美國人民慷慨、強大、體面，這并非因為我們信任我們自己，而是因為我們擁有超越我們自己的信念。一旦這種公民精神喪失了，無論何種政府計劃都無法彌補它。一旦這種精神出現(xiàn)了，無論任何錯誤都無法抗衡它。

　　在《獨立宣言》簽署之后，弗吉尼亞州的政治家約翰?佩齊曾給托馬斯?杰弗遜寫信說："我們知道，身手敏捷不一定就能贏得比賽，力量強大不一定就能贏得戰(zhàn)爭。難道這一切不都是上帝安排的嗎?"

　　杰斐遜就任總統(tǒng)的那個年代離我們已經(jīng)很遠了。時光飛逝，美國發(fā)生了翻天覆地的變化。但是有一點他肯定能夠預知，即我們這個時代的主題仍然是：我們國家無畏向前的恢宏故事和它追求尊嚴的純樸夢想。

　　我們不是這個故事的作者，是杰斐遜作者本人的偉大理想穿越時空，并通過我們每天的努力在變?yōu)楝F(xiàn)實。我們正在通過大家的努力在履行著各自的職責。

　　帶著永不疲憊、永不氣餒、永不完竭的信念，今天我們重樹這樣的目標：使我們的國家變得更加公正、更加慷慨，去驗證我們每個人和所有人生命的尊嚴。

　　這項工作必須繼續(xù)下去。這個故事必須延續(xù)下去。上帝會駕馭我們航行的。

　　愿上帝保佑大家!愿上帝保佑美國!

　　美國總統(tǒng)布什就職演講稿英文版

　　Inaugural Address of George W. Bush

　　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 that everyone belongs, that everyone deserves a chance, that no insignificant person was ever born. Americans are called upon 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.

　　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.