这些理想中最伟大的是正在慢慢实现的美国的承诺，这就是：每个人都有自身的价值，每个人都有成功的机会，每个人天生都会有所作为的。

　　Americans are called to enact 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.

　　美国人民肩负着一种使命，那就是要竭力将这个诺言变成生活中和法律上的现实。虽然我们的国家有时也曾停滞不前，但我们必须矢志不移地完成这一使命。

　　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.

　　在上个世纪的大部分时间里，美国崇尚自由和民主的信念犹如汹涌大海中的岩石。现在这种信念更像风中的种子，把自由洒遍世界的许多国家。

　　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.

　　在美国，我们对民主的崇尚不仅仅是一种信念，而是全人类与生俱来的希望，不是我们独占，而是我们传承的一种理想，是我们承担并传播的信念。即使历史已走过225年，我们仍有很长的路要走。

　　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.

　　秉着这种信念，我们国家有很多公民取得了成功，但也有人开始怀疑，怀疑我们自己的国家所许下的诺言，甚至怀疑它的公正。失败的学校教育，潜在的偏见和出身的环境限制了一些美国人的雄心。有时，我们的分歧是如此之深，似乎我们身处同一个大陆，但不属于同一个国家。