在写演讲稿时，需要做到论据、论点明确，不能随意编写演讲稿。一份好的演讲稿，需要做到情感充分表达，真实符合常理。那么，你知道怎样写出优质的演讲稿吗？今天小编为大家精心挑选了关于《奥巴马就职演讲稿英文》的相关内容，希望能给你带来帮助!
第一篇：奥巴马就职演讲稿英文
奥巴马就职演讲的英文稿
Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address
My fellow citizens: I stand here today humbled(谦虚的) by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed(授予), mindful of the sacrifices(牺牲) borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation(合作) he has shown throughout this transition(过渡). Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath(誓言). The words have been spoken during rising tides(潮汐) of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, (every so often )偶尔the oath is taken amidst(在 gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision(视力，想象) of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents. So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans. That we are in the midst (当中)of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching(深远的，广泛的) network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence(结论，重要性) of greed and irresponsibility(无责任感的) on the part of some, but also our collective(集团，集体的) failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed(小屋，流出); businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries (对手)and threaten(威胁) our planet. These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our landthey will be met. On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics. We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness. In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-heartedsome celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom. For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life. For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth. For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sanh. Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction. This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisionsnot only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do. Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitionsthat the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it worksto spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of dayand that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing hearteven greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.
第二篇：奥巴马-奥巴马就职演讲稿(中英文对照)4
两分钟做个小测试，看看你的英语水平
http://m.meten.com/test/quwen.aspx?tid=16-73675-0
美联英语提供：奥巴马就职演讲稿(中英文对照)4 It is now our generation’s task to carry on what those pioneers began. For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers, and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts. Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law – for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well. Our journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote. Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity; until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country. Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for, and cherished, and always safe from harm. 继续先辈开创的事业是我们这代人的任务。直到我们的妻子、母亲和女儿的付出能够与她们的努力相称，我们的征途才会结束。我们的征途不会终结，我们要让同性恋的兄弟姐妹在法律之下得到与其他人同样的待遇。如果我们真正是生而平等的，那么我们对彼此的爱也应该是平等的。我们的征途没有结束，直到没有公民需要等待数个小时去行使投票权。我们的征途不会结束，直到我们找到更好的方法迎接努力、有憧憬的移民，他们依旧视美国是一块充满机会的土地。直到聪颖年轻的学生 和工程师为我们所用，而不是被逐出美国。我们的征
途不会结束，直到我们所有的儿童，从底特律的街道到阿巴拉契亚的山岭，再到康涅狄格州纽镇安静的小巷，直到他们得到关心和珍视，永远避免受到伤害。
