遭受了打擊,那么華爾街也不可能幸免——在這個國家,我們作為一個民族,一個整體,同存亡共榮辱。

讓我們摒棄掉那些長久以來一直危害我們的政治生活的那些幼稚瑣碎的黨派之爭。讓我們記住,是這個國家的人第一次將共和黨的橫幅掛在了白宮之上,而共和黨的建立便是基于對自力更生、獨立自由和國家統一價值的肯定。這一價值是我們所共享的,即便民主黨今晚贏得了大選,我們也會懷著謙虛的心態,去消除這一分歧和隔膜。在面臨著比今天更嚴重的國家分裂時,林肯說過,“我們不是敵人,而是朋友。。我們友情的紐帶,或會因情緒激動而繃緊,但決不可折斷。”而對于那些我還沒有贏得支持的選民們——也許我還沒有贏得你們的選票,但是我聽到了你們聲音,我需要你們的幫助,而我也同樣是你們的總統。

對于那些遠在大洋彼岸的,在國會和皇宮中,在我們這個世界被遺忘的角落中圍在收音機旁關注著大選之夜的人們——我們的故事是不同的,但是我們的命運卻是緊緊連在一起的,美國領袖新的一天的黎明即將到來。對于那些會將世界四分五裂的人們,我們將打敗你們,對于那些渴求和平和安全的人們,我們將支持你們。而對于所有那些想知道,自由女神像手中的火炬是否還會依舊閃耀光芒的人們,今晚我們再次證明了,我們民族的真正實力并不只是來自于武力和財富,而是來自于我們理想的力量:民主,自由,機遇以及永不屈服的希望。美國真正的天賦在于,它懂得改變。我們的聯盟會不斷完善自己。而我們已經取得的成就給了我們希望,讓我們堅信我們能夠并且即將取得成功。

這次選舉擁有許多故事和數不清的第一次,它們將被世世代代流傳。但是今晚在我腦海中一直浮現的,是亞特蘭大一位女性選民。她就像成千上萬的其他選民一樣,排在隊伍中喊出自己的心聲,唯一不同的是——安·尼克松·庫伯已經106歲了。她出生的時候正是奴隸制度解除之后;那時候還沒有汽車和飛機;像她一樣的人那個時候是沒有選舉權的,因為她是女人,還因為她皮膚的顏色。

但是今晚,我思考著她所經歷的這一個世紀的美國——心痛和希望;斗爭與進步;我們被告知我們不能做什么的時代,以及美國人的信條:是的,我們可以!在那個女性不能發出聲音的時代,在那個女性的希望被剝奪的時代,她看著她們站了起來,大聲說出自己的想法,投出了自己的選票。是的,我們可以!當絕望和大蕭條襲來的時候,她看到了一個民族通過新政、新的工作和新的共同目的感戰勝了恐懼。是的,我們可以!當炸彈在珍珠港爆炸,當暴政威脅這個世界的時候,她見證了一代人的強大,見證了民主得到了捍衛。是的,我們可以!她見證了蒙哥馬利汽車暴動,見證了塞爾瑪大橋事件,遇到了那位來自亞特蘭大的牧師,他告訴人們“我們終將會克服一切。”是的,我們可以!人類登上了月球,柏林墻倒塌了,世界由于我們自身的科學和想象力被連接到了一起。而在這一年,在這次選舉中,她的手指觸摸到了屏幕,她投出了自己的一票,因為在美國經歷了106年的變遷,經歷了最好的與最壞的時代后,她了解美國是如何變化的。是的,我們可以!美國,我們已經走了這么遠,我們已經看到了這么多,但是仍然有許多事情等待著我們去做。那么今晚,讓我們捫心自問——如果我們的孩子看到了下一個世紀;如果我的女兒也能夠和安·尼克松·庫伯一樣幸運地活到了106歲,那么他們將會看到怎樣的變化？我們又將會取得什么樣的進步？

對于我們來說,這正是一個對這一疑問給出回答的機會。這是我們的時刻,這是我們的時代——讓我們的人民重新回去工作,為我們的孩子打開機會的大門;積累財富,促進和平;重拾美國夢,重申基本的真象——相對于大多數而言,我們是獨一無二的;當我們呼吸時,我們希望,在我們面對譏笑、懷疑以及別人對我們說我們不能的時候,我們將會用凝聚了人類精神的永恒信條作出回應: 是的,我們可以!謝謝你們,愿上帝保佑你們,愿上帝保佑美利堅合眾國。喬治布什

