奥巴马告别演讲中英对照原文

中英对照原文： Hello Skybrook! It's good to be home! Thank you, everybody! Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you so much, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It's good to be home. Thank you.

你好，芝加哥！回家的感觉真好！谢谢，谢谢大家！（省略N个谢谢） We're on live TV here, I've got to move.

我们正在电视直播呢，我要开始演讲了。（现场观众非常热情，掌声不停啊。。。） You can tell that I'm a lame duck, because nobody is following instructions. 你们叫我“跛脚鸭”总统好了，都没有人听从我的指示。（掌声依然停不下来。。。） Everybody have a seat.

大家都坐下吧。（求你们了。。。）

My fellow Americans, Michelle and I have been so touched by all the well-wishes we've received over the past few weeks. But tonight it's my turn to say thanks. Whether we've seen eye-to-eye or rarely agreed at all, my conversations with you, the American people -- in living rooms and schools; at farms and on factory floors; at diners and on distant outposts -- are what have kept me honest, kept me inspired, and kept me going. Every day, I learned from

you. You made me a better President, and you made me a better man.

我的美国同胞们，最近几周，米歇尔和我收到了无数令人感动的祝福，今晚轮到我来表达谢意了。不管我们曾经意见相合还是相左，各位美国同胞，我同你们的每一次对话，不管是在会客厅还是在学校，在农场还是工厂车间，在餐桌上还是在遥远的边哨，这些交流都让我保持真诚，充满斗志，勇往直前。每一天，我都从你们身上学到东西。是你们让我成为一个更好的总统，一个更好的人。

I first came to Chicago when I was in my early twenties, still trying to figure out who I was; still searching for a purpose to my life. It was in neighborhoods not far from here where I began working with church groups in the shadows of closed steel mills. It was on these streets where I witnessed the power of faith, and the quiet dignity of working people in the face of struggle and loss. This is where I learned that change only happens when ordinary people get involved, get engaged, and come together to demand it.

我第一次来到芝加哥的时候，还是一个20岁出头的小伙子，试图寻找自我定位，寻找生活的目标。我最初就是在这附近的街区，在一个被关闭的钢厂旁，和教会团体一起工作。我就是在这里的街道上见证了信仰的力量，见证了这些靠双手吃饭的人面对生活的挣扎和失利时展现出的那种安静的尊严。（观众：连任！连任！连任！）我不能这样。（观众：连任！连任！连任！）就是在这里，我了解到只有普通民众都参与进来，热情投入，变革才会发生，只有我们的力量联合起来，社会才会进步。

After eight years as your President, I still believe that. And it's not just my belief. It's the beating heart of our American idea -- our bold experiment in self-government.

现在八年时间过去了，我仍然坚信这一点。我相信，这不只是我自己的一个信念，也是我们整个美国思想的核心所在——对自治进行大胆地尝试。

It's the conviction that we are all created equal, endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

我们的信念一直是，生来平等，造物者赋予我们一些不可剥夺的权利，其中包括生命、自由以及对幸福的追求。

It's the insistence that these rights, while self-evident, have never been self-executing; that We, the People, through the instrument of our democracy, can form a more perfect union.

这些权利，虽然人人都有，但并不能自动实现。我们，每一个公民，必须通过民主的工具，来创建一个更加完美的国家。

This is the great gift our Founders gave us. The freedom to chase our individual dreams through our sweat, toil, and imagination -- and the imperative to strive together as well, to achieve a greater good.

这是造物者赐予我们的礼物，我们拥有用汗水、辛劳和想象力去追逐我们的个人梦想和自由，以及共同奋斗、实现更伟大共同利益的责任。

For 240 years, our nation's call to citizenship has given work and purpose to each new generation. It's what led patriots to choose republic over tyranny, pioneers to trek west, slaves to brave that makeshift railroad to freedom. It's what pulled immigrants and refugees across oceans and the Rio Grande, pushed women to reach for the ballot, powered workers to organize. It's why

GIs gave their lives at Omaha Beach and Iwo Jima; Iraq and Afghanistan -- and why men and women from Selma to Stonewall were prepared to give theirs as well.

