英語背誦美文30篇(帶翻譯)

眾所周知，諺語乃是一種語言的精華，寓意深刻，表達(dá)雋永。無論在口語還是英語寫作中，如能適當(dāng)?shù)匾靡恍┲V語，都可以增光添彩。下面是小編整理的英語背誦美文30篇(帶翻譯)的資料，建議大家多讀多看，增加實踐，一定會對你有所幫助!

第一篇：Youth 青春

Youth

Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.

Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of 60 more than a boy of 20. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals.

Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.

Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being’s heart the lure of wonders, the unfailing appetite for what’s next and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart, there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, courage and power from man and from the infinite, so long as you are young.

When your aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you’ve grown old, even at 20; but as long as your aerials are up, to catch waves of optimism, there’s hope you may die young at 80.

譯文：

青春

青春不是年華，而是心境;青春不是桃面、丹唇、柔膝，而是深沉的意志，恢宏的想象，炙熱的戀情;青春是生命的深泉在涌流。

青春氣貫長虹，勇銳蓋過怯弱，進(jìn)取壓倒茍安。如此銳氣，二十后生而有之，六旬男子則更多見。年歲有加，并非垂老，理想丟棄，方墮暮年。

歲月悠悠，衰微只及肌膚;熱忱拋卻，頹廢必致靈魂。憂煩，惶恐，喪失自信，定使心靈扭曲，意氣如灰。

無論年屆花甲，擬或二八芳齡，心中皆有生命之歡樂，奇跡之誘惑，孩童般天真久盛不衰。人人心中皆有一臺天線，只要你從天上人間接受美好、希望、歡樂、勇氣和力量的信號，你就青春永駐，風(fēng)華常存。 、

一旦天線下降，銳氣便被冰雪覆蓋，玩世不恭、自暴自棄油然而生，即使年方二十，實已垂垂老矣;然則只要樹起天線，捕捉樂觀信號，你就有望在八十高齡告別塵寰時仍覺年輕。

第二篇： Three Days to See(Excerpts)假如給我三天光明(節(jié)選)

Three Days to See

All of us have read thrilling stories in which the hero had only a limited and specified time to live. Sometimes it was as long as a year, sometimes as short as 24 hours. But always we were interested in discovering just how the doomed hero chose to spend his last days or his last hours. I speak, of course, of free men who have a choice, not condemned criminals whose sphere of activities is strictly delimited.

Such stories set us thinking, wondering what we should do under similar circumstances. What events, what experiences, what associations should we crowd into those last hours as mortal beings, what regrets?

Sometimes I have thought it would be an excellent rule to live each day as if we should die tomorrow. Such an attitude would emphasize sharply the values of life. We should live each day with gentleness, vigor and a keenness of appreciation which are often lost when time stretches before us in the constant panorama of more days and months and years to come. There are those, of course, who would adopt the Epicurean motto of “Eat, drink, and be merry”. But most people would be chastened by the certainty of impending death.

In stories the doomed hero is usually saved at the last minute by some stroke of fortune, but almost always his sense of values is changed. He becomes more appreciative of the meaning of life and its permanent spiritual values. It has often been noted that those who live, or have lived, in the shadow of death bring a mellow sweetness to everything they do.

Most of us, however, take life for granted. We know that one day we must die, but usually we picture that day as far in the future. When we are in buoyant health, death is all but unimaginable. We seldom think of it. The days stretch out in an endless vista. So we go about our petty tasks, hardly aware of our listless attitude toward life.

The same lethargy, I am afraid, characterizes the use of all our faculties and senses. Only the deaf appreciate hearing, only the blind realize the manifold blessings that lie in sight. Particularly does this observation apply to those who have lost sight and hearing in adult life. But those who have never suffered impairment of sight or hearing seldom make the fullest use of these blessed faculties. Their eyes and ears take in all sights and sounds hazily, without concentration and with little appreciation. It is the same old story of not being grateful for what we have until we lose it, of not being conscious of health until we are ill.

I have often thought it would be a blessing if each human being were stricken blind and deaf for a few days at some time during his early adult life. Darkness would make him more appreciative of sight; silence would teach him the joys of sound.

譯文：

假如給我三天光明(節(jié)選)

我們都讀過震撼人心的故事，故事中的主人公只能再活一段很有限的時光，有時長達(dá)一年，有時卻短至一日。但我們總是想要知道，注定要離世人的會選擇如何度過自己最后的時光。當(dāng)然，我說的是那些有選擇權(quán)利的自由人，而不是那些活動范圍受到嚴(yán)格限定的死囚。

這樣的故事讓我們思考，在類似的處境下，我們該做些什么?作為終有一死的人，在臨終前的幾個小時內(nèi)我們應(yīng)該做什么事，經(jīng)歷些什么或做哪些聯(lián)想?回憶往昔，什么使我們開心快樂?什么又使我們悔恨不已?

有時我想，把每天都當(dāng)作生命中的最后一天來邊，也不失為一個極好的生活法則。這種態(tài)度會使人格外重視生命的價值。我們每天都應(yīng)該以優(yōu)雅的姿態(tài)，充沛的精力，抱著感恩之心來生活。但當(dāng)時間以無休止的日，月和年在我們面前流逝時，我們卻常常沒有了這種子感覺。當(dāng)然，也有人奉行“吃，喝，享受”的享樂主義信條，但絕大多數(shù)人還是會受到即將到來的死亡的懲罰。

在故事中，將死的主人公通常都在最后一刻因突降的幸運(yùn)而獲救，但他的價值觀通常都會改變，他變得更加理解生命的意義及其永恒的精神價值。我們常常注意到，那些生活在或曾經(jīng)生活在死亡陰影下的人無論做什么都會感到幸福。

然而，我們中的大多數(shù)人都把生命看成是理所當(dāng)然的。我們知道有一天我們必將面對死亡，但總認(rèn)為那一天還在遙遠(yuǎn)的將來。當(dāng)我們身強(qiáng)體健之時，死亡簡直不可想象，我們很少考慮到它。日子多得好像沒有盡頭。因此我們一味忙于瑣事，幾乎意識不到我們對待生活的冷漠態(tài)度。

我擔(dān)心同樣的冷漠也存在于我們對自己官能和意識的運(yùn)用上。只有聾子才理解聽力的重要，只有盲人才明白視覺的可貴，這尤其適用于那些成年后才失去視力或聽力之苦的人很少充分利用這些寶貴的能力。他們的眼睛和耳朵模糊地感受著周圍的景物與聲音，心不在焉，也無所感激。這正好我們只有在失去后才懂得珍惜一樣，我們只有在生病后才意識到健康的可貴。

我經(jīng)常想，如果每個人在年輕的時候都有幾天失時失聰，也不失為一件幸事。黑暗將使他更加感激光明，寂靜將告訴他聲音的美妙。

第三篇：Companionship of Books 以書為伴(節(jié)選)

Companionship of Books

A man may usually be known by the books he reads as well as by the company he keeps; for there is a companionship of books as well as of men; and one should always live in the best company, whether it be of books or of men.

A good book may be among the best of friends. It is the same today that it always was, and it will never change. It is the most patient and cheerful of companions. It does not turn its back upon us in times of adversity or distress. It always receives us with the same kindness; amusing and instructing us in youth, and comforting and consoling us in age.

Men often discover their affinity to each other by the mutual love they have for a book just as two persons sometimes discover a friend by the admiration which both entertain for a third. There is an old proverb, ‘Love me, love my dog.” But there is more wisdom in this:” Love me, love my book.” The book is a truer and higher bond of union. Men can think, feel, and sympathize with each other through their favorite author. They live in him together, and he in them.

A good book is often the best urn of a life enshrining the best that life could think out; for the world of a man’s life is, for the most part, but the world of his thoughts. Thus the best books are treasuries of good words, the golden thoughts, which, remembered and cherished, become our constant companions and comforters.

Books possess an essence of immortality. They are by far the most lasting products of human effort. Temples and statues decay, but books survive. Time is of no account with great thoughts, which are as fresh today as when they first passed through their author’s minds, ages ago. What was then said and thought still speaks to us as vividly as ever from the printed page. The only effect of time have been to sift out the bad products; for nothing in literature can long survive e but what is really good.

Books introduce us into the best society; they bring us into the presence of the greatest minds that have ever lived. We hear what they said and did; we see the as if they were really alive; we sympathize with them, enjoy with them, grieve with them; their experience becomes ours, and we feel as if we were in a measure actors with them in the scenes which they describe.

The great and good do not die, even in this world. Embalmed in books, their spirits walk abroad. The book is a living voice. It is an intellect to which on still listens.

譯文：

以書為伴(節(jié)選)

通?？匆粋€讀些什么書就可知道他的為人，就像看他同什么人交往就可知道他的為人一樣，因為有人以人為伴，也有人以書為伴。無論是書友還是朋友，我們都應(yīng)該以最好的為伴。

好書就像是你最好的朋友。它始終不渝，過去如此，現(xiàn)在如此，將來也永遠(yuǎn)不變。它是最有耐心，最令人愉悅的伴侶。在我們窮愁潦倒，臨危遭難時，它也不會拋棄我們，對我們總是一如既往地親切。在我們年輕時，好書陶冶我們的性情，增長我們的知識;到我們年老時，它又給我們以慰藉和勉勵。

人們常常因為喜歡同一本書而結(jié)為知已，就像有時兩個人因為敬慕同一個人而成為朋友一樣。有句古諺說道：“愛屋及屋。”其實“愛我及書”這句話蘊(yùn)涵更多的哲理。書是更為真誠而高尚的情誼紐帶。人們可以通過共同喜愛的作家溝通思想，交流感情，彼此息息相通，并與自己喜歡的作家思想相通，情感相融。

好書常如最精美的寶器，珍藏著人生的思想的精華，因為人生的境界主要就在于其思想的境界。因此，最好的書是金玉良言和崇高思想的寶庫，這些良言和思想若銘記于心并多加珍視，就會成為我們忠實的伴侶和永恒的慰藉。

書籍具有不朽的本質(zhì)，是為人類努力創(chuàng)造的最為持久的成果。寺廟會倒坍，神像會朽爛，而書卻經(jīng)久長存。對于偉大的思想來說，時間是無關(guān)緊要的。多年前初次閃現(xiàn)于作者腦海的偉大思想今日依然清新如故。時間惟一的作用是淘汰不好的作品，因為只有真正的佳作才能經(jīng)世長存。

書籍介紹我們與最優(yōu)秀的人為伍，使我們置身于歷代偉人巨匠之間，如聞其聲，如觀其行，如見其人，同他們情感交融，悲喜與共，感同身受。我們覺得自己仿佛在作者所描繪的舞臺上和他們一起粉墨登場。

即使在人世間，偉大杰出的人物也永生不來。他們的精神被載入書冊，傳于四海。書是人生至今仍在聆聽的智慧之聲，永遠(yuǎn)充滿著活力。

第四篇：If I Rest,I Rust 如果我休息，我就會生銹

If I Rest, I Rust

The significant inscription found on an old key—“If I rest, I rust”—would be an excellent motto for those who are afflicted with the slightest bit of idleness. Even the most industrious person might adopt it with advantage to serve as a reminder that, if one allows his faculties to rest, like the iron in the unused key, they will soon show signs of rust and, ultimately, cannot do the work required of them.

Those who would attain the heights reached and kept by great men must keep their faculties polished by constant use, so that they may unlock the doors of knowledge, the gate that guard the entrances to the professions, to science, art, literature, agriculture—every department of human endeavor.

Industry keeps bright the key that opens the treasury of achievement. If Hugh Miller, after toiling all day in a quarry, had devoted his evenings to rest and recreation, he would never have become a famous geologist. The celebrated mathematician, Edmund Stone, would never have published a mathematical dictionary, never have found the key to science of mathematics, if he had given his spare moments to idleness, had the little Scotch lad, Ferguson, allowed the busy brain to go to sleep while he tended sheep on the hillside instead of calculating the position of the stars by a string of beads, he would never have become a famous astronomer.

Labor vanquishes all—not inconstant, spasmodic, or ill-directed labor; but faithful, unremitting, daily effort toward a well-directed purpose. Just as truly as eternal vigilance is the price of liberty, so is eternal industry the price of noble and enduring success.

譯文：

如果我休息，我就會生銹

在一把舊鑰匙上發(fā)現(xiàn)了一則意義深遠(yuǎn)的銘文——如果我休息，我就會生銹。對于那些懶散而煩惱的人來說，這將是至理名言。甚至最為勤勉的人也以此作為警示：如果一個人有才能而不用，就像廢棄鑰匙上的鐵一樣，這些才能就會很快生銹，并最終無法完成安排給自己的工作。

有些人想取得偉人所獲得并保持的成就，他們就必須不斷運(yùn)用自身才能，以便開啟知識的大門，即那些通往人類努力探求的各個領(lǐng)域的大門，這些領(lǐng)域包括各種職業(yè)：科學(xué)，藝術(shù)，文學(xué)，農(nóng)業(yè)等。

勤奮使開啟成功寶庫的鑰匙保持光亮。如果休?米勒在采石場勞作一天后，晚上的時光用來休息消遣的話，他就不會成為名垂青史的地質(zhì)學(xué)家。著名數(shù)學(xué)家愛德蒙?斯通如果閑暇時無所事事，就不會出版數(shù)學(xué)詞典，也不會發(fā)現(xiàn)開啟數(shù)學(xué)之門的鑰匙。如果蘇格蘭青年弗格森在山坡上放羊時，讓他那思維活躍的大腦處于休息狀態(tài)，而不是借助一串珠子計算星星的位置，他就不會成為著名的天文學(xué)家。

勞動征服一切。這里所指的勞動不是斷斷續(xù)續(xù)的，間歇性的或方向偏差的勞動，而是堅定的，不懈的，方向正確的每日勞動。正如要想擁有自由就要時刻保持警惕一樣，要想取得偉大的，持久的成功，就必須堅持不懈地努力。

第五篇：Ambition 抱負(fù)

Ambition

It is not difficult to imagine a world short of ambition. It would probably be a kinder world: with out demands, without abrasions, without disappointments. People would have time for reflection. Such work as they did would not be for themselves but for the collectivity. Competition would never enter in. conflict would be eliminated, tension become a thing of the past. The stress of creation would be at an end. Art would no longer be troubling, but purely celebratory in its functions. Longevity would be increased, for fewer people would die of heart attack or stroke caused by tumultuous endeavor. Anxiety would be extinct. Time would stretch on and on, with ambition long departed from the human heart.