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 a simple 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 Vice President Gore for a contest conducted with spirit and ended with grace.I am honored and humbled to stand here, where so many of America's leaders have come 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 will not see.It is the story of a new world that became a friend and liberator of the old, a story of a slave-holding society that became a servant of freedom, the story of a power that went into the world to protect but not possess, to defend but not to conquer.It is the American story.A story of flawed and fallible people, united across the generations by grand and enduring ideals.The grandest of these ideals is an unfolding American promise that everyone belongs, that everyone deserves a chance, that no insignificant person was ever born.Americans are called upon to enact this promise in our lives and in our laws;and though our nation has sometimes halted, and sometimes delayed, we must follow no other course.Through much of the last century, America's faith in freedom and democracy was a rock in a raging sea.Now it is a seed upon the wind, taking root in many nations.Our democratic faith is more than the creed of our country, it is the inborn hope of our humanity, an ideal we carry but do not own, a trust we bear and pass along;and even after 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 our own country.The ambitions of some Americans are limited by failing schools and hidden prejudice and the circumstances of their birth;and sometimes our differences run so deep, it seems we share a continent, but not a country.We do not accept this, and we will not allow it.Our unity, our union, is the serious work of leaders and citizens in every generation;and this is my solemn pledge, “I will work to build a single nation of justice and opportunity.” I know this is in our reach because we are guided by a power larger than ourselves who creates us equal in His image and we are confident in principles that unite and lead us onward.America has never been united by blood or birth or soil.We are bound by ideals that move us beyond our backgrounds, lift us above our interests and teach us what it means to be citizens.Every child must be taught these principles.Every citizen must uphold them;and every immigrant, by embracing these ideals, makes our country more, not less, American.Today, we affirm a new commitment to live out our nation's promise through civility, courage, compassion and character.America, at its best, matches a commitment to principle with a concern for civility.A civil society demands from each of us good will and respect, fair dealing and forgiveness.Some seem to believe that our politics can afford to be petty because, in a time of peace, the stakes of our debates appear small.But the stakes for America are never small.If our country does not lead the cause of freedom, it will not be led.If we do not turn the hearts of children toward knowledge and character, we will lose their gifts and undermine their idealism.If we permit our economy to drift and decline, the vulnerable will suffer most.We must live up to the calling we share.Civility is not a tactic or a sentiment.It is the determined choice of trust over cynicism, of community over 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 times of 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 condemn us.We must show courage in a time of blessing by confronting problems instead of passing them on to future generations.Together, we will reclaim America's schools, before ignorance and apathy claim more young lives;we will reform Social Security and Medicare, sparing our children from struggles we have the power to prevent;we will reduce taxes, to recover the momentum of our economy and reward the effort and enterprise of working Americans;we will build our defenses beyond challenge, lest weakness invite challenge;and we will confront weapons of mass destruction, so that a new century is spared new horrors.The enemies of liberty and our country should make no mistake, America remains engaged in the world by history and by choice, shaping a balance of power that favors freedom.We will defend our allies and our interests;we will show purpose without arrogance;we will meet aggression and bad faith with resolve and strength;and to all nations, we will speak for the values that gave our nation birth.America, at its best, is compassionate.In the quiet of American conscience, we know that deep, persistent poverty is unworthy of our nation's promise.Whatever our views of its cause, we can agree that children at risk are not at fault.Abandonment and abuse are not acts of God, they are failures of love.The proliferation of prisons, however necessary, is 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 all of us are diminished when any are hopeless.Government has great responsibilities for public safety and public health, for civil rights and common schools.Yet compassion is the work of a nation, not just a government.Some needs and hurts are so deep they will only respond to a mentor's touch or a pastor's prayer.Church and charity, synagogue and mosque lend our communities their humanity, and they will have an honored place in our plans and in our laws.Many in our country do not know the pain of poverty, but we can listen to those who do.I can pledge our nation to a goal, “When we see that wounded traveler 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 not only in options, but in commitments.We find that children and community are the commitments that set us free.Our public interest depends on private character, on civic duty and family bonds and basic fairness, on uncounted, unhonored acts of decency which give direction to our freedom.Sometimes in life we are called to do great things.But as 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 by these principles, “to advance my convictions with civility, to pursue the public interest with courage, to speak for greater justice and compassion, to call for responsibility and try to live it as well.” In all of these ways, I will bring the values of our history to the care of our times.What you do is as important as anything government does.I ask you to seek a common good beyond your comfort;to defend needed reforms against easy attacks;to serve your nation, beginning with your neighbor.I ask you to be citizens.Citizens, not spectators;citizens, not subjects;responsible citizens, building communities of service and a nation of character.Americans are generous and strong and decent, not because we believe in ourselves, but because we hold beliefs beyond ourselves.When this spirit of citizenship is missing, no government program can replace it.When this spirit is present, no wrong can stand against it.After the Declaration of Independence was signed, Virginia statesman John Page wrote to Thomas Jefferson, “We know the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong.Do you not think an angel rides in the whirlwind and directs this storm?” Much time has passed since Jefferson arrived for his inauguration.The years and changes accumulate, but the themes of this day he would know, “our nation's grand story of courage and its simple dream of dignity.”

We are not this story's author, who fills time and eternity with His purpose.Yet His purpose is achieved in our duty, and our duty is fulfilled in service to one another.Never tiring, never yielding, never finishing, we renew that purpose today;to make our country more 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 and directs this storm.God bless you all, and God bless America.謝謝大家！

尊敬的芮恩奎斯特大法官，卡特總統，布什總統，克林頓總統，尊敬的來賓們，我的同胞們，這次權利的和平過渡在歷史上是罕見的，但在美國是平常的。我們以樸素的宣誓莊嚴地維護了古老的傳統，同時開始了新的歷程。

首先，我要感謝克林頓總統為這個國家作出的貢獻，也感謝副總統戈爾在競選過程中的熱情與風度。

站在這里，我很榮幸，也有點受寵若驚。在我之前，許多美國領導人從這里起步；在我之后，也會有許多領導人從這里繼續前進。

在美國悠久的歷史中，我們每個人都有自己的位置；我們還在繼續推動著歷史前進，但是我們不可能看到它的盡頭。這是一部新世界的發展史，是一部后浪推前浪的歷史。這是一部美國由奴隸制社會發展成為崇尚自由的社會的歷史。這是一個強國保護而不是占有世界的歷史，是捍衛而不是征服世界的歷史。這就是美國史。它不是一部十全十美的民族發展史，但它是一部在偉大和永恒理想指導下幾代人團結奮斗的歷史。