240年以来，我们国家对公民使命的召唤使得每一代人都有每一代人的工作和目标。正是这一召唤引领着爱国者推翻暴政、选择共和，引领着西进运动，引领着勇敢的奴隶们建造通向自由的地下铁路。它也吸引着大批移民和难民越过大洋、越过格兰德河（位于美墨之间）来到这片土地，鼓动女性走向投票站，给工人们以团结的动力。这是为什么美国大兵在奥马哈海滩（译者注：奥马哈海滩为二战诺曼底战役中盟军主要登陆点之一的代号）、硫磺岛战役（译者注：硫磺岛战役为二战太平洋战争中最激烈的战斗之一）、伊拉克和阿富汗中挥洒鲜血，为什么从塞尔玛（译者注：1965年马丁·路德·金在塞尔玛领导争取黑人权益的抗议游行）到格林尼治石墙（译者注：1969年美国同性恋者在格林尼治石墙酒吧进行暴力示威，争取权利）的男男女女也都准备好了，要献出他们的生命。

So that's what we mean when we say America is exceptional. Not that our nation has been flawless from the start, but that we have shown the capacity to change, and make life better for those who follow.

这就是为什么我们说美国是独一无二的。我们的国家并不是一开始就是完美无瑕，而是我们有能力做出改变，让追随美国梦的人拥有更好的生活。

Yes, our progress has been uneven. The work of democracy has always been hard, contentious and sometimes bloody. For every two steps forward, it often feels we take one step back. But the long sweep of America has been defined by forward motion, a constant widening of our founding creed to

embrace all, and not just some.

是的，我们取得的进步并不对每个人来说都是公平的，民主的事业总是艰难的、充满争议的，有时甚至是血腥的。每向前迈两步，给人的感觉却是我们退后了一步。但是美国在漫长的发展过程中，我们一直锐意进取，不断拓宽我们的信条，去拥抱所有人，而不仅仅是其中一部分人。

If I had told you eight years ago that America would reverse a great recession, reboot our auto industry, and unleash the longest stretch of job creation in our history...if I had told you that we would open up a new chapter with the Cuban people, shut down Iran's nuclear weapons program without firing a shot, and take out the mastermind of 9/11...if I had told you that we would win marriage equality, and secure the right to health insurance for another 20 million of our fellow citizens -- you might have said our sights were set a little too high.

如果八年前，我告诉你们，美国将扭转大衰退，重振汽车行业，并创造出历史以来最多的就业机会；如果当时我告诉你们，我们将与古巴人民开启一个新的篇章，停止伊朗核武器计划并揪出9/11事件的幕后主使；如果当时我告诉你们，我们将实现婚姻平等，为另外2000万的同胞赢得健康保险的权利；如果当时我告诉你们这些，你们可能会说我的目标定得太高了。

But that's what we did. That's what you did. You were the change. You answered people's hopes, and because of you, by almost every measure, America is a better, stronger place than it was when we started.

但是现在这就是我们所做到的，这就是你们所做到的。是你们促成了这些变化，你

们让希望成真，也正是因为你们，无论从哪个角度看，现在的美国比我上任时变得更好、更强。

In ten days, the world will witness a hallmark of our democracy: the peaceful transfer of power from one freely-elected president to the next. I committed to President-Elect Trump that my administration would ensure the smoothest possible transition, just as President Bush did for me. Because it's up to all of us to make sure our government can help us meet the many challenges we still face.

十天之内，世界将会见证我们民主的一个标志：（观众：不——）自由选举选出的总统之间，权力交接应当是和平的。我已向即将就职总统的特朗普先生承诺，我的团队将会尽己所能保证平稳交接，就像布什总统之前为我做的一样。因为我们所有人都需要确保政府可以帮助我们应对目前面临的诸多挑战。

We have what we need to do so. After all, we remain the wealthiest, most powerful, and most respected nation on Earth. Our youth and drive, our diversity and openness, our boundless capacity for risk and reinvention mean that the future should be ours.

我们拥有这些，我们拥有一切应对挑战的武器。毕竟，我们仍然是这个世界上最富有、最强大、最受尊敬的国家。我们的青年和发展动力，我们的多样性和开放程度，我们应对风险和进行革新的能力，都在向我们表明未来应该是属于我们的。

But that potential will be realized only if our democracy works. Only if our politics reflects the decency of the our people. Only if all of us, regardless of our party affiliation or particular interest, help restore the sense of common

purpose that we so badly need right now.

