罗斯福于1945年在白宫的第四次就职演讲 英文版

Saturday, January 20, 1945

Mr. Chief Justice, Mr. Vice President, my friends,

you will understand and, I believe, agree with my wish that the form of this inauguration be simple and its words brief.

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—our essential democracy. 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.

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.

In the days and in 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. We can and we will achieve such a peace.

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.

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.”

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.

And so today, in this year of war, 1945, we have learned lessons—at a fearful cost—and we shall profit by them.

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, not as ostriches, nor as dogs in the manger.

We have learned to be citizens of the world, members of the human community.

We have learned the simple truth, as Emerson said, that “The only way to have a friend is to be one.”

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, the confidence, and the courage which flow from conviction.

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.

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—to the achievement of His will to peace on earth.

罗斯福于1945年在白宫的第四次就职演讲 中文版

1945年1月20日，星期六

首席大法官先生、副总统先生、朋友们：

你们会理解，而且我相信也会赞同我的愿望，把这次就职典礼办成一个简简单单的仪式，而我则只发表一个简短的演说。

我们今天的美国人和我们的盟友一道，正经历一个最为严峻的考验时期。这是一次对我们的勇气、决心和智慧的考验，也是一次对我们根本性的民主制的考验。我们若能成功而光荣地经受住这次考验，那我们就可以创造具有重要历史意义的业绩，受到人民世世代代的纪念。

今天，我伫立于此，在我国同胞的面前，在我们上帝的面前，进行了庄严的就职宣誓。当此之际，我深知美国的目标要求我们决不能失败。

在未来的岁月里，我们要致力于建设一种公正而光荣的和平，建设一种持久的和平，就像我们今天正在为战争的彻底胜利而工作和战斗一样。我们能够而且必将获得这样一种和平。

我们要为完美的局面而奋斗。我们不会马上达到目标，但我们仍要为之奋斗。我们也许会犯下错误，但我们决不能因为丧失意志和抛弃道义原则而犯错误。

我记得，在我们似乎感到安稳无忧的日子里，我们的老校长皮博迪博士(注：皮博迪“Peabody”，罗斯福在马萨诸塞州格罗顿中学时的校长，对罗斯福影响很深，他曾于三十年后说“校长夫妇对我的影响仅次于我母亲”。)说过：“生活中的事情并不总是一帆风顺的。有时我们眼看就要登上顶峰，可是情况似乎很快急转直下，又开始走下坡路了。但我们要牢记一个重要事实：文明本身的趋向永远是向上的，如果从数个世纪的高峰和低谷之间划出的中线来看，这条线一直都是呈上升趋势的。”

我们1787年的宪法并不是一份完美无缺的文献，而且它至今仍未尽善尽美。但它却提供了一个坚实的基础，供不同种族、不同肤色、不同信仰的各式各样的人们来建立一个牢固的民主大厦。

因此，在今天，在1945年这个战争的年头，我们用可怕的代价换取了若干教训，我们会从中获益不浅。

我们懂得，单凭我们自己是无法生活在和平之中的，我们自己的富足有赖于相距遥远的其他国家的富足。

我们懂得，我们必须像人一样生活，而不是作为鸵鸟，或是马槽里的狗。(注：马槽里的狗“dog sin the manger”，指自己不吃马草料却躺在马槽里不让马吃的狗，典出《伊索寓言》。后指独占财富而不与他人分享的人。)

我们懂得了要做世界的公民，要成为整个人类社会的成员。

我们懂得了一个简单的真理，也就是爱默生(注：生卒1803—1882年，美国哲人，著有《论自助》、《人生法则》等。)所说的：“只有当朋友，才能交朋友。”

我们在谋求和平时，如果疑虑重重、互不信任和心怀畏惧，也就不能获得持久的和平。只有满怀来自于信念的理解、信任和勇气而走向和平，我们才能获得持久的和平。

全能的上帝一直以各种方式赐福于我们的国家。他赋予我们的人民坚强的意志和有力的双手，用以为自由和真理而打退各种强大的进攻。他赋予我们的国家一种信仰，在一个苦难深重的世界里，这种信仰已成为各国人民的希望。

因此，我们现在向上帝祈祷，祈求它赐给我们远见，让我们看清我们的道路——一条使我们自己和全人类通向更加美好的生活的道路——一条通往实现上帝意愿和世界和平的道路。