奥巴马就职演讲稿

20xx年1月21日

谢谢大家，拜登副总统、首席大法官先生、国会议员们、尊敬的各位嘉宾、亲爱的公民们。

每一次我们集会庆祝总统就职都是在见证美国宪法的持久力量。我们都是在肯定美国民主的承诺。我们重申，将这个国家紧密联系在一起的不是我们皮肤的颜色，也不是我们信仰的教条，更不是我们族名的来源。让我们与众不同，让我们成为美国人的是我们对于一种理念的恪守。200多年前，这一理念在一篇宣言中被清晰阐述：“我们认为下述真理是不言而喻的，人人生而平等。造物主赋予他们若干不可剥夺的权利，包括生命权、自由权和追求幸福的权利。”

今天，我们继续着这一未竟的征程，来架起这些理念与我们时代现实之间的桥梁。因为历史告诉我们，即使这些真理是不言而喻的，它们也从来不会自动生效。因为虽然自由是上帝赋予的礼物，但仍然需要世间的子民去捍卫。1776年，美国的爱国先驱们不是只为了推翻国王的暴政而战，也不是为赢得少数人的特权，建立暴民的统治。先驱们留给我们一个共和国，一个民有、民治、民享的政府。他们委托每一代美国人保卫我们的建国信条。

在过去的200百多年里，我们做到了。

从奴役的血腥绳索，和刀剑的血光厮杀中我们懂得了，建立在自由与平等原则之上的联邦不能永远维持半奴隶和半自由的状态。我们赢得了新生，誓言共同前进。

我们共同努力，建立起现代的经济体系。架设铁路与高速公路，加速了旅行和商业交流。建立学校与大学，培训我们的工人。

我们一起发现，自由市场的繁荣只能建立在保障竞争与公平竞争的原则之上。

我们共同下决心让这个伟大的国家远离危险，保护她的人民不受生命威胁和不幸侵扰。一路走来，我们从未放弃对集权的质疑。我们同样不屈服于这一谎言：一切的社会弊端都能够只靠政府来解决。我们对积极向上与奋发进取的赞扬，我们对努力工作与个人责任的坚持，这些都是美国精神的基本要义。

我们也理解，时代在变化，我们同样要变革。对建国精神的忠诚，需要我们肩负起新的责任，迎接新的挑战。保护我们的个人自由，最终需要所有人的共同努力。因为美国人不能再独力迎接当今世界的挑战，正如美国士兵们不能再像先辈一样，用步枪和民兵同敌人(法西斯主义与共产主义)作战。一个人无法培训所有的数学与科学老师，我们需要他们为了未来去教育孩子们。一个人无法建设道路、铺设网络、建立实验室来为国内带来新的工作岗位和商业机会。现在，与以往任何时候相比，我们都更需要团结合作。作为一个国家，一个民族团结起来。

这一代美国人经历了危机的考验，经济危机坚定了我们的决心，证明了我们的恢复力。长达十年的战争正在结束，经济的复苏已经开始。美国的可能性是无限的，因为我们拥有当今没有边界的世界所需要的所有品质：年轻与活力，多样性与开放，无穷的冒险精神以及创

造的天赋才能。我亲爱的同胞们，我们正是为此刻而生，我们更要在此刻团结一致，抓住当下的机会。

因为我们，美国人民，清楚如果只有不断萎缩的少数人获得成功，而大多数人不能成功，我们的国家就无法成功。我们相信，美国的繁荣必须建立在不断上升的中产阶级的宽阔臂膀上，我们知道美国的繁荣只有这样才能实现。只有当每个人都能找到工作中的自立与自豪时才能实现。只有当诚实劳动的薪水足够让家庭摆脱困苦的悬崖时才能实现。我们忠诚于我们的事业，保证让一个生于最贫穷环境中的小女孩都能知道，她有同其他所有人一样的成功机会。因为她是一个美国人，她是自由的、平等的。她的自由平等不仅由上帝来见证，更由我们亲手保护。

我们知道，我们已然陈旧的程序不足以满足时代的需要。我们必须应用新理念和新技术重塑我们的政府，改进我们的税法，改革我们的学校，让我们的公民拥有他们所需要的技能，更加努力地工作，学更多的知识，向更高的地方发展。这意味着变革，我们的目标是：国家可以奖励每个美国人的努力和果断。

这是现在需要的。这将给我们的信条赋予真正的意义。

我们，人民，仍然认为，每个公民都应当获得基本的安全和尊严。我们必须做出艰难抉择，降低医疗成本，缩减赤字规模。但我们拒绝必须在照顾建设国家的这一代和投资即将建设国家的下一代间做出选择。因为我们记得过去的教训：老年人的夕阳时光在贫困中度过，家有残障儿童的父母无处求助。我们相信，在这个国家，自由不只是

那些幸运儿的专属，或者说幸福只属于少数人。我们知道，不管我们是怎样负责任地生活，我们任何人在任何时候都可能面临失业、突发疾病或住房被可怕的飓风摧毁的风险。

我们通过医疗保险、联邦医疗补助计划、社会保障项目向每个人做出承诺，这些不会让我们的创造力衰竭，而是将会让我们强大。这些不会让我们成为充满不劳而获者的国度，这些让我们敢于承担风险，让国家伟大。