這些理想中最偉大的是正在慢慢實現的美國的承諾，這就是：每個人都有自身的價值，每個人都有成功的機會，每個人天生都會有所作為的。美國人民肩負著一種使命，那就是要竭力將這個諾言變成生活中和法律上的現實。雖然我們的國家過去在追求實現這個承諾的途中停滯不前甚至倒退，但我們仍將堅定不移地完成這一使命。

在上個世紀的大部分時間里，美國自由民主的信念猶如洶涌大海中的巖石。現在它更像風中的種子，把自由帶給每個民族。在我們的國家，民主不僅僅是一種信念，而是全人類的希望。民主，我們不會獨占，而會竭力讓大家分享。民主，我們將銘記于心并且不斷傳播。225年過去了，我們仍有很長的路要走。

有很多公民取得了成功，但也有人開始懷疑，懷疑我們自己的國家所許下的諾言，甚至懷疑它的公正。失敗的教育，潛在的偏見和出身的環境限制了一些美國人的雄心。有時，我們的分歧是如此之深，似乎我們雖身處同一個大陸，但不屬于同一個國家。我們不能接受這種分歧，也無法容許它的存在。我們的團結和統一，是每一代領導人和每一個公民的嚴肅使命。在此，我鄭重宣誓：我將竭力建設一個公正、充滿機會的統一國家。我知道這是我們的目標，因為上帝按自己的身形創造了我們，上帝高于一切的力量將引導我們前進。

對這些將我們團結起來并指引我們向前的原則，我們充滿信心。血緣、出身或地域從未將美國聯合起來。只有理想，才能使我們心系一處，超越自己，放棄個人利益，并逐步領會何謂公民。每個孩子都必須學習這些原則。每個公民都必須堅持這些原則。每個移民，只有接受這些原則，才能使我們的國家不喪失而更具美國特色今天，我們在這里重申一個新的信念，即通過發揚謙恭、勇氣、同情心和個性的精神來實現我們國家的理想。美國在它最鼎盛時也沒忘記遵循謙遜有禮的原則。一個文明的社會需要我們每個人品質優良，尊重他人，為人公平和寬宏大量。

有人認為我們的政治制度是如此的微不足道，因為在和平年代，我們所爭論的話題都是無關緊要的。但是，對我們美國來說，我們所討論的問題從來都不是什么小事。如果我們不領導和平事業，那么和平將無人來領導；如果我們不引導我們的孩子們真心地熱愛知識、發揮個性，他們的天分將得不到發揮，理想將難以實現。如果我們不采取適當措施，任憑經濟衰退，最大的受害者將是平民百姓。

我們應該時刻聽取時代的呼喚。謙遜有禮不是戰術也不是感情用事。這是我們最堅定的選擇--在批評聲中贏得信任；在混亂中尋求統一。如果遵循這樣的承諾，我們將會享有共同的成就。

美國有強大的國力作后盾，將會勇往直前。

在大蕭條和戰爭時期，我們的人民在困難面前表現得無比英勇，克服我們共同的困難體現了我們共同的優秀品質。現在，我們正面臨著選擇，如果我們作出正確的選擇，祖輩一定會激勵我們；如果我們的選擇是錯誤的，祖輩會譴責我們的。上帝正眷顧著這個國家，我們必須顯示出我們的勇氣，敢于面對問題，而不是將它們遺留給我們的后代。

我們要共同努力，健全美國的學校教育，不能讓無知和冷漠吞噬更多的年輕生命。我們要改革社會醫療和保險制度，在力所能及的范圍內拯救我們的孩子。我們要減低稅收，恢復經濟，酬勞辛勤工作的美國人民。我們要防患于未然，懈怠會帶來麻煩。我們還要阻止武器泛濫，使新的世紀擺脫恐怖的威脅。

反對自由和反對我們國家的人應該明白：美國仍將積極參與國際事務，力求世界力量的均衡，讓自由的力量遍及全球。這是歷史的選擇。我們會保護我們的盟國，捍衛我們的利益。我們將謙遜地向世界人民表示我們的目標。我們將堅決反擊各種侵略和不守信用的行徑。我們要向全世界宣傳孕育了我們偉大民族的價值觀。

正處在鼎盛時期的美國也不缺乏同情心。

當我們靜心思考，我們就會明了根深蒂固的貧窮根本不值得我國作出承諾。無論我們如何看待貧窮的原因，我們都必須承認，孩子敢于冒險不等于在犯錯誤。放縱與濫用都為上帝所不容。這些都是缺乏愛的結果。監獄數量的增長雖然看起來是有必要的，但并不能代替我們心中的希望-人人遵紀守法。

哪里有痛苦，我們的義務就在哪里。對我們來說，需要幫助的美國人不是陌生人，而是我們的公民；不是負擔，而是急需救助的對象。當有人陷入絕望時，我們大家都會因此變得渺小。

對公共安全和大眾健康，對民權和學校教育，政府都應負有極大的責任。然而，同情心不只是政府的職責，更是整個國家的義務。有些需要是如此的迫切，有些傷痕是如此的深刻，只有導師的愛撫、牧師的祈禱才能有所感觸。不論是教堂還是慈善機構、猶太會堂還是清真寺，都賦予了我們的社會它們特有的人性，因此它們理應在我們的建設和法律上受到尊重。

我們國家的許多人都不知道貧窮的痛苦。但我們可以聽到那些感觸頗深的人們的傾訴。我發誓我們的國家要達到一種境界：當我們看見受傷的行人倒在遠行的路上，我們決不會袖手旁觀。