但是，只有我们保持民主这些潜力才会发挥出来。只有当我们的政治反映出人民的正直，只有我们所有人，不论党派关系或特殊利益，都有助于推动我们实现共同目的的渴望时，这些潜力才会发挥出来。

That's what I want to focus on tonight -- the state of our democracy. 这就是今晚我想说的重点——我们的民主体制。

Understand, democracy does not require uniformity. Our founders quarreled and compromised, and expected us to do the same. But they knew that democracy does require a basic sense of solidarity -- the idea that for all our outward differences, we are all in this together; that we rise or fall as one.

要知道，民主并不强求一致。我们的领袖会争吵，会妥协，但他们知道民主需要一种基本的团结意识，虽然我们存在各种差异，但我们却是一个整体，我们共兴亡。

There have been moments throughout our history that threatened to rupture that solidarity. The beginning of this century has been one of those times. A shrinking world, growing inequality; demographic change and the specter of terrorism -- these forces haven't just tested our security and prosperity, but our democracy as well. And how we meet these challenges to our democracy will determine our ability to educate our kids, and create good jobs, and protect our homeland. In other words, it will determine our future.

历史上，我们国家的团结曾多次受到威胁。在本世纪初，我们的国家就面临了这样的挑战：世界不断变小，不平等持续扩大，人口变化以及恐怖主义蔓延，这些因素不只是对我们国家安全和经济繁荣的考验，也是对我们民主体制的考验。我们如何来应对这

些挑战，将决定我们是否有能力教育好我们的孩子，创造新的就业机会，并保护我们的家园。换言之，怎样应对挑战将决定我们的未来。

Our democracy won't work without a sense that everyone has economic opportunity. Today, the economy is growing again; wages, incomes, home values, and retirement accounts are rising again; poverty is falling again. The wealthy are paying a fairer share of taxes even as the stock market shatters records. The unemployment rate is near a ten-year low. The uninsured rate has never, ever been lower.

首先，我们的民主政体发挥作用的前提是我们承认每个人都在经济发展中享有机会。值得高兴的是今天的美国经济正在增长。薪资水平、房产价值和退休金都在增长。贫困率正在降低。股价实现历史新高，而富裕阶层的交税比例也日趋合理。失业率实现了十年最低。参保比例达到了从未有过的高水平。

Health care costs are rising at the slowest rate in fifty years. And if anyone can put together a plan that is demonstrably better than the improvements we've made to our health care system -- that covers as many people at less cost -- I will publicly support it.

医疗成本的增长速度实现了半个世纪以来的最低水平。如我之前所说，如果有哪个方案可以实现医疗体系的更大提升，实现以更低成本覆盖更多人群，那么我一定会公开支持这一方案，我当时所说是认真的。

That, after all, is why we serve -- to make people's lives better, not worse. But for all the real progress we've made, we know it's not enough. Our economy doesn't work as well or grow as fast when a few prosper at the

expense of a growing middle class. But stark inequality is also corrosive to our democratic principles. While the top one percent has amassed a bigger share of wealth and income, too many families, in inner cities and rural counties, have been left behind -- the laid-off factory worker; the waitress and health care worker who struggle to pay the bills -- convinced that the game is fixed against them, that their government only serves the interests of the powerful -- a recipe for more cynicism and polarization in our politics.

我当选后，出现了一种说法是美国进入后种族时代（种族歧视已经不存在），这只是一个愿景，并不是现实。因为种族问题在我们的社会中仍然是一种强有力的分裂力量。虽然这一问题得到了某种程度的改善，但我们每一个人都需要做出更多的努力。毕竟，如果每一个经济问题都被看作是勤劳的白人中产阶级和不受欢迎的少数民族之间的矛盾，那所有种族的工人只能是争夺蝇头小利，而富人坐收渔翁之利。

There are no quick fixes to this long-term trend. I agree that our trade should be fair and not just free. But the next wave of economic dislocation won't come from overseas. It will come from the relentless pace of automation that makes many good, middle-class jobs obsolete.