我们，人民，仍然相信，我们作为美国人的义务不只是对我们自己而言，还包括对子孙后代。我们将应对气候变化的威胁，认识到不采取措施应对气候变化就是对我们的孩子和后代的背叛。一些人可能仍在否定科学界压倒性的判断，但没有人能够避免火灾、严重旱灾、更强力风暴带来的灾难性打击。通向可再生能源利用的道路是漫长的，有时是困难的。但美国不能抵制这种趋势，我们必须引领这种趋势。我们不能把制造新就业机会和新行业的技术让给其他国家，我们必须声明这一承诺。这将是我们保持经济活力和国家财富(我们的森林和航道，我们的农田与雪峰)的方法。这将是我们保护我们星球的办法，上帝把它托付给我们照顾。这将为我们的建国之父们曾宣布的信条赋予意义。

我们，人民，仍然相信持久的安全与和平，不需要持续的战争。我们勇敢的男女士兵经受了战火的考验，他们的技能和勇气是无可匹敌的。我们的公民依然铭记着那些阵亡者，他们非常清楚我们为自由付出的代价。明白他们的牺牲将让我们永远对那些试图伤害我们的势

力保持警惕。但我们也是那些赢得和平而不只是战争的人们的后代，他们将仇敌转变成最可靠的朋友，我们也必须把这些经验带到这个时代。

我们将通过强大的军力和法制保护我们的人民，捍卫我们的价值观。我们将展现试图和平解决与其它国家分歧的勇气，但这不是因为我们对面临的危险持幼稚的态度，而是因为接触能够更持久地化解疑虑和恐惧。美国将在全球保持强大的联盟，我们将更新这些能扩展我们应对海外危机能力的机构。因为作为世界上最强大的国家，我们在世界和平方面拥有最大的利益。我们将支持从亚洲到非洲、从美洲至中东的民主国家，因为我们的利益和良心驱使我们代表那些想获得自由的人们采取行动。我们必须成为贫困者、病患者、被边缘化的人士、异见受害者的希望来源，不仅仅是出于慈善，也是因为这个时代的和平需要不断推进我们共同信念中的原则：宽容和机遇，人类尊严与正义。

我们，人民，今天昭示的最明白的事实是——我们所有人都是生而平等的，这是依然引领我们的恒星。它引领我们的先辈穿越纽约塞尼卡瀑布城(女权抗议事件)、塞尔马(黑人权力事件)和石墙骚乱(同性恋与警察发生的暴力事件)，引领着所有的男性和女性，留下姓名和没留姓名的人。在伟大的征程中，一路上留下足迹的人。曾经听一位牧师说，我们不能独自前行。马丁-路德-金说，我们个人的自由与地球上每个灵魂的自由不可分割。

继续先辈开创的事业是我们这代人的任务。直到我们的妻子、母

亲和女儿的付出能够与她们的努力相称，我们的征途才会结束。我们的征途不会终结，我们要让同性恋的兄弟姐妹在法律之下得到与其他人同样的待遇。如果我们真正是生而平等的，那么我们对彼此的爱也应该是平等的。我们的征途没有结束，直到没有公民需要等待数小时去行使投票权。我们的征途不会结束，直到我们找到更好的方法迎接努力、有憧憬的移民，他们依旧视美国是一块充满机会的土地。直到聪颖年轻的学生和工程师为我们所用，而不是被驱逐出美国。我们的征途不会结束，直到我们所有的儿童，从底特律的街道到阿巴拉契亚的山岭，再到康涅狄格州纽镇安静的小巷，直到他们得到关心和珍视，永远避免受到伤害。

那是我们这一代的任务——让生存、自由和追求幸福的说辞、权力和价值切实体现在每个美国人的身上。我们的立国文本没有要求我们将每个人的生活一致化。这并不意味着，我们会以完全一样的方式去定义自由，沿着同样的道路通向幸福。进步不会终止几个世纪以来一直纠结的关于政府角色的争论，但这要求我们现在就采取行动。 目前是由我们角色，我们不能拖延。我们不能将绝对主义当作原则，或者以假象代替政纲，或将中伤视作理性的辩论。我们必须行动，要意识到我们的工作并不完美。我们必须行动，意识到今天的胜利是并不完全的。这些将有赖于未来4年、40年或是400年致力于这项事业的人，去推进当年在费城制宪会议大厅传承给我们的永恒精神。 我的美国同胞，我今天在你们面前宣读的誓词，如同在国会山服务的其他人曾宣读过的誓词一样，是对上帝和国家的誓词，不是对党

派或是派别的，我们必须在任期内忠实地履行这些承诺。但我今天宣读的誓词与士兵报名参军或者是移民实现梦想时所宣读的誓词没有多少差别。我的誓词与我们所有的人向我们头顶飘扬的、让我们心怀自豪的国旗所表达的誓言没有多大差别。