正處于鼎盛期的美國重視并期待每個人擔負起自己的責任。

鼓勵人們勇于承擔責任不是讓人們充當替罪羊，而是對人的良知的呼喚。雖然承擔責任意味著犧牲個人利益，但是你能從中體會到一種更加深刻的成就感。

我們實現人生的完整不單是通過擺在我們面前的選擇，而且是通過我們的實踐來實現。我們知道，通過對整個社會和我們的孩子們盡我們的義務，我們將得到最終自由。

我們的公共利益依賴于我們獨立的個性；依賴于我們的公民義務，家庭紐帶和基本的公正；依賴于我們無數的、默默無聞的體面行動，正是它們指引我們走向自由。

在生活中，有時我們被召喚著去做一些驚天動地的事情。但是，正如我們時代的一位圣人所言，每一天我們都被召喚帶著摯愛去做一些小事情。一個民主制度最重要的任務是由大家每一個人來完成的。

我為人處事的原則包括：堅信自己而不強加于人，為公眾的利益勇往直前，追求正義而不乏同情心，勇擔責任而決不推卸。我要通過這一切，用我們歷史上傳統價值觀來哺育我們的時代。

(同胞們)，你們所做的一切和政府的工作同樣重要。我希望你們不要僅僅追求個人享受而忽略公眾的利益；要捍衛既定的改革措施，使其不會輕易被攻擊；要從身邊小事做起，為我們的國家效力。我希望你們成為真正的公民，而不是旁觀者，更不是臣民。你們應成為有責任心的公民，共同來建設一個互幫互助的社會和有特色的國家。

美國人民慷慨、強大、體面，這并非因為我們信任我們自己，而是因為我們擁有超越我們自己的信念。一旦這種公民精神喪失了，無論何種政府計劃都無法彌補它。一旦這種精神出現了，無論任何錯誤都無法抗衡它。

在《獨立宣言》簽署之后，弗吉尼亞州的政治家約翰?佩齊曾給托馬斯?杰弗遜寫信說：“我們知道，身手敏捷不一定就能贏得比賽，力量強大不一定就能贏得戰爭。難道這一切不都是上帝安排的嗎？”

杰斐遜就任總統的那個年代離我們已經很遠了。時光飛逝，美國發生了翻天覆地的變化。但是有一點他肯定能夠預知，即我們這個時代的主題仍然是：我們國家無畏向前的恢宏故事和它追求尊嚴的純樸夢想。

我們不是這個故事的作者，是杰斐遜作者本人的偉大理想穿越時空，并通過我們每天的努力在變為現實。我們正在通過大家的努力在履行著各自的職責。

帶著永不疲憊、永不氣餒、永不完竭的信念，今天我們重樹這樣的目標：使我們的國家變得更加公正、更加慷慨，去驗證我們每個人和所有人生命的尊嚴。

這項工作必須繼續下去。這個故事必須延續下去。上帝會駕馭我們航行的。

愿上帝保佑大家！愿上帝保佑美國！

克林頓

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.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.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.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.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.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.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.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.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.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.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.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.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.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.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.”

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.Thank you, and God bless you all.比爾?克林頓 第一次就職演講

星期三,1993年1月20日

同胞們：

今天，我們慶祝美國復興的奇跡。這個儀式雖在隆冬舉行，然而，我們通過自己的言語和向世界展示的面容、卻促使春回大地--回到了世界上這個最古老的民主國家，并帶來了重新創造美國的遠見和勇氣。

當我國的締造者勇敢地向世界宣布美國獨立，并向上帝表明自 己的目的時，他們知道，美國若要永存，就必須變革。不是為變革而變革，而是為了維護美國的理想--為了生命、自由和追求幸福而變革。盡管我們隨著當今時代 的節拍前進，但我們的使命永恒不變。每一代美國人，部必須為作為一個美國人意味著什么下定義。今天，在冷戰陰影下成長起來的一代人，在世界上負起了新的責 任。這個世界雖然沐浴著自由的陽光，但仍受到舊仇宿怨和新的禍患的威脅。

我們在無與倫比的繁榮中長大，繼承了仍然是世界上最強大的經濟。但由于企業倒閉，工資增長停滯、不平等狀況加劇，人民的分歧加深，我們的經濟已經削弱。

當喬治?華盛頓第一次宣讀我剛才宜讀的誓言時，人們騎馬把 那個信息緩慢地傳遍大地，繼而又來船把它傳過海洋。而現在，這個儀式的情景和聲音即刻向全球幾十億人播放。通信和商務具有全球性，投資具有流動性；技術幾 乎具有魔力；改善生活的理想現在具有 17 普遍性。今天，我們美國人通過同世界各地人民進行和平競爭來謀求生存。各種深遠而強大的力量正在震撼和改造我們的世 界，當今時代的當務之急是我們能否使變革成為我們的朋友，而不是成為我們的敵人。

這個新世界已經使幾百萬能夠參與競爭并且取勝的美國人過上 了富裕的生活。但是，當多數人干得越多反而掙得越少的時候，當有些人根本不可能工作的時候，當保健費用的重負使眾多家庭不堪承受、使大大小小的企業瀕臨破 產的時候，當犯罪活動的恐懼使守法公民不能自由行動的時候，當千百萬貧窮兒童甚至不能想象我們呼喚他們過的那種生活的時候，我們就沒有使變革成為我們的朋 友。我們知道，我們必須面對嚴酷的事實真相，并采取強有力的步驟。但我們沒有這樣做，而是聽之任之，以致損耗了我們的資源，破壞了我們的經濟，動搖了我們 的信心。

我們面臨驚人的挑戰，但我們同樣具有驚人的力量，美國人歷來是不安現狀、不斷追求和充滿希望的民族，今天，我們必須把前人的遠見卓識和堅強意志帶到我們的任務中去。從革命，內戰，大蕭條，直到民權運動，我國人民總是下定決心，從歷次危機中構筑我國歷史的支柱。

