Good evening. 晚上好。
In a few days I will lay down my official responsibilities in this office, to take up once more the only title in our democracy superior to that of President, the title of citizen. 几天之后，我将卸下这个职位的官方职责，重新承担起我们民主制度中唯一高于总统的头衔——公民。
Of Vice President Mondale, my Cabinet, and the hundreds of others who have served with me during the last 4 years, I wish to say now publicly what I have said in private: I thank them for the dedication and competence they've brought to the service of our country. But I owe my deepest thanks to you, to the American people, because you gave me this extraordinary opportunity to serve. 对于蒙代尔副总统、我的内阁成员以及过去四年来与我并肩服务的数百名其他人，我想公开说出我私下说过的话：我感谢他们为国家服务所付出的奉献和能力。但我最深切的感谢要献给你们，献给美国人民，因为是你们给了我这个非凡的服务机会。
We've faced great challenges together, and we know that future problems will also be difficult. But I'm now more convinced than ever that the United States, better than any other country, can meet successfully whatever the future might bring. These last 4 years have made me more certain than ever of the inner strength of our country, the unchanging value of our principles and ideals, the stability of our political system, the ingenuity and the decency of our people. 我们共同面临过巨大的挑战，我们知道未来的问题也将是困难的。但我现在比以往任何时候都更加坚信，美国比任何其他国家都更能成功应对未来可能带来的任何挑战。过去四年让我比以往任何时候都更加确信我们国家的内在力量、我们原则和理想的不变价值、我们政治制度的稳定性以及我们人民的智慧和善良。
Tonight I would like first to say a few words about this most special office, the Presidency of the United States. This is at once the most powerful office in the world and among the most severely constrained by law and custom. The President is given a broad responsibility to lead but cannot do so without the support and consent of the people, expressed formally through the Congress and informally in many ways through a whole range of public and private institutions. This is as it should be. 今晚，我想首先就这个最特殊的职位——美国总统任期——说几句话。这既是世界上最强大的职位，也是在法律和习俗限制下最受约束的职位之一。总统被赋予领导的广泛责任，但没有人民的支持和同意，就无法做到这一点，这种支持和同意正式通过国会表达，非正式地通过各种公共和私人机构以多种方式表达。事情本应如此。
Within our system of government every American has a right and a duty to help shape the future course of the United States. Thoughtful criticism and close scrutiny of all government officials by the press and the public are an important part of our democratic society. Now, as in the past, only the understanding and involvement of the people through full and open debate can help to avoid serious mistakes and assure the continued dignity and safety of the Nation. 在我们的政府体系中，每个美国人都有权利和义务帮助塑造美国的未来进程。媒体和公众对所有政府官员的深思熟虑的批评和密切监督是我们民主社会的重要组成部分。现在和过去一样，只有人民通过充分和公开的辩论达成理解并参与其中，才能帮助避免严重错误，确保国家的尊严和安全得以延续。
Today we are asking our political system to do things of which the Founding Fathers never dreamed. The government they designed for a few hundred thousand people now serves a nation of almost 230 million people. Their small coastal republic now spans beyond a continent, and we also now have the responsibility to help lead much of the world through difficult times to a secure and prosperous future. 今天，我们要求我们的政治体制去做开国元勋们从未梦想过的事情。他们为几十万人设计的政府现在服务于一个近2.3亿人的国家。他们那个小小的沿海共和国现在跨越了整个大陆，我们现在也有责任帮助带领世界大部分地区度过困难时期，走向安全和繁荣的未来。
Today, as people have become ever more doubtful of the ability of the Government to deal with our problems, we are increasingly drawn to single-issue groups and special interest organizations to ensure that whatever else happens, our own personal views and our own private interests are protected. This is a disturbing factor in American political life. It tends to distort our purposes, because the national interest is not always the sum of all our single or special interests. We are all Americans together, and we must not forget that the common good is our common interest and our individual responsibility. 今天，随着人们越来越怀疑政府解决问题的能力，我们越来越被单一议题团体和特殊利益组织吸引，以确保无论发生什么，我们自己的个人观点和私人利益都得到保护。这是美国政治生活中一个令人不安的因素。它往往会扭曲我们的目标，因为国家利益并不总是我们所有单一或特殊利益的总和。我们都是美国人，我们绝不能忘记共同利益是我们的共同关切和个人责任。
