To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. 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.
To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world’s resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.
As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages.
We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment, a moment that will define a generation, it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.
For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.
Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends -- hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism -- these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility, a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.
This is the price and the promise of citizenship.
This is the source of our confidence, the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.
This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed, why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.
So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:
"Let it be told to the future world ... that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet (it)."
America, in the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.
对于穆斯林世界,我们将寻求新的共处之道,一种基于共同利益和相互尊重的方式。对于世界上那些播种冲突的种子或将自己社会的弊病归咎于西方的领导人,你们应该明白一点,你们的人民将根据你们所建设的而非破坏的来对你们作出评判。对于那些通过腐败、欺骗和镇压异见者来攫取权力的领导人,你们应该明白自己在违逆历史的潮流,但如果你们愿意松开拳头,我们将向你们提供帮助。
对于那些贫穷国家的人民,我们发誓将跟你们并肩战斗,让你们的农场繁茂、让洁净的水源流淌,让挨饿的身体获得营养、让饥渴的头脑获得食粮。对于那些像我们一样相对富有的国家,我们要说,我们再也不能对自己国界之外的苦难漠不关心,我们再也不能不顾后果地消耗世界的资源。这个世界已经改变,我们必须与之俱变。
思索前方的路,我们无时无刻不在铭记那些远征沙漠和偏远山区的英勇美国战士,对他们充满了感激之情,他们和那些安息在阿灵顿国家公墓之下的战争英雄们一样,给与我们启示。
我们尊敬他们,不仅因为他们是自由的守护者,还因为他们代表的是为国家服务的精神,他们自愿追寻比自身的价值更伟大的意义(美国国家之伟大)。此时此刻,在这个要塑造一代人的时刻,我们需要的正是这样一种精神。
因为无论美国政府能做多少,必须做多少,美国国家的立国之本最终还是美国人的决心和信念。于防洪堤坝决堤之时收留陌生受难者的善意,于在经济不景气的时候宁愿减少自己工时也不肯看着朋友失业的无私,正是他们支撑我们走过黑暗的时刻。消防队员冲入满是浓烟的楼梯抢救生命的勇气,父母养育孩子的坚持,正是这些决定了我们的命运。
我们面临的挑战也许是新的,我们应对挑战的措施也许也是新的,但那些长期以来指导我们成功的价值观——勤奋、诚实、勇气、公平竞争、包容以及对世界保持好奇心,还有对国家的忠诚和爱国主义——却是历久弥新,这些价值观是可靠的。他们是创造美国历史的无声力量。我们现在需要的就是回归这些古老的价值观。我们需要一个新的负责任的时代,一个觉醒的时代,每个国人都应意识到即我们对自己、对国家和世界负有责任,我们不应该不情愿地接受这些责任,而应该快乐地承担起这些责任。我们应该坚定这一认识,即没有什么比全身心投入一项艰巨的工作更能锻炼我们的性格,更能获得精神上的满足。
这是公民应尽的义务,应做出的承诺。
我们自信源于对上帝的信仰,上帝号召我们要掌握自己的命运。
这就是我们自由和信仰的意义,这也是为何不同种族、不同信仰、不同性别和年龄的人可以同聚一堂在此欢庆的原因,也是我今天能站在这里庄严宣誓的原因,而在50多年前我的父亲甚至都不能成为地方餐馆的服务生。
所以,让我们铭记自己的身份,镌刻自己的足迹。在美国诞生的时代,那最寒冷的岁月里,一群勇敢的爱国人士围着篝火在冰封的河边取暖。首都被占领,敌人在挺进,冬天的雪被鲜血染成了红色。在美国大革命最受质疑的时刻,我们的国父们这样说:
“我们要让未来的世界知道……在深冬的严寒里,唯有希望和勇气才能让我们存活……面对共同的危险时,我们的城市和国家要勇敢地上前去面对。”
今天的美国也在严峻的寒冬中面对共同的挑战,让我们记住国父们不朽的语言。带着希望和勇气,让我们再一次勇敢地面对寒流,迎接可能会发生的风暴。我们要让我们的子孙后代记住,在面临挑战的时候,我们没有屈服,我们没有逃避也没有犹豫,我们脚踏实地、心怀信仰,秉承了宝贵的自由权利并将其安全地交到了下一代的手中。