托馬斯?杰斐遜認為，為了維護我國的根基，我們需要時常進行激動人心的變革。美國同胞們，我們的時代就是變革的時代，讓我們擁抱這個時代吧！

我們的民主制度不僅要成為舉世稱羨的目標，而且要成為舉國復興的動力。美國沒有任何錯誤的東西不能被正確的東西所糾正。因此，我們今天立下誓言，要結束這個僵持停頓、放任自流的時代，一個復興美國的新時代已經開始。

我們要復興美國，就必須鼓足勇氣。我們必須做前人無需做的 事情。我們必須更多地投資于人民，投資于他們的工作和未來，與此同時，我們必須減少巨額債務。而且，我們必須在一個需要為每個機會而競爭的世界上做到這一 切。這樣做并不容易：這樣做要求作出犧牲。但是，這是做得到的，而且能做得公平合理。我們不是為犧牲而犧牲，我們必須像家庭供養子女那樣供養自己的國家。

我國的締造者是用子孫后代的眼光來審視自己的。我們也必須 這樣做。凡是注意過孩子蒙?o人睡的人，都知道后代意味著什么，后代就是將要到來的世界--我們為之堅持自己的理想，我們向之借用這個星球，我們對之負有 神圣的責任。我們必須做美國最拿手的事情：為所有的人提供更多的機會，要所有的人負起更多的責任。

現在是破除只求向政府和別人免費索取的惡習的時候了。讓我們大家不僅為自己和家庭，而且為社區和國家擔負起更多的責任吧。

我們要復興美國，就必須恢復我們民主制度的活力。這個美麗的首都，就像文明的曙光出現以來的每一個首都一樣，常常是爾虞我詐、明爭暗斗之地。大腕人物爭權奪勢，沒完沒了地為官員的更替升降而煩神，卻忘記了那些用辛勤和汗水把我們送到這里來，并養活了我們的人。

美國人理應得到更好的回報。在這個城市里，今天有人想把事 情辦得更好一些。因此，我要時所有在場的人說：讓我們下定決心改革政治，使權力和特權的喧囂不再壓倒人民的呼 聲。讓我們撇開個人利益。這樣我們就能覺察美 國的病痛，并看到官的希望。讓我們下定決心，使政府成為富蘭克林?羅斯福所說的進行“大膽而持久試驗”的地方，成為一個面向未來而不是留戀過去的政府。讓 我們把這個首都歸還給它所屬于的人民。

我們要復興美國，就必須迎接國內外的種種挑戰。國外和國內事務之間已不再有明確的界限--世界經濟，世界環境，世界艾滋病危機，世界軍備競賽，這一切都在影響著我們大家。

我們在國內進行重建的同時，面對這個新世界的挑戰不會退縮不前，也下會坐失良機。我們將同盟友一起努力進行變革，以免被變革所吞沒。當我們的重要利益受到挑戰，或者，當國際社會的意志和良知受到蔑視，我們將采取行動--可能時就采用和平外交手段，必要時就使用武力。

今天，在波斯灣、索馬里和任何其他地方為國效力的勇敢的美國人，都證明了我們的決心。

但是，我們最偉大的力量是我們思想的威力。這些思想在許多國家仍然處于萌芽階段。看到這些思想在世界各地被接受，我們感到歡欣鼓舞。我們的希望，我們的心，與每一個大陸正在建立民主和自由的人們是連在一起的。他們的事業也是美國的事業。

美國人民喚來了我們今天所慶祝的變革。你們毫不含糊地齊聲疾呼。你們以前所未有的人數參加了投票。你們使國會、總統職務和政治進程本身全都面目一新。是的，是你們，我的美國同胞們，促使春回大地。

現在，我們必須做這個季節需要做的工作。現在，我就運用我的全部職權轉向這項工作。我請求國會同我一道做這項工作。任何總統、任何國會、任何政府都不能單獨完成這一使命。同胞們，在我國復興的過程中，你們也必須發揮作用。

我向新一代美國年輕人挑戰，要求你們投入這一奉獻的季節--按照你們的理想主義行動起來，使不幸的兒童得到幫助，使貧困的人們得到關懷，使四分五裂的社區恢復聯系。要做的事情很多--確實夠多的，以至幾百萬在精神上仍然年輕的人也可作出奉獻。

在奉獻過程中，我們認識到相互需要這一簡單而又強大的真 理。我們必須相互關心.今天，我們不僅是在贊頌美國，我們再一次把自己奉獻給美國的理想：這個理想在革命中誕生，在兩個世紀的挑戰中更新；這個理想經受了 認識的考驗，大家認識到，若不是命運的安排，幸運者或不幸者有可能互換位置；這個理想由于一種信念而變得崇高，即我國能夠從紛繁的多佯性中實現最深刻的統 一性，這個理想洋溢著一種信：美國漫長而英勇的旅程必將永遠繼續。同胞們，在我惻即將跨入21世紀之際，讓我們以旺盛的精力和滿腔的希望，以堅定的信心和 嚴明的紀律開始工作，直到把工作完成。《圣經》說：“我們行善，不可喪志，若不灰心，到了時候，就要收成。”