Ah, how unrelieved boring life would be!

There is a strong view that holds that success is a myth, and ambition therefore a sham. Does this mean that success does not really exist? That achievement is at bottom empty? That the efforts of men and women are of no significance alongside the force of movements and events now not all success, obviously, is worth esteeming, nor all ambition worth cultivating. Which are and which are not is something one soon enough learns on one’s own. But even the most cynical secretly admit that success exists; that achievement counts for a great deal; and that the true myth is that the actions of men and women are useless. To believe otherwise is to take on a point of view that is likely to be deranging. It is, in its implications, to remove all motives for competence, interest in attainment, and regard for posterity.

We do not choose to be born. We do not choose our parents. We do not choose our historical epoch, the country of our birth, or the immediate circumstances of our upbringing. We do not, most of us, choose to die; nor do we choose the time or conditions of our death. But within all this realm of choicelessness, we do choose how we shall live: courageously or in cowardice, honorably or dishonorably, with purpose or in drift. We decide what is important and what is trivial in life. We decide that what makes us significant is either what we do or what we refuse to do. But no matter how indifferent the universe may be to our choices and decisions, these choices and decisions are ours to make. We decide. We choose. And as we decide and choose, so are our lives formed. In the end, forming our own destiny is what ambition is about.

譯文：

抱負(fù)

一個缺乏抱負(fù)的世界將會怎樣，這不難想象?；蛟S，這將是一個更為友善的世界：沒有渴求，沒有磨擦，沒有失望。人們將有時間進(jìn)行反思。他們所從事的工作將不是為了他們自身，而是為了整個集體。競爭永遠(yuǎn)不會介入;沖突將被消除。人們的緊張關(guān)系將成為過往云煙。創(chuàng)造的重壓將得以終結(jié)。藝術(shù)將不再惹人費(fèi)神，其功能將純粹為了慶典。人的壽命將會更長，因為由激烈拼爭引起的心臟病和中風(fēng)所導(dǎo)致的死亡將越來越少。焦慮將會消失。時光流逝，抱負(fù)卻早已遠(yuǎn)離人心。

啊，長此以往人生將變得多么乏味無聊!

有一種盛行的觀點認(rèn)為，成功是一種神話，因此抱負(fù)亦屬虛幻。這是不是說實際上并不豐在成功?成就本身就是一場空?與諸多運(yùn)動和事件的力量相比，男男女女的努力顯得微不足?顯然，并非所有的成功都值得景仰，也并非所有的抱負(fù)都值得追求。對值得和不值得的選擇，一個人自然而然很快就能學(xué)會。但即使是最為憤世嫉俗的人暗地里也承認(rèn)，成功確實存在，成就的意義舉足輕重，而把世上男男女女的所作所為說成是徒勞無功才是真正的無稽之談。認(rèn)為成功不存在的觀點很可能造成混亂。這種觀點的本意是　　一筆勾銷所有提高能力的動機(jī)，求取業(yè)績的興趣和對子孫后代的關(guān)注。

我們無法選擇出生，無法選擇父母，無法選擇出生的歷史時期與國家，或是成長的周遭環(huán)境。我們大多數(shù)人都無法選擇死亡，無法選擇死亡的時間或條件。但是在這些無法選擇之中，我們的確可以選擇自己的生活方式：是勇敢無畏還是膽小怯懦，是光明磊落還是厚顏無恥，是目標(biāo)堅定還是隨波逐流。我們決定生活中哪些至關(guān)重要，哪些微不足道。我們決定，用以顯示我們自身重要性的，不是我們做了什么，就是我們拒絕做些什么。但是不論世界對我們所做的選擇和決定有多么漠不關(guān)心，這些選擇和決定終究是我們自己做出的。我們決定，我們選擇。而當(dāng)我們決定和選擇時，我們的生活便得以形成。最終構(gòu)筑我們命運(yùn)的就是抱負(fù)之所在。

第六篇：What I have Lived for 我為何而生

What I Have Lived For

Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind. These passions, like great winds, have blown me hither and thither, in a wayward course, over a deep ocean of anguish, reaching to the very verge of despair.

I have sought love, first, because it brings ecstasy—ecstasy so great that I would often have sacrificed all the rest of my life for a few hours for this joy. I have sought it, next, because it relieves loneliness—that terrible loneliness in which one shivering consciousness looks over the rim of the world into the cold unfathomable lifeless abyss. I have sought it, finally, because in the union of love I have seen, in a mystic miniature, the prefiguring vision of the heaven that saints and poets have imagined. This is what I sought, and though it might seem too good for human life, this is what—at last—I have found.

With equal passion I have sought knowledge. I have wished to understand the hearts of men. I have wished to know why the stars shine. And I have tried to apprehend the Pythagorean power by which number holds sway above the flux. A little of this, but not much, I have achieved.

Love and knowledge, so far as they were possible, led upward toward the heavens. But always it brought me back to earth. Echoes of cries of pain reverberate in my heart. Children in famine, victims tortured by oppressors, helpless old people a hated burden to their sons, and the whole world of loneliness, poverty, and pain make a mockery of what human life should be. I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot, and I too suffer.

This has been my life. I have found it worth living, and would gladly live it again if the chance were offered me.

譯文：

我為何而生

我的一生被三種簡單卻又無比強(qiáng)烈的激情所控制：對愛的渴望，對知識的探索和對人類苦難難以抑制的嶼。這些激情像狂風(fēng)，把我恣情吹向四方，掠過苦痛的大海，迫使我瀕臨絕望的邊緣。

我尋求愛，首先因為它使我心為之著迷，這種難以名狀的美妙迷醉使我愿意用所有的余生去換取哪怕幾個小時這樣的幸福。我尋求愛，還因為它能緩解我心理上的孤獨中，我感覺心靈的戰(zhàn)栗，仿如站在世界的邊緣而面前是冰冷，無底的死亡深淵。我尋求愛，因為在我所目睹的結(jié)合中，我仿佛看到了圣賢與詩人們所向往的天堂之景。這就是我所尋找的，雖然對人的一生而言似乎有些遙不可及，但至少是我用盡一生所領(lǐng)悟到的。

我用同樣的激情去尋求知識。我希望能理解人類的心靈，希望能夠知道群星閃爍的緣由。我試圖領(lǐng)悟畢達(dá)哥拉斯所景仰的“數(shù)即萬物”的思想。我已經(jīng)悟出了其中的一點點道理，盡管并不是很多。

愛和知識，用它們的力量把人引向天堂。但是同情卻總把人又拽回到塵世中來。痛苦的呼喊聲回蕩在我的內(nèi)心。饑餓的孩子，受壓迫的難民，貧窮和痛苦的世界，都是對人類所憧憬的美好生活的無情嘲弄。我渴望能夠減少邪惡，但是我無能為力，我也難逃其折磨。

這就是我的一生。我已經(jīng)找到它的價值。而且如果有機(jī)會，我很愿意能再活它一次。

第七篇：When Love Beckons You 愛的召喚

When Love Beckons You

When love beckons to you, follow him, though his ways are hard and steep. And when his wings enfold you, yield to him, though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you. And when he speaks to you, believe in him, though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.

For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning. Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun, so shall he descend to our roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.

But if, in your fear, you would seek only love’s peace and love’s pleasure, then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love’s threshing-floor, into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears. Love gives naught but it self and takes naught but from itself. Love possesses not, nor would it be possessed, for love is sufficient unto love.

Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself. But if you love and must have desires, let these be your desires:

To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.

To know the pain of too much tenderness.

To be wounded by your own understanding of love;

And to bleed willingly and joyfully.

To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;

To rest at the noon hour and meditate love’s ecstasy;

To return home at eventide with gratitude;

And then to sleep with a payer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.

譯文：

愛的召喚

當(dāng)愛召喚你時，請追隨她，盡管愛的道路艱難險峻。當(dāng)愛的羽翼擁抱你時，請順從她，盡管隱藏在其羽翼之下的劍可能會傷到你。當(dāng)愛向你訴說時，請相信她，盡管她的聲音可能打破你的夢想，就如同北風(fēng)吹落花園里所有的花瓣。

愛會給你戴上桂冠，也會折磨你。愛會助你成長，也會給你修枝。愛會上升到枝頭，撫愛你在陽光下顫動力的嫩枝，也會下潛至根部，撼動力你緊抓泥土的根基。

但是，如果你在恐懼之中只想尋求愛的平和與快樂，那你就最好掩蓋真實的自我，避開愛的考驗，進(jìn)入不分季節(jié)的世界，在那里你將歡笑，但并非開懷大笑，你將哭泣，但并非盡情地哭。愛只將自己付出，也只得到自己。愛一無所有，也不會為誰所有，因為愛本身就已自足。

愛除了實現(xiàn)自我別無他求。但是如果你愛而又不得不有所求，那就請期望：

將自己融化并像奔流的溪水一般向夜晚吟唱自己優(yōu)美的曲調(diào)。

明了過多的溫柔所帶來的苦痛。

被自己對愛的理解所傷害;

并情愿快樂地悲傷。

在黎明帶著輕快的心醒來并感謝又一個有家的日子;

在黃昏懷著感恩之心回家;

然后為內(nèi)心所愛之人祈禱，吟唱贊美之歌，并帶著禱告和歌聲入眠。

第八篇：The Road to Success 成功之道

The Road to Success

It is well that young men should begin at the beginning and occupy the most subordinate positions. Many of the leading businessmen of Pittsburgh had a serious responsibility thrust upon them at the very threshold of their career. They were introduced to the broom, and spent the first hours of their business lives sweeping out the office. I notice we have janitors and janitresses now in offices, and our young men unfortunately miss that salutary branch of business education. But if by chance the professional sweeper is absent any morning, the boy who has the genius of the future partner in him will not hesitate to try his hand at the broom. It does not hurt the newest comer to sweep out the office if necessary. I was one of those sweepers myself.

Assuming that you have all obtained employment and are fairly started, my advice to you is “aim high”. I would not give a fig for the young man who does not already see himself the partner or the head of an important firm. Do not rest content for a moment in your thoughts as head clerk, or foreman, or general manager in any concern, no matter how extensive. Say to yourself, “My place is at the top.” Be king in your dreams.

And here is the prime condition of success, the great secret: concentrate your energy, thought, and capital exclusively upon the business in which you are engaged. Having begun in one line, resolve to fight it out on that line, to lead in it, adopt every improvement, have the best machinery, and know the most about it.

The concerns which fail are those which have scattered their capital, which means that they have scattered their brains also. They have investments in this, or that, or the other, here there, and everywhere. “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” is all wrong. I tell you to “put all your eggs in one basket, and then watch that basket.” Look round you and take notice, men who do that not often fail. It is easy to watch and carry the one basket. It is trying to carry too many baskets that breaks most eggs in this country. He who carries three baskets must put one on his head, which is apt to tumble and trip him up. One fault of the American businessman is lack of concentration.

To summarize what I have said: aim for the highest; never enter a bar room; do not touch liquor, or if at all only at meals; never speculate; never indorse beyond your surplus cash fund; make the firm’s interest yours; break orders always to save owners; concentrate; put all your eggs in one basket, and watch that basket; expenditure always within revenue; lastly, be not impatient, for as Emerson says, “no one can cheat you out of ultimate success but yourselves.”

譯文：

成功之道

年輕人創(chuàng)業(yè)之初，應(yīng)該從最底層干起，這是件好事。匹茲保有很多商業(yè)巨頭，在他們創(chuàng)業(yè)之初，都肩負(fù)過“重任”：他們以掃帚相伴，以打掃辦公室的方式度過了他們商業(yè)生涯中最初的時光。我注意到我們現(xiàn)在辦公室里都有工友，于是年輕人就不幸錯過了商業(yè)教育中這個有益的環(huán)節(jié)。如果碰巧哪天上午專職掃地的工友沒有來，某個具有未來合伙人氣質(zhì)的年輕人會毫不猶豫地試著拿起掃帚。在必要時新來的員工掃掃地也無妨，不會因為而有什么損失。我自己就曾經(jīng)掃過地。

假如你已經(jīng)被錄用，并且有了一個良好的開端，我對你的建議是：要志存高遠(yuǎn)。一個年輕人，如果不把自己想象成一家大公司未來的老板或者是合伙人，那我會對他不屑一顧。不論職位有多高，你的內(nèi)心都不要滿足于做一個總管，領(lǐng)班或者總經(jīng)理。要對自己說：我要邁向頂尖!要做就做你夢想中的國王!

成功的首要條件和最大秘訣就是：把你的精力，思想和資本全都集中在你正從事的事業(yè)上。一旦開始從事某種職業(yè)，就要下定決心在那一領(lǐng)域闖出一片天地來;做這一行的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人物，采納每一點改進(jìn)之心，采用最優(yōu)良的設(shè)備，對專業(yè)知識熟稔于心。

一些公司的失敗就在于他們分散了資金，因為這就意味著分散了他們的精力。他們向這方面投資，又向那方面投資;在這里投資，在那里投資，到處都投資。“不要把所有的雞蛋放在一個籃子里”的說法大錯特錯。我要對你說：“把所有的雞蛋都放在一個籃子里，然后小心地看好那個籃子。”看看你周圍，你會注意到：這么做的人其實很少失敗。看管和攜帶一個籃子并不太難。人們總是試圖提很多籃子，所以才打破這個國家的大部分雞蛋。提三個籃子的人，必須把一個頂在頭上，而這個籃子很可能倒下來，把他自己絆倒。美國商人的一個缺點就是不夠?qū)Ｗⅰ?/p>

把我的話歸納一下：要志存高遠(yuǎn);不要出入酒吧;要滴酒不沾，或要喝也只在用餐時喝少許;不要做投機(jī)買賣;不要寅吃卯糧;要把公司的利益當(dāng)作自己的利益;取消訂貨的目的永遠(yuǎn)是為了挽救貨主;要專注;要把所有的雞蛋放在一個籃子里，然后小心地看好它;要量入為出;最后，要有耐心，正如愛默生所言，“誰都無法阻止你最終成功，除非你自己承認(rèn)自己失敗。”

第九篇：On Meeting the Celebrated 論見名人

On Meeting the Celebrated

I have always wondered at the passion many people have to meet the celebrated. The prestige you acquire by being able to tell your friends that you know famous men proves only that you are yourself of small account. The celebrated develop a technique to deal with the persons they come across. They show the world a mask, often an impressive on, but take care to conceal their real selves. They play the part that is expected from them, and with practice learn to play it very well, but you are stupid if you think that this public performance of theirs corresponds with the man within.

