2014年奧巴馬在父親節的致詞

Hi, everybody. This Sunday is Father’s Day, and so I wanted to take a moment to talk about the most important job many of us will ever have – and that’s being a dad.

大家好！ 本周日即將是父親節, 我想借此機會談談我們大家終將面臨的最最重要的工作: 做一個父親。

Today we’re blessed to live in a world where technology allows us to connect instantly with just about anyone on the planet. But no matter how advanced we get, there will never be a substitute for the love and support and, most importantly, the presence of a parent in a child’s life. And in many ways, that’s uniquely true for fathers.

今天我們很有幸生活在一個能瞬間可和地球上的任何一個人聯系的科技時代。但無論科技如何發達，都沒有任何東西可以取代一個家長在孩子生活中的出現，愛和支持，在許多方面，對父親而言尤為如此。

Being a good parent isn’t easy. It demands your constant attention, frequent sacrifice, and a healthy dose of patience. And nobody’s perfect. To this day, I’m still figuring out how to be a better husband to my wife and father to my kids.

要做一個好的父母是不容易的。它要求你不停的注意力，時常的犧牲和健康的耐心。然而，沒有人是完美的。直到今天，我仍在找尋如何才能做一個更好的丈夫和父親的途徑。

Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned along the way, it’s that all our personal successes shine a little less brightly if we fail at family. That’s what matters most. When I look back on my life, I won’t be thinking about any particular legislation I passed or policy I promoted. I’ll be thinking about Michelle, and the journey we’ve been on together. I’ll be thinking about Sasha’s dance recitals and Malia’s tennis matches – about the conversations we’ve had and the quiet moments we’ve shared. I’ll be thinking about whether I did right by them, and whether they knew, every day, just how much they were loved.

假如一路走來我學到了一件事的話，那就是如果我們的家庭失敗, 我們的成就將黯然無光。家庭是最重要的。當我回首自己的生活，我不會去想我所通過或推舉的任何一項立法，但我會想我的太太和我們共同行走的路程。我會去想Sasha的舞蹈彩排和Malia的網球比賽，以及我們之間的談話和共享的安靜時光。我會想我是否對他們所做是正確的，他們是否每天都知道我是多么的愛他們。

That’s what I think being a father is all about. And if we can do our best to be a source of comfort and encouragement to our kids; if we can show them unconditional love and help them grow into the people they were meant to be; then we will have succeeded.

這就是我想的應該如何為人父。假如我們能盡全力為孩子們提供舒適和勇氣，假如我們能向他們展示無條件的愛并幫助他們成為他們想成為的人，那我們就成功了。

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there, and have a great weekend.

祝福每一個父親父親節快樂, 并過一個美好的周末。