这些是公民的誓词，代表着我们最伟大的希望。

你和我，作为公民，都有为这个国家设定道路的权力。

你和我，作为公民，有义务塑造我们时代的辩题，不仅是通过我们的选票，而且要为保卫最悠久的价值观和持久的理想发声。

现在让我们互相拥抱，怀着庄严的职责和无比的快乐，这是我们永久的与生俱来的权利。有共同的努力和共同的目标，用热情与奉献，让我们回答历史的召唤，将宝贵的自由之光带入并不确定的未来。

感谢你们，上帝保佑你们，愿上帝永远保佑美利坚合众国。

 

第二篇：奥巴马20xx俄亥俄州立大学毕业典礼演讲

奥巴马2013俄亥俄州立大学毕业演讲

Well, thank you so much， Everybody. Please be seated. Thank you, Dr. Gee, for the wonderful introduction. I suspect the good President may have edited out some other words that were used to describe me. (Laughter.) I appreciate that. But I'm going to let Michelle know of all the good comments.

非常感谢，各位。请坐。感谢纪博士的精彩介绍。我怀疑这个好校长事先准备好了一些话描述我。（笑声）对此我深表感谢。但是我要挑好的评价告诉米切尔。

To the Board of Trustees; Congresswoman Beatty; Mayor Coleman; and all of you who make up The Ohio State University for allowing me to join you -- it is an incredible honor.

感谢各位校董，彼迪议员，卡尔曼市长，以及俄亥俄州立大学所有教职员工邀请我出席这个典礼—这是一个无尚荣光。

And most of all, congratulations, Class of 2013!(Applause.) And of course, congratulations to all the parents, and family, and friends and faculty here in the Horseshoe -- this is your day as well. (Applause.) I've been told to ask everybody, though, please be careful with the turf. Coach Meyer has big plans for this fall. (Laughter.)

I very much appreciate the President’s introduction. I will not be singing today. (Laughter.)

最重要的是，祝贺2013届毕业生！（掌声）当然还要祝贺所有家长们，所有亲友们和在场的所有教职员工们—这也是你们的节日。（掌声）但是，有人让我要求你们注意保护草坪。麦耶教练今年秋天要在这里大显身手。（笑声） 我非常感谢校长的介绍。今天我不想唱歌。(笑声)

It is true that I did speak at that certain university up north a few years ago. But, to be fair, you did let President Ford speak here once -- and he played football for Michigan! (Laughter.) So everybody can get some redemption.

我的确在几年前在北方的一所大学做过演讲。但是，公平地讲，你们也邀请福特总统在这里演讲过一次—他还代表密歇根队参加了棒球赛！（笑声）所以各位也该得到一些安慰了吧。

In my defense, this is my fifth visit to campus in the past year or so. (Applause.) One time, I stopped at Sloppy’s to grab some lunch. Many of you -- Sloopy’s -- I know. (Laughter.)It’s Sunday and I'm coming off a foreign trip. (Laughter.) Anyway, so I'm at Sloopy’s and many of you were still eating breakfast. At11:30 a.m. (Laughter.) On a Tuesday. (Laughter.) So, to the Class of 2013, I will offer my first piece of advice: Enjoy it while you can. (Laughter.) Soon, you will not get to wake up and have breakfast at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday. (Laughter.) And once you have children, it gets even earlier. (Laughter.)

我解释一下，这是我在过去的几年里第十五此来到这个校园。（掌声）有一次我到Sloppy’s饭店对付一口饭。你们中很多人—啊，是Sloopy’s—我知道。（奥巴马读错了饭店名引发哄笑）那是一个星期天，我刚刚出国访问回来。（笑声）不管怎么说，我在Sloopy’s看到你们很多人还在吃早饭，已经是上午11:30啦。（笑声）在一个周二。（笑声）2013届毕业生们，我的第一个忠告就是：能享受就享受吧。（笑声）不久，你们就再也不能在周二上午11:30

才起床去吃早饭了。（笑声）一旦你们有了孩子，你们还得起床更早。（笑声）

But, Class of 2013, your path to this moment has wound you through years of breathtaking change. You were born as freedom forced its way through a wall in Berlin, tore down an Iron Curtain across Europe. You were educated in an era of instant information that put the world’s accumulated knowledge at your fingertips. And you came of age as terror touched our shores; and an historic recession spread across the nation; and a new generation signed up to go to war.

但是，2013届毕业生们，你们的人生轨迹到此因多年的惊天动地的变革带给你们挥之不去的阴影。你们出生在自由之神冲破柏林墙，打破横贯欧洲的铁幕的时代。你们受教育的时代是源源不断的信息使你们可以在指尖上获得日益增长的知识的时代。你们成年的时代是恐怖主义打到我们的家门口；历史性的经济衰退席卷全国；新一代应征参战的时代。

So you’ve been tested and you’ve been tempered by events that your parents and I never imagined we’d see when we sat where you sit. And yet, despite all this, or perhaps because of it, yours has become a generation possessed with that most American of ideas -- that people who love their country can change it for the better. For all the turmoil, for all the times you’ve been letdown, or frustrated at the hand that you’ve been dealt, what I have seen -- what we have witnessed from your generation -- is that perennial, quintessentially American value of optimism; altruism; empathy; tolerance; a sense of community; a sense of service – all of which makes me optimistic for our future.