I have been attached, deeply attached, to a few people; but I have been interested in men in general not for their own sakes, but for the sake of my work. I have not, as Kant enjoined, regarded each man as an end in himself, but as material that might be useful to me as a writer. I have been more concerned with the obscure than with the famous. They are more often themselves. They have had no need to create a figure to protect themselves from the world or to impress it. Their idiosyncrasies have had more chance to develop in the limited circle of their activity, and since they have never been in the public eye it has never occurred to them that they have anything to conceal. They display their oddities because it has never struck them that they are odd. And after all it is with the common run of men that we writers have to deal; kings, dictators, commercial magnates are from our point of view very unsatisfactory. To write about them is a venture that has often tempted writers, but the failure that has attended their efforts shows that such beings are too exceptional to form a proper ground for a work of art. They cannot be made real. The ordinary is the writer’s richer field. Its unexpectedness, its singularity, its infinite variety afford unending material. The great man is too often all of a piece; it is the little man that is a bundle of contradictory elements. He is inexhaustible. You never come to the end of the surprises he has in store for you. For my part I would much sooner spend a month on a desert island with a veterinary surgeon than with a prime minister.

譯文：

論見名人

許多人熱衷于見名人，我始終不得其解。在朋友面前吹噓自己認(rèn)識某某名人，同此而來的聲望只能證明自己的微不足道。名人個個練就了一套處世高招，無論遇上誰，都能應(yīng)付自如。他們給世人展現(xiàn)的是一副面具，常常是美好難忘的面具，但他們會小心翼翼地掩蓋自己的真相。他們扮演的是大家期待的角色，演得多了，最后都能演得惟妙惟肖。如果你還以為他們在公眾面前的表演就是他們的真實自我，那就你傻了。

我自己就喜歡一些人，非常喜歡他們。但我對人感興趣一般不是因為他們自身的緣故，而是出于我工作需求。正如康德勸告的那樣，我從來沒有把認(rèn)識某人作為目的，而是將其當(dāng)作對一個作家有用的創(chuàng)作素材。比之名流顯士，我更加關(guān)注無名小卒。他們常常顯得較為自然真實，他們無須再創(chuàng)造另一個人物形象，用他來保護(hù)自己不受世人干擾，或者用他來感動世人。他們的社交圈子有限，自己的種種癖性也就越有可能得到滋長。因為他們從來沒有引起公眾的關(guān)注，也就從來沒有想到過要隱瞞什么。他們會表露他們古怪的一面，因為他們從來就沒有覺得有何古怪。總之，作家要寫的是普通人。在我們看來，國王，獨裁者和商界大亨等都是不符合條件的。去撰寫這些人物經(jīng)常是作家們難以抗拒的冒險之舉，可為此付出的努力不免以失敗告終，這說明這些人物都過于特殊，無法成為一件藝術(shù)作品的創(chuàng)作根基，作家也不可能把他們寫得真真切切。老百姓才是作家的創(chuàng)作沃土，他們或變幻無常，或難覓其二，各式人物應(yīng)有盡有，這些都給作家提供了無限的創(chuàng)作素材。大人物經(jīng)常是千人一面，小人物身上才有一組組矛盾元素，是取之不盡的創(chuàng)作源泉，讓你驚喜不斷。就我而言，如果在孤島上度過一個月，我寧愿和一名獸醫(yī)相守，也不愿同一位首相做伴。

第十篇：The 50-Percent Theory of Life 生活理論半對半

The 50-Percent Theory of Life

I believe in the 50-percent theory. Half the time things are better than normal; the other half, they re worse. I believe life is a pendulum swing. It takes time and experience to understand what normal is, and that gives me the perspective to deal with the surprises of the future.

Let’s benchmark the parameters: yes, I will die. I’ve dealt with the deaths of both parents, a best friend, a beloved boss and cherished pets. Some of these deaths have been violent, before my eyes, or slow and agonizing. Bad stuff, and it belongs at the bottom of the scale.

Then there are those high points: romance and marriage to the right person; having a child and doing those Dad things like coaching my son’s baseball team, paddling around the creek in the boat while he’s swimming with the dogs, discovering his compassion so deep it manifests even in his kindness to snails, his imagination so vivid he builds a spaceship from a scattered pile of Legos.

But there is a vast meadow of life in the middle, where the bad and the good flip-flop acrobatically. This is what convinces me to believe in the 50-percent theory.

One spring I planted corn too early in a bottomland so flood-prone that neighbors laughed. I felt chagrined at the wasted effort. Summer turned brutal—the worst heat wave and drought in my lifetime. The air-conditioned died; the well went dry; the marriage ended; the job lost; the money gone. I was living lyrics from a country tune—music I loathed. Only a surging Kansas City Royals team buoyed my spirits.

Looking back on that horrible summer, I soon understood that all succeeding good things merely offset the bad. Worse than normal wouldn’t last long. I am owed and savor the halcyon times. The reinvigorate me for the next nasty surprise and offer assurance that can thrive. The 50-percent theory even helps me see hope beyond my Royals’ recent slump, a field of struggling rookies sown so that some year soon we can reap an October harvest.

For that on blistering summer, the ground moisture was just right, planting early allowed pollination before heat withered the tops, and the lack of rain spared the standing corn from floods. That winter my crib overflowed with corn—fat, healthy three-to-a-stalk ears filled with kernels from heel to tip—while my neighbors’ fields yielded only brown, empty husks.

Although plantings past may have fallen below the 50-percent expectation, and they probably will again in the future, I am still sustained by the crop that flourishes during the drought.

譯文：

生活理論半對半

我信奉對半理論。生活時而無比順暢，時而倒霉透頂。我覺得生活就像來回擺的鐘擺。讀懂生活的常態(tài)需要時間和閱歷，而讀懂它也練就了我面對未來的生活態(tài)度。

讓我們確定一下好壞的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)：是的，我注定會死去。我已經(jīng)經(jīng)歷了雙親，一位好友，一位敬愛的老板和心愛寵物的死亡。有些突如其來，近在眼前，有些卻緩慢痛苦。這些都是糟糕的事情，它們屬于最壞的部分。

生活中也不乏高潮：墜入愛河締結(jié)良緣;身為人父養(yǎng)育幼子，諸如訓(xùn)練指導(dǎo)兒子的棒球隊，當(dāng)他和狗在小河中嬉戲時搖槳劃船，感受他如此強(qiáng)烈的同情心-即使對蝸牛也善待有加，發(fā)現(xiàn)他如此豐富的想象力-即使用零散的樂高玩具積木也能堆出太空飛船。

但在生活最好與最壞部分之間有一片巨大的中間地帶，其間各種好事壞事像耍雜技一樣上下翻滾，輪番出現(xiàn)。這就是讓我信服對半理論的原因。

有一年奏，我在一塊洼地上過早地種上了玉米。那塊地極易 英語勵志句子 遭到水淹，所以鄰居們都嘲笑我。我為浪費(fèi)了精力而感到懊惱。沒想到夏天更為殘酷-我經(jīng)歷了最糟糕的熱浪和干旱。空調(diào)壞了，進(jìn)干了，婚姻破裂了，工作丟了，錢也沒有。我正經(jīng)歷著某首鄉(xiāng)村歌曲中描繪的情節(jié)，我討厭這種音樂，只有剛出道不久的堪薩斯皇家棒球隊能鼓舞我的精神。

回首那個糟糕的夏天，我很快就明白了，所有后來出現(xiàn)的好事只不過與壞事相互抵消。比一般情況糟糕的境遇不會延宕過久;而太平時光是我應(yīng)得的，我要盡情享受，它們?yōu)槲易⑷牖盍σ詰?yīng)對下一個險情，并確保我可以興旺發(fā)達(dá)。對半理論甚至幫助我在堪薩斯皇家棒球隊最近的低潮中看到希望-這是一快艱難行進(jìn)的新手們耕耘的土地，只要播種了，假以時日我們就可以收獲十月的金秋。

那個夏天天氣酷熱，地而濕度適宜，提早播種就可以在熱浪打蔫植尖之前完成授粉，同于干旱更沒有爆發(fā)洪水，產(chǎn)在田里的玉米得以保存。因此那個冬天我的糧倉堆滿了玉米-豐滿，健康，一顆三穗且從頭到腳都是飽滿的玉米粒的玉米穗-而我的鄰居們收獲的只是曬黑的空殼。

盡管過去的播種可能沒有達(dá)到50%的收獲期望，而且將來也可能是這樣，但我仍然能靠著在旱季繁茂生長的莊稼而生存下去。

第十一篇：What is Your Recovery Rate? 你的恢復(fù)速率是多少?

What is Your Recovery Rate?

What is your recovery rate? How long does it take you to recover from actions and behaviors that upset you? Minutes? Hours? Days? Weeks? The longer it takes you to recover, the more influence that incident has on your actions, and the less able you are to perform to your personal best. In a nutshell, the longer it takes you to recover, the weaker you are and the poorer your performance.

You are well aware that you need to exercise to keep the body fit and, no doubt, accept that a reasonable measure of health is the speed in which your heart and respiratory system recovers after exercise. Likewise the faster you let go of an issue that upsets you, the faster you return to an equilibrium, the healthier you will be. The best example of this behavior is found with professional sportspeople. They know that the faster they can forget an incident or missd opportunity and get on with the game, the better their performance. In fact, most measure the time it takes them to overcome and forget an incident in a game and most reckon a recovery rate of 30 seconds is too long!

Imagine yourself to be an actor in a play on the stage. Your aim is to play your part to the best of your ability. You have been given a script and at the end of each sentence is a ful stop. Each time you get to the end of the sentence you start a new one and although the next sentence is related to the last it is not affected by it. Your job is to deliver each sentence to the best of your ability.

Don’t live your life in the past! Learn to live in the present, to overcome the past. Stop the past from influencing your daily life. Don’t allow thoughts of the past to reduce your personal best. Stop the past from interfering with your life. Learn to recover quickly.

Remember: Rome wasn’t built in a day. Reflect on your recovery rate each day. Every day before you go to bed, look at your progress. Don’t lie in bed saying to you, “I did that wrong.” “I should have done better there.” No. look at your day and note when you made an effort to place a full stop after an incident. This is a success. You are taking control of your life. Remember this is a step by step process. This is not a make-over. You are undertaking real change here. Your aim: reduce the time spent in recovery.

The way forward?

Live in the present. Not in the precedent.

譯文：

你的恢復(fù)速率是多少?

你的恢復(fù)速率是多少?你需要多長時間才能從讓你煩惱的行為中恢復(fù)?幾分鐘?幾小時?幾天?幾星期?你需要的恢復(fù)時間越長，那個事件對你的影響越大，你也就越不能做到最好。簡言之，你的恢復(fù)時間越長，你就越軟弱，你的表現(xiàn)也就越差勁。

你充分意識到，要保持身體健康你需要鍛煉，并且你無疑會接受，你的心臟和呼吸系統(tǒng)在鍛煉后的恢復(fù)速度是衡量健康的一個合理尺度。同樣，你越快擺脫使你煩惱的問題，越快恢復(fù)平靜，你就越健康。此類行為的最好典范是專業(yè)運(yùn)動員。他們知道，越快忘記一件事或失去的機(jī)會而好好比賽，他們的發(fā)揮就越好。實際上，大多數(shù)運(yùn)動員會佰自己克服并忘記比賽中一個事件所需的時間，而且大多數(shù)人都認(rèn)為30秒的恢復(fù)時間太長了!

想象自己是一位站在舞臺上的戲劇賞。你的目標(biāo)是盡全力扮演好你的角色。你已經(jīng)拿到了劇本，而劇本中的每句話都以句號結(jié)尾。每次你念到一個句子的末尾，你就會開始一個新的句子。盡管下一句和上一句有關(guān)聯(lián)，但并不受它的影響。你的工作是盡力說好每句臺詞。

不要生活在過去!要學(xué)會生活在現(xiàn)在，學(xué)會克服過去;不要讓過去影響你的日常生活;不要讓過去的思想妨礙你做到最好;不要讓過去干擾你的生活;學(xué)會快速恢復(fù)。

記住，羅馬不是一日建成的。每天都反思自己的恢復(fù)速率;每天上床睡覺前，都看看自己的進(jìn)步;不要躺在床上對自己說：“我那個做錯了。”“我應(yīng)該做到更好。”不要那樣做;回想自己的一天，并注意努力給某個事件畫上句號的時刻。這就是一個成功，你在控制自己的生活。記住這是一個循序漸進(jìn)的過程。這不是簡單的修修補(bǔ)補(bǔ)。你正在進(jìn)行的是真正的改變，你的目標(biāo)是減少用在恢復(fù)上的時間。

將來該怎么做呢?

生活在現(xiàn)在，而不是從前。

第十二篇：Clear Your Mental Space 清理心靈的空間

Clear Your Mental Space

Think about the last time you felt a negative emotion—like stress, anger, or frustration. What was going through your mind as you were going through that negativity? Was your mind cluttered with thoughts? Or was it paralyzed, unable to think?

The next time you find yourself in the middle of a very stressful time, or you feel angry or frustrated, stop. Yes, that’s right, stop. Whatever you’re doing, stop and sit for one minute. While you’re sitting there, completely immerse yourself in the negative emotion.

Allow that emotion to consume you. Allow yourself one minute to truly feel that emotion. Don’t cheat yourself here. Take the entire minute—but only one minute—to do nothing else but feel that emotion.

When the minute is over, ask yourself, “Am I wiling to keep holding on to this negative emotion as I go through the rest of the day?”

Once you’ve allowed yourself to be totally immersed in the emotion and really fell it, you will be surprised to find that the emotion clears rather quickly.

If you feel you need to hold on to the emotion for a little longer, that is OK. Allow yourself another minute to feel the emotion.

When you feel you’ve had enough of the emotion, ask yourself if you’re willing to carry that negativity with you for the rest of the day. If not, take a deep breath. As you exhale, release all that negativity with your breath.

This exercise seems simple—almost too simple. But, it is very effective. By allowing that negative emotion the space to be truly felt, you are dealing with the emotion rather than stuffing it down and trying not to feel it. You are actually taking away the power of the emotion by giving it the space and attention it needs. When you immerse yourself in the emotion, and realize that it is only emotion, it loses its control. You can clear your head and proceed with your task.

Try it. Next time you’re in the middle of a negative emotion, give yourself the space to feel the emotion and see what happens. Keep a piece of paper with you that says the following:

Stop. Immerse for one minute. Do I want to keep this negativity? Breath deep, exhale, release. Move on!