在這個歡樂的山巔，我們聽見山谷里傳來了要我們作出奉獻的召喚。我們聽到了號角聲。我們已經換崗。現在，我們必須以各自的方式，在上帝的幫助下響應這一召喚。

謝謝大家。上帝保佑大家。

里根

TUESDAY, JANUARY 20, 1981

Senator Hatfield, Mr.Chief Justice, Mr.President, Vice President Bush, Vice President Mondale, Senator Baker, Speaker O'Neill, Reverend Moomaw, and my fellow citizens: To a few of us here today, this is a solemn and most momentous occasion;and yet, in the history of our Nation, it is a commonplace occurrence.The orderly transfer of authority as called for in the Constitution routinely takes place as it has for almost two centuries and few of us stop to think how unique we really are.In the eyes of many in the world, this every-4-year ceremony we accept as normal is nothing less than a miracle.Mr.President, I want our fellow citizens to know how much you did to carry on this tradition.By your gracious cooperation in the transition process, you have shown a watching world that we are a united people pledged to maintaining a political system which guarantees individual liberty to a greater degree than any other, and I thank you and your people for all your help in maintaining the continuity which is the bulwark of our Republic.The business of our nation goes forward.These United States are confronted with an economic affliction of great proportions.We suffer from the longest and one of the worst sustained inflations in our national history.It distorts our economic decisions, penalizes thrift, and crushes the struggling young and the fixed-income elderly alike.It threatens to shatter the lives of millions of our people.Idle industries have cast workers into unemployment, causing human misery and personal indignity.Those who do work are denied a fair return for their labor by a tax system which penalizes successful achievement and keeps us from maintaining full productivity.But great as our tax burden is, it has not kept pace with public spending.For decades, we have piled deficit upon deficit, mortgaging our future and our children's future for the temporary convenience of the present.To continue this long trend is to guarantee tremendous social, cultural, political, and economic upheavals.You and I, as individuals, can, by borrowing, live beyond our means, but for only a limited period of time.Why, then, should we think that collectively, as a nation, we are not bound by that same limitation?

We must act today in order to preserve tomorrow.And let there be no misunderstanding--we are going to begin to act, beginning today.The economic ills we suffer have come upon us over several decades.They will not go away in days, weeks, or months, but they will go away.They will go away because we, as Americans, have the capacity now, as we have had in the past, to do whatever needs to be done to preserve this last and greatest bastion of freedom.In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem.From time to time, we have been tempted to believe that society has become too complex to be managed by self-rule, that government by an elite group is superior to government for, by, and of the people.But if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else? All of us together, in and out of government, must bear the burden.The solutions we seek must be equitable, with no one group singled out to pay a higher price.We hear much of special interest groups.Our concern must be for a special interest group that has been too long neglected.It knows no sectional boundaries or ethnic and racial divisions, and it crosses political party lines.It is made up of men and women who raise our food, patrol our streets, man our mines and our factories, teach our children, keep our homes, and heal us when we are sick--professionals, industrialists, shopkeepers, clerks, cabbies, and truckdrivers.They are, in short, “We the people,” this breed called Americans.Well, this administration's objective will be a healthy, vigorous, growing economy that provides equal opportunity for all Americans, with no barriers born of bigotry or discrimination.Putting America back to work means putting all Americans back to work.Ending inflation means freeing all Americans from the terror of runaway living costs.All must share in the productive work of this “new beginning” and all must share in the bounty of a revived economy.With the idealism and fair play which are the core of our system and our strength, we can have a strong and prosperous America at peace with itself and the world.So, as we begin, let us take inventory.We are a nation that has a government--not the other way around.And this makes us special among the nations of the Earth.Our Government has no power except that granted it by the people.It is time to check and reverse the growth of government which shows signs of having grown beyond the consent of the governed.It is my intention to curb the size and influence of the Federal establishment and to demand recognition of the distinction between the powers granted to the Federal Government and those reserved to the States or to the people.All of us need to be reminded that the Federal Government did not create the States;the States created the Federal Government.Now, so there will be no misunderstanding, it is not my intention to do away with government.It is, rather, to make it work-work with us, not over us;to stand by our side, not ride on our back.Government can and must provide opportunity, not smother it;foster productivity, not stifle it.If we look to the answer as to why, for so many years, we achieved so much, prospered as no other people on Earth, it was because here, in this land, we unleashed the energy and individual genius of man to a greater extent than has ever been done before.Freedom and the dignity of the individual have been more available and assured here than in any other place on Earth.The price for this freedom at times has been high, but we have never been unwilling to pay that price.It is no coincidence that our present troubles parallel and are proportionate to the intervention and intrusion in our lives that result from unnecessary and excessive growth of government.It is time for us to realize that we are too great a nation to limit ourselves to small dreams.We are not, as some would have us believe, loomed to an inevitable decline.I do not believe in a fate that will all on us no matter what we do.I do believe in a fate that will fall on us if we do nothing.So, with all the creative energy at our command, let us begin an era of national renewal.Let us renew our determination, our courage, and our strength.And let us renew;our faith and our hope.We have every right to dream heroic dreams.Those who say that we are in a time when there are no heroes just don't know where to look.You can see heroes every day going in and out of factory gates.Others, a handful in number, produce enough food to feed all of us and then the world beyond.You meet heroes across a counter--and they are on both sides of that counter.There are entrepreneurs with faith in themselves and faith in an idea who create new jobs, new wealth and opportunity.They are individuals and families whose taxes support the Government and whose voluntary gifts support church, charity, culture, art, and education.Their patriotism is quiet but deep.Their values sustain our national life.I have used the words “they” and “their” in speaking of these heroes.I could say “you” and “your” because I am addressing the heroes of whom I speak--you, the citizens of this blessed land.Your dreams, your hopes, your goals are going to be the dreams, the hopes, and the goals of this administration, so help me God.We shall reflect the compassion that is so much a part of your makeup.How can we love our country and not love our countrymen, and loving them, reach out a hand when they fall, heal them when they are sick, and provide opportunities to make them self-sufficient so they will be equal in fact and not just in theory?