That is our generation’s task – to make these words, these rights, these values – of Life, and Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness – real for every American. Being true to our founding documents does not require us to agree on every contour of life; it does not mean we will all define liberty in exactly the same way, or follow the same precise path to happiness. Progress does not compel us to settle centuries-long debates about the role of government for all time – but it does require us to act in our time. 那是我们这一代的任务——让生存、自由和追求幸福的言语、权力和价值切实体现在每个美国人的身上。我们的立国根本没有要求我们将每个人的生活一致化。这并不意味着，我们会以完全一样的方式去定义自由，沿着同样的道路通向幸福。进步不会终止几个世纪以来一直纠结的关于政府角色的争论，但这要求我们现在就采取行动。
For now decisions are upon us, and we cannot afford delay. We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate. We must act, knowing that our work will be imperfect. We must act, knowing that today’s victories will be only partial, and that it will be up to those who stand here in four years, and forty years, and four hundred years hence to advance the timeless spirit once conferred to us in a spare Philadelphia hall. 目前是由我们决策，我们不能拖延。我们不能将绝对主义当作原则，或者以表象代替政治，或将中伤视作理性的辩论。我们必须行动，要意识到我们的工作并不完美。我们必须行动，意识到今天的胜利是并不完全的。这些将有赖于未来4年、40年或是400年致力于这项事
业的人，去推进当年在费城制宪会议大厅传承给我们的永恒精神。
My fellow Americans, the oath I have sworn before you today, like the one recited by others who serve in this Capitol, was an oath to God and country, not party or faction – and we must faithfully execute that pledge during the duration of our service. But the words I spoke today are not so different from the oath that is taken each time a soldier signs up for duty, or an immigrant realizes her dream. My oath is not so different from the pledge we all make to the flag that waves above and that fills our hearts with pride. 我的美国同胞，我今天在你们面前宣读的誓词，如同在国会山服务的其他人曾宣读过的誓词一样，是对上帝和国家的誓词，不是对党派或是派别的，我们必须在任期 内忠实地履行这些承诺。但我今天宣读的誓词与士兵报名参军或者是移民实现梦想时所宣读的誓词没有多少差别。我的誓词与我们所有的人向我们头顶飘扬的、让我们心怀自豪的国旗所表达的誓言没有多大差别。
They are the words of citizens, and they represent our greatest hope. 这些是公民的誓词，代表着我们最伟大的希望。
You and I, as citizens, have the power to set this country’s course. 你和我，作为公民，都有为这个国家设定道路的权力。
You and I, as citizens, have the obligation to shape the debates of our time – not only with the votes we cast, but with the voices we lift in defense of our most ancient values and enduring ideals. 你和我，作为公民，有义务塑造我们时代的辩题，不仅是通过我们的选票，而且要为捍卫悠久的价值观和持久的理想发声。
Let each of us now embrace, with solemn duty and awesome joy, what is our lasting birthright. With common effort and common purpose, with passion and dedication, let us answer the call of history, and carry into an uncertain future that precious light of freedom. 现在让我们相互拥抱，怀着庄严的职责和无比的快乐，这是我们永恒的与生俱来的权利。有共同的努力和共同的目标，用热情与奉献，让我们回应历史的召唤，将珍贵的自由之光带入并不确定的未来。
Thank you, God Bless you, and may He forever bless these United States of America. 感谢你们，上帝保佑你们，愿上帝永远保佑美利坚合众国。 两分钟做个小测试，看看你的英语水平http://m.meten.com/test/quwen.aspx?tid=16-73675-0
第三篇：【美联英语】奥巴马-奥巴马就职演讲稿(中英文对照)2
两分钟做个小测试，看看你的英语水平
http://m.meten.com/test/quwen.aspx?tid=16-73675-0
美联英语提供：奥巴马就职演讲稿(中英文对照)2 Together, we determined that a modern economy requires railroads and highways to speed travel and commerce; schools and colleges to train our workers。 我们共同努力，建立起现代的经济体系。架设铁路与高速公路，加速了旅行和商业交流。建立学校与大学，培训我们的工人。
Together, we discovered that a free market only thrives when there are rules to ensure competition and fair play. 我们一起发现，自由市场的繁荣只能建立在保障竞争与公平竞争的原则之上。