This will remind you of the steps to the process. Remember; take the time you need to really immerse yourself in the emotion. Then, when you feel you’ve felt it enough, release it—really let go of it. You will be surprised at how quickly you can move on from a negative situation and get to what you really want to do!

譯文：

清理心靈的空間

想下你最近一次感受到的消極情緒，例如壓力，憤怒或挫折。當(dāng)你處于那種消極情緒時你在想些什么?是充滿了混亂的思緒?還是陷于麻木，無法思考?

下次當(dāng)你發(fā)現(xiàn)自己處于非常緊張的狀態(tài)時，或是你感到氣憤或受挫時，停下來。是的，對，停下來。不管你在做什么，停下來坐上一分鐘。坐著的時候，讓自己完全沉浸在那種消極情緒之中。

讓那種消極情緒吞噬你，給自己一分鐘的時間去真切地體會那種情緒，不要欺騙自己?；ㄕ环昼姷臅r間 – 但只有一分鐘 – 去體會那種情緒，別的什么也不要做。

當(dāng)一分鐘結(jié)束時，問自己：“我是否想在今天余下的時間里繼續(xù)保持這種消極情緒?”

一旦你允許自己完全沉浸在那種情緒當(dāng)中并真切體會到它，你就會驚奇地發(fā)現(xiàn)那種情緒很快就消失了。

如果你覺得還需要點時間來保持那種情緒，沒關(guān)系，再給自己一分鐘的時間去體會它。

如果你覺得自己已經(jīng)充分體會了那種情緒，那就問自己是否愿意在今天余下的時間里繼續(xù)保持這種消極情緒。如果不愿意，那就深呼吸。呼氣的時候，把所有的消極情緒都釋放出去。

這個方法似乎很簡單 – 幾乎是太過簡單了，但卻非常有效。通過給自己空間真正體會消極情緒，你是在處理這種情緒，而不是將其壓制下去然后盡量不加理會。通過給予消極情緒所需的空間和關(guān)注，你實際上是在消解其力量。當(dāng)你沉浸在那種情緒之中，并且明白它只是一種情緒時，你就擺脫了它的控制。你可以清理頭腦并繼續(xù)做事。

你下次籠罩消極情緒時，試一下這種做法，給自己一點空間來體會那種情緒并看看會發(fā)生什么。隨身帶一張寫著如下字句的紙條：

停下來。沉浸一分鐘。我想保持這種消極情緒嗎?深吸氣，呼氣，放松。繼續(xù)做事!

這會提醒你該怎樣去做。記住，要花你所需要的時間去真正沉浸于那種情緒之中。然后，當(dāng)你感到自己已經(jīng)充分體會到了它。你會驚奇地發(fā)現(xiàn)，你很快就能擺脫消極情緒，并開始做你真正想做的事情!

第十三篇：Be Happy 快樂

Be Happy!

“The days that make us happy make us wise.”—-John Masefield

when I first read this line by England’s Poet Laureate, it startled me. What did Masefield mean? Without thinking about it much, I had always assumed that the opposite was true. But his sober assurance was arresting. I could not forget it.

Finally, I seemed to grasp his meaning and realized that here was a profound observation. The wisdom that happiness makes possible lies in clear perception, not fogged by anxiety nor dimmed by despair and boredom, and without the blind spots caused by fear.

Active happiness—not mere satisfaction or contentment —often comes suddenly, like an April shower or the unfolding of a bud. Then you discover what kind of wisdom has accompanied it. The grass is greener; bird songs are sweeter; the shortcomings of your friends are more understandable and more forgivable. Happiness is like a pair of eyeglasses correcting your spiritual vision.

Nor are the insights of happiness limited to what is near around you. Unhappy, with your thoughts turned in upon your emotional woes, your vision is cut short as though by a wall. Happy, the wall crumbles.

The long vista is there for the seeing. The ground at your feet, the world about you—-people, thoughts, emotions, pressures—are now fitted into the larger scene. Everything assumes a fairer proportion. And here is the beginning of wisdom.

譯文：

快樂

“快樂的日子使人睿智。”

— 約翰?梅斯菲爾德

第一次讀到英國桂冠詩人梅斯菲爾德的這行詩時，我感到十分震驚。他想表達(dá)什么意思?我以前從未對此仔細(xì)考慮，總是認(rèn)定這行詩反過來才正確。但他冷靜而又胸有成竹的表達(dá)引起了我的注意，令我無法忘懷。

終于，我似乎領(lǐng)會了他的意思，并意識到這行詩意義深遠(yuǎn)?？鞓穾淼念Ｖ谴嬖谟诿翡J的洞察力之間，不會因憂慮而含混迷惑，也不會因絕望和厭倦而黯然模糊，更不會因恐懼而造成盲點。

積極的快樂 – 并非單純的滿意或知足 – 通常不期而至，就像四月里突然下起的春雨，或是花蕾的突然綻放。然后，你就會發(fā)覺與快樂結(jié)伴而來的究竟是何種智慧。草地更為青翠，鳥吟更為甜美，朋友的缺點也變得更能讓人理解，寬容?？鞓肪拖袷且桓毖坨R，可以矯正你的精神視力。

快樂的視野并不僅限于你周圍的事物。當(dāng)你不快樂時，你的思維陷入情感上的悲哀，你的眼界就像是被一道墻給阻隔了，而當(dāng)你快樂時，這道墻就會砰然倒塌。

你的眼界變得更為寬廣。你腳下的大地，你身邊的世界，包括人，思想，情感和壓力，現(xiàn)在都融入了更為廣闊的景象之中，其間每件事物 的比例都更加合理。而這就是睿智的起始。

第十四篇：The Goodness of life 生命的美好

The Goodness of Life

Though there is much to be concerned about, there is far, far more for which to be thankful. Though life’s goodness can at times be overshadowed, it is never outweighed.

For every single act that is senselessly destructive, there are thousands more small, quiet acts of love, kindness and compassion. For every person who seeks to hurt, there are many, many more who devote their lives to helping and to healing.

There is goodness to life that cannot be denied.

In the most magnificent vistas and in the smallest details, look closely, for that goodness always comes shining through.

There si no limit to the goodness of life. It grows more abundant with each new encounter. The more you experience and appreciate the goodness of life, the more there is to be lived.

Even when the cold winds blow and the world seems to be cov ered in foggy shadows, the goodness of life lives on. Open your eyes, open your heart, and you will see that goodness is everywhere.

Though the goodness of life seems at times to suffer setbacks, it always endures. For in the darkest moment it becomes vividly clear that life is a priceless treasure. And so the goodness of life is made even stronger by the very things that would oppose it.

Time and time again when you feared it was gone forever you found that the goodness of life was really only a moment away. Around the next corner, inside every moment, the goodness of life is there to surprise and delight you.

Take a moment to let the goodness of life touch your spirit and calm your thoughts. Then, share your good fortune with another. For the goodness of life grows more and more magnificent each time it is given away.

Though the problems constantly scream for attention and the conflicts appear to rage ever stronger, the goodness of life grows stronger still, quietly, peacefully, with more purpose and meaning than ever before.

譯文：

生命的美好

盡管有很多事讓人憂慮，但相比而言，值得感激的事要多得多。盡管生命的美好有時被蒙上陰影，但它卻永遠(yuǎn)不會被埋沒。

相對于每一個無謂的破壞行為而言，都有更多數(shù)以千計更為微小的，包含著愛，友善和同情的舉動靜靜地上演著。相對于每一個試圖傷害他人的人而言，都有更多的人致力于幫助他人，治愈他人的創(chuàng)傷。

生命的美好不能否認(rèn)。

在最為壯觀的前景和最為瑣碎的細(xì)節(jié)中，請仔細(xì)觀察，因為美好的事物總是散發(fā)著耀眼的光芒閃亮登場。

生命的美好沒有界限。每一次相遇都會使這美好變得越發(fā)豐富。你經(jīng)歷得越多，越能欣賞生命的美好，生命中的美好就會變得越多。

即使當(dāng)寒風(fēng)襲來，整個世界似乎被霧氣掩蓋之時，生命的美好仍會存在。睜開雙眼，打開心扉，你就會發(fā)現(xiàn)這美好無處不在。

盡管生命的美好有時似乎遭受挫折，但它總會挺過來。因為，在最黑暗的時刻，有一點變得格外清楚，那就是，生命是無價的財富。因此，下正是與生命的美好相對立的事物使其越發(fā)強(qiáng)大。

無數(shù)次地，當(dāng)你擔(dān)心這美好已經(jīng)遠(yuǎn)離之時，你會發(fā)現(xiàn)生命的美好其實只與你相隔須臾。它就在下一角落，存在于每個時刻之間，等著給你驚喜。

花些時間讓生命的美好感動自己的靈魂，放松自己的思緒。然后，把你的幸運(yùn)與他人分享。因為生命的美好會在每次給予之間變得越來越壯觀。

盡管總是有問題讓你去關(guān)注，沖突也似乎愈演愈烈，但生命的美好卻總是靜靜地，平和地，帶著比以往更強(qiáng)的意志和更多的價值變得更加強(qiáng)大。

第十五篇：Facing the Enemies Within 直面內(nèi)在的敵人

Facing the Enemies Within

We are not born with courage, but neither are we born with fear. Maybe some of our fears are brought on by your own experiences, by what someone has told you, by what you’ve read in the papers. Some fears are valid, like walking alone in a bad part of town at two o’clock in the morning. But once you learn to avoid that situation, you won’t need to live in fear of it.

Fears, even the most basic ones, can totally destroy our ambitions. Fear can destroy fortunes. Fear can destroy relationships. Fear, if left unchecked, can destroy our lives. Fear is one of the many enemies lurking inside us.

Let me tell you about five of the other enemies we face from within. The first enemy that you’ve got to destroy before it destroys you is indifference. What a tragic disease this is! “Ho-hum, let it slide. I’ll just drift along.” Here’s one problem with drifting: you can’t drift your way to the to of the mountain.

The second enemy we face is indecision. Indecision is the thief of opportunity and enterprise. It will steal your chances for a better future. Take a sword to this enemy.

The third enemy inside is doubt. Sure, there’s room for healthy skepticism. You can’t believe everything. But you also can’t let doubt take over. Many people doubt the past, doubt the future, doubt each other, doubt the government, doubt the possibilities nad doubt the opportunities. Worse of all, they doubt themselves. I’m telling you, doubt will destroy your life and your chances of success. It will empty both your bank account and your heart. Doubt is an enemy. Go after it. Get rid of it.

The fourth enemy within is worry. We’ve all got to worry some. Just don’t let conquer you. Instead, let it alarm you. Worry can be useful. If you step off the curb in New York City and a taxi is coming, you’ve got to worry. But you can’t let worry loose like a mad dog that drives you into a small corner. Here’s what you’ve got to do with your worries: drive them into a small corner. Whatever is out to get you, you’ve got to get it. Whatever is pushing on you, you’ve got to push back.

The fifth interior enemy is overcaution. It is the timid approach to life. Timidity is not a virtue; it’s an illness. If you let it go, it’ll conquer you. Timid people don’t get promoted. They don’t advance and grow and become powerful in the marketplace. You’ve got to avoid overcaution.

Do battle with the enemy. Do battle with your fears. Build your courage to fight what’s holding ou back, what’s keeping you from your goals and dreams. Be courageous in your life and in your pursuit of the things you want and the person you want to become.

譯文：

直面內(nèi)在的敵人

我們的勇氣并不是與生俱來的，我們的恐懼也不是。也許有些恐懼來自你的親身經(jīng)歷，別人告訴你的故事，或你在報紙上讀到的東西。有些恐懼可以理解，例如在凌晨兩點獨自走在城里不安全的地段。但是一旦你學(xué)會避免那種情況，你就不必生活在恐懼之中。

恐懼，哪怕是最基本的恐懼，也可能徹底粉碎我們的抱負(fù)。恐懼可能摧毀財富，也可能摧毀一段感情。如果不加以控制，恐懼還可能摧毀我們的生活?？謶质菨摲谖覀儍?nèi)心的眾多敵人之一。

讓我來告訴你我們面臨的其他五個內(nèi)在敵人。第一個你要在它襲擊你之前將其擊敗的敵人是冷漠。打著哈欠說：“隨它去吧，我就隨波逐流吧。”這是多么可悲的疾病啊!隨波逐流的問題是：你不可能漂流到山頂去。

我們面臨的第二個敵人是優(yōu)柔寡斷。它是竊取機(jī)會和事業(yè)的賊，它還會偷去你實現(xiàn)更美好未來的機(jī)會。向這個敵人出劍吧!

第三個內(nèi)在的敵人是懷疑。當(dāng)然，正常的懷疑還是有一席之地的，你不能相信一切。但是你也不能讓懷疑掌管一切。許多人懷疑過去，懷疑未來，懷疑彼此，懷疑政府，懷疑可能性，并懷疑機(jī)會。最糟糕的是，他們懷疑自己。我告訴你，懷疑會毀掉你的生活和你成功的機(jī)會，它會耗盡你的存款，留給你干涸的心靈。懷疑是敵人，追趕它，消滅它。

第四個內(nèi)在的敵人是擔(dān)憂。我們都會有些擔(dān)憂，不過千萬不要讓擔(dān)憂征服你。相反，讓它來警醒你。擔(dān)憂也許能派上用場。當(dāng)你在紐約走上人行道時有一輛出租車向你駛來，你就得擔(dān)憂。但你不能讓擔(dān)憂像瘋狗一樣失控，將你逼至死角。你應(yīng)該這樣對付自己的擔(dān)憂：把擔(dān)憂驅(qū)至死角。不管是什么來打擊你，你都要打擊它。不管什么攻擊你，你都要反擊。

第五個內(nèi)在的敵人是過分謹(jǐn)慎。那是膽小的生活方式。膽怯不是美德，而是一種疾病。如果你不理會它，它就會將你征服。膽怯的人不會得到提拔，他們在市場中不會前進(jìn)，不會成長，不會變得強(qiáng)大。你要避免過分謹(jǐn)慎。

一定要向這引起敵人開戰(zhàn)。一定要向恐懼開戰(zhàn)。鼓起勇氣抗擊阻擋你的事物，與阻止你實現(xiàn)目標(biāo)和夢想的事物作斗爭。要勇敢地生活，勇敢地追求你想要的事物并勇敢地成為你想成為的人。

第十六篇：Abundance is a Life Style 富足的生活方式

Abundance is a Life Style

Abundance is a life style, a way of living your life. It isn’t something you buy now and then or pull down from the cupboard, dust off and use once or twice, and then return to the cupboard.

