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Inaugural Address
约翰·F·肯尼迪第四次就职演说
(January 20, 1961)
(1961年1月20日)
John F. Kennedy
约翰·F·肯尼迪
We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom, symbolizing an end as well as a beginning, signifying renewal as well as change. For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forebears prescribed nearly a century and three-quarters ago.
我们今天举行的不是一个政党的祝捷大会，而是一次自由的庆典。这是一个承先启后、继往开来的大事件。因为刚才我已依照我们的先辈在将近一又四分之三个世纪以前拟好的誓言在诸位和全能的上帝面前庄严宣誓。
The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary belief for which our forebears fought is still at issue around the globe, the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God.
当今的世界已与往昔大不相同了。人类手中已掌握的力量，既足以消除一切形式的人类贫困，也足以结束一切形式的人类生活。然而，我们的先辈曾为之奋斗的革命信念至今仍未能为举世所公认。这信念就是认定人权出自上帝所赐而非得自政府的恩典。
We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans, born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of these human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.
我们今天仍未敢忘记我们是第一次革命战争的接班人。此时此地我谨向我们的朋友，同时也向我们的敌人宣告：火炬已传到我们新一代美国人手中。这一代人在本世纪成长起来，经受过战火的锻炼，经历过冷峻的和平的考验，以珍视古老的传统而自豪，又决不愿坐视或容许人权逐渐遭到践踏。美国对这些人权一向负有责任，今天我们也正在本国及全世界范围内为之奋斗。