Because of the fragmented pressures of these special interests, it's very important that the office of the President be a strong one and that its constitutional authority be preserved. The President is the only elected official charged with the primary responsibility of representing all the people. In the moments of decision, after the different and conflicting views have all been aired, it's the President who then must speak to the Nation and for the Nation. 由于这些特殊利益的分散压力，总统职位必须是强有力的，其宪法权威必须得到维护，这一点非常重要。总统是唯一被赋予代表全体人民主要责任的民选官员。在决策时刻，在各种不同和冲突的观点都被表达之后，必须由总统代表国家向全国发表讲话。
I understand after 4 years in this office, as few others can, how formidable is the task the new President-elect is about to undertake, and to the very limits of conscience and conviction, I pledge to support him in that task. I wish him success, and Godspeed. 在这个职位上四年后，我比其他人更能理解新当选总统即将承担的任务有多么艰巨，我以良知和信念的最大极限，承诺在这项任务中支持他。我祝愿他成功，一路顺风。
I know from experience that Presidents have to face major issues that are controversial, broad in scope, and which do not arouse the natural support of a political majority. For a few minutes now, I want to lay aside my role as leader of one nation, and speak to you as a fellow citizen of the world about three issues, three difficult issues: the threat of nuclear destruction, our stewardship of the physical resources of our planet, and the preeminence of the basic rights of human beings. 我从经验中知道，总统必须面对具有争议性、范围广泛且不会自然引起政治多数支持的重大问题。现在，我想放下作为一个国家领导人的角色，以世界公民的身份与你们谈论三个问题，三个困难的问题：核毁灭的威胁、我们对地球物质资源的管理，以及人类基本权利的至高无上。
It's now been 35 years since the first atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima. The great majority of the world's people cannot remember a time when the nuclear shadow did not hang over the Earth. Our minds have adjusted to it, as after a time our eyes adjust to the dark. Yet the risk of a nuclear conflagration has not lessened. It has not happened yet, thank God, but that can give us little comfort, for it only has to happen once. 第一颗原子弹落在广岛已经35年了。世界上绝大多数人无法记住核阴影没有笼罩地球的时代。我们的头脑已经适应了它，就像过一段时间我们的眼睛会适应黑暗一样。然而，核冲突的风险并未减轻。感谢上帝，它还没有发生，但这给我们带来的安慰很少，因为它只需要发生一次。
The danger is becoming greater. As the arsenals of the superpowers grow in size and sophistication and as other governments, perhaps even in the future dozens of governments, acquire these weapons, it may only be a matter of time before madness, desperation, greed, or miscalculation lets loose this terrible force. 危险正在变得更大。随着超级大国的武器库在规模和复杂性上的增长，以及其他政府——也许未来甚至几十个政府——获得这些武器，疯狂、绝望、贪婪或误判释放这种可怕力量可能只是时间问题。
In an all-out nuclear war, more destructive power than in all of World War II would be unleashed every second during the long afternoon it would take for all the missiles and bombs to fall. A World War II every second—more people killed in the first few hours than in all the wars of history put together. The survivors, if any, would live in despair amid the poisoned ruins of a civilization that had committed suicide. 在全面核战争中，在所有导弹和炸弹落下所需的漫长下午里，每秒释放的破坏力将超过整个第二次世界大战。每秒一个第二次世界大战——最初几个小时内死亡的人数将超过历史上所有战争的总和。幸存者——如果有的话——将在一个自杀文明的有毒废墟中绝望地生活。
National weakness, real or perceived, can tempt aggression and thus cause war. That's why the United States can never neglect its military strength. We must and we will remain strong. But with equal determination, the United States and all countries must find ways to control and to reduce the horrifying danger that is posed by the enormous world stockpiles of nuclear arms. 国家的弱点，无论是真实的还是被感知的，都可能诱使侵略，从而引发战争。这就是为什么美国绝不能忽视其军事实力。我们必须并且我们将保持强大。但同样坚定的是，美国和所有国家必须找到控制和减少世界庞大核武库构成的可怕危险的方法。
This has been a concern of every American President since the moment we first saw what these weapons could do. Our leaders will require our understanding and our support as they grapple with this difficult but crucial challenge. There is no disagreement on the goals or the basic approach to controlling this enormous destructive force. The answer lies not just in the attitudes or the actions of world leaders but in the concern and the demands of all of us as we continue our struggle to preserve the peace. 自从我们第一次看到这些武器的威力以来，每一位美国总统都对此感到担忧。我们的领导人在努力应对这一困难但关键的挑战时，将需要我们的理解和支持。在控制这种巨大破坏力的目标或基本方法上没有分歧。答案不仅在于世界领导人的态度或行动，还在于我们所有人在继续争取维护和平的过程中的关切和要求。