你们受到了你们的父母和我无法想象而站在你们的角度已经看见的一系列事件的考验和砺练。然而不管这些，或者恰恰是因为它，你们这一代是拥有美国理想人数最多的一代—热爱自己的国家并且能把她变得更好的人们。经历了所有的动乱，所有你们失望的时刻，或遭受了别人等待你们的方式带给你们的挫折的时刻，我们在你们这代身上看到的是—我们目睹的是永恒的精髓的乐观、利他、推己及人、宽容、集体意识和服务意识的美国价值—所有这一切让我对你们的前途充满信心。

Consider that today, 50 ROTC cadets in your graduating class will become commissioned officers in the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines. (Applause.) A hundred and thirty of your fellow graduates have already served -- some in combat, some on multiple deployments. (Applause.) Of the 98 veterans earning bachelor’s degrees today, 20 are graduating with honors, and at least one kept serving his fellow veterans when he came home by starting up a campus organization called Vets4Vets. And as your Commander-in-Chief, I could not be prouder of all of you.(Applause.)

今天我们还要想想，你们这一届毕业生中的50位预备役军官训练营的学员们将在陆军、海军、空军和海军陆战队担任指挥官。（掌声）你们的130位同学已经戎装在身了—有些参加了战斗，有些执行过多次驻防任务。（掌声）今天毕业的98位退伍军人中有20位获得嘉奖，至少一位在退伍之后创立了一个叫做Vets4Vets校园组织继续为他的退伍战友们服务。作为你们的总司令，我感到无比骄傲。（掌声）

Consider that graduates of this university serve their country through the Peace Corps, and educate our children through established programs like Teach for America, startups like Blue Engine, often earning little pay for making the biggest impact. Some of you have already launched startup companies of your own. And I suspect that those of you who

pursue more education, or climb the corporate ladder, or enter the arts or science or journalism, you will still choose a cause that you care about in your life and will fight like heck to realize your vision.

想想在和平营为国家服务、在诸如“为美国教书”和启动“蓝引擎” 行动中教育我们的孩子们的本校毕业生们，他们收入微薄、影响巨大。你们中有些人已经开始自己创业了。我想你们中打算继续深造的，进入大公司按部就班升级的，或进入艺术、科学和新闻届的，你们还要选择关乎你们一生的路线并且为实现你们的理想过关斩将。

There is a word for this. It’s citizenship. And we don’t always talk about this idea much these days -- citizenship --let alone celebrate it. Sometimes, we see it as a virtue from another time, a distant past, one that’s slipping from a society that celebrates individual ambition above all else; a society awash in instant technology that empowers us to leverage our skills and talents like never before, but just as easily allows us to retreat from the world. And the result is that we sometimes forget the larger bonds we share as one American family.

以一言毕之，就是公民意识。我们这些天不是过多地谈论这个理念—公民意识—更不要说赞美它了。有时我们把它视为另一个时代、一个遥远的过去的美德，被倡导个人野心高于一切的社会所忽视；视为一个淹没在赋予调动我们过去没有的技能和天赋的能力的速食技术但是同样使我们很容易被开除球籍的社会。结果是我们有时忘了我们作为一个美国大家庭共享的更大的纽带。

But it’s out there, all the time, every day --especially when we need it most. Just look at the past year. When a hurricane struck our mightiest city, and a factory exploded in a small town in Texas, we saw citizenship. When bombs went off in Boston, and when a malevolent spree of gunfire visited a movie theater, a temple, an Ohio high school, a 1st grade classroom in Connecticut, we saw citizenship. In the aftermath of darkest tragedy, we have seen the American spirit at its brightest.

但是它就在那里，无论何时，每日每夜—特别是我们最需要它的时候。仅仅是去年，当飓风席卷我们最大的城市、德克萨斯州一个小城的工厂发生爆炸时，我们目睹了公民意识。当炸弹在波士顿爆炸，丧心病狂的枪弹横扫电影院、神庙和俄亥俄的一个高中，康涅狄格州的一个小学一年级教室时，我们目睹了公民意识。在最黑暗的悲剧的余波之中，我们见证了美国精神最光辉的一面。

We’ve seen the petty divisions of color and class and creed replaced by a united urge to help each other. We’ve seen courage and compassion, a sense of civic duty, and a recognition we are not a collection of strangers; we are bound to one another by a set of ideals and laws and commitments, and a deep devotion to this country that we love.

我们目睹了渺小的肤色、阶层和信仰不同被共同的互相帮助紧急施救所取代。我们目睹了勇气和同情，公民责任感和认识到我们不是一个陌生人的集合；一系列理想、法律和承诺已经对我们热爱的国家的深沉的奉献把我们一个个紧密相连。

And that's what citizenship is. It’s at the heart of our founding -- that as Americans, we are blessed with God-given talents and inalienable rights, but with those rights come responsibilities -- to ourselves, and to one another, and to future generations. (Applause.)

