Mr. Chief Justice, Mr. Vice President, my friends: 首席大法官先生，副总统先生，朋友们：
You will understand and, I believe, agree with my wish that the form of this inauguration be simple and its words brief. 你们会理解并同意我的愿望，即这次就职典礼的形式要简单，语言要简短。
We Americans of today, together with our allies, are passing through a period of supreme test. It is a test of our courage —of our resolve—of our wisdom—of our essential democracy. 我们今天的美国人，与我们的盟友一起，正在经历一个严峻考验的时期。这是对我们勇气、决心、智慧和我们基本民主制度的考验。
If we meet that test—successfully and honorably—we shall perform a service of historic importance which men and women and children will honor throughout all time. 如果我们成功地、光荣地通过这一考验，我们将完成一项具有历史重要性的事业，这项事业将为世世代代的人们所崇敬。
As I stand here today, having taken the solemn oath of office in the presence of my fellow countrymen—in the presence of our God—I know that it is America's purpose that we shall not fail. 今天，我站在这里，在我的同胞面前，在上帝面前，庄严宣誓就职。我知道，美国的宗旨是我们不应失败。
In the days and the years that are to come, we shall work for a just and honorable peace, a durable peace, as today we work and fight for total victory in war. 在未来的日子和岁月里，我们将为争取公正和体面的和平、持久的和平而努力，就像今天我们为争取战争的全面胜利而工作和战斗一样。
We can and we will achieve such a peace. 我们能够而且我们将实现这样的和平。
We shall strive for perfection. We shall not achieve it immediately--but we still shall strive. We may make mistakes—but they must never be mistakes which result from faintness of heart or abandonment of moral principle. 我们将追求完美。我们不会立即达到完美——但我们仍将不懈追求。我们可能会犯错误——但这些错误绝不能源于懦弱或放弃道德原则。
I remember that my old schoolmaster, Dr. Peabody, said--in days that seemed to us then to be secure and untroubled, "Things in life will not always run smoothly. Sometimes we will be rising toward the heights—then all will seem to reverse itself and start downward. The great fact to remember is that the trend of civilization itself is forever upward; that a line drawn through the middle of the peaks and the valleys of the centuries always has an upward trend." 我记得我的老校长皮博迪博士说过——在那些在我们看来似乎安全无忧的日子里："生活中的事情不会总是一帆风顺。有时我们会向高处攀升——然后一切似乎都会逆转并开始下降。需要记住的重要事实是，文明本身的趋势永远是向上的；一条穿过几个世纪高峰和低谷中间的线总是向上的趋势。"
Our Constitution of 1787 was not a perfect instrument; it is not perfect yet. But it provided a firm base upon which all manner of men, of all races and colors and creeds, could build our solid structure of democracy. 我们1787年的宪法并非完美的工具；它至今也并非完美。但它提供了一个坚实的基础，各种种族、肤色和信仰的人们可以在这个基础上构建我们稳固的民主结构。
Today, in this year of war, 1945, we have learned lessons--at a fearful cost—and we shall profit by them. 今天，在1945年这个战争之年，我们吸取了教训——付出了可怕的代价——我们将从中受益。
We have learned that we cannot live alone, at peace; that our own well-being is dependent on the well-being of other Nations, far away. We have learned that we must live as men and not as ostriches, nor as dogs in the manger. 我们认识到，我们不能独自和平生活；我们自身的福祉取决于远方其他国家的福祉。我们认识到，我们必须像人一样生活，而不是像鸵鸟，也不是像占着马槽的狗。
We have learned to be citizens of the world, members of the human community. 我们学会了成为世界公民，成为人类社区的成员。
We have learned the simple truth, as Emerson said, that, "The only way to have a friend is to be one." 我们学到了一个简单的真理，正如爱默生所说："拥有朋友的唯一方法就是成为朋友。"
We can gain no lasting peace if we approach it with suspicion and mistrust—or with fear. We can gain it only if we proceed with the understanding and the confidence and the courage which flow from conviction. 如果我们怀着猜疑和不信任——或者恐惧——来接近和平，我们就无法获得持久的和平。只有当我们以信念所带来的理解、信心和勇气前进时，我们才能获得和平。
The Almighty God has blessed our land in many ways. He has given our people stout hearts and strong arms with which to strike mighty blows for freedom and truth. He has given to our country a faith which has become the hope of all peoples in an anguished world. 全能的上帝以许多方式祝福了我们的土地。他赋予我们人民坚强的心和强壮的臂膀，用以打击自由和真理的强大敌人。他赋予我们国家一种信仰，这种信仰已成为痛苦世界中所有人民的希望。
So we pray to Him now for the vision to see our way clearly to see the way that leads to a better life for ourselves and for all our fellow men—and to the achievement of His will to peace on earth. 因此，我们现在向上帝祈祷，祈求他赐予我们清晰看到道路的远见——看到通向我们自己和所有同胞更好生活的道路——并实现他在世界上实现和平的旨意。