总统就职演说精萃 :美国第一任总统乔治•华盛顿第一次就职演说

　　I dwell on this prospect with every satisfaction which an ardent love for my country can inspire, since there is no truth more thoroughly established than that there exists in the economy and course of nature an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness; between duty and advantage; between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity; since we ought to be no a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained; and since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered, perhaps, as deeply, as finally, staked on the experiment entrusted on the hands of the American people.

　　译文

　　在人生沉浮中，没有一件事能比送达的通知更使我焦虑不安。本月14日收到根据你们的命令。一方面，国家召唤我出任此职，对于她的召唤，我永远只能肃然敬从；而隐退是我以挚爱心情、满腔希望和坚定的决心选择的暮年归宿，由于爱好和习惯，时感体力不济，愈觉隐退之必要和可贵。且时光流逝，健康渐衰。

　　另一方面，国家召唤我担负的责任如此重大和艰巨，足以使国内最有才智和经验的人度德量力；而我天资愚钝，又无民政管理的实践，理应倍觉自己能力之不足，因而必然感到难以肩此重任。怀着这种矛盾心情，我唯一敢断言的是，通过正确估计可能产生影响的各种情况来克尽吾职，乃是我忠贞不渝的努力目标。我唯一敢祈望的是，如果我在执行这项任务时因陶醉于往事。或因由衷感激公民们对我的高度信赖，因而受到过多影响，以致在处理从未经历过的大事时，忽视了自己的无能和消极。我的错误将会由于使我误人歧途的各种动机而减轻，而大家在评判错误的后果时，也会适当包涵产生这些动机的偏见。

_小精灵 儿童网