無論是在學校還是在社會中，大家都寫過散文嗎？散文不講究音韻，不講究排比，沒有任何的束縛及限制。如何寫一篇“形散而神不散”的散文呢？下面是小編幫大家整理的經典的英語散文，僅供參考，歡迎大家閲讀。
In the eternal universe, every human being has a one-off chance to live --his existence is unique and irretrievable, for the mold with which he was made, as Rousseau said, was broken by God immediately afterwards.
在茫茫宇宙間，每個人都只有一次生存的機會，都是一個獨一無二、不可重複的存 在。正像盧梭所説的，上帝把您造出來後，就把那個屬於您的特定的模子打碎了。
Fame, wealth and knowledge are merely worldly possessions that are within the reach of anybody striving for them. But your experience of and feelings about life are your own and not to be shared. No one can live your life over again after your death. A full awareness of this will point out to you that the most important thing in your existence is your distinctive individuality or something special of yours. What really counts is not your worldly success but your peculiar insight into the meaning of life and your commitment to it, which add luster to your personality.
名聲、財產、知識等等是身外之物，人人都可求而得之，但沒有人能夠代替您感受 人生。您死之後，沒有人能夠代替您再活一次。如果您真正意識到了這一點，您就會明 白，活在世上，最重要的事就是活出您自己的特色和滋味來。您的人生是否有意義，衡 量的標準不是外在的成功，而是您對人生意義的獨特領悟和堅守，從而使您的自我閃放 出個性的光華。
It is not easy to be what one really is. There is many a person in the world who can be identified as anything either his job, his status or his social role that shows no trace about his individuality. It does do him justice to say that he has no identity of his own, if he doesn't know his own mind and all his things are either arranged by others or done on others' sugg estions; if his life, always occupied by external things, is completely void of an inner world. You won't be able to find anything whatever, from head to heart, that truly belongs to him. He is, indeed, no more than a shadow cast by somebody else or a machine capable of doing business.
真正成為自己不是一件容易的事。世上有許多人，您説他是什麼都行，例如是一種 職業，一個身份，一個角色，惟獨不是他自己。如果一個人總是按別人的意見人生，沒 有自己的獨立思索，總是為外在事務忙碌，沒有自己的內心人生，那麼，説他不是他自 己就一點兒也沒有冤枉他。因為確確實實，從他的頭腦到他的心靈，您在其中已經找不 到絲毫真正屬於他自己的東西了，他只是別人的一個影子或一架辦事的機器罷了。
Once a circle missed a wedge. The circle wanted to be whole, so it went around looking for its missing piece. But because it was incomplete and therefore could roll only very slowly, it admired the flowers along the way. It chatted with worms. It enjoyed the sunshine. It found lots of different pieces, but none of them fit. So it left them all by the side of the road and kept on searching. Then one day the circle found a piece that fit perfectly. It was so happy. Now it could be whole, with nothing missing. It incorporated the missing piece into itself and began to roll. Now that it was a perfect circle, it could roll very fast, too fast to notice flowers or talk to the worms. When it realized how different the world seemed when it rolled so quickly, it stopped, left its found piece by the side of the road and rolled slowly away.
從前有個圓圈，它丟失了一小段。它想變得完整，於是它到處尋找它所丟失的那部分。由於不完整，它只能滾的非常慢。在路上，它羨慕過花兒，它與蟲子聊過天，它享受了陽光的照耀。它遇到過很多不同的小段，可是沒有一個適合它。所以它把它們丟在路邊，繼續尋找。有一天，圓圈找到了可以與它完美結合的一小段，它非常高興。它現在終於完整了，不缺任何東西了。它把丟失的那段裝到自己身上，然後滾了起來。它現在是個完整的圓圈了，它可以滾的很快，快到忽視了花兒，快到沒有時間和蟲子們説話。當它意識到由於它滾的太快，世界變得如此的不同時，它便停了下來，把找到的那段卸下丟在路邊，慢慢地滾走了。
The lesson of the story, I suggested, was that in some strange sense we are more whole when we are missing something. The man who has everything is in some ways a poor man. He will never know what it feels like to yearn, to hope, to nourish his soul with the dream of something better. He will never know the experience of having someone who loves him give him something he has always wanted or never had.
