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 short-cuts 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.
在重申我們國家偉大精神的同時,我們懂得,偉大并非天成,而是必須贏得。我們的歷程從來不是走捷徑或退而求其次的歷程。它不是弱者的道路——它不屬于好逸惡勞或只圖名利享受的人;這條路屬于冒險者,實干家,創造者——有些人享有盛名,但大多數是默默無聞耕耘勞作的男女志士,是他們帶我們走向通往繁榮和自由漫長的崎嶇之路。
For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.
為了我們,他們打點起貧寒的行裝上路,遠涉重洋,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.
為了我們,他們在血汗工廠勞作,在西部原野拓荒,忍著鞭笞之痛在堅硬的土地上耕耘。
For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sanh.
為了我們,他們奔赴疆場,英勇捐軀,長眠于康科德、葛底斯堡、諾曼底和溪山。
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.
為了我們能夠過上更好的生活,他們前赴后繼,歷盡艱辛,全力奉獻,不辭勞苦,直至雙手結起層層老繭。他們看到的美國超越了我們每一個人的雄心壯志,也超越了所有種族、財富或派系的差異。
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,我們踏上了這一未完的旅程。我們依然是地球上最繁榮、最強大的國家。我們的勞動者的創造力并沒有因為眼前的這場危機而減弱。我們的頭腦依然像以往那樣善于發明創新。我們的產品與服務仍舊像上星期、上個月或去年一樣受人歡迎。我們的能力絲毫無損。但是,維持現狀、保護狹隘的利益集團、推遲困難的抉擇的時代無疑已成為過去。從今天開始,讓我們團結一致,振作精神,重新開啟再造美國的事業。