Together, we resolved that a great nation must care for the vulnerable, and protect its people from life’s worst hazards and misfortune. 我们共同决定让这个伟大的国家远离危险，保护她的人民不受生命威胁和不幸的侵扰。 Through it all, we have never relinquished our skepticism of central authority, nor have we succumbed to the fiction that all society’s ills can be cured through government alone. Our celebration of initiative and enterprise; our insistence on hard work and personal responsibility, these are constants in our character. 一路走来，我们从未放弃对集权的质疑。我们同样不屈服于这一谎言：一切的社会弊端都能够只靠政府来解决。我们对积极向上与奋发进取的赞扬，我们对努力工作与个人责任的坚持，这些都是美国精神的基本要义。
But we have always understood that when times change, so must we; that fidelity
to our founding principles requires new responses to new challenges; that preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action. For the American people can no more meet the demands of today’s world by acting alone than American soldiers could have met the forces of fascism or communism with muskets and militias. No single person can train all the math and science teachers we’ll need to equip our children for the future, or build the roads and networks and research labs that will bring new jobs and businesses to our shores. Now, more than ever, we must do these things together, as one nation, and one people. 我们也理解，时代在变化，我们同样需要变革。对建国精神的忠诚，需要我们肩负起新的责任，迎接新的挑战。保护我们的个人自由，最终需要所有人的共同努力。 因为美国人不能再独力迎接当今世界的挑战，正如美国士兵们不能再像先辈一样，用步枪和民兵同敌人(法西斯主义与共产主义)作战。一个人无法培训所有的数学 与科学老师，我们需要他们为了未来去教育孩子们。一个人无法建设道路、铺设网络、建立实验室来为国内带来新的工作岗位和商业机会。现在，与以往任何时候相比，我们都更需要团结合作。作为一个国家，一个民族团结起来。
This generation of Americans has been tested by crises that steeled our resolve and proved our resilience. A decade of war is now ending. An economic recovery has begun. America’s possibilities are limitless, for we possess all the qualities that this world without boundaries demands: youth and drive; diversity and openness; an endless capacity for risk and a gift for reinvention. My fellow Americans, we are made for this moment, and we will seize it – so long as we seize it together. 这一代美国人经历了危机的考验，经济危机坚定了我们的决心，证明了我们的恢复力。长达
十年的战争正在结束，经济的复苏已经开始。美国的可能性是无限的，因为我们拥有当今没有边界的世界所需要的所有品质：年轻与活力、多样性与开放、无穷的冒险精神以及创造的天赋才能。我亲爱的同胞们，我们正是为此刻而生，我们更要在此刻团结一致，抓住当下的机会。
For we, the people, understand that our country cannot succeed when a shrinking few do very well and a growing many barely make it. We believe that America’s prosperity must rest upon the broad shoulders of a rising middle class. We know that America thrives when every person can find independence and pride in their work; when the wages of honest labor liberate families from the brink of hardship. We are true to our creed when a little girl born into the bleakest poverty knows that she has the same chance to succeed as anybody else, because she is an American, she is free, and she is equal, not just in the eyes of God but also in our own. 因为我们，美国人民，清楚如果只有不断萎缩的少数人群体获得成功，而大多数人不能成功，我们的国家就无法成功。我们相信，美国的繁荣必须建立在不断上升的中产阶级的宽阔臂膀之上，我们知道美国的繁荣只有这样才能实现。只有当每个人都能找到工作中的自立与自豪时才能实现。只有当诚实劳动获得的薪水足够让家庭 摆脱困苦的悬崖时才能实现。我们忠诚于我们的事业，保证让一个出生于最贫穷环境中的小女孩都能知道，她有同其他所有人一样的成功机会。因为她是一个美国人，她是自由的、平等的。她的自由平等不仅由上帝来见证，更由我们亲手保护。
We understand that outworn programs are inadequate to the needs of our time. We must harness new ideas and technology to remake our government, revamp our tax code, reform our schools, and empower our citizens with the skills they