Can we solve the problems confronting us? Well, the answer is an unequivocal and emphatic “yes.” To paraphrase Winston Churchill, I did not take the oath I have just taken with the intention of presiding over the dissolution of the world's strongest economy.In the days ahead I will propose removing the roadblocks that have slowed our economy and reduced productivity.Steps will be taken aimed at restoring the balance between the various levels of government.Progress may be slow--measured in inches and feet, not miles--but we will progress.Is it time to reawaken this industrial giant, to get government back within its means, and to lighten our punitive tax burden.And these will be our first priorities, and on these principles, there will be no compromise.On the eve of our struggle for independence a man who might have been one of the greatest among the Founding Fathers, Dr.Joseph Warren, President of the Massachusetts Congress, said to his fellow Americans, “Our country is in danger, but not to be despaired of....On you depend the fortunes of America.You are to decide the important questions upon which rests the happiness and the liberty of millions yet unborn.Act worthy of yourselves.”

Well, I believe we, the Americans of today, are ready to act worthy of ourselves, ready to do what must be done to ensure happiness and liberty for ourselves, our children and our children's children.And as we renew ourselves here in our own land, we will be seen as having greater strength throughout the world.We will again be the exemplar of freedom and a beacon of hope for those who do not now have freedom.To those neighbors and allies who share our freedom, we will strengthen our historic ties and assure them of our support and firm commitment.We will match loyalty with loyalty.We will strive for mutually beneficial relations.We will not use our friendship to impose on their sovereignty, for or own sovereignty is not for sale.As for the enemies of freedom, those who are potential adversaries, they will be reminded that peace is the highest aspiration of the American people.We will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it;we will not surrender for it--now or ever.Our forbearance should never be misunderstood.Our reluctance for conflict should not be misjudged as a failure of will.When action is required to preserve our national security, we will act.We will maintain sufficient strength to prevail if need be, knowing that if we do so we have the best chance of never having to use that strength.Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.It is a weapon our adversaries in today's world do not have.It is a weapon that we as Americans do have.Let that be understood by those who practice terrorism and prey upon their neighbors.I am told that tens of thousands of prayer meetings are being held on this day, and for that I am deeply grateful.We are a nation under God, and I believe God intended for us to be free.It would be fitting and good, I think, if on each Inauguration Day in future years it should be declared a day of prayer.23

This is the first time in history that this ceremony has been held, as you have been told, on this West Front of the Capitol.Standing here, one faces a magnificent vista, opening up on this city's special beauty and history.At the end of this open mall are those shrines to the giants on whose shoulders we stand.Directly in front of me, the monument to a monumental man: George Washington, Father of our country.A man of humility who came to greatness reluctantly.He led America out of revolutionary victory into infant nationhood.Off to one side, the stately memorial to Thomas Jefferson.The Declaration of Independence flames with his eloquence.And then beyond the Reflecting Pool the dignified columns of the Lincoln Memorial.Whoever would understand in his heart the meaning of America will find it in the life of Abraham Lincoln.Beyond those monuments to heroism is the Potomac River, and on the far shore the sloping hills of Arlington National Cemetery with its row on row of simple white markers bearing crosses or Stars of David.They add up to only a tiny fraction of the price that has been paid for our freedom.Each one of those markers is a monument to the kinds of hero I spoke of earlier.Their lives ended in places called Belleau Wood, The Argonne, Omaha Beach, Salerno and halfway around the world on Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Pork Chop Hill, the Chosin Reservoir, and in a hundred rice paddies and jungles of a place called Vietnam.Under one such marker lies a young man--Martin Treptow--who left his job in a small town barber shop in 1917 to go to France with the famed Rainbow Division.There, on the western front, he was killed trying to carry a message between battalions under heavy artillery fire.We are told that on his body was found a diary.On the flyleaf under the heading, “My Pledge,” he had written these words: “America must win this war.Therefore, I will work, I will save, I will sacrifice, I will endure, I will fight cheerfully and do my utmost, as if the issue of the whole struggle depended on me alone.”

The crisis we are facing today does not require of us the kind of sacrifice that Martin Treptow and so many thousands of others were called upon to make.It does require, however, our best effort, and our willingness to believe in ourselves and to believe in our capacity to perform great deeds;to believe that together, with God's help, we can and will resolve the problems which now confront us.And, after all, why shouldn't we believe that? We are Americans.God bless you, and thank you.羅納德-里根 第一次就職演說

第40任總統(1981年-1989年)

議員海特菲爾德先生、法官先生、總統先生、副總統布什、蒙代爾先生、議員貝克先生、發言人奧尼爾先生、尊敬的摩麥先生，以及廣大支持我的美國同胞們：今天對于我們中間的一些人來說，是一個非常莊嚴隆重的時刻。當然，對于這個國家的歷史來說，卻是一件普通的事情。按照憲法要求，政府權利正在有序地移交，我們已經如此“例行公事”了兩個世紀，很少有人覺得這有什么特別的。但在世界上更多人看來，這個我們已經習以為常的四年一次的儀式，卻實在是一個奇跡。

總統先生，我希望我們的同胞們都能知道你為了這個傳承而付出的努力。通過移交程序中的通力合作，你向觀察者展示了這么一個事實：我們是發誓要團結起來維護這樣一個政治體制的團體，這樣的體制保證了我們能夠得到比其他政體更為廣泛的個人自由。同時我也要感謝你和你的伙伴們的幫助，因為你們堅持了這樣的傳承，而這恰恰是我們共和國的根基。

