“国无德不兴，人无德不立”这句话由习近平2013年在山东曲阜考察孔府和孔子研究院时提出，本义强调了道德对于个人修身立业和国家长治久安的重要作用：
“Morality makes a prosper state and virtue makes a decent man”, this phrase which stresses the importance of kindness no matter to the cultivation of a person’s character or to the long-term peace of a country was put out by President Xi Jinping during his filed trip to the family mansion of Kong and the Confucius Research Institute in Qufu, Shandong province in 2013.
人如果没有德行，便不能立足于世，也不会有幸福的生活。
A man cannot succeed and live a fulfilled life without virtue.
国家如果没有德行，便不能兴旺发达，国运昌盛。
Meanwhile, a state cannot remain peace and prosperity without morality.
国家之德即是个人之德，个人有德，国家才能有希望。
A moral state requires noble citizens. Thus, a country can only thrive when its people are equipped with virtue.
中国知识分子历来重视道德养成。
Chinese intellectuals have always value the cultivation of morality.
古人讲，“修身、齐家、治国、平天下”，强调了知识分子对国家和社会的责任担当，这是古人的“德”。
“Self-cultivation, family harmony, country management and world peace”, our ancient wisdom attached great attention to intellectuals’ responsibility to the country and society which can be interpreted as their “virtue”.
在当代中国，“德”就是“国家至上”的社会责任感，同样需要一代又一代的中国人去努力践行。
However, the “virtue” represents the social responsibility of “national primacy” in contemporary China which also calls for the efforts of generations’ Chinese.
“国无德不兴，人无德不立”就是在强调一个时代对于精神力量的渴求。
To sum up, the phrase “Morality makes a prosper country and virtue makes a decent man” can be understood as a new era’s pursuit for spiritual strength.
2014年5月4日青年节，习总书记考察北京大学时说：“核心价值观，其实就是一种德，既是个人的德，也是一种大德，就是国家的德、社会的德”。
President Xi said that “Our core values are actually ‘virtues’, it is not only the virtue of individuals, but also the virtue of state and society in a wider range” during his inspection to Peking University on Youth Day on May 4, 2014.
社会主义核心价值观既传承着中国古代知识分子“国家至上”的价值追求，也寄托着近代以来中国人民上下求索、历经千辛万苦确立的理想和信念，更承载着我们每个人对于和谐社会的美好愿景，是当代中国人努力奋斗的精神力量。
The core socialist values which inherit the spiritual pursuit of “national primacy” of ancient Chinese intellectuals, represent the Chinese people’s ideals and convictions that shaped by enormous endeavor since modern times, moreover, carry all the glorious vision of a harmonious society are the mental strength for contemporary Chinese to strive.
今天，我们的国家要有持之以恒的精神力量，就要努力践行社会主义核心价值观，提高整个社会的道德水平：
Nowadays, in order to enhance the spiritual power of perseverance, our country must practice the core socialist values and improve the moral level of Chinese society.
首先要以教育为根基，提高人们的内在修养；
At first, we should not fail to see that education is the cornerstone of people’s internal cultivation.
其次，法律是道德规范和社会文明的风向标，要以法律和制度作为保障，稳固整个社会的道德基石；
Secondly, law is the indicator of moral norms and civilization in the society, thus, together with related institutions, it plays an important role as the guarantee to stabilize the moral foundation of the society.
最后，每个人都要做社会道德的学习者和践行者，道德大厦的建设需要每个社会成员添砖加瓦。
The last but not the least, it takes the efforts of all Chinese people to construct the moral skyscraper, each of us must become the learner and practitioner of social morality.
康德曾说：“世界上有两件东西能够深深地震撼人们的心灵，一件是我们心中崇高的道德准则，另一件是我们头顶上灿烂的星空。”
Kant has said: “Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe, the more often and steadily we reflect upon them: the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me”.
同样的，“国无德不兴，人无德不立”这句话不仅强调了“道德”是做人的根本，同时还启示了精神力量对于一个国家，一个民族的重要性。
Similarly, the sentence “Morality makes a prosper state and virtue makes a decent man” does not only stress that “morality” is fundamental to a person, but also reveal the significance of the spiritual strength to a state and to a nation.
只有每个人都在追求爱国守法与保持崇德向善的道路上不断前行，我们每个人，每个集体，整个民族与国家才能够永远充满希望。
Only under the circumstance of everyone continually going forward on the path of pursuing patriotism, observance of law, and morality that each person, can our community and our country as a whole remain full of hope.