need to work harder, learn more, and reach higher. But while the means will change, our purpose endures: a nation that rewards the effort and determination of every single American. That is what this moment requires. That is what will give real meaning to our creed. 我们知道，我们已然陈旧的程序不足以满足时代的需要。我们必须应用新理念和新技术重塑我们的政府，改进我们的税法，改革我们的学校，让我们的公民拥有他们所需要的技能，更加努力地工作，学更多的知识，向更高处发展。这意味着变革，我们的目标是：国家可以奖励每个美国人的努力和果断。这是现在需要的。这将给我们的信条赋予真正的意义。 We, the people, still believe that every citizen deserves a basic measure of security and dignity. We must make the hard choices to reduce the cost of health care and the size of our deficit. But we reject the belief that America must choose between caring for the generation that built this country and investing in the generation that will build its future. For we remember the lessons of our past, when twilight years were spent in poverty, and parents of a child with a disability had nowhere to turn. We do not believe that in this country, freedom is reserved for the lucky, or happiness for the few. We recognize that no matter how responsibly we live our lives, any one of us, at any time, may face a job loss, or a sudden illness, or a home swept away in a terrible storm. The commitments we make to each other – through Medicare, and Medicaid, and Social Security – these things do not sap our initiative; they strengthen us. They do not make us a nation of takers; they free us to take the risks that make this country great. 我们，人民，仍然认为，每个公民都应当获得基本的安全和尊严。我们必须做出艰难抉择，
降低医疗成本，缩减赤字规模。但我们拒绝在照顾建设国家的这一代和投 资即将建设国家的下一代间做出选择。因为我们记得过去的教训：老年人的夕阳时光在贫困中度过，家有残障儿童的父母无处求助。我们相信，在这个国家，自由不只是那些幸运儿的专属，或者说幸福只属于少数人。我们知道，不管我们怎样负责任地生活，我们任何人在任何时候都可能面临失业、突发疾病或住房被可怕的飓风摧毁的风险。 我们通过医疗保险、联邦医疗补助计划、社会保障项目向每个人做出承诺，这些不会让我们的创造力衰竭，而是会让我们更强大。这些不会让我们成为充满不劳而获者的国度，这些让我们敢于承担风险，让国家伟大。 两分钟做个小测试，看看你的英语水平http://m.meten.com/test/quwen.aspx?tid=16-73675-0
第四篇：奥巴马就职演说英文版
My fellow citizens: I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition. Forty-four Americans have now taken the presiden
The old lady did not know the girl, and she saw an old lady was neither to business customers, not to key personnel in government inspections. Given every consideration and care for visitors, perhaps only the needs of career, but I prefer to believe that she is a person for any kind of love.
Love has nothing to do with the authority, the authority of high, but love is not divided into high and low social status, love is a kind of equal pay when the attitudes and behavior; love has nothing to do with mercy, compassion, with that in the end still look down the mean, and the love from十二分sincere, there is no hypocrisy and affectation. And love, and sometimes unexpected forces will play. ( "Yangcheng Evening News")
爱心的力量
日本一家事务所想购买一块地皮，但被地皮的主人—一位性格倔强的孀居老太太一口拒绝。一个天寒地冻的下午，老太太恰好经过这家事务所的门前，她想顺便劝总经理“死了这条心”。她推开门，发现里面收拾得十分整齐干净。她觉得自己穿着脏木屐走进去很不合适，正犹豫不决时，一位年轻的姑娘笑容满面地迎上来。姑娘毫不犹豫地脱下自己的拖鞋给老太太穿，然后像亲孙女一样搀扶着老太太慢慢上楼。穿着带有姑娘体温的拖鞋，老太太在瞬间改变了坚决不卖地皮的初衷。
姑娘并不认识老太太，而且她一眼就看出老太太既不是来洽谈业务的客户，更不是来视察的政府大员。给予每一位来访者体贴和关怀，也许仅仅是职业的需要，但我宁愿相信她是出于善待任何一个人的爱心。
爱心与权威无关，权威高高在上，而爱心没有高低贵贱之分，爱心付出时是一种平等的态度和行为;爱心也与怜悯无关，怜悯到底仍带着一点俯视的意味，而爱心来自十二分的真诚，没有丝毫虚伪和做作。而爱心，有时会起到意想不到的力量。
Mind-Release Dutch
Mr. Zhang Daqian famous painter is a big beard, bushy beard down nearly abdominal Shop. It is said that one curiosity, asked: Mr. Zhang, sleep, your beard is on the quilt top or put in the inside? "
Mr. Daqian robust: "This ... ... I am not sure. Yes ah, how I do not care about this? Well, to tell you tomorrow."
