Yes we can ！

Obama：奥巴马：Change Has Come To America 美国的变革时代已到来

Hello, Chicago.芝加哥的市民们，你们好！

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer. 如果还有人仍在怀疑美国是否是一个一切皆有可能的国度的话，如果还有人仍在疑虑我们美国的缔造者的梦想是否还存在于我们这个时代的话，如果还有人仍在质疑我们民主的力量的话，今晚你就可以得到答案。

It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference.在这个国家的学校和教堂中人们曾焦急地等待着答案，一些人甚至从未像今天一样——等待了3～4个小时，但是他们知道这一时刻非同一般，他们的声音也同样非同一般。

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.不管你是年轻人还是老年人，是富人还是穷人，是民主党人还是共和党人，是黑人还是白人，也不管你是拉丁美洲人或亚洲人还是本土美国人，更无论你是否为同性恋者、是否是残疾人，这是美国人共同的答案。美国人向全世界传递一个声音，那就是我们的选举从不分红州或蓝州。

We are, and always will be, the United States of America.我们属于，而且永远只属于美利坚合众国。

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.长久以来，很多人一再受到告诫，要对我们所能取得的成绩极尽讽刺、担忧和怀疑之能事，但这个答案让这些人伸出手来把握历史，再次让它朝向美好明天的希望延伸。

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.虽然等待了很长时间，但在今晚的这一决定性时刻，由于我们在这次选举中的努力，美国终于迎来了变革。

A little bit earlier this evening, I received an extraordinarily gracious call from Sen. McCain.今天傍晚稍早的时候，我接到麦凯恩参议员一个特别亲切的电话。

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.在竞选过程中，他坚持不懈，努力了很长时间，而且他还会为他所热爱的国家继续更加努力。他已经为美国奉献了太多，以到于我们许多人都无法想象。我们必须要更好地服务于我们的祖国，以补偿这位勇敢而无私的领导人。

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.我祝贺他以及佩林此前取得的所有成绩，而且我希望能够与他们合作，重申数月前我们对国家所做的承诺。

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.我想感谢我在这个旅程中的搭档，一个全心全意参加竞选的男人，一个为同他一起在斯克蓝顿(宾夕法尼亚东北部城市)街道长大、一起坐火车到特拉华州的人们发言的男人，美国未来的副总统，乔·拜登。

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.在过去16年间，如果没有我最好朋友的坚定支持，没有我家庭成员的强力支撑，没有我妻子，也就美国未来的第一夫人米歇尔-奥巴马无私的爱，今晚我不可能站在这里。

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.马莉娅和萨莎，我也非常爱你们，你们肯定也沉浸在即将入住白宫的喜悦之中。

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.然而，我的外祖母已永远离开了我们，但我知道她也正和所有支持我的家人一样在看着我。我今晚非常想念他们，而且知道我欠他们的太多。

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.我的妹妹玛雅，我的妹妹阿尔玛，我的所有其他的兄弟姐妹们，感谢你们给了我这么多的一切支持，我感谢他们。

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.和我的竞选顾问大卫·Plouffe，此次竞选的无名英雄，我认为，是他打造了美利坚合众国历史上最好的-最好的政治大选。

To my chief strategist David Axelrod who's been a partner with me every step of the way.还有我的首席战略师大卫·阿克塞尔罗德。他是我的伙伴，在我竞选的每个阶段都给我极大的帮助。

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.为我打造了美国大选史上最棒的竞选团队。是你让这一切发生了，我将永远对你为这一切做出的牺牲心存感激。

But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to. It belongs to you. It belongs to you.但最重要的是，我永远不会忘记这场胜利的真正所有者，胜利属于你们，胜利属于你们。

I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington. It began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston. 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. 我曾经是最不可能赢得白宫的候选人。在刚开始的时候，我们没有多少钱，也没有多少支持者，我们的竞选不是从华盛顿的大厅开始的，而是开始于艾奥瓦州得梅因的后院、康科德的客厅、查尔斯顿的前厅。是辛勤劳作的男人、女人捐给了我们他们微薄的积蓄，5块钱、10块钱、20块钱。

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.我们从年轻人那里得到了力量，他们拒绝服从同龄人冷漠的神话。为了工作，他们离开了自己的家乡，并与亲人分别，可是他们拿很少的报酬，甚至连睡觉的时间也少的可怜。

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. 那些并不年轻的志愿者却拥有一颗火热的心，为了大选他们在寒风中敲开善良的陌生人家的门，这就是为什么两个世纪以来，我们人类，我们的政府没有从地球上消亡的原因。