Abundance is a philosophy; it appears in your physiology, your value system, and carries its own set of beliefs. You walk with it, sleep with it, bath with it, feel with it, and need to maintain and take care of it as well.

Abundance doesn’t always require money. Many people live with all that money can buy yet live empty inside. Abundance begins inside with some main self-ingredients, like love, care, kindness and gentleness, thoughtfulness and compassion. Abundance is a state of being. It radiates outward. It shines like the sun among the many moons in the world.

Being from the brightness of abundance doesn’t allow the darkness to appear or be in the path unless a choice to allow it to. The true state of abundance doesn’t have room for lies or games normally played. The space is too full of abundance. This may be a challenge because we still need to shine for other to see.

Abundance is seeing people for their gifts and not what they lack or could be. Seeing all things for their gifts and not what they lack.

Start by knowing what your abundances are, fill that space with you, and be fully present from that state of being. Your profession of choice is telling you of knowing and possibilities. That is their gift. Consultants and customer service professionals have the ministrative assistants and virtual assistants have an abundance of coordination and time management. Abundance is all around you, and all within. See what it is; love yourself for what it is, not what you’re missing, or what that can be better, but for what it is at this present moment.

Be in a state of abundance of what you already have. I guarantee they are there; it always is buried but there. Breathe them in as if they are the air you breathe because they are yours. Let go of anything that isn’t abundant for the time being. Name the shoe boxes in your closet with your gifts of abundance; pull from them every morning if needed. Know they are there.

Learning to trust in your own abundance is required. When you begin to be within your own space of abundance, whatever you need will appear whenever you need it. That’s just the way the higher powers set this universe up to work. Trust the universal energy. The knowing of it all will humble you to its power yet let the brightness of you shine everywhere it needs to. Just by being from a state of abundance, it is being you.

譯文：

富足的生活方式

富足是一種生活方式。它不是你偶爾買來，從架子上拿下來，抹去灰塵用上一兩次然后又放回到架子上的東西。

富足是一種哲學(xué)，它體現(xiàn)于你的生理機(jī)能和價值觀之中，并帶有自己的一套信仰。無論走路，睡覺，洗澡你都會感受到它，你還要維護(hù)并照顧它。

富足并不一定需要金錢。許多人擁有金錢所能買到的一切，但卻內(nèi)心空虛。富足源自內(nèi)心，其中包含一些重要的自我成分，比如愛，關(guān)心，善良和溫柔，體貼與同情。富足是一種存在狀態(tài)，它向處發(fā)散，像處于眾多星球之間的太陽那樣發(fā)光發(fā)亮。

來自富足的光亮不允許黑暗的出現(xiàn)或存在，除非選擇允許它存在。真正的富足不給謊言或通常玩的游戲留有空間，因為富足已經(jīng)把空間填得太滿了。這可能是一個挑戰(zhàn)，因為我們?nèi)匀恍枰獮榱俗寗e人看見而發(fā)光。

富足是看到人們的天賦，而不是他的缺陷。所有的事物都要看其天賦而不是缺陷。

從知道自己的富足是什么時開始，填寫滿空間，全身心投入生活。你的選擇已經(jīng)告訴你。例如：教練能夠了解隊員并激發(fā)其潛力，那是他們的天賦;顧問和客服專業(yè)人士通常能夠提供很多成功且很具實用性的案例;行政助理和虛擬助理熟識直轄市配合和時間管理的技巧。富足充盈于你的四周以及你的內(nèi)心。明白富足的內(nèi)容，愛本色的自己，不要為自己缺少的或是能變得更好的方面愛自己，而是為此時此刻的富足而愛自己。

要處于你已經(jīng)擁有的事物的富足狀態(tài)。我保證它們就在那兒，深藏不露卻從未遠(yuǎn)離。將其看成空氣，吸入體內(nèi)，因為它們是你的。放開暫并不富足的東西。把你富足的所有天賦寫在櫥柜里的鞋盒子上，如果需要就每天早晨拉開櫥柜，知道你的天賦都在那兒。

你需要學(xué)會信任自己的富足。當(dāng)你開始處在自己富足的空間之內(nèi)時，你需要的東西都會在你需要的時刻出現(xiàn)。這就是更高的力量設(shè)置這個宇宙動轉(zhuǎn)的方式。要相信宇宙的能量。知道這一點會讓你在其力量面前保持謙卑，但也會讓你的光亮閃耀在所有需要的地方。只要處于富足的狀態(tài)，就是做你自己。

第十七篇：Human Life a Poem 人生如詩

Human Life a Poem

I think that, from a biological standpoint, human life almost reads like a poem. It has its own rhythm and beat, its internal cycles of growth and decay. It begins with innocent childhood, followed by awkward adolescence trying awkwardly to adapt itself to mature society, with its young passions and follies, its ideals and ambitions; then it reaches a manhood of intense activities, profiting from experience and learning more about society and human nature; at middle age, there is a slight easing of tension, a mellowing of character like the ripening of fruit or the mellowing of good wine, and the gradual acquiring of a more tolerant, more cynical and at the same time a kindlier view of life; then In the sunset of our life, the endocrine glands decrease their activity, and if we have a true philosophy of old age and have ordered our life pattern according to it, it is for us the age of peace and security and leisure and contentment; finally, life flickers out and one goes into eternal sleep, never to wake up again.

One should be able to sense the beauty of this rhythm of life, to appreciate, as we do in grand symphonies, its main theme, its strains of conflict and the final resolution. The movements of these cycles are very much the same in a normal life, but the music must be provided by the individual himself. In some souls, the discordant note becomes harsher and harsher and finally overwhelms or submerges the main melody. Sometimes the discordant note gains so much power that the music can no longer go on, and the individual shoots himself with a pistol or jump into a river. But that is because his original leitmotif has been hopelessly over-showed through the lack of a good self-education. Otherwise the normal human life runs to its normal end in kind of dignified movement and procession. There are sometimes in many of us too many staccatos or impetuosos, and because the tempo is wrong, the music is not pleasing to the ear; we might have more of the grand rhythm and majestic tempo o the Ganges, flowing slowly and eternally into the sea.

No one can say that life with childhood, manhood and old age is not a beautiful arrangement; the day has its morning, noon and sunset, and the year has its seasons, and it is good that it is so. There is no good or bad in life, except what is good according to its own season. And if we take this biological view of life and try to live according to the seasons, no one but a conceited fool or an impossible idealist can deny that human life can be lived like a poem. Shakespeare has expressed this idea more graphically in his passage about the seven stages of life, and a good many Chinese writers have said about the same thing. It is curious that Shakespeare was never very religious, or very much concerned with religion. I think this was his greatness; he took human life largely as it was, and intruded himself as little upon the general scheme of things as he did upon the characters of his plays. Shakespeare was like Nature itself, and that is the greatest compliment we can pay to a writer or thinker. He merely lived, observed life and went away.

譯文：

人生如詩

我以為，從生物學(xué)角度看，人的一生恰如詩歌。人生自有其韻律和節(jié)奏，自有內(nèi)在的生成與衰亡。人生始于無邪的童年，經(jīng)過少年的青澀，帶著激情與無知，理想與雄心，笨拙而努力地走向成熟;后來人到壯年，經(jīng)歷漸廣，閱人漸多，涉世漸深，收益也漸大;及至中年，人生的緊張得以舒緩，人的性格日漸成熟，如芳馥之果實，如醇美之佳釀，更具容忍之心，處世雖更悲觀，但對人生的態(tài)度趨于和善;再后來就是人生遲暮，內(nèi)分泌系統(tǒng)活動減少，若此時吾輩已經(jīng)悟得老年真諦，并據(jù)此安排殘年，那生活將和平，寧靜，安詳而知足;終于，生命之燭搖曳而終熄滅，人開始永恒的長眠，不再醒來。

人們當(dāng)學(xué)會感受生命韻律之美，像聽交響樂一樣，欣賞其主旋律、激昂的高潮和舒緩的尾聲。這些反復(fù)的樂章對于我們的生命都大同小異，但個人的樂曲卻要自己去譜寫。在某些人心中，不和諧音會越來越刺耳，最終竟然能掩蓋主曲;有時不和諧音會積蓄巨大的能量，令樂曲不能繼續(xù)，這時人們或舉槍自殺或投河自盡。

這是他最初的主題被無望地遮蔽，只因他缺少自我教育。否則，常人將以體面的運(yùn)動和進(jìn)程走向既定的終點。在我們多數(shù)人胸中常常會有太多的斷奏或強(qiáng)音，那是因為節(jié)奏錯了，生命的樂曲因此而不再悅耳。我們應(yīng)該如恒河，學(xué)她氣勢恢弘而豪邁地緩緩流向大海。

人生有童年、少年和老年，誰也不能否認(rèn)這是一種美好的安排，一天要有清晨、正午和日落，一年要有四季之分，如此才好。人生本無好壞之分，只是各個季節(jié)有各自的好處。如若我們持此種生物學(xué)的觀點，并循著季節(jié)去生活，除了狂妄自大的傻瓜和無可救藥的理想主義者，誰能說人生不能像詩一般度過呢。莎翁在他的一段話中形象地闡述了人生分七個階段的觀點，很多中國作家也說過類似的話。奇怪的是，莎士比亞并不是虔誠的宗教徒，也不怎么關(guān)心宗教。我想這正是他的偉大之處，他對人生秉著順其自然的態(tài)度，他對生活之事的干涉和改動很少，正如他對戲劇人物那樣。莎翁就像自然一樣，這是我們能給作家或思想家的最高褒獎。對人生，他只是一路經(jīng)歷著，觀察著，離我們遠(yuǎn)去了。

第十八篇：Solitude 獨處

Solitude

I find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of the time. To be in company, even with the best, is soon wearisome and dissipating. I love to be alone. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude. We are for the most part more lonely when we go abroad among men than when we stay in our chambers. A man thinking or working is always alone, let him be where he will. Solitude is not measured by the miles of space that intervene between a man and his fellows. The really diligent student in one of the crowded hives of Cambridge College is as solitary as a dervish in the desert. The farmer can work alone in the field or the woods all day, hoeing or chopping, and not feel lonesome, because he is employed; but when he comes home at night he cannot sit down in a room alone, at the mercy of his thoughts, but must be where he can :see the folks,:” and recreate, and, as he thinks, remunerate himself for his day’s solitude; and hence he wonders how the student can sit alone in the house all night and most of the day without ennui and :the blues:; but he does not realize that the student, though in the house, is still at work in his field, and chopping in his woods, as the farmer in his, and in turn seeks the same recreation and society that the latter does, though it may be a more condensed form of it.

Society is commonly too cheap. We meet at very short intervals, not having had time to acquire any new value for each other. We meet at meals three times a day, and give each other a new taste of that old musty cheese that we are. We have had to agree on a certain set of rules, called etiquette and politeness, to make this frequent meeting tolerable and that we need not come to open war. We meet at the post-office, and at the sociable, and about the fireside every night; we live thick and are in each other’s way, and stumble over one another, and I think that we thus lose some respect for one another. Certainly less frequency would suffice for all important and hearty communications. Consider the girls in a factory—never alone, hardly in their dreams. It would be better if there were but one inhabitant to a square mile, as where I live. The value of a man is not in his skin, that we should touch him.

I have a great deal of company in my house; especially in the morning, when nobody calls. Let me suggest a few comparisons, that some one may convey an idea of my situation. I am no more lonely than the loon in the pond that laughs so loud, or than Walden Pond itself. What company has that lonely lake, I pray?

And yet it has not the blue devils, but the blue angels in it, in the azure tint of its waters. The sun is alone, except in thick weather, when there sometimes appear to be two, but one is a mock sun. god is alone—but the devil, he is far from being alone; he sees a great deal of company; he is legion. I am no more lonely than a single mullein or dandelion in a pasture, or a bean leaf, or sorrel, or a horse-fly, or a bumblebee. I am no more lonely than the Millbrook, or a weathercock, or the north star, or the south wind, or an April shower, or a January thaw, or the first spider in a new house.

譯文：

獨處

我發(fā)現(xiàn)人若大部分時間用于獨處，將有益身心。與人為伴，即使是摯友，也很快會有厭煩或虛度光陰的感覺。我愛獨處，我發(fā)現(xiàn)沒有比獨處更好的伴侶了。出國，身在熙攘人群中，要比退守陋室更讓人寂寞。心有所想，身有所系的人總是孤身一人，不論他身處何地。獨處與否也不是由人與人之間的距離來確定。在劍橋苦讀的學(xué)子雖身處蜂巢般擁擠的教室，實際上卻和沙漠中的苦行僧一樣，是在獨處。家人終日耕于田間，伐于山野，此時他雖孤單但并不寂寞，因他專心于工作;但待到他日暮而息，卻未必能忍受形影相吊，空有思緒做伴的時光，他必到“可以看見大伙兒”的去處去找樂子，如他所認(rèn)為的那樣以補(bǔ)償白日里的孤獨;因此他無法理解學(xué)子如何能竟夜終日獨坐而不心生厭倦或倍感凄涼;然而他沒意識到，學(xué)子雖身在學(xué)堂，但心系勞作，但是耕于心田，伐于學(xué)林，這正和農(nóng)人一樣，學(xué)子在尋求的無非是和他一樣的快樂與陪伴，只是形式更簡潔罷了。

與人交往通常都因唾手可得而毫無價值，在頻繁的相處中，我們無暇從彼此獲取新價值。我們每日三餐相聚，反復(fù)讓彼此重新審視的也是依舊故我，并無新奇之處。為此我們要循規(guī)蹈矩，稱其為懂禮儀，講禮貌，以便在這些頻繁的接觸中相安無事，無須論戰(zhàn)而有辱斯文。我們相遇在郵局，邂逅在社交場所，圍坐在夜晚的爐火旁，交情甚篤，彼此干擾著，糾纏著;實際上我認(rèn)為這樣我們都或多或少失去了對彼此的尊重。對于所有重要的傾心交流，相見不必過頻。想想工廠里的女孩，她們雖從不落單，但也少有夢想。像這樣方圓一英里僅一人居住，那情況會更好。人的價值非在肌膚相親，而在心有靈犀。

。。。。。。

我的房子里有很多伙伴，尤其在無人造訪的清晨。我把自己和周圍事物對比一下，你或許能窺見我生活的一斑。比起那湖中長笑的潛鳥，還有那湖，我并不比它們孤獨多少。你看：這孤單的湖又何以為伴呢?然而它那一灣天藍(lán)的湖水里有的卻是天使的純凈，而非魔鬼的憂郁。太陽是孤獨的，雖然時而在陰郁的天氣里會出現(xiàn)兩個太陽，但其中之一為幻日;上帝是孤獨的 – 魔鬼才從不孤單，他永遠(yuǎn)不乏伙伴，因從他都甚眾。比起牧場上的一朵毛蕊花，一支蒲公英，一片豆葉，一束酢漿草，一只牛虻或大黃蜂來，我并不孤單多少;比想密爾溪，風(fēng)標(biāo)，北極星，南風(fēng)，四月春雨，正月融雪，或者新房中的第一只蜘蛛，我也并不更加孤單。

第十九篇：Giving Life Meaning 給生命以意義

Giving Life Meaning

Have you thought about what you want people to say about you after you’re gone? Can you hear the voice saying, “He was a great man.” Or “She really will be missed.” What else do they say?