这就是公民意识。它是我们的立国之本—作为美国人，我们拥有得天独厚的天赋和不可剥夺的权利，但是这些权利也伴随着责任—对我们自己的责任，对他人的责任，对后代的责任。（掌声）

Now, if we’re being honest with ourselves, as you’ve studied and worked and served to become good citizens, the fact is that all too often the institutions that give structure to our society have, at times, betrayed your trust. In the run-up to the financial crisis, too many on Wall Street forgot that their obligations don’t end with what’s happening with their shares. In entertainment and in the media, ratings and shock value often trump news and storytelling.

现在，如果不口是心非，当你们努力学习、勤奋工作和保家卫国的时候，事实却是决定我们社会制度的很多法规常常辜负了我们的信任。在那场金融危机的余波之中，很多华尔街的投资人忘了他们的责任并没有他们的股票的表现而结束。在娱乐届，媒体届，评级和震荡价值充斥着新闻和报道。

In Washington -- well, this is a joyous occasion, so let me put it charitably -- (laughter) -- I think it’s fair to say our democracy isn’t working as well as we know it can. It could do better. (Applause.) And so those of us fortunate enough to serve in these institutions owe it to you to do better every single day.

在华盛顿，这是一个欢乐的时刻，所以我留点口德--（笑声）--我认为恰如其分地讲我们的民主没有我们想象的那么好。它可以更好。（掌声）所以我们这些人有幸投身于这些法规赋予我们的一切，每天都更上一层楼。

And I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how we can keep this idea of citizenship in its fullest sense alive at the national level -- not just on Election Day, not just in times of tragedy, but all the days in between. And perhaps because I spend a lot of time in Washington, I’m obsessed with this issue because that sense of citizenship is so sorely needed there. And I think of what your generation’s traits -- compassion and energy, and a sense of selflessness -- might mean for a democracy that must adapt more quickly to keep up with the speed of technological and demographic, and wrenching economic change.

我最近总是在想我们如何把公民意识的理念在民族层面上焕发它全部的光辉—不仅仅是在竞选日，不仅仅是在悲剧发生时，而是在它们之间的每一天。或许是因为我长期生活在华盛顿，我深切地感到那里急需这种公民意识。我思考你们这一代的特点—同情和活力，以及自我意识—可能意味着民主要尽快改变以适应技术和人口特征以及紧迫的经济变革。

I think about how we might perpetuate this notion of citizenship in a way that another politician from my home state of Illinois, Adlai Stevenson, once described patriotism not as“short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.” That’s what patriotism is. That’s what citizenship is. (Applause.)

我考虑如何让我们这个充满公民意识的国家以来自我的故乡伊利诺伊州的另一位政治家—阿德莱-史蒂文森描述的方式永恒，他曾经说过，爱国主义不是“短暂的、疯狂的情感爆发，而是深沉的、坚实的一生奉献”。这就是爱国主义。这就是公民意识。（掌声）

Now, I don’t pretend to have all the answers. I’m not going to offer some grand theory on a beautiful day like this-- you guys all have celebrating to do. I’m not going to get partisan, either, because that’s not what citizenship is about. In

fact, I’m asking the same thing of you that President Bush did when he spoke at this commencement in 2002: “America needs more than taxpayers, spectators, and occasional voters,” he said. “America needs full-time citizens.” (Applause.) And as graduates from a university whose motto is “Education for Citizenship,” I know all of you get that this is what you’ve signed up for. It’s what your country expects of you.

现在，我并不打算获得全部答案。我不想在今天这样的日子讲一大套理论—你们各位今天喜不胜收吧。我今天也不想谈党派，因为这也不是公民意识的内涵。事实上，我要求你们做布什总统在20xx年毕业典礼上说的：“美国需要全职公民”。（掌声）作为一个座右铭为“培养公民意识”的大学的毕业生，我知道你们都理解这是你们上大学的目的。你们的国家期望你们如此。

So briefly, I’ll ask for two things from the Class of 2013: to participate, and to persevere. After all, your democracy does not function without your active participation. At a bare minimum, that means voting, eagerly and often -- not having somebody drag you to it at 11:30 a.m. when you’re having breakfast.(Laughter.) It means knowing who’s been elected to make decisions on your behalf, and what they believe in, and whether or not they delivered on what they said they would. And if they don’t represent you the way you want, or conduct themselves the way you expect, if they put special interests above your own, you’ve got to let them know that’s not okay. And if they let you down often enough, there’s a built-in day in November where you can really let them know it’s not okay. (Applause.)

简而言之，我对2013 届毕业生提出两个要求：参与和坚持。归根到底，你们的民主只有你们的积极参与才能发挥作用。狭义地讲，就是投票，经常热心地投票—不是让别人在你们上午11:30吃早饭时拽你们去投票。（笑声）它意味着弄清谁当选能够代表你们的利益做决策，他们信仰什么，他们是否言行一致。如果他们不能按你们的要求代表你们，按你们的要求规范自己，如果他们把特殊利益凌驾于你们的利益之上，你们应该让他们知道这样不行。如果他们经常让你们失望，在某个11月份的一天你们就可以让他们知道这样不行。（掌声）

But participation, your civic duty, is more than just voting. You don’t have to run for office yourself -- but I hope many of you do, at all levels, because our democracy needs you. And I promise you, it will give you a tough skin. I know a little bit about this. (Laughter.) President Wilson once said, “If you want to make enemies, try to change something.”