但是针对这种长期形成的问题，没有快速解决方案。我同意我们应该在推行自由贸易的同时重视贸易公平。但是其他国家的影响不会是下一次经济危机爆发的原因，持续的自动化发展才会带来这样的后果。自动化将使许多优质岗位上的中产阶级工人被取代。

And so we must forge a new social compact -- to guarantee all our kids the education they need; to give workers the power to unionize for better wages; to

update the social safety net to reflect the way we live now and make more reforms to the tax code so corporations and individuals who reap the most from the new economy don't avoid their obligations to the country that's made their success possible. We can argue about how to best achieve these goals. But we can't be complacent about the goals themselves. For if we don't create opportunity for all people, the disaffection and division that has stalled our progress will only sharpen in years to come.

因此，我们必须达成一份新的社会契约以保证所有孩子能够接受他们所需的教育，以给予工人联合在一起的力量从而争取更高薪资，以完善社会保障从而使其更加适应我们现在的生活状况，以推进税收改革，从而使那些在我们经济体中攫取最多的公司和个人承担起对国家的义务，因为他们正是仰赖国家才得以取得成功。我们可以就如何才能更好地实现这些目标展开讨论。但是我们不能因这些目标本身而感到自满。因为如果我们不能为所有人创造机会的话，不满和分裂会阻碍我们的进步，并且这种阻力会逐年增强。

There's a second threat to our democracy -- one as old as our nation itself. After my election, there was talk of a post-racial America. Such a vision, however well-intended, was never realistic. For race remains a potent and often divisive force in our society. I've lived long enough to know that race relations are better than they were ten, or twenty, or thirty years ago -- you can see it not just in statistics, but in the attitudes of young Americans across the political spectrum.

我们的民主政体还面临第二道威胁，这一威胁几乎和我们的国家一样古老。我当选

总统之后，出现了后种族时代的说法。这样的图景是美好的，但从未实现。种族问题依然是造成我们社会分裂的一股强力。现在，不管有些人持怎样的说法，我的阅历告诉我种族间的关系比10年、20年或30年前都要融洽。你可以从数据中看到这一点，不同政治背景的年轻美国人所持的态度也可以证实这一点。

But we're not where we need to be. All of us have more work to do. After all, if every economic issue is framed as a struggle between a hardworking white middle class and undeserving minorities, then workers of all shades will be left fighting for scraps while the wealthy withdraw further into their private enclaves. If we decline to invest in the children of immigrants, just because they don't look like us, we diminish the prospects of our own children -- because those brown kids will represent a larger share of America's workforce. And our economy doesn't have to be a zero-sum game. Last year, incomes rose for all races, all age groups, for men and for women.

但是我们现在所实现的仍不够，我们还应付出更多努力。如果把每个经济问题都视为努力工作的白人中产阶级和不付出劳动的少数群体之间的斗争，那么各个阶层工人的努力都只是徒劳，富裕阶层却得以进一步坚守他们的既得利益。如果我们单凭移民群体的孩子和我们相貌不同便不愿意投资在他们身上，那么我们将同时损害我们自己孩子的前途。因为那些棕色皮肤的孩子将逐渐成为美国劳动力中越来越重要的一部分。经济并不一定是一场零和博弈，这一点已经被证实了。去年，不同种族、年龄和性别群体的收入都实现了增长。

Going forward, we must uphold laws against discrimination -- in hiring, in housing, in education and the criminal justice system. That's what our

Constitution and highest ideals require.

所以如果我们想要严肃地对待种族问题，我们就应该支持反歧视的相关法律。这些法律包括雇佣、住房、教育和司法体系方面的反歧视。这是我们宪法的要求，也是我们最高理想的要求。

But laws alone won't be enough. Hearts must change. If our democracy is to work in this increasingly diverse nation, each one of us must try to heed the advice of one of the great characters in American fiction, Atticus Finch, who said \of view...until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.\

但是仅仅依靠法律是不够的。我们必须转变观念，当然这种转变不会在一朝一夕间实现。社会观念的转变一般通过几代人的努力才能完成。但是我们的民主制度将继续在这个多元的国家中发挥作用。而我们每一个人都应该从一部美国小说中的主角身上吸取教训，这一角色是阿提克斯·芬奇（译者注：阿提克斯·芬奇为作家哈珀·李的小说《杀死一只知更鸟》中塑造的正直律师的典范形象），他曾说“除非你站在另一个人的角度考虑问题，除非你爬进他的身体并来回走动，否则你是不会真正了解这个人的。”

For blacks and other minorities, it means tying our own struggles for justice to the challenges that a lot of people in this country face -- the refugee, the immigrant, the rural poor, the transgender American, and also the middle-aged white man who from the outside may seem like he's got all the advantages, but who's seen his world upended by economic, cultural, and technological change.

