就职演讲

My fellow citizens : Today we celebrate the mystery of American renewal.
同胞们：今天，我们庆祝美国复兴的奇迹。
This ceremony is held in the depth of winter.
这个仪式虽在隆冬举行。
But, by the words we speak and the faces we show the world, we force the spring.
然而，我们通过自己的言语和向世界展示的面容、却促使春回大地。
A spring reborn in the world's oldest democracy, that brings forth the vision and courage to reinvent America.
回到了世界上这个最古老的民主国家，并带来了重新创造美国的远见和勇气。
When our founders boldly declared America's independence to the world and our purposes to the Almighty, they knew that America, to endure, would have to change.
当我国的缔造者勇敢地向世界宣布美国独立，并向上帝表明自 己的目的时，他们知道，美国若要永存，就必须变革。
Not change for change's sake, but change to preserve America's ideals; life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness.
不是为变革而变革，而是为了维护美国的理想--为了生命、自由和追求幸福而变革。
Though we march to the music of our time, our mission is timeless.
尽管我们随着当今时代的节拍前进，但我们的使命永恒不变。
Each generation of Americans must define what it means to be an American.
每一代美国人，必须为作为一个美国人意味着什么下定义。
On behalf of our nation, I salute my predecessor, President Bush, for his half-century of service to America.
我的前任布什总统为美国服务了半个世纪，在此，我代表我们的国家向他致以崇高的敬意。
And I thank the millions of men and women whose stead fastness and sacrifice triumphed over Depression, fascism and Communism.
我还要向千百万人民表示感谢，他们以坚定的信念和牺牲战胜了经济萧条、法西斯主义。
Today, a generation raised in the shadows of the Cold War assumes new responsibilities in a world warmed by the sunshine of freedom but threatened still by ancient hatreds and new plagues.
今天，在冷战阴影下成长起来的一代人，在世界上负起了新的责任，这个世界虽然沐浴着自由的阳光，但仍受到旧仇宿怨和新的祸患的威胁。
Raised in unrivaled prosperity, we inherit an economy that is still the world's strongest, but is weakened by business failures, stagnant wages, increasing inequality, and deep divisions among our people.
我们在无与伦比的繁荣中长大，继承了仍然是世界上最强大的经济，但由于企业倒闭，工资增长停滞、不平等状况加剧，人民的分歧加深，我们的经济已经削弱。
When George Washington first took the oath I have just sworn to uphold, news traveled slowly across the land by horseback and across the ocean by boat.
当乔治·华盛顿第一次宣读我刚才宜读的誓言时，人们骑马把 那个信息缓慢地传遍大地，继而又来船把它传过海洋。
Now, the sights and sounds of this ceremony are broadcast instantaneously to billions around the world.
而现在，这个仪式的情景和声音即刻向全球几十亿人播放。
Communications and commerce are global; investment is mobile; technology is almost magical; and ambition for a better life is now universal.
通信和商务具有全球性，投资具有流动性；技术几 乎具有魔力；改善生活的理想现在具有普遍性。
总统介绍

威廉·杰斐逊·克林顿，美国律师、政治家，美国民主党成员，曾任阿肯色州州长、全美州长联席会议主席、联合国海地事务特使、克林顿基金会主席、第42任，52届美国总统。