我們國家的事業在繼續前進。合眾國正面臨巨大的經濟困難。我們遭遇到我國歷史上歷時最長、最嚴重之一的通貨膨脹，它擾亂著我們的經濟決策，打擊著節儉的風氣，壓迫著正在掙扎謀生的青年人和收入固定的中年人，威脅著要摧毀我國千百萬人民的生計。

停滯的工業使工人失業、蒙受痛苦并失去了個人尊嚴。即使那些有工作的人，也因稅收制度的緣故而得不到公正的勞動報酬，因為這種稅收制度使我們無法在事業上取得成就，使我們無法保持充分的生產力。

盡管我們的納稅負擔相當沉重，但還是跟不上公共開支的增長。數十年來，我們的赤字額屢屢上升，我們為圖目前暫時的方便，把自己的前途和子孫的前途抵押出去了。這一趨勢如果長此以往，必然引起社會、文化、政治和經濟等方面的大動蕩。

作為個人，你們和我可以靠借貸過一種人不敷出的生活，然而只能維持一段有限的時期，我們怎么可以認為，作為一個國家整體，我們就不應受到同樣的約束呢？為了保住明天，我們今天就必須行動起來。大家都要明白無誤地懂得--我們從今天起就要采取行動。

我們深受其害的經濟弊病，幾十年來一直襲擊著我們。這些弊病不會在幾天、幾星期或幾個月內消失，但它們終將消失。它們之所以終將消失，是因為我們作為現在的美國人，一如既往地有能力去完成需要完成的事情，以保存這個最后而又最偉大的自由堡壘。

在當前這場危機中，政府的管理不能解決我們面臨的問題。政府的管理就是問題所在。

我們時常誤以為，社會已經越來越復雜，已經不可能憑借自治方式加以管理，而一個由杰出人物組成的政府要比民享、民治、民有的政府高明。可是，假如我們之中誰也管理不了自己，那么，我們之中誰還能去管理他人呢。

我們大家--不論政府官員還是平民百姓--必須共同肩負起這個責任，我們謀求的解決辦法必須是公平的，不要使任何一個群體付出較高的代價。

我們聽到許多關于特殊利益集團的談論，然而。我們必須關心一個被忽視了大久的特殊利益集團。這個集團沒有區域之分，沒有人種之分，沒有民族之分，沒有 政黨之分，這個 25 集團由許許多多的男人與女人組成，他們生產糧食，巡邏街頭，管理廠礦，教育兒童，照料家務和治療疾病。他們是專業人員、實業家、店主、職 員、出租汽車司機和貨車駕駛員，總而言之，他們就是“我們人民”--這個稱之為美國人的民族。

本屆政府的日標是必須建立一種健全的、生氣勃勃的和不斷發展的經濟，為全體美國人民提供一種不因偏執或歧視而造成障礙的均等機會，讓美國重新工作起 來，意味著讓全體美國人重新工作起來。制止通貨膨脹，意味著讓全體美國人從失控的生活費用所造成的恐懼中解脫出來。人人都應分擔“新開端”的富有成效的工 作，人人都應分享經濟復蘇的碩果。我國制度和力量的核心是理想主義和公正態度，有了這些，我們就能建立起強大、繁榮、國內穩定并同全世界和平相處的美國。

因此，在我們開始之際，讓我們看看實際情況。我們是一個擁有政府的國家--而不是一個擁有國家的政府。這一點使我們在世界合國中獨樹一幟，我們的政府 除了人民授予的權力，沒有任何別的權力。目前，政府權力的膨脹已顯示出超過被統治者同意的跡象，制止并扭轉這種狀況的時候到了。

我打算壓縮聯邦機構的規模和權力，并要求大家承認聯邦政府被授予的權力同各州或人民保留的權利這兩者之間的區別。我們大家都需要提醒：不是聯邦政府創 立了各州，而是各州創立了聯邦政府。因此，請不要誤會，我的意思不是要取消政府，而是要它發揮作用--同我們一起合作，而不是凌駕于我們之上；同我們并肩 而立，而不是騎在我們的背上。政府能夠而且必須提供機會，而不是扼殺機會，它能夠而且必須促進生產力，而不是抑制生產力。

如果我們要探究這么多年來我們為什么能取得這么大成就，并獲得了世界上任何一個民族未曾獲得的繁榮昌盛，其原因是在這片土地上，我們使人類的能力和個 人的才智得到了前所未有的發揮。在這里，個人所享有并得以確保的自由和尊嚴超過了世界上任何其他地方。為這種自由所付出的代價有時相當高昂，但我們從來沒 有不愿意付出這代價。

我們目前的困難，與政府機構因為不必要的過度膨脹而干預、侵擾我們的生活同步增加，這決不是偶然的巧合。我們是一個泱泱大國，不能自囿于小小的夢想，現在正是認識到這一點的時候。我們并非注定走向衰落，盡管有些人想讓我們相信這一點。我不相信，無論我們做些什么，我們都將命該如此，但我相信，如果我們 什么也不做，我們將的確命該如此。

為此，讓我們以掌握的一切創造力來開創一個國家復興的時代吧。讓我們重新拿出決心、勇氣和力量，讓我們重新建立起我們的信念和希望吧。我們完全有權去做英雄夢。

有人告訴我們在他的身上發現一本日記。扉頁上寫著這樣的標題：“我的誓言”。他寫下了這樣的話語：“美國必須贏得這場戰爭。為此，我會奮斗，我會拯救，我會犧牲，我會忍受，我會并將盡我最大的努力英勇奮戰，就好比所有的戰爭問題都將由我一個人來肩負。”