对于黑人和其他少数群体来说，应该将我们为正义而进行的奋斗同其他群体正面临的挑战联系在一起。这些群体不仅包括难民、移民、城市里的贫穷家庭和跨性别美国人，

还包括中年白人，因为他们也许看起来具有优势，但他们同时也正面临经济、文化和技术方面的变革。我们应该关注他们，倾听他们的想法。

For white Americans, it means acknowledging that the effects of slavery and Jim Crow didn't suddenly vanish in the '60s; that when minority groups voice discontent, they're not just engaging in reverse racism or practicing political correctness; that when they wage peaceful protest, they're not demanding special treatment, but the equal treatment our Founders promised.

对于美国白人来说，这意味着我们要明白奴隶制的影响和吉姆·克劳法（译者注：吉姆·克劳法为1876年至1965年间美国南部及边境各州对有色人种实行的种族隔离制度的法律）并不是在60年代凭空消失的，我们要明白少数群体发出不满时，他们不是为了反对种族主义或倡导政治正确。当他们发起和平示威时，他们不是在要求特殊对待，他们只是在要求国父们承诺的平等对待。

For native-born Americans, it means reminding ourselves that the stereotypes about immigrants today were said, almost word for word, about the Irish, Italians, and Poles. America wasn't weakened by the presence of these newcomers; they embraced this nation's creed, and it was strengthened.

对于本土美国人来说，这意味着我们要认识到自己今天对于移民的种种偏见，如针对爱尔兰人、意大利人和波兰人的偏见，将摧毁美国最本质的精神。正如我们所见，美国并没有因为这些移民而走向衰落；这些移民忠于美国倡导的宗旨，他们的到来使美国变得更强。

So regardless of the station we occupy; we have to try harder; to start with the premise that each of our fellow citizens loves this country just as much as

we do; that they value hard work and family like we do; that their children are just as curious and hopeful and worthy of love as our own.

因此无论我们持什么立场，我们都应该更加努力。我们都应该以这样的认知为出发点：每一个公民都同我们一样热爱着这个国家，同我们一样努力工作、一样重视家庭；他们的孩子也像我们的孩子一样，充满好奇、前途无量并且值得爱护。

None of this is easy. For too many of us, it's become safer to retreat into our own bubbles, whether in our neighborhoods or college campuses or places of worship or our social media feeds, surrounded by people who look like us and share the same political outlook and never challenge our assumptions. The rise of naked partisanship, increasing economic and regional stratification, the splintering of our media into a channel for every taste -- all this makes this great sorting seem natural, even inevitable. And increasingly, we become so secure in our bubbles that we accept only information, whether true or not, that fits our opinions, instead of basing our opinions on the evidence that's out there.

要做到这一点并非易事。对于我们中的太多人来说，躲进我们自己的圈子是更安全，这些圈子包括我们的邻里、大学校园、教堂或是社交网络，在安全地带我们周围尽是和我们相像、有相同政治立场和从不挑战我们观点的人。赤裸裸的党争、经济和地域方面不断攀升的自满情绪、迎合不同人群造成的媒体间的分裂，这些都使区别对待的做法看起来是自然的，甚至是不可避免的。于是我们在自己的安全地带越来越感到安心，于是我们开始只接受迎合我们的观点，无论这些观点是对是错，而不是接受那些基于现有证据的说法。

This trend represents a third threat to our democracy. Politics is a battle of ideas; in the course of a healthy debate, we'll prioritize different goals, and the different means of reaching them. But without some common baseline of facts; without a willingness to admit new information, and concede that your opponent is making a fair point, and that science and reason matter, we'll keep talking past each other, making common ground and compromise impossible.