但是参与—你们的公民义务—远远不止是投票。你们自己不一定想谋求一个职位—但是我希望你们谋求在各个级别的职位，我们的民主需要你们。我向你们保证，这将使你们“脸皮厚”。我就知道这么一点点。（笑声）威尔逊总统曾经说过，“如果你想树敌，那就改变些什么”。

And that’s precisely what the Founders left us --the power, each of us, to adapt to changing times. They left us the keys to a system of self-government, the tools to do big things and important things together that we could not possibly do alone – to stretch railroads and electricity and a highway system across a sprawling continent. To educate our people with a system of public schools and land-grant colleges, including The Ohio State University. To care for the sick and the vulnerable, and provide a basic level of protection from falling into abject poverty in the wealthiest nation on Earth. (Applause.) To conquer fascism and disease; to visit the Moon and Mars; to gradually secure our God-given rights for all of

our citizens, regardless of who they are, or what they look like, or who they love. (Applause.)

这恰恰就是我们国家的缔造者们留给我们的财富—权力，我们每个人改变自己适应变化的时代的权力。他们留给我们进入自治体制的钥匙，他们留给我们共同做我们单独无法做的大事和要事的利器—他们把铁路、电力和高速公路系统送到这个杂草丛生的大陆的各个角落。他们用公立学校和政府拨地的大学体系教育我们的人民，包括俄亥俄州立大学。关爱老弱病残，提供基本保障防止他们沦为这个世界上最富裕的国家的最悲惨的穷人。（掌声）他们征服了法西斯主义和疾病；登上月球和火星；逐渐让我们的所有公民都享受上帝赋予的权利，不管他们是谁，长得什么样，或他们爱谁。（掌声）

We, the people, chose to do these things together-- because we know this country cannot accomplish great things if we pursue nothing greater than our own individual ambition.

我们，人民，选择齐心协力—因为我们知道如果我们追求事不关己高高挂起我们国家就不能干大事。

Unfortunately, you’ve grown up hearing voices that incessantly warn of government as nothing more than some separate, sinister entity that’s at the root of all our problems; some of these same voices also doing their best to gum up the works. They’ll warn that tyranny is always lurking just around the corner. You should reject these voices. Because what they suggest is that our brave and creative and unique experiment in self-rule is somehow just a sham with which we can’t be trusted.

不幸的是，你们成长过程中不绝于耳的却是政府不过是一些支离破碎的邪恶实体、是我们所有问题之源的叫嚣；这些叫嚣还不遗余力地企图把政府的工作搞乱。他们叫嚣专制阴魂不散。你们应该抵制这些叫嚣。因为他们说的是我们的大胆的、创新的和独一无二的自治试验是使我们不可信的骗局。

We have never been a people who place all of our faith in government to solve our problems; we shouldn’t want to. But we don’t think the government is the source of all our problems, either. Because we understand that this democracy is ours. And as citizens, we understand that it’s not about what America can do for us; it’s about what can be done by us, together, through the hard and frustrating but absolutely necessary work of self-government. (Applause.) And, Class of 2013, you have to be involved in that process. (Applause.)

我们这个民族从来就不要求政府解决我们的所有问题；我们不应该那样。但是我们也不认为政府是一切问题之源。因为我们知道民主是我们自己的。作为公民，我们知道问题不是美国能为我们做什么；问题是我们能做什么，共同通过艰苦卓绝的充满挫折的但是不可替代的自治工作做什么。（掌声）2013届毕业生们，你们一定要投身于这个伟大进程。（掌声）

The founders trusted us with this awesome authority. We should trust ourselves with it, too. Because when we don’t, when we turn away and get discouraged and cynical, and abdicate that authority, we grant our silent consent to someone who will gladly claim it. That’s how we end up with lobbyists who set the agenda; and policies detached from what middle-class families face every day; the well-connected who publicly demand that Washington stay out of their business -- and then whisper in government’s ear for special treatment that you don’t get.

国家的缔造者们赋予我们这个无尚的权威。我们也应该无愧于它。因为如果我们不这样，如果我们偏离、失望和不相信并且放弃这个权威，我们就是默许了有些人欣然接受它。我们就是这样止步于游说者们设立的议事日程；脱离中产阶级家庭每天面对的问题的政治；那些要求华盛顿不要干涉他们的事—然后在政府耳边吹风乞求获得你们得不到的特殊待遇的神通广大的人们。

That’s how a small minority of lawmakers get cover to defeat something the vast majority of their constituents want. That’s how our political system gets consumed by small things when we are a people called to do great things -- like rebuild a middleclass, and reverse the rise of inequality, and repair the deteriorating climate that threatens everything we plan to leave for our kids and our grandkids.