One of the strangest phenomena of life is to engage in a work that will last long after death. Isn’t that a lot like investing all your money so that future generations can bare interest on it? Perhaps, yet if you look deep in your own heart, you’ll find something drives you to make this kind of contribution—something drives every human being to find a purpose that lives on after death.

Do you hope to memorialize your name? Have a name that is whispered with reverent awe? Do you hope to have your face carved upon 50 ft of granite rock? Is the answer really that simple? Is the purpose of lifetime contribution an ego-driven desire for a mortal being to have an immortal name or is it something more?

A child alive today will die tomorrow. A baby that had the potential to be the next Einstein will die from complication is at birth. The circumstances of life are not set in stone. We are not all meant to live life through to old age. We’ve grown to perceive life3 as a full cycle with a certain number of years in between. If all of those years aren’t lived out, it’s a tragedy. A tragedy because a human’s potential was never realized. A tragedy because a spark was snuffed out before it ever became a flame.

By virtue of inhabiting a body we accept these risks. We expose our mortal flesh to the laws of the physical environment around us. The trade off isn’t so bad when you think about it. The problem comes when we construct mortal fantasies of what life should be like. When life doesn’t conform to our fantasy we grow upset, frustrated, or depressed.

We are alive; let us live. We have the ability to experience; let us experience. We have the ability to learn; let us learn. The meaning of life can be grasped in a moment. A moment so brief it often evades our perception.

What meaning stands behind the dramatic unfolding of life? What single truth can we grasp and hang onto for dear life when all other truths around us seem to fade with time?

These moments are strung together in a series we call events. These events are strung together in a series we call life. When we seize the moment and bend it according to our will, a will driven by the spirit deep inside us, then we have discovered the meaning of life, a meaning for us that shall go on long after we depart this Earth.

譯文：

給生命以意義

你有沒有想過，你希望人們在你死后怎樣評論你?你能否聽到這樣的說，“他是個偉大的人”或“人們的確會懷念她”，他們還會說些什么?

人生最奇異的現(xiàn)象之一就是，你從事的事業(yè)在你死后仍將長久存在。這和你用所的錢進(jìn)行投資以便后人能從中獲益不是如出一轍嗎?也許，如果你審視自己的內(nèi)心深處，你就會發(fā)現(xiàn)促使你做出這種貢獻(xiàn)的驅(qū)動力-一種驅(qū)使每個人尋找在自己死后仍能繼續(xù)存在的事業(yè)的驅(qū)動力。

你希望自己的名字被人記住嗎?你希望別人提起你的名字時心懷敬畏嗎?你希望自己的面容被雕刻在50英尺高的花崗巖上嗎?答案真的那么簡單嗎?貢獻(xiàn)一生的目的難道終將一死之人想要獲得不朽名聲的自我鞭策的欲望?抑或是其他更偉大的事物?

今天活著的孩子明天就會死去。一個有可能成為下一個愛因斯坦的嬰兒會死于出生并發(fā)癥。生命的情形并不是固定不變的。我們并沒有注定都要活到老年。我們已經(jīng)認(rèn)識到，生命是一個周期，其時間長度是特定的。如果這些時間沒有被充分利用，那就是個悲劇，因為人的潛能還未實現(xiàn)，因為火花還沒形成火焰就被補(bǔ)滅。

由于存在于肉體之中，所以我們接受這些風(fēng)險。我們使易朽的肉體服從周圍物理環(huán)境的法則。你仔細(xì)想一想就會發(fā)現(xiàn)，這種交易并不是那么糟糕。當(dāng)我們幻想生命應(yīng)該如何時，問題就來了。當(dāng)生命和我們的幻想不一致時，我們就變得煩惱，無奈或沮喪。

我們活著，那我們就要活得精彩;我們有能力體驗，那我們就要體驗人生甘苦;我們有能力學(xué)習(xí)，那我們就要在學(xué)海徜徉。生命的意義可以在一瞬間抓住-一個經(jīng)常被我們忽略的短暫瞬間。

當(dāng)生命戲劇般地一幕幕拉開時，其中隱含的意義是什么?當(dāng)我們周圍所有其他都似乎隨著時間而消逝時，我們能夠掌握哪個真理并依靠它來生活呢?

這些瞬間串聯(lián)在一起，我們稱之為事件。這些事件串聯(lián)系在一起， 我們稱之為生活。當(dāng)我們抓住那個瞬間并按照我們的意志來改變它-這意志受到我們內(nèi)心深處的精神的驅(qū)使，我們就發(fā)現(xiàn)了生命的意義-這意義將在我們離開地球之后長久存在。

第二十篇：Relish the Moment 品位現(xiàn)在

Relish the Moment

Tucked away in our subconsciousness is an idyllic vision. We see ourselves on a long trip that spans the moment. We are traveling by train. Out the windows, we drink in the passing scene of cars on nearby highways, of children waving at a crossing, of cattle grazing on a distant hillside, of smoke pouring from a power plant, of row upon row of corn ad wheat, of flatlands and valleys, of mountains and rolling hillsides, of city skylines and village halls.

But uppermost in our minds is the final destination. On a certain day at a certain hour, we will pull into the station. Bands will be playing and flags waving. Once we get there, so many wonderful dreams will come true and the pieces of our lives will fit together like a completed jigsaw puzzle. How restlessly we pace the aisles, damning the minutes for loitering—waiting, waiting, waiting for the station.

“When we reach the station, that will be it!” we cry. “When I’m 18.” “When I buy a new 450SL Mercedes Benz!” “When I put the last kid through college.” “When I have paid off the mortgage!” “When I get a promotion.” “When I reach the age of retirement, I shall live happily ever after!”

Sooner or later, we must realize there is no station, no one place to arrive at once and for all. The true joy of life is the trip. The station is only a dream. It constantly outdistances us.

It isn’t the burdens of today that drive men mad. It is the regrets over yesterday and the fear of tomorrow. Regret and fear are twin thieves who rob us of today.

So stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead, climb more mountains, eat more ice cream, go barefoot more often, swim more rivers, watch more sunsets, laugh more, cry less. Life must be lived as we go along. The station will come soon enough.

譯文：

品味現(xiàn)在

我們的潛意識里藏著一派田園詩般的風(fēng)光! 我們仿佛身處一次橫貫大陸的漫漫旅程之中! 乘著火車, 我們領(lǐng)略著窗外流動的景色：附近高速公路上奔馳的汽車、十字路口處招手的孩童、遠(yuǎn)山上吃草的牛群、源源不斷地從電廠排放出的煙塵、一片片的玉米和小麥、平原與山谷、群山與綿延的丘陵、天空映襯下城市的輪廓, 以及鄉(xiāng)間的莊園宅第!

然而我們心里想得最多的卻是最終的目的地! 在某一天的某一時刻, 我們將會抵達(dá)進(jìn)站! 迎接我們的將是樂隊和飄舞的彩旗! 一旦到了那兒, 多少美夢將成為現(xiàn)實, 我們的生活也將變得完整, 如同一塊理好了的拼圖! 可是我們現(xiàn)在在過道里不耐煩地踱來踱去, 咒罵火車的拖拖拉拉! 我們期待著, 期待著, 期待著火車進(jìn)站的那一刻!

“當(dāng)我們到站的時候, 一切就都好了! “我們呼喊著! “當(dāng)我18歲的時候! “”當(dāng)我有了一輛新450SL奔馳的時候! “”當(dāng)我供最小的孩子念完大學(xué)的時候! “”當(dāng)我償清貸款的時候! “”當(dāng)我官升高任的時候! “”當(dāng)我到了退休的時候, 就可以從此過上幸福的生活啦! ”

可是我們終究會認(rèn)識到人生的旅途中并沒有車站, 也沒有能夠”一到永逸”的地方!生活的真正樂趣在于旅行的過程, 而車站不過是個夢, 它始終遙遙領(lǐng)先于我們!

真正令人發(fā)瘋的不是今日的負(fù)擔(dān), 而是對昨日的悔恨及對明日的恐懼! 悔恨與恐懼是一對孿生竊賊, 將今天從你我身邊偷走!

那么就不要在過道里徘徊吧, 別老惦記著你離車站還有多遠(yuǎn)! 何不換一種活法, 將更多的高山攀爬, 多吃點兒冰淇淋甜甜嘴巴, 經(jīng)常光著腳板兒溜達(dá), 在更多的河流里暢游, 多看看夕陽西下, 多點歡笑哈哈, 少讓淚水滴答! 生活得一邊過一邊瞧! 車站就會很快到達(dá)!

第二十一篇：The Love of Beauty 愛美

The Love of Beauty

The love of beauty is an essential part of all healthy human nature. It is a moral quality. The absence of it is not an assured ground of condemnation, but the presence of it is an invariable sign of goodness of heart. In proportion to the degree in which it is felt will probably be the degree in which nobleness and beauty of character will be attained.

Natural beauty is an all-pervading presence. The universe is its temple. It unfolds into the numberless flowers of spring. It waves in the branches of trees and the green blades of grass. It haunts the depths of the earth and the sea. It gleams from the hues of the shell and the precious stone. And not only these minute objects but the oceans, the mountains, the clouds, the stars, the rising and the setting sun—all overflow with beauty. This beauty is so precious, and so congenial to our tenderest and noblest feelings, that it is painful to think of the multitude of people living in the midst of it and yet remaining almost blind to it.

All persons should seek to become acquainted with the beauty in nature. There is not a worm we tread upon, nor a leaf that dances merrily as it falls before the autumn winds, but calls for our study and admiration. The power to appreciated beauty not merely increases our sources of happiness—it enlarges our moral nature, too. Beauty calms our restlessness and dispels our cares. Go into the fields or the woods, spend a summer day by the sea or the mountains, and all your little perplexities and anxieties will vanish. Listen to sweet music, and your foolish fears and petty jealousies will pass away. The beauty of the world helps us to seek and find the beauty of goodness.

譯文：

愛美

愛美及是整個健全人性不可或缺之一部分。它是一種道德品質(zhì)。缺乏這種品質(zhì)并不能作為受到責(zé)難的充分理由，但是擁有這種品質(zhì)則是心靈美好的永恒標(biāo)志。品德的高尚與美好所達(dá)到的程度可能與對美的感受程度成正比。

大自然的美無處不在，整個宇宙就是美的殿堂。美，在春日百花中綻放;美，在綠葉嫩枝間搖曳;美，在深海幽谷里游弋;美，在奇石與貝殼的繽紛色彩中閃爍。不只是這些細(xì)微之物，還有海洋，山川，云彩，繁星，日升日落 – 一切都是洋溢著美。這樣的美是如此珍貴，與我們最溫柔，最高尚的情愫是如此相宜。然而，想到很多人置身于美之中，卻幾乎對它熟視無睹，真是令人痛心不已。

所有的人都應(yīng)該去認(rèn)識大自然之美。沒有一條我們踩過的小蟲，沒有一片在秋風(fēng)拂掠之際飛舞的樹葉不值得我們研究與贊賞。欣賞美的能力不僅增加了我們快樂的來源，也加強(qiáng)了我們德性的修養(yǎng)。美使我們不安的心平靜下來，也驅(qū)散了我們的憂慮。到田野或森林去，在夏日的海邊或山上呆上一天，那么你所有微不足道的困惑與焦慮都會煙消云散。傾聽悅耳的音樂，你那愚蠢的恐懼與狹隘的嫉妒都會過去。世界之美將有助于我們找到為善之美。

第二十二篇：The Happy Door 快樂之門

The Happy door

Happiness is like a pebble dropped into a pool to set in motion an ever-widening circle of ripples. As Stevenson has said, being happy is a duty.

There is no exact definition of the word happiness. Happy people are happy for all sorts of reasons. The key is not wealth or physical well-being, since we find beggars, invalids and so-called failures, who are extremely happy.

Being happy is a sort of unexpected dividend. But staying happy is an accomplishment, a triumph of soul and character. It is not selfish to strive for it. It is, indeed, a duty to ourselves and others.

Being unhappy is like an infectious disease. It causes people to shrink away from the sufferer. He soon finds himself alone, miserable and embittered. There is, however, a cure so simple as to seem, at first glance, ridiculous; if you don’t feel happy, pretend to be!

It works. Before long you will find that instead of repelling people, you attract them. You discover how deeply rewarding it is to be the center of wider and wider circles of good will.

Then the make-believe becomes a reality. You possess the secret of peace of mind, and can forget yourself in being of service to others.

Being happy, once it is realized as a duty and established as a habit, opens doors into unimaginable gardens thronged with grateful friends.

譯文：

快樂之門

快樂就像一塊為了激起陣陣漣漪而丟進(jìn)池塘的小石頭。正好史蒂文森所說，快樂是一種責(zé)任。

快樂這個詞并沒有確切的定義，快樂的人快樂的理由多種多樣。快樂的關(guān)鍵并不是財富或身體健康，因為我們發(fā)現(xiàn)有些乞丐，殘疾人和所謂的失敗者也都非?？鞓?。

快樂是一種意外的收獲，但保持快樂卻是一種成就，一種靈性的勝利。努力追尋快樂并不自私，實際上，這是我們對自己和他人應(yīng)盡的責(zé)任。

不快樂就像傳染病，它使得人們都躲避不快樂的人。不快樂的人很快就會發(fā)現(xiàn)自己處于孤獨，悲慘，痛苦的境地。然而，有一種簡單得看似荒謬的治病良方：如果你不快樂，就假裝你很快樂!