这一趋势构成了对我们民主体制的第三道威胁。但是政治就是一场有关理念的战斗。我们的民主体制设计便是基于此。在针对医疗方面的争论中，我们为不同目标划分了优先次序并制定了实现它们的不同方案。但是如果没有对底线的坚守和接受新信息的意愿，如果我们不承认我们对手的观点也许是公正的，不承认科学和理性的重要性，那么我们便不能实现真正的沟通，不能相互妥协并建立共同立场。

Isn't that part of what makes politics so dispiriting? How can elected officials rage about deficits when we propose to spend money on preschool for kids, but not when we're cutting taxes for corporations? How do we excuse ethical lapses in our own party, but pounce when the other party does the same thing? It's not just dishonest, this selective sorting of the facts; it's self-defeating. Because as my mother used to tell me, reality has a way of catching up with you.

不正是这些因素使人们对政治感到失望的吗？如果政客没有对削减企业税感到不满的话，那我们提议增加对学龄前儿童的支出时，他们凭什么感到愤怒呢？在抨击其他政党腐败的同时，我们怎么能宽宥党内腐败呢？这些行为不只是不诚实，更是对事实的区别对待，是自我毁灭的行径。因为，就像我母亲曾经告诉我的，现实总能让你自食其果。

胜我们，除非我们背离了我们的宪法和基本原则；俄罗斯和中国这样的对手也不可能与我们匹敌，除非我们抛弃了立场、变成另一个欺凌周边小国的大国。

Which brings me to my final point -- our democracy is threatened whenever we take it for granted. All of us, regardless of party, should throw ourselves into the task of rebuilding our democratic institutions. When voting rates are some of the lowest among advanced democracies, we should make it easier, not harder, to vote. When trust in our institutions is low, we should reduce the corrosive influence of money in our politics, and insist on the principles of transparency and ethics in public service. When Congress is dysfunctional, we should draw our districts to encourage politicians to cater to common sense and not rigid extremes.

这也是我想要表达的最后一点：当我们把民主视为理所当然时，我们的民主就会受到威胁。我们所有人，不论党派，都应该致力于重建我们的民主体制的任务。当投票率是发达民主国家中最低之一时，我们应该使投票更容易，而不是更难。 当我们的组织信任度降低时，我们应该减少金钱在政治中的腐蚀性影响，并坚持透明度和道德的公共服务原则。当国会功能失调时，我们应该吸引我们的地区鼓励政客迎合大众需求，而不是僵化的极端。

And all of this depends on our participation; on each of us accepting the responsibility of citizenship, regardless of which way the pendulum of power swings.

但是我们要牢记，所有这些目标的实现都不会是自然而然的。所有这些都取决于我们每个人的参与，取决于无论政治风向如何变动，我们都能够承担公民责任。

Our Constitution is a remarkable, beautiful gift. But it's really just a piece of parchment. It has no power on its own. We, the people, give it power -- with our participation, and the choices we make. Whether or not we stand up for our freedoms. Whether or not we respect and enforce the rule of law. America is no fragile thing. But the gains of our long journey to freedom are not assured.

宪法是我们无可比拟的、天赋的优势。但这只是我们优势的一部分，因为宪法本身是无力的。是我们、是民众给予了它力量。是我们赋予了它意义。是我们通过参与、我们所做的选择和我们结成的联盟做到这一点的。我们是否坚守自由、是否尊重并贯彻法治决定了宪法的力量。这些都取决于我们。美国并不是一个脆弱的国家，但是我们通向自由的旅程并不是安稳无忧的。

In his own farewell address, George Washington wrote that self-government is the underpinning of our safety, prosperity, and liberty, but \weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth;\with \to alienate any portion of our country from the rest or to enfeeble the sacred ties\

乔治华盛顿在他的告别演讲中提到自治是我们安全、繁荣和自由的支柱。但是由于各种各样的原因，取得自治的道路将是艰难的，会有很多阻碍威胁我们对真理的信念。因此我们应该以嫉妒般的敏感保卫我们的信念，任何分离我们国家、割裂将我们维系的神圣纽带的企图都应该被扼杀在襁褓之中。

We weaken those ties when we allow our political dialogue to become so

corrosive that people of good character are turned off from public service; so coarse with rancor that Americans with whom we disagree are not just misguided, but somehow malevolent. We weaken those ties when we define some of us as more American than others; when we write off the whole system as inevitably corrupt, and blame the leaders we elect without examining our own role in electing them.