This is your victory.这是你们的胜利。

And I know you didn't do this just to win an election. And I know you didn't do it for me.我知道，你们不仅仅是为了赢得一个大选，也不仅仅是为了我。

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.你们这样做，是因为知道我们面前任务的艰难。即使我们今晚在这里欢庆，我们仍然知道明天将会带来我们平生最大的挑战——两场战争，一个处于危险边缘的星球、一个世纪来最严重的金融危机。

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.即使我们今夜站在这里，我们依然知道，勇敢的美国人在伊拉克的荒地上、在阿富汗的山林中醒来，为了我们，赌上自己的生命。

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. 在孩子们熟睡后依然醒着的父亲母亲在担心，他们怎样才能还清医生的账单，攒够足够供孩子的大学教育的钱。

There's new energy to harness, new jobs to be created, new schools to build, and threats to meet, alliances to repair.新的能源要去开发，新的工作岗位要去创造，新的学校要去建造，新的威胁要去面对，新的盟友关系要去修复。

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.未来的路还很长，而且我们正在艰难地攀登在陡峭的山坡之上。我们未必能够在一年或是在一个总统任期之内达到目标，但美国肯定可以。我们肯定可以达到目标，此前我从未有今天晚上的如此有信心。

I promise you, we as a people will get there.我向你们承诺，我们肯定可以。

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 every problem.当然，这一过程肯定还会出现挫折，甚至是不成功的开始。我作为总统所做出的决策，肯定也会有许多人并不赞同。我们知道政府并不能解决所有的问题。

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.但我也会向你们诚恳地交待我们所面临的挑战。我会认真听从你们的建议，尤其是意见不一致的时候。总之，我邀请你们加入到国家的重建工作之中。221年来，我们的国家就是这样一砖一瓦，一点一滴地建造起来的。

What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter cannot end on this autumn night.我们开始于21个月前的深冬，不会结束在这个秋季的夜晚。

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.这仅仅是胜利而不是我们所寻求的变化。这是我们唯一去做出的改变的机会。如果我们回到原来的老路，那么改变不会发生。

It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.没有你们，没有一种新的服务精神，新的牺牲精神，它不能发生。

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.因此，让我们拿出一个新的爱国主义精神，责任感，在我们每个人都上下齐心努力工作时，期待的不仅是自己，而且彼此。

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.让我们记住，如果此次金融危机告诉我们什么，我们再也不会让华尔街繁荣的同时，让别的街受罪。

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.在这个国家，我们的兴衰，作为一个民族，作为一个人。让我们抵制诱惑，回到属于同一党派，鸡毛蒜皮的小事和不成熟已经毒害我们的政治如此之久。

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.让我们铭记，是这个州的人第一次将共和党的旗帜扛进了白宫，(共和党)是一个将价值观建立在自信、个人自由以及国家团结基础上的政党。

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.我们所有人都信奉这一价值。民主党今晚获得了巨大的胜利，但我们未来将用谦卑和决心来弥补竞选过程中产生的裂痕。

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.正如林肯所说，我们不是敌人，而是朋友。我们决不能成为敌人，尽管目前的情绪有些紧张，但决不能容许它使我们之间的亲密情感纽带破裂。

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.对于那些支持我的美国人，以及那些没有将选票投给我的人，我倾听到了你们的声音，我需要得到你们的帮助，而我也同样是你们的总统。

And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces, to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.对于那些在另外一个海岸，从国会到王宫、到在被世界遗忘的角落摆弄收音机、关注美国今夜的人们，我们的故事并非只有一个，但我们的命运是共同的，美国领导人新的曙光即将来临。

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.对于那些破坏世界的人，我们将打败你。对于那些寻求和平与安全的：我们支持你。对于所有那些疑惑美国的灯塔是否还会继续明亮燃烧的人，今夜我们将再次证明，我们国家的力量并不是来源来我们的胳膊的臂力，也不是来源于我们的财富，而是源自于我们理念的持久力量。这些理念包括：民主、自由、机会以及坚贞不屈的希望。

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.这是真正的天才合众国：美国会发生变化。我们的社会应该更完美。我们已经取得了给了我们将来能够而且必须实现的的希望。

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. 这次选举有许多第一，许多故事，将会代代相传。但是，今晚在我脑海的是一个在亚特兰大投下了她的票的女子。她就像数以百万计的在这次大选中排队发出自己声音的人一样，除了一件事：安-尼克松-库珀，106岁了。