Nuclear weapons are an expression of one side of our human character. But there's another side. The same rocket technology that delivers nuclear warheads has also taken us peacefully into space. From that perspective, we see our Earth as it really is—a small and fragile and beautiful blue globe, the only home we have. We see no barriers of race or religion or country. We see the essential unity of our species and our planet. And with faith and common sense, that bright vision will ultimately prevail. 核武器是人类性格一面的表达。但还有另一面。运送核弹头的同样火箭技术也和平地带我们进入了太空。从那个视角，我们看到了地球的真实面貌——一个小而脆弱且美丽的蓝色星球，我们唯一的家园。我们看不到种族、宗教或国家的障碍。我们看到了我们物种和我们星球的基本统一性。凭借信仰和常识，这一光明愿景最终将占上风。
Another major challenge, therefore, is to protect the quality of this world within which we live. The shadows that fall across the future are cast not only by the kinds of weapons we've built, but by the kind of world we will either nourish or neglect. There are real and growing dangers to our simple and our most precious possessions: the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the land which sustains us. The rapid depletion of irreplaceable minerals, the erosion of topsoil, the destruction of beauty, the blight of pollution, the demands of increasing billions of people, all combine to create problems which are easy to observe and predict, but difficult to resolve. If we do not act, the world of the year 2000 will be much less able to sustain life than it is now. 因此，另一个重大挑战是保护我们生活的这个世界的质量。笼罩未来的阴影不仅是由我们制造的武器种类投下的，也是由我们滋养或忽视的世界种类投下的。我们简单而最宝贵的财产——我们呼吸的空气、饮用的水和维持我们的土地——正面临着真实且日益增长的危险。不可替代矿物的迅速枯竭、表土的侵蚀、美的破坏、污染的祸害、数十亿人口不断增长的需求，所有这些共同造成了容易观察和预测但难以解决的问题。如果我们不采取行动，2000年的世界将比现在更无法维持生命。
But there is no reason for despair. Acknowledging the physical realities of our planet does not mean a dismal future of endless sacrifice. In fact, acknowledging these realities is the first step in dealing with them. We can meet the resource problems of the world—water, food, minerals, farmlands, forests, overpopulation, pollution if we tackle them with courage and foresight. 但没有理由绝望。承认地球的物理现实并不意味着一个无尽牺牲的黯淡未来。事实上，承认这些现实是处理它们的第一步。如果我们以勇气和远见来应对，我们可以解决世界的资源问题——水、食物、矿物、农田、森林、人口过剩、污染。
I've just been talking about forces of potential destruction that mankind has developed and how we might control them. It's equally important that we remember the beneficial forces that we have evolved over the ages and how to hold fast to them. One of those constructive forces is the enhancement of individual human freedoms through the strengthening of democracy and the fight against deprivation, torture, terrorism, and the persecution of people throughout the world. The struggle for human rights overrides all differences of color or nation or language. Those who hunger for freedom, who thirst for human dignity, and who suffer for the sake of justice, they are the patriots of this cause. 我刚才一直在谈论人类发展的潜在毁灭力量以及我们如何控制它们。同样重要的是，我们要记住我们多年来发展的有益力量以及如何坚持它们。这些建设性力量之一是通过加强民主和反对全世界的贫困、酷刑、恐怖主义和迫害来增强个人人权。争取人权的斗争超越了肤色、国家或语言的所有差异。那些渴望自由、渴望人类尊严、为正义而受苦的人，是这项事业的爱国者。
I believe with all my heart that America must always stand for these basic human rights at home and abroad. That is both our history and our destiny. 我衷心相信，美国必须始终在国内外维护这些基本人权。这既是我们的历史，也是我们的命运。
America did not invent human rights. In a very real sense, it's the other way around. Human rights invented America. Ours was the first nation in the history of the world to be founded explicitly on such an idea. Our social and political progress has been based on one fundamental principle: the value and importance of the individual. The fundamental force that unites us is not kinship or place of origin or religious preference. The love of liberty is the common blood that flows in our American veins. 美国并未发明人权。从某种意义上说，是人权限定了美国。我们是世界历史上第一个明确基于这一理念建立的国家。我们的社会和政治进步基于一个基本原则：个人的价值和重要性。团结我们的根本力量不是血缘关系、出生地或宗教偏好。对自由的热爱是流淌在我们美国人血管里的共同血液。
