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Mr. Chief Justice, Mr. Vice President, my friends, you will understand and, I believe,
首席大法官先生、副总统先生、朋友们，你们会理解，
agree with my wish that the form of this inauguration be simple and its words brief.
而且我相信也会赞同我的愿望，把这次就职典礼办成一个简简单单的仪式，而我则只发表一个简短的演说。
We Americans of today, together with our allies, are passing through a period of supreme test.
我们今天的美国人和我们的盟友一道，正经历一个最为严峻的考验时期。
It is a test of our courage of our resolve of our wisdom our essential democracy.
这是一次对我们的勇气、决心和智慧的考验，也是一次对我们根本性的民主制的考验。
If we meet that test successfully and honorably we shall perform a service of historic importance which men and women and children will honor throughout all time.
我们若能成功而光荣地经受住这次考验，那我们就可以创造具有重要历史意义的业绩，受到人民世世代代的纪念。
As I stand here today, having taken the solemn oath of office in the presence of my fellow countrymen-in the presence of our God
今天，我伫立于此，在我国同胞的面前，在我们上帝的面前，
I know that it is America's purpose that we shall not fail.
进行了庄严的就职宣誓。当此之际，我深知美国的目标要求我们决不能失败。
In the days and in the years that are to come we shall work for a just and honorable peace, a durable peace,
在未来的岁月里，我们要致力于建设一种公正而光荣的和平，建设一种持久的和平，
as today we work and fight for total victory in war.
就像我们今天正在为战争的彻底胜利而工作和战斗一样。
We can and we will achieve such a peace.
我们能够而且必将获得这样一种和平。
We shall strive for perfection. We shall not achieve it immediately—but we still shall strive.
我们要为完美的局面而奋斗。我们不会马上达到目标，但我们仍要为之奋斗。
We may make mistakes—but they must never be mistakes which result from faintness of heart or abandonment of moral principle.
我们也许会犯下错误，但我们决不能因为丧失意志和抛弃道义原则而犯错误。
I remember that my old schoolmaster, Dr. Peabody, said, in days that seemed to us then to be secure and untroubled: "Things in life will not always run smoothly.
我记得，在我们似乎感到安稳无忧的日子里，我们的老校长皮博迪博士说过：“生活中的事情并不总是一帆风顺的。
Sometimes we will be rising toward the heights then all will seem to reverse itself and start downward.
有时我们眼看就要登上顶峰，可是情况似乎很快急转直下，又开始走下坡路了。
The great fact to remember is that the trend of civilization itself is forever upward;
但我们要牢记一个重要事实：文明本身的趋向永远是向上的，
that a line drawn through the middle of the peaks and the valleys of the centuries always has an upward trend."
如果从数个世纪的高峰和低谷之间划出的中线来看，这条线一直都是呈上升趋势的。”