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. 她出生在奴隶制刚刚废除后的那一代，一个道路上没有汽车和天空中没有飞机的时代;当时像她这样的人不能参加投票原因有两个-因为她是一个女子，因为她的皮肤颜色。

And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America -- the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.今晚，我想她看透了一个世纪的美国——头疼与希望；挣扎与发展，多少次我们被告知我们不能，可美国人的自信却回答：是我们能够做到。

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.当时，妇女的声音被压制，他们的希望被驳回，可她活着看到他们站起来，发出自己的声音，并且投下自己的票。是我们能够做到。

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.当饥饿来到，衰退发生时，她看到了这个国家是如何以新政，新工作，和全新的共同目标来战胜恐惧的。是我们能够做到。

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.当炸弹落到我们的港口，独裁者威胁世界的时候，她亲眼见证了一代人的崛起和民主得以挽救。是我们能够做到。

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. 她去蒙哥马利搭乘公共汽车，她去伯明翰面对水龙头，她去塞尔玛占桥……她听来自亚特兰大的牧师告诉大家：“我们能打破种族障碍”，是我们能够做到。

A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination.一个人踏上了月球，一堵墙在柏林倒下，这个世界因科学和想像而相连。

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.今年，在这次选举中，她把她的手指放到屏幕上，投下她的选票，因为106年后的美国，经历了最好的时光与最难的岁月，她知道怎样可以改变美国。

Yes we can.是我们能够做到。

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves -- if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?美国，我们来到迄今。我们已经看到这么多。但有这么多事情要做。因此，今夜，让我们反问一下我们自己，如果我们的孩子能够活到下个世纪；如果我的女儿能够幸运地活得像安-尼克森-库珀那样长，他们将会看到什么样的变化？我们那时将会取得什么样的进步？

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.我们应该回答这个问题，这是我们的时代。

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 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.这是我们的时代，要使我们的人民重新工作并将机会留给我们的子孙；重新恢复繁荣并促进和平；回归我们的美国梦想并重申一个基本事实--在众人之中，我们也是其中一个；当我们呼吸，当我们充满希望的时候，我们遭遇冷嘲热讽和质疑，那些人认为我们无法做到。我们将用一句话来做出回应：不，我们可以！

      巴拉克·奥巴马(Barack Obama)于2009年1月20日宣誓就职美国第44任总统。以下是奥巴马总统就职演说的中英文对照全文，中文由美国国务院国际信息局(IIP)根据演说记录稿翻译。

