就职演讲

Or that we stopped to ask if a sick child had gotten better, and stayed a moment there to trade a word of friendship?
或者是我们自己停下来自问一声：当一个生病的孩子已经好转，我们会稍停片刻同他友好地交谈几句吗？
No President, no government, can teach us to remember what is best in what we are.
任何总统、任何政府都不能教导我们应记住什么东西对我们是最好的。
But if the man you have chosen to lead this government can help make a difference;
但是，你们推选出来领导这个政府的人，如果能够发挥一定的作用，
if he can celebrate the quieter, deeper successes that are made not of gold and silk, but of better hearts and finer souls; if he can do these things, then he must.
如果他会赞美那些不是由金银而是由更美好的心灵构成的平静而深刻的成功，如果他能做到这些事情，那他就应当去做。
America is never wholly herself unless she is engaged in high moral principle.
美国若不奉行崇高的道德准则，就永远无法实现自身的完善。
We as a people have such a purpose today.
今天，我们作为一个民族，就具有这样一个目标。
It is to make kinder the face of the Nation and gentler the face of the world. My friends, we have work to do.
这个目标旨在使我们国家的面貌变得更加仁厚善良， 使这个世界的面貌变得更加温文尔雅。我的朋友们，我们有许多事情要做。
There are the homeless, lost and roaming. There are the children who have nothing, no love, no normalcy.
有些人无家可归，已经迷失方向，正在四处徘徊。有些孩子失去了一切，既没有亲人之爱，也无法享有正常的生活。
There are those who cannot free themselves of enslavement to whatever addiction—drugs, welfare, the demoralization that rules the slums.
有些人则无法摆脱各种个人癖好的奴役，他们沉溺于吸毒、依赖救济为生，或沾染上各种肆虐于贫民窟的堕落习气。
There is crime to be conquered, the rough crime of the streets.
有不少犯罪行为有待于制压，譬如那些大街上的粗暴罪行。
There are young women to be helped who are about to become mothers of children they can't care for and might not love.
还有一些年轻的妇女需要帮助，她们就要做母亲了，但对自己将要出生的孩子不是无法照顾，就是可能不会加以爱护。
They need our care, our guidance, and our education, though we bless them for choosing life.
他们需要我们去关心，去引导，去进行教育，尽管我们衷心祝福他们选择合适的生活。
The old solution, the old way, was to think that public money alone could end these problems.
过去的解决办法和过去的途径，是片面相信政府的公共开支即可消除这些问题。
But we have learned that is not so. And in any case, our funds are low. We have a deficit to bring down.
但我们已经了解到，情况并非如此。而且不论怎样说，我们的资金总是有限的。我们还要削减赤字。
We have more will than wallet; but will is what we need.
我们的愿望总是超过我们钱袋的支付能力，而愿望又正是我们所需要的东西。
We will make the hard choices, looking at what we have and perhaps allocating it differently, making our decisions based on honest need and prudent safety.
我们要做出艰难的决择，对我们拥有的东西细加盘算，或许还要进行重新配置， 使我们的决策立足于真正的需要和审慎的安全之上。
And then we will do the wisest thing of all: We will turn to the only resource we have that in times of need always grows the goodness and the courage of the American people.
于是我们要做一件最为明智的事情，那就是求助于美国人民的善良品质和无畏勇气，这乃是我们所拥有的、在需要之时能够不断增长的唯一资源。
I am speaking of a new engagement in the lives of others, a new activism, hands on and involved, that gets the job done.
我现在倡导重新关心他人的生活，倡导一种新的积极行动精神，大家动手，全力 投入，以期大功告成。
总统介绍

乔治·赫伯特·沃克·布什，美国第51届41任总统。由于美国历史上存在过两位布什总统，因此又常被称为老布什，以便与其同样担任过美国总统的长子乔治·沃克·布什作区别。老布什最为人知的政绩是1991年海湾战争。他在任内成功打败伊拉克，并对其实施经济制裁。