Tonight, more than 200 years after a former colony won the right to determine its own destiny, the task of perfecting our union moves forward.
It moves forward because of you. It moves forward because you reaffirmed the spirit that has triumphed over war and depression, the spirit that has lifted this country from the depths of despair to the great heights of hope, the belief that while each of us will pursue our own individual dreams, we are an American family and we rise or fall together as one nation and as one people.
Tonight, in this election, you, the American people, reminded us that while our road has been hard, while our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up, we have fought our way back, and we know in our hearts that for the United States of America the best is yet to come.
I want to thank every American who participated in this election ... whether you voted for the very first time or waited in line for a very long time, whether you pounded the pavement or picked up the phone, whether you held an Obama sign or a Romney sign, you made your voice heard and you made a difference.
I just spoke with Governor Romney and I congratulated him and Paul Ryan on a hard-fought campaign.
We may have battled fiercely, but it's only because we love this country deeply and we care so strongly about its future.
In the weeks ahead, I also look forward to sitting down with Governor Romney to talk about where we can work together to move this country forward.
I know that political campaigns can sometimes seem small, even silly. And that provides plenty of fodder for the cynics that tell us that politics is nothing more than a contest of egos or the domain of special interests. But if you ever get the chance to talk to folks who turned out at our rallies and crowded along a rope line in a high school gym, or saw folks working late in a campaign office in some tiny county far away from home, you'll discover something else.
That's why elections matter. It's not small, it's big. It's important. Democracy in a nation of 300 million can be noisy and messy and complicated. We have our own opinions. Each of us has deeply held beliefs. And when we go through tough times, when we make big decisions as a country, it necessarily stirs passions, stirs up controversy.
That won't change after tonight, and it shouldn't. These arguments we have are a mark of our liberty. We can never forget that as we speak people in distant nations are risking their lives right now just for a chance to argue about the issues that matter, the chance to cast their ballots like we did today.
But despite all our differences, most of us share certain hopes for America's future. We want our kids to grow up in a country where they have access to the best schools and the best teachers.
A country that lives up to its legacy as the global leader in technology and discovery and innovation, with all the good jobs and new businesses that follow.
We want our children to live in an America that isn't burdened by debt, that isn't weakened by inequality, that isn't threatened by the destructive power of a warming planet.
We want to pass on a country that's safe and respected and admired around the world, a nation that is defended by the strongest military on earth and the best troops this --- this world has ever known.
But also a country that moves with confidence beyond this time of war, to shape a peace that is built on the promise of freedom and dignity for every human being. We believe in a generous America, in a compassionate America, in a tolerant America.
Our economy is recovering. A decade of war is ending. A long campaign is now over.
And whether I earned your vote or not, I have listened to you, I have learned from you, and you've made me a better president. And with your stories and your struggles, I return to the White House more determined and more inspired than ever about the work there is to do and the future that lies ahead.
Tonight you voted for action, not politics as usual.
You elected us to focus on your jobs, not ours. And in the coming weeks and months, I am looking forward to reaching out and working with leaders of both parties to meet the challenges we can only solve together. Reducing our deficit. Reforming our tax code. Fixing our immigration system. Freeing ourselves from foreign oil. We've got more work to do.
This country has more wealth than any nation, but that's not what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military in history, but that's not what makes us strong. Our university, our culture are all the envy of the world, but that's not what keeps the world coming to our shores.
What makes America exceptional are the bonds that hold together the most diverse nation on earth.
I am hopeful tonight because I've seen the spirit at work in America. I've seen it in the family business whose owners would rather cut their own pay than lay off their neighbors, and in the workers who would rather cut back their hours than see a friend lose a job.
I've seen it in the soldiers who reenlist after losing a limb and in those SEALs who charged up the stairs into darkness and danger because they knew there was a buddy behind them watching their back.
I've seen it on the shores of New Jersey and New York, where leaders from every party and level of government have swept aside their differences to help a community rebuild from the wreckage of a terrible storm.
And I saw just the other day, in Mentor, Ohio, where a father told the story of his 8-year-old daughter, whose long battle with leukemia nearly cost their family everything had it not been for health care reform passing just a few months before the insurance company was about to stop paying for her care.
I had an opportunity to not just talk to the father, but meet this incredible daughter of his. And when he spoke to the crowd listening to that father's story, every parent in that room had tears in their eyes, because we knew that little girl could be our own.
And I know that every American wants her future to be just as bright. That's who we are. That's the country I'm so proud to lead as your president.
And tonight, despite all the hardship we've been through, despite all the frustrations of Washington, I've never been more hopeful about our future.
America, I believe we can build on the progress we've made and continue to fight for new jobs and new opportunity and new security for the middle class. I believe we can keep the promise of our founders, the idea that if you're willing to work hard, it doesn't matter who you are or where you come from or what you look like or where you love. It doesn't matter whether you're black or white or Hispanic or Asian or Native American or young or old or rich or poor, able, disabled, gay or straight, you can make it here in America if you're willing to try.
I believe we can seize this future together because we are not as divided as our politics suggests. We're not as cynical as the pundits believe. We are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions, and we remain more than a collection of red states and blue states. We are and forever will be the United States of America.
And together with your help and God's grace we will continue our journey forward and remind the world just why it is that we live in the greatest nation on Earth.