這很有效。不久你就會發(fā)現(xiàn)，別人不再躲著你了，相反，你開始吸引別人了。你會發(fā)覺，做一塊能激起好意漣漪的小石頭有多么值得。

然后假裝就變成了現(xiàn)實。你擁有了使心靈平靜的秘密，會因幫助他人而忘我。

一旦你認(rèn)識到快樂是一種責(zé)任并使快樂成為習(xí)慣，通向不可思議的樂園的大門就會向你敞開，那里滿是感激你的朋友。

第二十三篇：Born to Win 生而為贏

Born to Win

Each human being is born as something new, something that never existed before. Each is born with the capacity to win at life. Each person has a unique way of seeing, hearing, touching, tasting and thinking. Each has his or her own unique potentials—capabilities and limitations. Each can be a significant, thinking, aware, and creative being—a productive person, a winner.

The word “winner” and “loser” have many meanings. When we refer to a person as a winner, we do not mean one who makes someone else lose. To us, a winner is one who responds authentically by being credible, trustworthy, responsive, and genuine, both as an individual and as a member of a society.

Winners do not dedicated their lives to a concept of what they imagine they should be; rather, they are themselves and as such do not use their energy putting on a performance, maintaining pretence and manipulating others. They are aware that there is a difference between being loving and acting loving, between being stupid and acting stupid, between being knowledgeable and acting knowledgeable. Winners do not need to hide behind a mask.

Winners are not afraid to do their own thinking and to use their own knowledge. They can separate facts from opinions and don’t pretend to have all the answers. They listen to others, evaluate what they say, but come to their own conclusions. Although winners can admire and respect other people, they are not totally defined, demolished, bound, or awed by them.

Winners do not play “helpless”, nor do they play the blaming game. Instead, they assume responsibility for their own lives. They don’t give others a false authority over them. Winners are their own bosses and know it.

A winner’s timing is right. Winners respond appropriately to the situation. Their responses are related to the message sent and preserve the significance, worth, well-being, and dignity of the people involved. Winners know that for everything there is a season and for every activity a time.

Although winners can freely enjoy themselves, they can also postpone enjoyment, can discipline themselves in the present to enhance their enjoyment in the future. Winners are not afraid to go after what he wants, but they do so in proper ways. Winners do not get their security by controlling others. They do not set themselves up to lose.

A winner cares about the world and its peoples. A winner is not isolated from the general problems of society, but is concerned, compassionate, and committed to improving the quality of life. Even in the face of national and international adversity, a winner’s self-image is not one of a powerless individual. A winner works to make the world a better place.

譯文：

生而為贏

人皆生而為新，為前所未有之所存在;人皆生而能贏。人皆有其特立獨行之方式去審視，聆聽，觸摸，品味及思考，因而都具備獨特潛質(zhì)-能力和局限。人皆能舉足輕重，思慮明達(dá)，洞察秋毫，富有創(chuàng)意，成就功業(yè)。

“成者”與“敗者”含義頗多。談及成者我們并非指令他人失意之人。對我們而言，成者必為人守信，值得信賴，有求必應(yīng)，態(tài)度誠懇，或為個人，或為社會一員皆能以真誠回應(yīng)他人。

成者行事并不拘泥于某種信條，即便是他們認(rèn)為應(yīng)為其奉獻(xiàn)一生的理念;而是本色行事，所以并不把精力用來表演，保持偽裝或操控他人。他們明了愛與裝家，愚蠢與裝傻，博學(xué)與賣弄之間迥然有別。成者無須藏于面具之后。

成者敢于利用所學(xué)，獨立思考，區(qū)分事實與觀點，且并不佯裝通曉所有答案。他們傾聽，權(quán)衡他人意見，但能得出自己的結(jié)論。盡管他們尊重，敬佩他們，但并不為他們所局限，所推翻，所束縛，也不對他人敬若神靈。

成者既不佯裝“無助”，亦不抱怨他人。相反，他們對人生總是獨擔(dān)責(zé)任，也不以權(quán)威姿態(tài)凌駕他人之上。他們主宰自己，而且能意識到這點。

成者善于審時度勢，隨機(jī)應(yīng)變。他們對所接受的信息做出回應(yīng)，維護(hù)當(dāng)事人的利益，康樂和尊嚴(yán)。成者深知成一事要看好時節(jié)，行一事要把握時機(jī)。

盡管成者可以自由享樂，但他更知如何推遲享樂，適時自律，以期將來樂趣更盛。成者并不忌憚追求所想，但取之有道，也并不靠控制他們而獲取安然之感。他們總是使自己立于不敗。

成者心憂天下，并不孤立塵世弊病之外，而是置身事內(nèi)，滿腔熱情，致力于改善民生。即使面對民族，國家之危亡，成者亦非無力回天之個體。他總是努力令世界更好。

第二十四篇：Work and Pleasure 工作和娛樂

Work and Pleasure

To be really happy and really safe, one ought to have at least two or three hobbies, and they must all be real. It is no use starting late in life to say: “I will take an interest in this or that.” Such an attempt only aggravates the strain of mental effort. A man may acquire great knowledge of topics unconnected with his daily work, and yet hardly get any benefit or relief. It is no use doing what you like; you have got to like what you do. Broadly speaking, human being may be divided into three classes: those who are toiled to death, those who are worried to death, and those who are bored to death. It is no use offering the manual laborer, tired out with a hard week’s sweat and effort, the chance of playing a game of football or baseball on Saturday afternoon. It is no use inviting the politician or the professional or business man, who has been working or worrying about serious things for six days, to work or worry about trifling things at the weekend.

It may also be said that rational, industrious, useful human beings are divided into two classes: first, those whose work is work and whose pleasure is pleasure; and secondly, those whose work and pleasure are one. Of these the former are the majority. They have their compensations. The long hours in the office or the factory bring with them as their reward, not only the means of sustenance, but a keen appetite for pleasure even in its simplest and most modest forms. But Fortune’s favored children belong to the second class. Their life is a natural harmony. For them the working hours are never long enough. Each day is a holiday, and ordinary holidays when they come are grudged as enforced interruptions in an absorbing vacation. Yet to both classes the need of an alternative outlook, of a change of atmosphere, of a diversion of effort, is essential. Indeed, it may well be that those whose work is their pleasure are those who most need the means of banishing it at intervals from their minds.

譯文：

工作和娛樂

要想真正生活得幸福和平安，一個人至少應(yīng)該有兩三種業(yè)余愛好，而且必須是真正的愛好。到了晚年才開始說“我要培養(yǎng)這個或那個興趣”是毫無用處的，種這種嘗試只會增加精神上的負(fù)擔(dān)。在與自己日常工作無關(guān)的領(lǐng)域中，一個人可以獲得淵博的知識，但卻很難有所收益或得到放松。做自己喜歡的事是無益的，你得喜歡自己所做的事。廣言之，人可以分為三個類別：勞累而死的人，憂慮而死的人和無聊而死的人。對于那些體力勞動者來說，一周辛苦的工作使他們精疾力竭，因此在周六下午給他們提供踢足球或者打棒球的機(jī)會是沒有意義的。對于政界人士，專業(yè)人士或者商人來說，他們已經(jīng)為棘手的事務(wù)操勞或者煩惱了六天，因此在周末請他們?yōu)楝嵤聞谏裢瑯雍翢o意義。

或者可以這么說，理智的，勤奮的，有用的人可以分為兩類：對第一類人而言，工作就是工作，娛樂就是娛樂;對于第二類人而言，工作和娛樂是合二為一的。很大一部分人屬于前者。他們可以得到相應(yīng)的補(bǔ)償。在辦公室或工廠里長時間的工作，不僅帶給他們維持生計的金錢，還帶給他們一種渴求娛樂的強(qiáng)烈欲望，哪怕這種娛樂消遣是以最簡單，最淳樸的方式進(jìn)行的。而第二類人則是命運(yùn)的寵兒。他們的生活自然而和諧。在他們看來，工作時間永遠(yuǎn)不夠多，每天都是假期;而當(dāng)正常的假日到來時，他們總會抱怨自己有趣的休假被強(qiáng)行中斷。然而，有一些東西對于這兩類人來說都十分必要，那就是變換一下視角，改變一下氛圍，嘗試做點不同的事情。事實上，那些把工作看作娛樂的人可能是需要以某種方式將工作不時地驅(qū)趕出自己的大腦。

第二十五篇：Mirror, Mirror–What do I see鏡子,鏡子,告訴我

Mirror, Mirror—What do I See?

A loving person lives in a loving world. A hostile person lives in a hostile world. Everyone you meet is your mirror.

Mirrors have a very particular function. They reflect the image in front of them. Just as a physical mirror serves as the vehicle to reflection, so do all of the people in our lives.

When we see something beautiful such as a flower garden, that garden serves as a reflection. In order to see the beauty in front of us, we must be able to see the beauty inside of ourselves. When we love someone, it’s a reflection of loving ourselves. When we love someone, it’s a reflection of loving ourselves. We have often heard things like “I love how I am when I’m with that person.” That simply translates into “I’m able to love me when I love that other person.” Oftentimes, when we meet someone new, we feel as though we “click”. Sometimes it’s as if we’ve known each other for a long time. That feeling can come from sharing similarities.

Just as the “mirror” or other person can be a positive reflection, it is more likely that we’ll notice it when it has a negative connotation. For example, it’s easy to remember times when we have met someone we’re not particularly crazy about. We may have some criticism in our mind about the person. This is especially true when we get to know someone with whom we would rather spend less time.

Frequently, when we dislike qualities in other people, ironically, it’s usually the mirror that’s speaking to us.

I began questioning myself further each time I encountered someone that I didn’t particularly like. Each time, I asked myself, “What is it about that person that I don’t like?” and then “Is there something similar in me?” in every instance, I could see a piece of that quality in me, and sometimes I had to really get very introspective. So what did that mean?

It means that just as I can get annoyed or disturbed when I notice that aspect in someone else, I better reexamine my qualities and consider making some changes. Even if I’m not willing to make a drastic change, at least I consider how I might modify some of the things that I’m doing.

At times we meet someone new and feel distant, disconnected, or disgusted. Although we don’t want to believe it, and it’s not easy or desirable to look further, it can be a great learning lesson to figure out what part of the person is being reflected in you. It’s simply just another way to create more self-awareness.

譯文：

鏡子，鏡子，告訴我

充滿愛意人的生活在充滿愛意的世界里，充滿敵意的人則生活在充滿敵意的世界里。你所遇到的每一個人都是你的鏡子。

鏡子里有一個非常獨特的功能，那就是映射出在其前面的影像。就像真正的鏡子具有反射功能一樣，我們生活中的所有人也都能映射出他人的影子。

當(dāng)我們看到美麗的事物時，例如一座花園，那這花園就起到了反射作用。為了發(fā)現(xiàn)我們面前美好的事物，我們必須能發(fā)現(xiàn)在自己內(nèi)在的美。我們愛某個人，也正是我們愛自己的表現(xiàn)。我們經(jīng)常聽到這樣的話：“當(dāng)我和那個人在一起的時候，我愛那時的自己。”這句話也可以簡單地說成：“在我愛那個人的同時，我也能愛我自己。”有時，我們遇見一個陌生人，感覺仿佛是一見如故，就好像我們已經(jīng)相識甚久。這種熟悉感可能來自于彼此身上的共同點。

就像“鏡子”或他人能映射出我們積極的一面一樣，我們更有可能注意到映射出自己消極方面的“鏡子”。例如，我們很容易就能記住我們碰到自己不太喜歡的人的時刻。我們可能在心里對那個人有些反感。當(dāng)我們認(rèn)識自己不喜歡與之相處的人時，這種情況就更為明顯。

具有諷刺意味著的是，通常當(dāng)我們討厭別人身上的某些特質(zhì)時，那就說明你其實討厭自己身上相類似的特質(zhì)。

每次，當(dāng)我遇到不太喜歡的人時，我就開始進(jìn)一步質(zhì)問自己。我會捫心自問：“我不喜歡那個人的哪些方面?”然后還會問：“我是不是有和他相似的地方?”每次，我都能在自己身上看到一些令我厭惡的特質(zhì)。我有時不得不深刻地反省自己。那這意味著什么呢?

這意味著，就像我會對其他人身上令我厭惡的特質(zhì)感到惱怒或不安一樣，我應(yīng)該更好地重新審視自己的特質(zhì)，并考慮做一些改變。即使我不想做大的改變，至少我會考慮該如何修正自己正在做的一些事情。

我們時常會遇到陌生人，并感到疏遠(yuǎn)或厭惡。盡管我們不想去相信，不容易也不想去深究，但是弄清楚別人的哪些特質(zhì)在自己身上有所體現(xiàn)是非常有意義的一課，這也正是增強(qiáng)自我意識的另一個途徑。

第二十六篇：On Motes and Beams 微塵與棟梁

On Motes and Beams

It is curious that our own offenses should seem so much less heinous than the offenses of others. I suppose the reason is that we know all the circumstances that have occasioned them and so manage to excuse in ourselves what we cannot excuse in others. We turn our attention away from our own defects, and when we are forced by untoward events to consider them, find it easy to condone them. For all I know we are right to do this; they are part of us and we must accept the good and bad in ourselves together.

But when we come to judge others, it is not by ourselves as we really are that we judge them, but by an image that we have formed of ourselves fro which we have left out everything that offends our vanity or would discredit us in the eyes of the world. To take a trivial instance: how scornful we are when we catch someone out telling a lie; but who can say that he has never told not one, but a hundred?

There is not much to choose between men. They are all a hotchpotch of greatness and littleness, of virtue and vice, of nobility and baseness. Some have more strength of character, or more opportunity, and so in one direction or another give their instincts freer play, but potentially they are the same. For my part, I do not think I am any better or any worse than most people, but I know that if I set down every action in my life and every thought that has crossed my mind, the world would consider me a monster of depravity. The knowledge that these reveries are common to all men should inspire one with tolerance to oneself as well as to others. It is well also if they enable us to look upon our fellows, even the most eminent and respectable, with humor, and if they lead us to take ourselves not too seriously.

