小布什就职演讲

小布什就职演讲

Authority

权力

humble

使谦

卑

President

George

W.

Bush's Inaugural Address

January 20, 2001

President

Clinton,

distinguished

guests

and

my

fellow

citizens,

the

peaceful

transfer of authority is rare

in history, yet common in our

country.

With

a

simple

oath,

we

affirm

old

traditions

and

make new beginnings.

As I begin, I thank President

Clinton

for

his

service

to

our

nation.

And

I

thank

Vice

President

Gore for a contest conducted

with

spirit

and

ended

with

grace.

I am honored and humbled to

stand here, where so many of

America's leaders have come

before me, and so many

will follow.

We have a place, all of us, in a

long

story--a

story

we

continue,

but

whose

end

we

will not see. It is the

story

of

a

new

world

that

became a friend and liberator

of

the

old,

a

story

of

a

slave-holding society that

became a servant of freedom,

the

story

of

a

power

that

went

into

the

world

to

protect but not possess, to

defend but not to conquer.

It

is

the

American

story--a

story

of

flawed

and

fallible

people,

united

across

the

generations by grand and

enduring ideals.

The

grandest

of

these

ideals

is

an

unfolding

American

promise

belongs,

deserves

a

chance,

that

no

insignificant person was ever

born.

Americans are called to enact

that

that

everyone

everyone

this

promise

in

our

lives

and

in

our

laws.

And

though

our

nation has sometimes

halted,

and

sometimes

delayed,

we

must

follow

no

other course.

Through

much

of

the

last

century,

America's

faith

in

freedom

and

democracy

was

a rock in a raging sea. Now it

is

a

seed

upon

the

wind,

taking root in many nations.

Our democratic faith is

more

than the creed of our country,

it

is

the

inborn

hope

of

our

humanity, an ideal we

carry but do not own, a trust

we bear and pass along. And

even

after

nearly

225

years,

we have a long way yet

to travel.

While

many

of

our

citizens

prosper,

others

doubt

the

promise,

even

the

justice,

of

our

own

country.

The

ambitions

of

some

Americans

are

limited by failing schools and

hidden

prejudice

and

the

circumstances

of

their

birth.

And

sometimes

our

differences

run

so

deep,

it

seems

we

share

a

continent,

but

not

a

country.

We

do

not

accept

this,

and

we will not allow it. Our unity,

our union, is the serious work

of leaders and citizens

in every generation. And this

is

my

solemn

pledge:

I

will

work to build a single nation

of justice and opportunity.

I

know

this

is

in

our

reach

because

we

are

guided

by

a

power

larger

than

ourselves

who

creates

us

equal

in

His

image.

And

we

are

confident

in

principles that unite and lead

us onward.

America

has

never

been

united

by

blood

or

birth

or

soil.

We

are

bound

by

ideals

that

move

us

beyond

our

backgrounds,

lift us above our interests and

teach us what it means to be

citizens.

Every

child

must

be

taught these principles.

Every

citizen

must

uphold

them.

And

every

immigrant,

by

embracing

these

ideals,

makes our country more, not

less, American.

Today,

we

affirm

a

new

commitment

to

live

out

our

nation's

promise

through

civility,

courage,

compassion

and character.

America, at its best, matches

a

commitment

to

principle

with

a

concern

for

civility.

A

civil

society

demands

from

each

of

us

good

will

and

respect,

fair dealing and forgiveness.

Some

seem

to

believe

that

our

politics

can

afford

to

be

petty

because,

in

a

time

of

peace,

the

stakes

of

our

debates

appear small.

But

the

stakes

for

America

are

never

small.

If

our

country

does

not

lead

the

cause

of

freedom,

it

will

not

be led.

If

we

do

not

turn

the

hearts

of

children

toward

knowledge and character, we

will

lose

their

gifts

and

undermine their

idealism.

If

we

permit

our

economy to drift and decline,

the

vulnerable

will

suffer

most.

We must live up to the calling

we

share.

Civility

is

not

a

tactic or a sentiment. It is the

determined choice of

trust

over

cynicism,

of

community

over

chaos.

And

this

commitment,

if

we

keep

it,

is

a

way

to

shared

accomplishment.

America,

at

its

best,

is

also

courageous.

Our

national

courage

has

been

clear

in

times

of

depression

and

war,

when

defending

common

dangers

defined our common

good. Now we must choose if

the

example

of

our

fathers

and mothers will inspire us or

condemn

us.

We

must

show

courage

in

a

time

of

blessing

by

confronting problems instead

of passing them on to future

generations.

Together,

we

will

reclaim

America's

schools,

before

ignorance

and

apathy

claim

more young lives.

We

will

reform

and

Social

Security

Medicare,

sparing

our

children

from

struggles we have the power

to prevent. And

we

will

reduce

taxes,

to

recover

the

momentum

of