We are fortunate to be living in an age when social welfare and humanitarian assistance are recognized not only as desirable but necessary. I am fortunate to be living in an age when the fate of prisoners of conscience anywhere has become the concern of peoples everywhere, an age when democracy and human rights are widely, even if not universally, accepted as the birthright of all. How often during my years under house arrest have I drawn strength from my favourite passages in the preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
我们有幸生活在这样一个时代，人们意识到社会福利与人道援助不仅是有利的，而且是必须的。我很有幸生活在这样一个时代，政治犯的命运受到各地人们的广泛关注，民主与人权已经广泛地，甚至是普遍地被认同为一种与生俱来的权利。在我被软禁期间，我时常从《世界人权宣言》的序言中获取力量。我最喜爱的几段话是这样的：
......disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspirations of the common people,.....
……对人权的无视和侮蔑已发展为野蛮暴行，这些暴行玷污了人类的良心，而一个人人享有言论和信仰自由并免予恐惧和匮乏的世界的来临，已被宣布为普通人民的最高愿望，
.....it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law...…
...…为使人类不致迫不得已铤而走险对暴政和压迫进行反叛，有必要使人权受法治的保护……
If I am asked why I am fighting for human rights in Burma the above passages will provide the answer. If I am asked why I am fighting for democracy in Burma, it is because I believe that democratic institutions and practices are necessary for the guarantee of human rights.
如果有人问我，为什么要为缅甸的人权奋斗，上面两段话就是答案。如果有人问我，为什么要为缅甸的民主奋斗，那是因为我相信民主制度是人权的保证。
It is because of recent changes in my country that I am with you today; and these changes have come about because of you and other lovers of freedom and justice who contributed towards a global awareness of our situation. Before continuing to speak of my country, may I speak out for our prisoners of conscience.
今天我能与你们在一起，正是源于近来在我国发生的变化。这些变化能够产生，是因为你们和其他所有热爱自由与公平的人们，让全球目光都来关注我们的处境。在继续谈论我的国家之前，请允许我先谈一谈我们的良心犯。
There still remain such prisoners in Burma. It is to be feared that because the best known detainees have been released, the remainder, the unknown ones, will be forgotten. I am standing here because I was once a prisoner of conscience.
在缅甸仍然有良心犯被关押。比较令人害怕的是，因为最著名的几个人已经得到释放，剩下的不出名的人将会被遗忘。我因为曾是一名良心犯而站在这里。
As you look at me and listen to me, please remember the often repeated truth that one prisoner of conscience is one too many. Those who have not yet been freed, those who have not yet been given access to the benefits of justice in my country number much more than one. Please remember them and do whatever is possible to effect their earliest, unconditional release.
当你们看到我听我演讲的时候，请同样记住这个经常被重提的事实：只有一名良心犯仍嫌太多。在我的国家，那些尚未得到自由的，尚未沐浴公正之光的人远远多于一人。请记住他们，为他们做一切可能的事，使他们尽早获得无条件释放。
The peace of our world is indivisible. As long as negative forces are getting the better of positive forces anywhere, we are all at risk. It may be questioned whether all negative forces could ever be removed. The simple answer is: “No!” It is in human nature to contain both the positive and the negative.
我们这个世界的和平不可分割。只要有一个地方的消极力量占了上风，我们就都处在危险之中。或许有人会问消极力量能否被根除。答案很简单：“不能！”善恶原本就共存于人性中。
However, it is also within human capability to work to reinforce the positive and to minimize or neutralize the negative. Absolute peace in our world is an unattainable goal. But it is one towards which we must continue to journey, our eyes fixed on it as a traveller in a desert fixes his eyes on the one guiding star that will lead him to salvation.
然而人类同时也有增强积极力量的能力，将消极力量的影响降到最小。在我们的世界上，绝对的和平是做不到的。但这并不妨我们朝此目标进发。我们专注于目标，就像在沙漠中的旅行者一样，一直朝着指路星的方向前进，最终必能获救。
Even if we do not achieve perfect peace on earth, because perfect peace is not of this earth, common endeavours to gain peace will unite individuals and nations in trust and friendship and help to make our human community safer and kinder.
即使绝对和平因为不存在于人间而无法实现，但为了和平的努力将会把个人与个人，国家与国家团结起来，在信任与友谊的帮助下，将我们人类社会建设得更加安全与仁爱。
I used the word ‘kinder’ after careful deliberation; I might say the careful deliberation of many years. Of the sweets of adversity, and let me say that these are not numerous, I have found the sweetest, the most precious of all, is the lesson I learnt on the value of kindness.
我用“仁爱”这个词是经过仔细推敲的，应该说仔细推敲了许多年。苦难中的快乐并不多见，我找到的最甜蜜和最宝贵的东西是我我所学到的仁爱的价值。
Every kindness I received, small or big, convinced me that there could never be enough of it in our world. To be kind is to respond with sensitivity and human warmth to the hopes and needs of others. Even the briefest touch of kindness can lighten a heavy heart. Kindness can change the lives of people.
我所感受到的每份仁爱，不论大小，都使我确信，仁爱我们的世界上永不嫌多。仁爱是用敏感的心去体察他人的需要，是用温暖的情去响应他人的期望。即使是最轻微的仁爱触碰也可以卸下心灵的负担。仁爱可以改变人们的生活。
Ultimately our aim should be to create a world free from the displaced, the homeless and the hopeless, a world of which each and every corner is a true sanctuary where the inhabitants will have the freedom and the capacity to live in peace.
我们最终的目标是创造一个没有被迫迁徙，没有无家可归和没有绝望的世界，一个每个角落都是真正的圣堂，每个居民都生活在自由与和平中的世界。
Every thought, every word, and every action that adds to the positive and the wholesome is a contribution to peace. Each and every one of us is capable of making such a contribution. Let us join hands to try to create a peaceful world where we can sleep in security and wake in happiness.
每种想法，每一句话，每个动作都增强了积极的力量，有益于和平。我们每一个人都有能力做出这样的贡献。让我们携起手来，试着创造一个可以安全地入睡，开心地醒来的世界。
