我们学会了做自尊正派的人——努力工作远比挣钱多少重要……帮助别人比自己争先更有意义。我们学会了做诚实守信的人——要讲究真相……不能妄图走捷径或耍小伎俩……以及公平争取来的成功才算数。
我们学会了感激和谦卑——我们的成功依靠许多人的帮助，从启迪我们的老师到保持学校整洁的校工……我们学会珍惜每个人的贡献，并以尊重待人。
这些是贝拉克和我，以及在场的众多人士——都试图传递给子女的价值观。
我们就是这样的人。
我曾以为我不能爱他更多，然而今天，我比四年前更爱我的丈夫了……甚至比23年前我们初见的时候更爱。
我爱他从未忘记自己奋斗的开端。
我爱他值得信任，言行一致，哪怕面临的困难重重——或者说，特别是在困难重重的时刻。
我爱他不在主观上划分敌我——他才不在意你是民主党人，共和党人，或是别的什么党派……他知道我们都爱我们的国家……而他总是乐意聆听好的建议……他总是乐意在遇见的每个人身上发现优点。
我爱他即使在最艰难的时候，当我们都焦虑不安的时候——当我们担心法案不被通过，而看上去已经全局皆输了的时候——贝拉克从不让自己被非议和噪音干扰。
就像他的祖母一样，他只是坚持起床，继续前进……带着耐心和智慧，以及勇气和风度。
他也提醒我，我们在打一场漫长的比赛……改变是艰难的，是缓慢的，它不会一夜来临。
但最终，我们会获得胜利，我们一向如此。
我们的胜利，来源于像我父亲那样的人们……像贝拉克的祖母那样的人们……那些对自己说：“我也许没有机会实现梦想，但也许我的孩子们会有……也许我的孙子孙女们会有……”的男人和女人们。
在场这么多人今天站在这里，是因为牺牲、渴望，以及坚定的爱……因为一次又一次，他们咽下自己的恐惧和疑虑，去战胜困难。
如果我们的父母和祖父母能为我们艰苦奋斗……如果他们能树立起高耸入云的钢筋大厦，能将人类送上月球，还能轻轻一触按键就连接整个世界……那么，我们当然能继续忘我牺牲，为我们的子女和孙辈建设世界。
如果这么多勇敢的男人和女人能穿上祖国的军装，为我们最基本的权利献出生命……那么，我们作为这个伟大民主国家的公民，当然也能承担我们的责任，来实践这些权利……我们当然能够在选举日拿起选票，发出自己的声音。
如果农民和铁匠们能从一个帝国手中赢得独立……如果移民能放弃他们所熟知的一切，登上我们的海岸，来寻求更好的生活……如果女性们会为争取选举的权利锒铛入狱……如果一代人可以战胜经济衰退，赋予伟大一个永垂不朽的定义……如果一位年轻的牧师能用他正义的理想将我们引导至山顶……而且如果骄傲的美国人敢于做真正的自己，与自己的所爱之人一起站到神的面前……那么我们当然能够为此国度中的每一个人都提供一个实现伟大的美国梦的公平机会。
因为归根结底，最重要的是，这就是这个国家的历史故事——为了植根于毫不退缩的斗争中的毫不动摇的梦想。
这也是造就了我的故事，贝拉克的故事，以及其他众多美国人的故事的来源。
今天，我所说的一切，不仅是出于第一夫人的立场，也不仅是出于一个妻子的立场。
最终，你们会发现，我最重要的头衔仍然是“老妈总司令”。
我的女儿们仍是我的心头肉，我世界的中心。
但是今天，我四年前关于我和贝拉克是否在为女儿们做最正确的事情的疑虑已经烟消云散。
因为今天，我的经历告诉我，如果我真的想要为自己的女儿们，以及我们所有人的儿子和女儿们留下一个更好的世界……如果我们想要给予我们所有的孩子们实现梦想的基础和与他们的潜力相称的机遇……如果我们想要让他们感觉到无限的可能性——相信在这里，在美国，只要你愿意为之努力，就一定会比现在更好。
感谢大家，上帝保佑你们，上帝保佑美国。
延伸阅读
米歇尔·奥巴马，1964年1月17日生于美国芝加哥，曾就读普林斯顿大学及哈佛大学法学院，是一名律师。1992年米歇尔与奥巴马结婚，是第一位非洲裔总统夫人。2012年9月4日，米歇尔·奥巴马为丈夫奥巴马的总统竞选助阵，在民主党全国代表大会上发表了这篇演讲，获得如潮好评。2012年11月6日，奥巴马击败对手，成功连任。
inspire vt.鼓舞； 激励； 赋予灵感； 启迪； vi.吸，吸入；
First Lady n. 第一夫人
honor n.尊敬； 敬意； 荣誉； 光荣； vt.尊敬，给以荣誉；
privilege n.特权；权益； 免责特权； 特殊荣幸；
vt.给……特权，特免；
Keep Your Dream
为梦想执着
Keep your dreams. No matter what， keep your dreams. Don，t give up on them， even when you are temporarily defeated or denied. Keep your dreams.