At bedtime, Mr. Chang will be put down in blankets outside a beard, does not seem the right track; incorporated into the quilt inside, and unnatural sleep. Toss the not appropriate. This also worry about his own, and this is not any problem before you now how the matter has become pieces of a headache? Mr. Daqian usually turn a blind eye to the trouble stems from the little things caught his attention. Life, the heart is usually tired in their own artificially created by ideological pressure. We are too concerned about everything, and do not intend to be too concerned about the neighborhood full of commentary, too concerned about the small friction between colleagues, superiors are too concerned about the occasional verbal abuse, too spiteful act which brings about a temporary lover. There will always be separate interests in life, opened his eyes vivid, empty eyes closed, remember, if everything could not make weight before the trip!
Perspective trivial, forgotten Unfortunately, contempt setbacks, this was it not a kind of spiritual release Dutch, then the sublimation of life.
心灵释荷
著名画家张大千先生是个大胡子，浓密的胡须铺垂近腹。据说有一人见此，顿生好奇，问：张先生，睡觉时，您的胡子是放在被子上面还是搁在里头的?”
大千先生一愣：“这„„我也不清楚。是啊，我怎么没在意这个呢?这样吧，明天再告诉你。”
晚上就寝，大千先生将胡子撂在被子外头，好像不太对头;收进被子里面，又觉不自然。折腾了半宿，都不妥当。这一下他自己也犯愁了，以前这可不是什么问题呀，现在怎么成了件头痛的事呢?
大千先生的烦恼源于平常熟视无睹的小事引起了他的关注。生活中，心累通常是人为地在自己的思想上加压造成的。我们凡事太在意了，太在意邻里无意的评足，太在意同事间的小磨擦，太在意上司偶尔的责骂，太在意爱人一时的赌气。人生总会有烦心事，睁开两眼历历在目，闭上双眸空无一物，倘若凡事都记取，怎能不让人负重前行!
透视琐事、忘却不幸、藐视挫折，这何尝不是一种心灵的释荷、人生的升华呢。
My experience in childhood! Childhood,I will never deny that many people consider it as the happie st period of timeof thier lifetime.Those happy-go-lucky little guys never ha ve any presure from work or family.They don’t know the meaning of "pro blem".The world in their innocent eyes is full of color,dreams and ilus ion.Without a doubt,most of us must have had interesting and unforgetful adv entures.However,we also have to be conscious that not everybody has a good m emory about his/her childhood.Every single person’s life is different. There are uncountable things to talk about the childhood.For instance, our mischievious acts,our first times and so on.Well,what can I talk about m y childhood?I must confess that I don’t remember very clear about the thing s that happened when I was still a child,maybe my brain doesn’t work very h ard.Going to the topic,I think I can use two words to decribe my childhood-- simple and common.According to my memory,there were not many interesting and special events during that period of time,but it doesn’t mean that I don’ t have anything to share with you.There are two things that I remember the m ost even if I didn’t experience so many excitng adventures as others did. The first one is when I was in the second grade of primary school,I wa s a very rebeld girl.After class,I used to go out to have fun instead of doi ng homework.Whenever the teacher asked why I didn’t hand my hoemwork on,my reason was this"I have forgotten to do it!"Cause of my bad discipl ine,my mother was called to the teachers’ office.What a shame!I was so scared!T he teachers and my mother talked to me for a long time.They made me understa nd that I had to be responsible of my acts,that doing homework was not just a duty,at the same time it could help me to review what I’ve studied.Since that,I have never rejected to do my homework anymore.I’ve always wanted my parents to be poud of me.I have benn taught by this experience. TO BE CONTINUED......
第五篇：奥巴马就职演说全文(英文版)
2009年01月20日
奥巴马手按林肯当年用《圣经》宣誓就任美总统
Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address My fellow citizens: I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition. Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents. So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans. That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet. These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our landthey will be met. On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics. We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness. In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-heartedsome celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom. For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life. For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth. For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sanh. Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction. This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisionsnot only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do. Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitionsthat the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it worksto spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of dayand that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing hearteven greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you. For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindusknow that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist. To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world’s resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it. As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this momentit is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all. For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter’s courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent’s willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate. Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success dependsthese things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibilitythe knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny. This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath. So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America’s birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people: "Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]." America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.