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Our Constitution is a remarkable, beautiful gift.
憲法是我們無可比擬的、天賦的優勢。
But it's really just a piece of parchment. It has no power on its own.
但這只是我們優勢的一部分，因為憲法本身是無力的。
We, the people, give it power.
是我們、是民眾給予了它力量。
We, the people, give it meaning.
是我們賦予了它意義。
With our participation, and with the choices that we make, and the alliances that we forge.
是我們通過參與、我們所做的選擇和我們結成的聯盟做到這一點的。
Whether or not we stand up for our freedoms. Whether or not we respect and enforce the rule of law.
我們是否堅守自由、是否尊重并貫徹法治決定了憲法的力量。
That's up to us.
這些都取決于我們。
America is no fragile thing. But the gains of our long journey to freedom are not assured.
美國并不是一個脆弱的國家，但是我們通向自由的旅程并不是安穩無憂的。
In his own farewell address, George Washington wrote that self-government is the underpinning of our safety, prosperity, and liberty,
喬治華盛頓在他的告別演講中提到自治是我們安全、繁榮和自由的支柱。
but "from different causes and from different quarters much pains will be taken...to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth."
但是由于各種各樣的原因，取得自治的道路將是艱難的，會有很多阻礙威脅我們對真理的信念。
And so we have to preserve this truth with "jealous anxiety;"
因此我們應該以嫉妒般的敏感保衛我們的信念，
that we should reject "the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest or to enfeeble the sacred ties" that make us one.
任何分離我們國家、割裂將我們維系的神圣紐帶的企圖都應該被扼殺在襁褓之中。
America, we weaken those ties when we allow our political dialogue to become so corrosive
如果我們允許政治對話變得激烈，
that people of good character aren't even willing to enter into public service;
以致具備高貴品質的人放棄參與服務民眾的工作；
so coarse with rancor that Americans with whom we disagree are seen not just as misguided but as malevolent.
如果我們允許政治對話變得粗暴而充滿敵意，以致我們的對手被誤導而變得不懷好意，那么我們之間的連結就會被削弱。