坚持你们的梦想。无论如何，坚持你们的梦想。不要放弃，即便遭遇打击和挫折。坚持你们的梦想。
Today I want to talk to you a little bit about the dreams.
I started way back as a weightlifter. I always liked the idea of lifting weights and being a bodybuilder. From the first moment when I gripped a barbell and held it around the bar and lifted the steel up over my head， I felt this exhilaration， and I knew then that this is something that I，m going to do； that I was in love with that， and this is going to be something that I，m going to do. I，m going to pursue the sport of weightlifting and bodybuilding.
Now， I remember the first real workout that I had. Eight miles away from my home village in Austria there was a gymnasium， and I rode to that gymnasium with a bicycle. And there I trained for half an hour， because they said that after half an hour you should stop because otherwise your body will get really sore. But after half an hour I looked at my body， and nothing had happened. So I said， “I，d better work out for another half hour.” So I lifted some more. My strength didn，t improve， I didn，t see the muscles pop out or anything like that， so I trained for another half an hour. And then after another half hour I trained another half hour， and all together I trained two and a half hours.
My parents， of course， I have to tell you， didn，t understand my dreams at all. They were always wondering， they said， “What is he doing？ When are you going to get a job， a real job？ When are you going to make money？” And all of those questions I got. And they said， “I hope we didn，t raise a bum， someone that doesn，t make money and just wants to live in a gymnasium and think about their bodies.” Well， I endured all of this negative thinking， and the more negative the thinking got， and the more negative the questions got， the stronger and the more positive I became， the stronger I became inside.
So of course some of your families maybe think the same way， and this is why I，m mentioning that. Some of your families maybe don，t believe in your dreams. But let me tell you something， my young friends. Keep your dreams. No matter what， keep your dreams. Don，t give up on them， even when you are temporarily defeated or denied. Keep your dreams.
I remember the first time I went to the United States and I was competing in a competition， the World Championships in Bodybuilding. I lost. I came in second， and I was devastated. I was crushed. I felt like a loser， a major loser， let me tell you. I cried， as a matter of fact， because I felt like I disappointed my friends and I disappointed myself. But the next day I got my act together， I shifted gears， and I said， “I，m going to learn from that lesson. I，m going to stay here in America. I，m not going to go back to Europe. I，m going to stay in America and I，m going to train with the American champions， I，m going to train the American way. I，m going to eat the American food； I，m going to train with the American machines and the principles. And a year later， in America， I became the World Champion in Bodybuilding. So I think this is a very， very important lesson.
And from then on， I continued. My career took off， and everything that I wanted to do I accomplished. First it was to become a champion in bodybuilding. Later on I became a movie star， to do all the great movies， the Conan movies and the Terminator movies and all this. Then I became the governor of the great state of California， of the sixth largest economy in the world. All of this happened because of my dreams， even though other people told me that those dreams were bogus and they were crazy， but I held onto my dreams.
So always it just carried me on， those dreams. So bodybuilding gave me the confidence， movies gave me the money， and public service and being a governor gave me a purpose larger than myself. And that is the brief story of my dreams and a brief story of my early life， and how my dreams made me successful.