奧巴馬在父親節上的演講節選

奧巴馬在父親節上的演講節選

 
每年6月的第三個星期是父親節，作為子女，應該反省過去的一年是否做到孝敬、關心父母；而作為父親，也要審視自己是否盡了做父親的職責。下面是美國現任總統奧巴馬在2008年父親節的精彩演講節選，他強調了家庭的重要價值以及父親家庭中所扮演的重要角色。不僅是父親，家庭中的每一位成員都會感同身受并把自己的角色做得更好。
 
        Of all the rocks upon witch we build our lives, we are reminded today that family is the most imortant. And we are called to recognize and honor how critical every father is to that foundation. They are teachers and coaches. They are mentors role models. They are examples of success and the men who constantly push us towared it. 

    今天我們要記起來的是，在我們締造生活所依賴的基石中，家庭是最重要的。我們必須認識并且認識和贊頌每一位父親在這個基石中所起的關鍵作用。父親既是老師又是教練；既是導師又是模范。既是成功的榜樣，又是不斷推動我們走向成功的人。

         I say this knowing that I have been an imperfect father—knowing that I have made mistakes and will contiue to make more;  wishing that I could be home for my girls and my wife more than I am right now . I say this knowing all of these things because even as we are imperfect ,even as we face diffcult circumstance ,there are still certain lessons we must strive to live and learn as fathers —whether we are black or white , poor or rich.
    我講這些話時，心里明白我并非一個盡善盡美的父親——我知道我犯過錯誤，并且還可能會犯更多錯誤；我希望我能比現在有更多的時間在家里陪伴我的女兒和太太。我心里明白這一切，應為縱然我們缺點多多，縱然我們面對重重困難，但有某些教訓是我們身為人父者應該盡可能去體會與學習的——不管我們是黑人還是白人，富人還是窮人。

        The first is setting an example of excellence for our children —because if we want to set high expectations for them , we've got to set hight expectations for ourselfs. It's great if you have a job; It's even better if you have a college degree; It's a wonderful thing if you are married and living in a home with your children ,but don't just sit in the house and watch "sports center" all weekend long ; That's why so many children are growing up in front of television. As fathers and parents , we've got to spend more time with them, and help them with their homework , and replace video game or remote control with a book in a while. That's how we build that foundation.

    第一個教訓是，給我們的子女樹立一個卓越的榜樣——因為如果我們對他們寄予厚望，那么我們自己也應該抱有同樣高的期望。你有一份工作是件好事，有個大學文憑會更好。結了婚而又能跟孩子住在一起是再好不過了，但不要只是整個周末泡在家里看看“體育直播間”節目。許多孩子就是因為有這樣的父親而只能傍著電視機長大。作為父親，作為家長，我們應該在他們身上花更多的時間，幫助他們完成作業，時不時地讓他們拋開手中的游戲機或電視遙控器而捧上一本書。這就是我們要為建立那個基礎所應該做的事情。

       The second thing we need to do as fathers is pass along the value of empathy to our children. Not sympathy , but empathy — the ability to stand in somebody else's shoes; To look at the world through their eyes. Sometimes it's so easy to get caught up in "us", that we forget about our obligations to one another.

第二個教訓是，身為人父，我們應該傳遞給我們的子女一種同理心的人生價值觀。不是同情憐憫，而是同理心——能設身處地的為別人著想，將心比心；能透過別人的眼睛觀察這個世界。有時候我們是如此輕易的執著于“我們”，而忘了我們彼此之間所應負擔的責任。

        And the final lesson we must learn as father is also the greatest gift we can pass on to our children ---- and  that is the gift of hope.

    我們身為人父應總結的最后一個教訓，也是我們可以傳給子女的最為貴重的禮物，就是希望

        I am not talking about an idle hope that's little more than blind optimism or willful ignorance of the problems we face . I'm talking about hope as the spirit inside us  that insists, despite all evidence to the contray, that something better is waiting for us if we're willing to work for it and fight for it . If we are willing to believe.

    我將的希望不是空談的希望，不是那種盲目的樂觀主義或對我們面對的問題不加考慮。我講的希望是那種寄托于我們內心的精神；堅信在逆境中只要愿意為之努力奮斗，情況就會變得好起來。只要我們懷有這種信念。