America, at its best, is a place where personal responsibility is valued and expected. Encouraging responsibility is not a search for scapegoats; it is a call to conscience. And though it requires sacrifice, it brings a deeper fulfillment. We find the fullness of life not only in options, but in commitments. And we find that children and community are the commitments that set us free.
Our public interest depends on private character, on civic duty, family bonds and basic fairness, and on uncounted, unhonored acts of decency which give direction to our freedom.
Sometimes in life we are called to do great things. But as a saint of our times has said, every day we are called to do small things with great love. The most important tasks of a democracy are done by everyone.
我们不接受这种状况，我们不允许这种状况的存在。我们的团结，我们的联合，是每一代领导人和国民的严肃使命。
最理想的美国是这么一个国家，那里个人的责任得到尊重，个人也应该有责任心。我们鼓励人们承担责任，我们不是在寻找替罪羊，而是呼唤人们的良知。尽管这样做需要付出代价，但这样做能带来更大的成就感。生活的充实不仅在于做出选择，还在于承担义务。我们感到致力于儿童和社会事业使我们获得了自由。
我们的公共利益依赖于个人品格，依赖于公民职责、家庭纽带和基本公平的原则，依赖于将我们引向自由的无数默默无闻的高尚行为。生活中有时我们被召唤去从事伟大的事业。但是，正如我们这个时代的一位圣人所言，我们每天都被召唤去以大爱做小事。一个民主政体中的最重要的使命是靠大家来完成的。
What you do is as important as anything government does. I ask you to seek the common good beyond your comfort, to defend needed reforms against easy attacks, to serve your nation beginning with your neighbor. I ask you to be citizens, not subjects, responsible citizens, building communities of service and a nation of character.
Americans are generous and strong and decent, not because we believe in ourselves, but because we hold beliefs beyond ourselves. When this spirit of citizenship is missing, no government program can replace it. When this spirit is present, no wrong can stand against it.
Never tiring, never yielding, never finishing, we renew that purpose today, to make our country more just and generous, to affirm the dignity of our lives and of every life.
你们的作为与政府的作为同样重要。我请求你们为大众谋利而不计较个人安逸，捍卫所需的改革而不是随意攻击，报效祖国从帮助邻居做起。我请求你们做公民而不做臣民，做有责任心的公民，建设有奉献精神的社区、有高尚品格的国家。
美国人慷慨、坚强、正直，这不是因为我们相信自我，而是因为我们的信念超越了自我。这种公民精神一旦失去，政府的任何规划都将无法取代。只要存在这种精神，任何邪恶都无法与之较量。
今天我们再次重申这样的宗旨：我们将永不疲倦、永不屈服、永不停止地使国家变得更为公正、更为慷慨，我们矢志维护我们的人生尊严，我们矢志维护我们每个个体的人生尊严。
责任编辑：admin
上一篇：口译例文——第二文化/Acquiring a Second Culture
下一篇：口译例文——大学精神/The Ulniversity Spirit
微信公众号搜索“译员”关注我们，每天为您推送翻译理论和技巧，外语学习及翻译招聘信息。