本報中譯演辭
今晚，由一個前殖民地爭取到命運自決權200多年後，完善我們聯邦的任務邁前了。
前進皆因你們。前進是因為你們肯定了戰勝戰爭和衰退的精神，這精神令國家從失望深淵登上希望高地，這信念就是我們雖各自追夢，我們終歸是一個美國家庭，同起同跌，如一國，如一族。
今晚，在這次大選，你們，美國人，提醒了我們，就算路途艱辛，旅程漫長，我們都重新振作，收復失地，我們深深相信，最好的美國仍未來臨。
我要多謝參與這次大選的每名美國人，不論是第一次投票或是排隊輪候了很長時間，不論你是上街助選還是打電話，不論你是高舉奧巴馬還是羅姆尼的宣傳牌，你們說出了心聲，創造了不同。
我剛與羅姆尼通話，恭賀他和瑞安打了一場激烈的選戰。
我們或許鬥得激烈，但這純粹因為我們都深愛這國家，都很着緊國家的未來。
未來幾周，我期盼跟羅姆尼坐下來，談談該如何合作令國家前進。
我知道政治競選有時看來微不足道，甚至愚蠢。犬儒的人可振振有詞，說政治就是自我之爭，或者是特殊利益之戰。若你曾跟出席我們集會的人、跟高中體育館內排隊的人聊聊，或看見遠離家園在競選辦事處工作至夜深的人，你會發現一些不同。
這就是選舉為何要緊，不是小事，是大事，是要事。民主在一個三億人國家，是可以很嘈吵、混亂和複雜。我們各有意見，人人各有信念。當我們經歷困難時勢，要為國家做重要選擇，無可避免會引起激情，引起爭議。
今晚之後這不會變，也不應變。爭論是我們自由的標記，我們不能忘記，當我們發聲時，很多遠方國家的人民冒生命危險，就只為爭取機會去爭辯重要大事，去爭取像我們今日投票的機會。
我們無論有甚麼分歧，大部份人都對美國的未來有相同希望。我們想孩子在一個有最佳學校和最佳老師的國家成長，一個無負過去領導全球科技發明的國家，伴隨着優職位和新企業。
我們想孩子活在一個沒有債務重擔的美國，一個沒有因為不平等而變弱的美國，一個不被地球暖化破壞性力量威脅的美國。我們想傳承一個安全、受尊敬和受全世界讚賞的國家，一個由地上最強軍力和古往今來世界最好軍隊保護的國家。
一個充滿信心步出戰時的國家，基於人人都享有自由和尊嚴的承諾，去塑造和平。我們相信一個慷慨的美國、一個有同情心的美國、一個包容的美國。
我們的經濟正復蘇，十年戰爭正結束，一場漫長選戰已完結。
無論我有沒有得到你的一票，我都聆聽你們，我向你們學習，你們令我變成一個更好的總統。帶着你們的故事和你們的掙扎，我回到白宮將受到激勵和更有決心，去處理好眼前工作和未來挑戰。
今晚你們投票要求實幹，而不是老模樣的政治。
你選擇我們專注你們的就業，不是我們的飯碗。未來數周數月，我會尋求跟國會兩黨領袖合作，去迎接只有我們合作才能化解的挑戰：減少赤字、改革稅制、修補移民制度、擺脫對外國石油的依賴，我們還有很多工夫要做。
這國家比任何國家都富裕，但這不是我們富有的原因。我們有史上最強的軍隊，但這不是我們強大的原因。我們的大學和文化為全世界艷羨，但這不是令萬邦之民都前來我國的原因。
美國非凡的原因，就是令這個世上最多元化的國家凝聚力量。
今晚我充滿希望，因為我見到這精神在美國實現。我在家庭企業老闆寧減自己人工也不願辭退鄰居看到它，在工人寧削減自己工時也不願朋友丟職中看到它。
我在士兵失去一肢仍重新入伍時看到它，我在那些海豹部隊隊員身上看到它，他們在衝上樓梯迎上黑暗危險，是因為知道身後總有同袍支援。
我在新澤西和紐約州的海岸看到它，各黨各層政府的領袖把分歧放下，去幫助一個受可怕風暴打擊的社區從廢墟中重建。
有一天我在俄亥俄州門托市也見到它，一名爸爸在訴說8歲女兒的故事，她跟白血病的漫長戰爭，幾乎令全家一無所有，如果不是醫療改革在保險公司要停付她的醫療費幾個月前通過。
我有機會跟那爸爸談話，亦見個他那奇妙的女兒。當她向聽父親訴說遭遇的人群說話，房內每位家長都含淚，因為我們知道那小女孩可以是我們的女兒。
我知道所有美國人都希望她有光明未來，我們就是這樣。這就是我的國家，我為能當總統領導這國家自豪。
今晚，縱使我們經歷過這麼多艱辛，縱使在華府受盡挫折，我對我們的未來從未如此有希望。
美國，我相信我們可在已取得的進展之上，繼續去爭取新職位、新機遇，為中產階級爭取新的保障。我相信我們可守着開國元勛的承諾，只要你肯勤力工作，不管你從何處來、是甚麼模樣、愛甚麼地方，不管你是黑人、白人、拉美裔、亞裔或原住民，不管你年輕年老、是貧是富、健全或殘疾、攣還是直，你肯試就會在美國做得到。
我相信我們可攜手創造這未來，因為我們不像我們政界那樣分裂，我們不像那些權威所想那樣犬儒。比起將所有個人的抱負加起來，我們會更偉大，我們不止是一堆紅州和藍州，我們是，永遠都是美利堅合眾國。
有你們相助，有上帝的恩典，我們將繼續旅程向前進，提醒全世界為甚麼我們活在地上最偉大的國家。