The battle for human rights, at home and abroad, is far from over. We should never be surprised nor discouraged, because the impact of our efforts has had and will always have varied results. Rather, we should take pride that the ideals which gave birth to our Nation still inspire the hopes of oppressed people around the world. We have no cause for self-righteousness or complacency, but we have every reason to persevere, both within our own country and beyond our borders. 在国内外争取人权的斗争远未结束。我们不应感到惊讶或气馁，因为我们努力的影响已经产生并且将永远产生不同的结果。相反，我们应该感到自豪的是，赋予我们国家生命的理想仍然激励着世界各地受压迫人民的希望。我们没有理由自以为是或沾沾自喜，但我们有充分的理由坚持不懈，无论是在我们自己的国家还是在我们的边界之外。
If we are to serve as a beacon for human rights, we must continue to perfect here at home the rights and the values which we espouse around the world: a decent education for our children, adequate medical care for all Americans, an end to discrimination against minorities and women, a job for all those able to work, and freedom from injustice and religious intolerance. 如果我们要作为人权的灯塔，我们必须继续在国内完善我们在世界上所拥护的权利和价值观：为我们的孩子提供体面的教育，为所有美国人提供足够的医疗保健，结束对少数群体和妇女的歧视，为所有有能力工作的人提供工作，以及摆脱不公正和宗教不容忍。
We live in a time of transition, an uneasy era which is likely to endure for the rest of this century. It will be a period of tensions, both within nations and between nations, of competition for scarce resources, of social, political, and economic stresses and strains. During this period we may be tempted to abandon some of the time-honored principles and commitments which have been proven during the difficult times of past generations. We must never yield to this temptation. Our American values are not luxuries, but necessities—not the salt in our bread, but the bread itself. Our common vision of a free and just society is our greatest source of cohesion at home and strength abroad, greater even than the bounty of our material blessings. 我们生活在一个过渡时期，一个不安的时代，可能会持续到本世纪剩余时间。这将是一个紧张时期，既有国家内部的紧张，也有国家之间的紧张，有对稀缺资源的竞争，有社会、政治和经济的压力和紧张。在这一时期，我们可能会受到诱惑，放弃一些在过去几代人的困难时期被证明有效的古老原则和承诺。我们绝不能屈服于这种诱惑。我们的美国价值观不是奢侈品，而是必需品——不是面包里的盐，而是面包本身。我们对自由公正社会的共同愿景是我们国内凝聚力和国外力量的最大源泉，甚至超过我们物质财富的恩赐。
Remember these words: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." 记住这些话："我们认为这些真理是不言而喻的，人人生而平等，造物主赋予他们某些不可剥夺的权利，其中包括生命权、自由权和追求幸福的权利。"
This vision still grips the imagination of the world. But we know that democracy is always an unfinished creation. Each generation must renew its foundations. Each generation must rediscover the meaning of this hallowed vision in the light of its own modern challenges. For this generation, ours, life is nuclear survival; liberty is human rights; the pursuit of happiness is a planet whose resources are devoted to the physical and spiritual nourishment of its inhabitants. 这一愿景仍然震撼着世界的想象力。但我们知道，民主永远是一项未完成的创造。每一代人都必须更新其基础。每一代人都必须根据自己的现代挑战重新发现这一神圣愿景的含义。对于我们这一代人来说，生命是核生存；自由是人权；追求幸福是一个资源用于滋养其居民身心的星球。
During the next few days I will work hard to make sure that the transition from myself to the next President is a good one, that the American people are served well. And I will continue, as I have the last 14 months, to work hard and to pray for the lives and the well-being of the American hostages held in Iran. I can't predict yet what will happen, but I hope you will join me in my constant prayer for their freedom. 在接下来的几天里，我将努力确保从我到下一任总统的过渡是顺利的，确保美国人民得到良好服务。我将像过去14个月一样，继续努力工作并为被关押在伊朗的美国人质的生命和福祉祈祷。我还无法预测会发生什么，但我希望你们和我一起不断为他们的自由祈祷。
As I return home to the South, where I was born and raised, I look forward to the opportunity to reflect and further to assess, I hope with accuracy, the circumstances of our times. I intend to give our new President my support, and I intend to work as a citizen, as I've worked here in this office as President, for the values this Nation was founded to secure. 当我回到我出生和成长的南方时，我期待有机会反思并进一步评估——希望准确地——我们时代的情况。我打算支持我们的新总统，并打算作为公民工作，就像我在这个办公室作为总统工作一样，为这个国家成立时要保障的价值观而努力。
Again, from the bottom of my heart, I want to express to you the gratitude I feel. Thank you, fellow citizens, and farewell. 再次，从心底里，我想向你们表达我的感激之情。谢谢你们，同胞们，再见。