如果我们允许政治对话变得激烈，以致具备高贵品质的人放弃参与服务民众的工作；如果我们允许政治对话变得粗暴而充满敌意，以致我们的对手被误导而变得不怀好意，那么我们之间的连结就会被削弱。如果我们认为一部分人比其他人更具备自称美国人的资格，如果我们默认整个系统的腐败是不可避免的，如果我们不详加考量便决定自己的选票，那么我们之间的纽带也会被削弱。

It falls to each of us to be those anxious, jealous guardians of our democracy; to embrace the joyous task we've been given to continually try to improve this great nation of ours. Because for all our outward differences, we all share the same proud title: Citizen.

我们每个人都有责任去敏感警惕地捍卫民主；每个人都应该热情洋溢地投身于发展我们伟大的国家这一使命。因为我们的外表也许不同，但我们都被授予了同一头衔：公民。

Ultimately, that's what our democracy demands. It needs you. Not just when there's an election, not just when your own narrow interest is at stake, but over the full span of a lifetime. If you're tired of arguing with strangers on the internet, try to talk with one in real life.

民主需要的就是正是这一点。它需要你的参与。你的参与不应仅限于选举，不应仅限于影响你切身利益的事情，你的参与应该贯穿你的一生。

If something needs fixing, lace up your shoes and do some organizing. If you're disappointed by your elected officials, grab a clipboard, get some signatures, and run for office yourself. Show up. Dive in. Persevere.

如果已经厌烦了同互联网上的陌生人争论，那便和现实中的人交流吧；如果遇到了麻烦，那便系好鞋带去行动吧；如果对自己选出的政客失望，那便抓起纸板、写上你的名字然后亲自参加竞选吧。参与进来、投入进去然后坚持到底。

Sometimes you'll win. Sometimes you'll lose. Presuming a reservoir of goodness in others can be a risk, and there will be times when the process disappoints you. But for those of us fortunate enough to have been a part of this work, to see it up close, let me tell you, it can energize and inspire. And more often than not, your faith in America – and in Americans – will be confirmed.

有时你会成功，有时你将面临失败。假定他人总心怀善意是有风险的，有时你会感到失望。但是对于那些幸运的、得以参与其中一部分工作并见证这些工作得以完成的人来说，他们从中吸取了力量，备受鼓舞。更重要的是，他们对美国、对美国人的信念从中得到了肯定。

Mine sure has been. Over the course of these eight years, I've seen the hopeful faces of young graduates and our newest military officers. I've mourned with grieving families searching for answers, and found grace in Charleston church. I've seen our scientists help a paralyzed man regain his

sense of touch, and our wounded warriors walk again. I've seen our doctors and volunteers rebuild after earthquakes and stop pandemics in their tracks. I've seen the youngest of children remind us of our obligations to care for refugees, to work in peace, and above all to look out for each other.

我自己对美国及美国人的信念的确也加强了。这八年，我看到那么多年轻毕业生和新晋军官洋溢着希望的脸庞。我和心碎的、失落的家庭一同悲伤，我也曾在查尔斯顿教堂中蒙恩。（译者注：2015年6月17日，在美国南卡罗莱纳州查尔斯顿的一起重大枪击案。一名白人在当地的一座黑人教堂开枪，造成九人死亡，包括一名议员）我看到我们的科学家帮助一个瘫痪男人重获触感，让受伤的战士恢复行走能力。我看到地震后我们的医生和志愿者们开展重建工作、遏止流行疾病的蔓延。我看到很小的孩子用行动和宽容给予我们警醒——我们身负帮助难民的责任，我们应该为实现和平而努力，最重要的是，我们得爱护彼此。

That faith I placed all those years ago, not far from here, in the power of ordinary Americans to bring about change – that faith has been rewarded in ways I couldn't possibly have imagined. I hope yours has, too. Some of you here tonight or watching at home were there with us in 2004, in 2008, in 2012 – and maybe you still can't believe we pulled this whole thing off.

过去的几年，我一直相信普通美国人可以带来改变，这种信念从各个方面使我受益，这在此前是难以预料的。我希望你的信念也能使你受益匪浅。今天现场和电视机前的一部分人，在2004、2008、2012年的时候也和我在一起，也许你们到现在也无法相信我们真的做到了。我想告诉你们，不敢相信的不只有你们。

You're not the only ones. Michelle – for the past twenty-five years, you've

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