少数立法者就是这样瞒天过海损害大多数人的利益。我们的政治体系就是这样捡了芝麻丢了我们民族所希望的西瓜—诸如重建中产阶级，逆转不平等的增长势头，治理气候恶化，解除对我们留给的后代的生活基础的威胁。

Class of 2013, only you can ultimately break that cycle. Only you can make sure the democracy you inherit is as good as we know it can be. But it requires your dedicated, and informed, and engaged citizenship. And that citizenship is a harder, higher road to take, but it leads to a better place. It’s how we built this country -- together.

2013届毕业生们，只有你们能最终打破这个怪圈。这样你们能让你们继承的民主如同我们期待的那么好。但是这要求你们无私奉献、博学多才和全心全意的公民意识。这个公民意识充满坎坷，积极向上的道路，通往更加美好的乐土的道路。我们就是这样建设我们的国家—齐心协力。

It’s the question that President Kennedy posed to the nation at his inauguration. It’s the dream that Dr. King invoked. It does not promise easy success or immediate progress --but it has led to success, and it has led to progress. And it has to continue with you.

这是肯尼迪总统在他的就职演讲中给我们国家的一个命题。这是马丁路德金博士描述的梦想。它不会一蹴而就—但是它通往成功，它走向进步。它将伴随你们。

Which brings me to the second thing I ask of all of you -- I ask that you persevere. Whether you start a business, or run for office, or devote yourself to alleviating poverty or hunger, please remember that nothing worth doing happens over night. A British inventor named Dyson went through more than 5,000prototypes before getting that first really fancy vacuum cleaner just right. We remember Michael Jordan’s six championships; we don't remember his nearly 15,000 missed shots. As for me, I lost my first race for Congress, and look at me now -- I’m an honorary graduate of The Ohio State University. (Applause.)

谈谈我要求你们大家的第二件事—坚持。无论你们自己创业，或谋求公职，或致力于扶贫济困，请记住没有什么有价值的事能一蹴而就。一个叫迪森的英国发明家报废了5,000多个原型机之后才获得了第一个实用的真空吸尘器。我们只记得迈克尔乔丹获得6个冠军；我们都不知道他有15,000个投篮不中。至于我，我第一次竞选国会议员失利，但是看看我现在—我现在是俄亥俄州立大学的荣誉毕业生。（掌声）

The point is, if you are living your life to the fullest, you will fail, you will stumble, you will screw up, you will fall down.

But it will make you stronger, and you’ll get it right the next time, or the time after that, or the time after that. And that is not only true for your personal pursuits, but it’s also true for the broader causes that you believe in as well.

重要的是，如果你过上最完整的生活，你就会经历失败、摔打、不知所措和跌入低谷。但是它会使你更加坚强，下一次，或再下一次你们就会吃一堑长一智了。这不仅适用于你们的个人追求，而且适用于你们信仰的更广义的事业。

So you can't give up your passion if things don't work right away. You can't lose heart, or grow cynical if there are twists and turns on your journey. The cynics may be the loudest voices -- but I promise you, they will accomplish the least. It’s those folks who stay at it, those who do the long, hard, committed work of change that gradually push this country in the right direction, and make the most lasting difference.

所以如果你们处于逆境不要放弃激情。如果你们的旅途中出现曲折不要灰心丧气、玩世不恭。玩世不恭者可能叫得最响—但是我保证，他们一事无成。那些锲而不舍，致力于长期的、艰苦的和全心全意的改变世界的工作的人们一步步推动国家沿着正确的道路前进，使我们长期独树一帜。

So whenever you feel that creeping cynicism, whenever you hear those voices saying you can’t do it, you can’t make a difference, whenever somebody tells you to set your sights lower -- the trajectory of this great nation should give you hope. What generations have done before you should give you hope. Because it was young people just like you who marched and mobilized and stood up and sat in to secure women’s rights, and voting rights, and workers’ rights, and gay rights -- often at incredible odds, often at great danger, often over the course of years, sometimes over the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime -- and they never got acknowledged for it, but they made a difference.(Applause.)

当你感到玩世不恭蠢蠢欲动，当你听到有人说你们干不了，你们无法改变世界，当有人叫你们把眼光放低一点时—这个伟大的国家的发展轨迹会给你们希望。多少代先人的辉煌业绩会给你们希望。因为正是因为像你们一样的年轻人游行宣传、发动民众、挺身而出和静坐示威才使妇女权利、投票权和工人权利和同性恋权利得到保证—通常饱受争议，历尽艰险、奋斗几年，有时甚至要经历一生的深处的奉献—他们一直默默无闻，但是他们改变了世界。

And even if their rights were already secured, there were those who fought to secure those same rights and opportunities for others. And that should give you some hope.

尽管他们的权利已经有保障了，他们中还是有些人为了其他人的权利而奋斗。这会给你们希望。

Where we’re going should give you hope. Because while things are still hard for a lot of people, you have every reason to believe that your future is bright. You’re graduating into an economy and a job market that is steadily healing. The once-dying American auto industry is on pace for its strongest performance in 20 years -- something that means everything to many communities in Ohio and across the Midwest. Huge strides in domestic energy, driven in part by research at universities like this one, have us on track to secure our own energy future. Incredible advances in information and technology spurred largely by the risk-takers of your generation have the potential to change the way we do almost everything.