譯文：

微塵與棟梁

讓人奇怪的是，和別人的過錯比起來，我們自身的過錯往往不是那樣的可惡。我想，其原因應(yīng)該是我們知曉一切導(dǎo)致自己犯錯的情況，因此能夠設(shè)法諒解自己的錯誤，而別人的錯誤卻不能諒解。我們對自己的缺點不甚關(guān)注，即便是深陷困境而不得不正視它們的時候，我們也會很容易就寬恕自己。據(jù)我所知，我們這樣做是正確的。缺點是我們自身的一部分，我們必須接納自己的好和壞。

但是當(dāng)我們評判別人的時候，情況就不同了。我們不是通過真實的自我來評判別人，而是用一種自我形象來評判，這種自我形象完全摒棄了在任何世人眼中會傷害到自己的虛榮或者體面的東西。舉一個小例子來說：當(dāng)覺察到別人說謊時，我們是多么地蔑視他啊!但是，誰能夠說自從未說過謊?可能還不止一百次呢。

人和人之間沒什么大的差別。他們皆是偉大與渺小，善良與邪惡，高尚與低俗的混合體。有的人性格比較堅毅，機(jī)會也比較多，因而達(dá)個或那個方面，能夠更自由地發(fā)揮自己的稟賦，但是人類的潛能卻都是相同的。至于我自己，我認(rèn)為自己并不比大多數(shù)人更好或者更差，但是我知道，假如我記下我生命中每一次舉動和每一個掠過我腦海的想法的話，世界就會將我視為一個邪惡的怪物。每個人都會有這樣的怪念頭，這樣的認(rèn)識應(yīng)當(dāng)能夠啟發(fā)我們寬容自己，也寬容他人。同時，假如因此我們得以用幽默的態(tài)度看待他人，即使是天下最優(yōu)秀最令人尊敬的人，而且假如我們也因此不把自己看得過于重要，那是很有裨益的。

第二十七篇：An October Sunrise 十月的日出

An October Sunrise

I was up the next morning be fore the October sunrise, and away through the wild and the woodland. The rising of the sun was noble in the cold and warmth of it peeping down the spread of light, he raised his shoulder heavily over the edge of grey mountain and wavering length of upland. Beneath his gaze the dew-fogs dipped, and crept to crept to the hollow places; then stole away in line and column, holding skirts, and clinging subtly at the sheltering corners where rock hung over grassland, while the brave lines of the hills came forth, one beyond other gliding.

The woods arose in folds, like drapery of awakened mountains, stately with a depth of awe, and memory of the tempests. Autumn’s mellow hand was upon them, as they owned already, touched with gold and red and olive, and their joy towards the sun was less to a bridegroom than a father.

Yet before the floating impress of the woods could clear it self, suddenly the gladsome light leaped over hill and valley, casting amber, blue, and purple, and a tint of rich red rose; according to the scene they lit on, and the curtain flung around; yet all alike dispelling fear and the cloven hoof of darkness, all on the wings of hope advancing, and proclaiming, “God is here!” then life and joy sprang reassured from every crouching hollow; every flower, and bud and bird had a fluttering sense of them; and all the flashing of God’s gaze merged into soft beneficence.

So, perhaps, shall break upon us that eternal morning, when crag and chasm shall be no more, neither hill and valley, nor great unvintaged ocean; but all things shall arise, and shine in the light of the Father’s countenance, because itself is risen.

譯文：

十月的日出

第二天凌晨，在十月的太陽升起之前，我已經(jīng)起身并穿過了曠野和叢林。十月的清晨乍寒還暖，日出的景象非常壯觀。透過一片晨曦，朝日從朦朧的山岡和起伏連綿的高地過際，沉重地抬起肩頭。在它的逼視下，蒙蒙的霧氣向下沉降，落到洼地里去，接著一絲絲一縷縷地悄悄飄散，而在草地之上懸?guī)r之下的那些隱秘角落里，霧氣卻還不愿散去，同時群山的雄姿接二連三地顯現(xiàn)出來。

森林也層層疊疊地顯現(xiàn)，宛若剛剛蘇醒的山巒的斗篷，端莊威嚴(yán)，并帶著狂風(fēng)暴雨的回憶。秋天成熟的手已經(jīng)在撫摸這些山林，因為它們的顏色已經(jīng)改變，染上了金黃，丹紅和橄欖綠。它們對朝日所懷的一片喜悅，像是要奉獻(xiàn)給一個新郎，更像是要奉獻(xiàn)給一位父親。

然而，在樹林那流動的景色逝去之前，歡悅的晨光突然躍出了峰巒和山谷，光線所及，把照到的地方和周圍的森林分別染成青色，紫色，琥珀色和富麗的紅玫瑰色。光線照到哪里，那里就如同一幅幕布被掀開。而所有的一切都同樣在驅(qū)散恐懼和黑暗的魔影;所有的一切都展開希望的翅膀，向前習(xí)翔，并大聲宣告：“上帝在這里!”于是生命和歡樂從每一個蜷伏的洞穴里信心十足地欣然躍出;一切花朵，蓓蕾和鳥雀都感到了生命和歡樂而抖動起來;上帝的凝視匯合成溫柔的恩澤。

也許，那永恒的晨光就會這樣降臨人間，那時不再有險崖溝壑，不再有峰巒山谷，也不再有浩瀚無際的海洋;萬物都將踴躍升騰，在造物主慈愛的光芒中生輝，因為太陽已經(jīng)升起。

第二十八篇：To Be or Not to Be 生存還是毀滅

To be or not to be

Outside the Bible, these six words are the most famous in all the literature of the world. They were spoken by Hamlet when he was thinking aloud, and they are the most famous words in Shakespeare because Hamlet was speaking not only for himself but also for every thinking man and woman. To be or not to be, to live or not to live, to live richly and abundantly and eagerly, or to live dully and meanly and scarcely. A philosopher once wanted to know whether he was alive or not, which is a good question for everyone to put to himself occasionally. He answered it by saying: “I think, therefore am.”

But the best definition of existence ever saw did another philosopher who said: “To be is to be in relations.” If this true, then the more relations a living thing has, the more it is alive. To live abundantly means simply to increase the range and intensity of our relations. Unfortunately we are so constituted that we get to love our routine. But apart from our regular occupation how much are we alive? If you are interest-ed only in your regular occupation, you are alive only to that extent. So far as other things are concerned–poetry and prose, music, pictures, sports, unselfish friendships, politics, international affairs–you are dead.

Contrariwise, it is true that every time you acquire a new interest–even more, a new accomplishment–you increase your power of life. No one who is deeply interested in a large variety of subjects can remain unhappy; the real pessimist is the person who has lost interest.

Bacon said that a man dies as often as he loses a friend. But we gain new life by contacts, new friends. What is supremely true of living objects is only less true of ideas, which are also alive. Where your thoughts are, there will your live be also. If your thoughts are confined only to your business, only to your physical welfare, only to the narrow circle of the town in which you live, then you live in a narrow cir-conscribed life. But if you are interested in what is going on in China, then you are living in China~ if you’re interested in the characters of a good novel, then you are living with those highly interesting people, if you listen intently to fine music, you are away from your immediate surroundings and living in a world of passion and imagination.

To be or not to be–to live intensely and richly, merely to exist, that depends on ourselves. Let widen and intensify our relations. While we live, let live!

譯文：

生存還是毀滅

“生存還是毀滅。”如果把《圣經(jīng)》除外，這六個字便是整個世界文學(xué)中最有名的六個字了。這六個字是哈姆雷特一次喃喃自語時說的，而這六個字也就成了莎士比亞作品中最有名的幾個字了，因為這里哈姆雷特不僅道出了他自己的心聲，同時也代表了一切有思想的男男女女。是活還是不活——是要生活還是不要生活，是要生活得豐滿充實，興致勃勃，還是只是活得枯燥委瑣，貧乏無味。一位哲人一次曾想弄清他自己是否是在活著，這個問題我們每個人也大可不時地問問我們自己。這位哲學(xué)家對此的答案是： “我思故我在。”

但是關(guān)于生存我所見過的一條最好的定義卻是另一位哲學(xué)家下的：“生活即是聯(lián)系。”如果這話不假的話，那么一個有生命者的聯(lián)系越多，它也就越有生氣。所謂要活得豐富充實也即是要擴(kuò)大和加強(qiáng)我們的各種聯(lián)系。不幸的是，我們往往會因為天性不夠豐厚而容易陷入自己的陳規(guī)舊套。試問除去我們的日常工作，我們的真正生活又有多少?如果你只是對你的日常工作才有興趣，那你的生趣也就很有限了。至于在其它事物方面，比如詩歌、散文、音樂、美術(shù)、體育、無私的友誼、政治與國際事務(wù)，等等——你只是死人一個。

但反過來說，每當(dāng)你獲得一種新的興趣——甚至一項新的造詣——你就增長了你的生活本領(lǐng)。一個能對許許多多事物都深感興趣的人是不可能總不愉快的，真正的悲觀者只能是那些喪失興趣的人。

培根曾講過，一個人失去朋友即是死亡。但是憑著交往，憑著新朋，我們就能獲得再生。這條對于活人可謂千真萬確的道理在一定程度上也完全適用于人的思想，它們也都是活的。你的思想所在，你的生命便也在那里。如果你的思想不出你的業(yè)務(wù)范圍，不出你的物質(zhì)利益，不出你所在城鎮(zhèn)的狹隘圈子，那么你的一生便也只是多方受著局限的狹隘的一生。但是如果你對當(dāng)前中國那里所發(fā)生的種種感到興趣，那么你便可說也活在中國;如果你對一本佳妙小說中的人物感到興趣，你便是活在一批極有趣的人們中間;如果你能全神貫注地聽點好的音樂，你就會超脫出你的周圍環(huán)境而活在一個充滿激情與想象的神奇世界之中。

生存還是毀滅——活得熱烈活得豐富，還是只是簡單存在，這就全在我們自己。但愿我們都能不斷擴(kuò)展和增強(qiáng)我們的各種聯(lián)系。只要一天我們活著，就要一天是在活著。

第二十九篇：Gettysburg Address 葛底斯堡演說

Gettysburg Address

Fourscore and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now, we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

譯文：

在葛底斯堡的演說

87年前，我們的先輩們在這個大陸上創(chuàng)立了一個新國家，它孕育于自由之中，奉行一切人生來平等的原則?，F(xiàn)在我們正從事一場偉大的內(nèi)戰(zhàn)，以考驗這個國家，或者任何一個孕育于自由和奉行上述原則的國家是否能夠長久存在下去。我們在這場戰(zhàn)爭中的一個偉大戰(zhàn)場上集會。烈士們?yōu)槭惯@個國家能夠生存下去而獻(xiàn)出了自己的生命，我們來到這里，是要把這個戰(zhàn)場的一部分奉獻(xiàn)給他們作為最后安息之所。我們這樣做是完全應(yīng)該而且是非常恰當(dāng)?shù)摹?/p>

但是，從更廣泛的意義上來說，這塊土地我們不能夠奉獻(xiàn)，不能夠圣化，不能夠神化。那些曾在這里戰(zhàn)斗過的勇士們，活著的和去世的，已經(jīng)把這塊土地圣化了，這遠(yuǎn)不是我們微薄的力量所能增減的。我們今天在這里所說的話，全世界不大會注意，也不會長久地記住，但勇士們在這里所做過的事，全世界卻永遠(yuǎn)不會忘記。毋寧說，倒是我們這些還活著的人，應(yīng)該在這里把自己奉獻(xiàn)于勇士們已經(jīng)如此崇高地向前推進(jìn)但尚未完成的事業(yè)。倒是我們應(yīng)該在這里把自己奉獻(xiàn)于仍然留在我們面前的偉大任務(wù)——我們要從這些光榮的死者身上汲取更多的獻(xiàn)身精神，來完成他們已經(jīng)完全徹底為之獻(xiàn)身的事業(yè);我們要在這里下定最大的決心，不讓這些死者白白犧牲;我們要使國家在上帝福佑下得到自由的新生，要使這個民有、民治、民享的政府永世長存。

第三十篇：First Inaugural Address(Excerpts) 就職演講(節(jié)選)

First Inaugural Address

We observe today not a victory of party, but a celebration of freedom, symbolizing an end, as well as a beginning; signifying renewal, as well as change. For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forebears prescribed nearly a century and three quarters ago.

In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than in mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course. Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty. The graves of young Americans who answered the call to service surround the globe.

Now the trumpet summons us again, not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need; not as a call to battle, though embattled we are; but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, “rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation”, a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself.

Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance, North and South, East and West, that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic effort?

In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility. I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it. And the glow from that fire can truly light the world.

And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.

My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth, God’s work must truly be our own.

譯文：

就職演講(節(jié)選)

今天我們慶祝的不是政黨的勝利，而是自由的勝利。這象征著一個結(jié)束，也象征著一個開端;意味著延續(xù)也意味看變革。因為我已在你們和全能的上帝面前，宣讀了我們的先輩在170多年前擬定的莊嚴(yán)誓言。

公民們，我們方針的最終成敗與其說掌握在我手中，不如說掌握在你們手中。自從合眾國建立以來，每一代美國人都曾受到召喚去證明他們對國家的忠誠。響應(yīng)召喚而獻(xiàn)身的美國青年的墳?zāi)贡榧叭颉?/p>

現(xiàn)在，號角已再次吹響—不是召喚我們拿起武器，雖然我們需要武器;不是召喚我們?nèi)プ鲬?zhàn)，雖然我們嚴(yán)陣以待。它召喚我們?yōu)橛永杳鞫?肩負(fù)起漫長斗爭的重任，年復(fù)一年，從希望中得到歡樂，在磨難中保持耐性，對付人類共同的敵人—專制、社團(tuán)、疾病和戰(zhàn)爭本身。

為反對這些敵人，確保人類更為豐裕的生活，我們能夠組成一個包括東西南北各方的全球大聯(lián)盟嗎?你們愿意參加這一歷史性的努力嗎?

在漫長的世界歷史中，只有少數(shù)幾代人在自由處于最危急的時刻被賦予保衛(wèi)自由的責(zé)任。我不會推卸這一責(zé)任，我歡迎這一責(zé)任。我不相信我們中間有人想同其他人或其他時代的人交換位置。我們?yōu)檫@一努力所奉獻(xiàn)的精力、信念和忠誠，將照亮我們的國家和所有為國效勞的人，而這火焰發(fā)出的光芒定能照亮全世界。

因此，美國同胞們，不要問國家能為你們做些什么、而要問你們能為國家做些什么。

全世界的公民們，不要問美國將為你們做些計人，而要問我們共同能為人類的自由做些什么。

最后，不論你們是美國公民還是其他國家的公民，你們應(yīng)要求我們獻(xiàn)出我們同樣要求于你們的高度力量和犧牲。問心無愧是我們唯一可靠的獎賞，歷史是我們行動的最終裁判，讓我們走向前去，引導(dǎo)我們所熱愛的國家。我們祈求上帝的福佑和幫助，但我們知道，確切地說，上帝在塵世的工作必定是我們自己的工作。