      My fellow citizens:
      I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.
      同胞们：
      我今天站在这里，深感面前使命的重大，深谢你们赋予的信任，并铭记我们前辈所付的代价。我感谢布什总统对国家的贡献以及他在整个过渡阶段给予的大度合作。
      Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because we the people have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebears, and true to our founding documents.
     至此，有四十四个美国人发出总统誓言。这些字词曾在蒸蒸日上的繁荣时期和宁静安详的和平年代诵读。但是间或，它们也响彻在阴云密布、风暴降临的时刻。美国能够历经这些时刻而勇往直前，不仅因为当政者具有才干或远见，而且也因为“我们人民”始终坚信我们先辈的理想，对我们的建国理念忠贞不渝。
     So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.
     这是过来之路。这是这一代美国的必由之路。
     That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.
    我们处于危机之中，这一点已得到充分认识。我国在进行战争，打击分布广泛的暴力和仇恨势力。我们的经济严重衰弱，部分归咎于一些人的贪婪不轨，同时也因为我们作为一个整体，未能痛下决心，让国家作好面对新时代的准备。如今，住房不再，就业减少，商业破产。医疗保健费用过度昂贵；学校质量没有保障；而每一天都在不断显示，我们使用能源的方式在助长敌人的威风，威胁我们的星球。
     These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land — a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.
     这些是危机的迹象，数据统计将予以证明。不易于衡量然而同样严重的是全国各地受动摇的信心——一种挥之不去的恐惧感，认为美国将不可避免地走下坡路，下一代人不得不放低眼光。
     Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met.
     今天，我告诉大家，我们面临的挑战真实存在，并且严重而多重。它们不可能在一个短时间内被轻易征服。但是，美国，请记住这句话——它们将被征服。
     On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. 
     我们今天聚集在这里是因为我们选择希望而不是恐惧，选择齐心协力而不是冲突对立。
     On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.
     我们今天在这里宣告，让斤斤计较与虚假承诺就此结束，让窒息我国政治为时太久的相互指责和陈词滥调就此完结。
     We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.
     我们仍是一个年轻的国家，但用圣经的话说，现在是抛弃幼稚的时侯了。现在应是我们让永恒的精神发扬光大的时侯，应是选择创造更佳历史业绩的时侯，应是将代代相传的宝贵财富、崇高理想向前发展的时侯：上帝赋予所有人平等、所有人自由和所有人充分追求幸福的机会。
     In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted — for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.
     在重申我们国家伟大精神的同时，我们懂得，伟大从非天生，而是必须赢得。我们的历程从来不是走捷径或退而求其次的历程。它不是弱者的道路——它不属于好逸恶劳或只图名利享受的人；这条路属于冒险者，实干家，创造者——有些人享有盛名，但大多数是默默无闻耕耘劳作的男女志士，是他们带我们走向通往繁荣和自由的漫长崎岖之路。
     For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.
    为了我们，他们打点起贫寒的行装上路，远涉重洋，追求新生活。
     For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.     
     为了我们，他们在血汗工厂劳作，在西部原野拓荒，忍着鞭笞之痛在坚硬的土地上耕耘。
     For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sanh.
     为了我们，他们奔赴疆场，英勇捐躯，长眠于康科德、葛底斯堡、诺曼底和溪山。
     Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.     
     为了我们能够过上更好的生活，他们前赴后继，历尽艰辛，全力奉献，不辞劳苦，直至双手结起层层老茧。他们看到的美国超越了我们每一个人的雄心壮志，也超越了所有种族、财富或派系的差异。
     This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America. 
     今天，作为后来者，我们踏上了这一未竟的旅程。我们依然是地球上最繁荣、最强大的国家。我们的劳动者的创造力并没有因为眼前的这场危机而减弱。我们的头脑依然像以往那样善于发明创新。我们的产品与服务仍旧像上星期、上个月或去年一样受人欢迎。我们的能力丝毫无损。但是，维持现状、保护狭隘的利益集团、推迟困难的抉择的时代无疑已成为过去。从今天起，我们必须振作起来，扫除我们身上的尘土，重新开启再造美国的事业。
     For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. All this we will do.
     无论我们把目光投向何处，都有工作在等待着我们。经济形势要求我们果敢而迅速地行动，我们将不辱使命——不仅要创造新的就业机会，而且要打下新的增长基础。我们将建造道路和桥梁，架设电网，铺设承载我们的商务和把我们紧密相连的电子通讯网络。我们将恢复尊重科学的传统，利用高新技术的超常潜力提高医疗保健质量并降低成本。我们将利用太阳能、风力和地热为车辆和工厂提供能源。我们将改造我们的中小学和高等院校，以应对新时代的挑战。这一切我们都能做到。这一切我们必将做到。
     Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions — who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.
     现在，有人怀疑我们的雄心壮志——他们说我们的体制不能承受太多的宏伟规划。他们的记忆是短暂的，因为他们忘记了这个国家已经取得的成就，忘记了一旦共同的目标插上理想的翅膀、现实的要求鼓起勇气的风帆，自由的人民就会爆发出无穷的创造力。
     What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them — that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. Those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account — to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day — because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.
     那些冷眼旁观的人没有认识到他们脚下的大地已经移动——那些长期以来空耗我们的精力的陈腐政治观点已经过时。我们今天提出的问题不是我们的政府太大还是太小，而是它是否行之有效——它是否能够帮助人们找到报酬合理的就业机会，是否能够为他们提供费用适度的医疗保健服务，是否能够确保他们在退休后不失尊严。如果回答是肯定的，我们就要向前推进。如果回答是否定的，计划和项目必须终止。作为公共资金的管理者，我们必须承担责任——明智地使用资金，抛弃坏习惯，在阳光下履行职责——因为只有这样我们才能恢复人民对政府的至关重要的信任。
     Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control — and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart — not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.
     我们提出的问题也不在于市场力量是替天行道还是为虎作伥。市场在生成财富和传播自由方面具有无与伦比的力量，但这场危机提醒我们：没有严格的监督，市场就会失控——如果一个国家仅仅施惠于富裕者，其富裕便不能持久。我们的经济成功从来不是仅仅依赖国内总产值的规模，而是还依赖繁荣的普及，即为每一位愿意致富的人提供机会的能力——不是通过施舍——因为这才是最可靠的共同富裕之路。
     As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers ... our found fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all the other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.