I'm talking about an approach to life, a quality of mind and a quality of heart, a willingness to follow your passion regardless of whether they lead to fortune and fame,a willingness to question conventional wisdom and rethink old dogmas. A lack of regard for all the traditional markers of status and prestige, and a commitment instead to doing what's meaningful to you, what helps others, what makes a difference in this world.

我所指的是一种生活方式，一种精神和心理品格，愿意追随自己的激情，不管它是否能带来财富和名望，愿意质疑传统的价值观，重新思考陈旧的教条、蔑视一切代表地位和特权的传统标志，去做有意义的事，去做有利于他人的事，去做能改变世界的事。

That's the spirit that led a band of patriots, not much older than most of you,to take on an empire and to start this experiment in democracy we call America. It's what drove young pioneers west to Arizona and beyond.It's what drove young women to reach for the ballot,what inspired a 30-year-old escaped slave to run an underground railroad to freedom. It's what inspired a young man named Cesar to go out and help farm workers, what inspired a26-year-old preacher to lead a bus boycott for justice. It's what led firefighters and police officers in the prime of their lives up the stairs of those burning towers and young people across this country to drop what they were doing and come to the aid of a flooded New Orleans.

正是由于这种精神，才涌现出了一群爱国者，那时他们并不比你们大多少，却肩负了国家的使命，开始在这个我们称之为美国的国家试行民主。正是由于这种精神，年轻的拓荒者开始向西挺进，走向亚利桑那和更远的地方。正是由于这种精神，年轻的妇女开始争取选举权。这种力量给了一名30岁的奴隶通过地下铁路逃向自由的勇气，促使一位名叫塞萨尔的年轻人挺身帮助农场工人，促使一位26岁的牧师为了正义发起了一场拒乘公交汽车的运动。他使得风华正茂的消防人员和警察冲向熊熊燃烧的双子塔的楼梯;也使得全国的年轻人扔下手中的工作前来支援遭受洪灾的新奥尔良人。