奥巴马每周电视讲话：美国总统奥巴马告别演讲(17)（在线收听）

Our Constitution is a remarkable, beautiful gift.

宪法是我们无可比拟的、天赋的优势。

But it's really just a piece of parchment. It has no power on its own.

但这只是我们优势的一部分，因为宪法本身是无力的。

We, the people, give it power.

是我们、是民众给予了它力量。

We, the people, give it meaning.

是我们赋予了它意义。

With our participation, and with the choices that we make, and the alliances that we forge.

是我们通过参与、我们所做的选择和我们结成的联盟做到这一点的。

Whether or not we stand up for our freedoms. Whether or not we respect and enforce the rule of law.

我们是否坚守自由、是否尊重并贯彻法治决定了宪法的力量。

That's up to us.

这些都取决于我们。

America is no fragile thing. But the gains of our long journey to freedom are not assured.

美国并不是一个脆弱的国家，但是我们通向自由的旅程并不是安稳无忧的。

In his own farewell address, George Washington wrote that self-government is the underpinning of our safety, prosperity, and liberty,

乔治华盛顿在他的告别演讲中提到自治是我们安全、繁荣和自由的支柱。

but "from different causes and from different quarters much pains will be taken...to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth."

但是由于各种各样的原因，取得自治的道路将是艰难的，会有很多阻碍威胁我们对真理的信念。

And so we have to preserve this truth with "jealous anxiety;"

因此我们应该以嫉妒般的敏感保卫我们的信念，

that we should reject "the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest or to enfeeble the sacred ties" that make us one.

任何分离我们国家、割裂将我们维系的神圣纽带的企图都应该被扼杀在襁褓之中。

America, we weaken those ties when we allow our political dialogue to become so corrosive

如果我们允许政治对话变得激烈，

that people of good character aren't even willing to enter into public service;

以致具备高贵品质的人放弃参与服务民众的工作；

so coarse with rancor that Americans with whom we disagree are seen not just as misguided but as malevolent.

如果我们允许政治对话变得粗暴而充满敌意，以致我们的对手被误导而变得不怀好意，那么我们之间的连结就会被削弱。