我们前进的目标会给你们希望。因为尽管对很多人来讲生活还是艰难，你们仍然有理由相信你们的前途光明。你们毕业后将走进一个稳步回暖的经济和就业市场。一度濒临死亡的美国汽车工业正以二十年来最强劲的步伐提高业绩—这几乎意味着俄亥俄州和中西部很多社区的一切。国内能源的巨大进步--部分地由贵校这样的大学的研究成果推动的—使我们走上保证我们的能源未来的轨道。你们这代人中的甘冒风险者激发了信息和技术领域的不可思议的进步可能改变我们解决几乎是任何问题的方法。

There is not another country on Earth that would not gladly change places with the United States of America. And that will be true for your generation just as it was true for previous generations.

世界上几乎没有那个国家不愿意与美利坚合众国互换地位。在你们这一代也将和你们之前的几代一样。

So you’ve got a lot to look forward to, but if there’s one certainty about the decade ahead, it’s that things will be uncertain. Change will be a constant, just as it has been throughout our history. And, yes, we still face many important challenges. Some will require technological breakthroughs or new policy insights. But more than anything, what we will need is political will -- to harness the ingenuity of your generation, and encourage and inspire the hard work of dedicated citizens. To repair the middle class, to give more families a fair shake, to reject a country in which only a lucky few prosper because that’s antithetical to our ideals and our democracy -- all of this is going to happen if you are involved, because it takes dogged determination -- the dogged determination of our citizens.

展望你们的未来事务纷繁复杂，但是未来十年有一件事是确定的，那就是一切都不确定。变化是永恒的，自古如此。我们仍然面对很多重大的变化。有些将要求技术突破或切实可行的新政策。但是我们最需要的是政治意愿—发挥你们这一代的天赋和鼓舞和激励无私奉献的公民们努力工作的意愿。重建重建中产阶级，给更多家庭公平待遇，防止我国成为只有少数幸运者繁荣的国家—因为这与我们的理想和民主背道而驰—如果你们积极投身所有这些都能实现，因为它需要坚定的决心—我们公民的坚定决心。

To educate more children at a younger age, and to reform our high schools for a new time, and to give more young people the chance to earn the kind of education that you did at The Ohio State University, and to make it more affordable so young people don’t leave with a mountain of debt -- that will take the care and concern of citizens like you. (Applause.)

更多的孩子们在早期受到教育，改革高中教育以适应新时代，给你们这样的年轻人进入俄亥俄州立大学这样的大学的机会，使大学学费可接受而使同学们不至于负债如山—都要求关爱像你们一样的公民。（掌声）

To build better roads and airports and faster Internet, and to advance the kinds of basic research and technology that’s always kept America ahead of everybody else -- that will take the grit and fortitude of citizens.

建设更好的道路和机场以及更快的网络，推进使美国领先于其他任何国家的研究和技术—要求公民的勇气和毅力。

To confront the threat of climate change before it’s too late -- that requires the idealism and the initiative of citizens. 应对气候变化，防止无法挽回的灾难，要求公民的理想主义和主动性。

To protect more of our kids from the horrors of gun violence -- that requires the unwavering passion, the untiring

resolve of citizens. (Applause.) It will require you.

保护更多的孩子们不受恐怖的涉枪暴力的伤害—要求公民的长久的激情和不倦的决心。（掌声）这需要你们。 Fifty years ago, President Kennedy told the class of 1963 that “our problems are manmade -- therefore, they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants.” We’re blessed to live in the greatest nation on Earth. But we can always be greater. We can always aspire to something more. That doesn’t depend on who you elect to office. It depends on you, as citizens, how big you want us to be, how badly you want to see these changes for the better.

五十年前，肯尼迪总统告诫1963届毕业生“我们的问题是人为的—因此它们能够由人来解决。人能够做到想做的一切。”我们有幸生活在世界上最伟大的国家。但是我们可以永远变得更加伟大。我们可以永远渴望更多。这不取决于你们选谁当总统。这取决于你们自己，作为公民，要求我们做得多么伟大，取决于你们多么强烈地希望变得更好。

And look at all that America has already accomplished. Look at how big we’ve been. I dare you, Class of2013, to do better. I dare you to dream bigger.

回顾美国已经取得的所有成就。回顾我们有多么伟大。我坚信，2013届毕业生，会做得更好。我坚信你们的梦想更加恢宏。

And from what I’ve seen of your generation, I’m confident that you will. And so I wish you courage, and compassion, and all the strength that you will need for that tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.

从你们这一代我看到的，使我相信你们能。我祝你们拥有你们用毕生时间深沉持久地奉献所需要的勇气、激情和实力。

Thank you. God bless you, and God bless these United States of America. (Applause.)

谢谢。上帝保佑你们，上帝保佑美利坚合众国。(掌声)