我想這個故事告訴我們，從某種奇怪的意義上説，當我們缺少什麼東西時，我們反而是更完整的。一個擁有一切的人在某些方面也是個窮人，他永遠不會知道什麼是渴望、什麼是期待；永遠不知道用渴求更美好的東西來充實他的靈魂。他永遠不會知道一個愛他人送給他一樣他所夢寐以求的東西時是怎樣的一種感覺。
There is a wholeness about the person who has come to terms with his limitations, who has been brave enough to let go of his unrealistic dreams and not feel like a failure for doing so. There is a wholeness about the man or woman who has learned that he or she is strong enough to go through a tragedy and survive, she can lose someone and still feel like a complete person.
人生的完整性，在於接受自己的缺陷，勇敢地丟棄不切實際的幻想，並且不覺得這樣做是失敗的；人生的完整性，在於知道自己足夠強大，可以承受人生的苦難，可以在失去一個人時仍然覺得自己是完整的。
Life is not a trap set for us by God so that he can condemn us for failing. Life is not a spelling bee, where no matter how many words you’ve gotten right, you’re disqualified if you make one mistake. Life is more like a baseball season, where even the best team loses one third of its games and even the worst team has its days of brilliance. Our goal is to win more games than we lose. When we accept that imperfection is part of being human, and when we can continue rolling through life and appreciate it, we will have achieved a wholeness that others can only aspire to. That, I believe, is what God asks of us --- not “Be perfect”, not “Don’t even make a mistake”, but “Be whole”.
人生並不是上帝為了譴責我們的缺陷而設下的陷阱。人生也不是一場拼字比賽，無論您拼出了多少單詞，只要拼錯了一個您就前功盡棄了。人生更像一個棒球賽季，最好的球隊也會丟掉三分之一的比賽，而最差的球隊也有輝煌的勝利。我們的目標是讓打贏的比賽比輸掉的比賽多。當我們接受了“不完整性”是人生的一部分時，當我們在人生之路上不斷前進並且欣賞生命之美時，我們就獲得了別人只能渴望的完整的人生。我相信這就是上帝對我們的期望：不求“完美”，也不求“從來不犯錯誤”，而是追求人生的“完整”。
If we are brave enough to love, strong enough to forgive, generous enough to rejoice in another’s happiness, and wise enough to know there is enough love to go around for us all, then we can achieve a fulfillment that no other living creature will ever know.
如果我們有足夠的勇氣去愛，足夠強大的力量去原諒別人，足夠的寬容因別人的快樂而快樂，並有足夠的智慧去認識到我們身邊充滿着愛，我們就會得到其它生命所得不到的一種滿足感。
In former days, there was a wealthy merchant, who owned billion acres of fertile land, a considerable sum of property, and multiple compounds (estates). He was the acknowledged leader at home and had four wives.
從前，有一位富有的商人，家有良田萬頃，大量財富和多處莊園。在家裏，他説一不二。他有四位愛人。
He had the greatest affection on the fourth wife, who enjoyed the beautiful brows and face---a fairy in his eyes. To amuse her, the merchant gave her a life of luxury, bought her fashionable blouses and boots, and took her out to dine on delicious food. Each of their marriage anniversary, he would celebrate.
他最鍾愛他最小的妻子，她有着姣好的面容，在他眼裏簡直就是個仙女。為了討好她，商人給她最奢華的人生，給她買時髦的衣裳，吃美味的佳餚。他們的每個結婚紀念日都要慶祝。
He was also fond of his third wife very much. She was amateur poet with great literacy and dignity. To approve of her, he gave her prevailing poetry as a present, visited the museum with her to see the antiques and went to the concert to enjoy the music of great musicians and pianists. He was very proud of her and introduced her and showed her to his friends. Nevertheless, he was always in great fear that she might go elsewhere with some other guys.
商人也很愛第三們妻子。她是一位業餘詩人。她喜歡風雅，知書達理，端莊典雅。為了滿足她的個人愛好，商人送她流行詩集，陪她參觀博物館的古董，聽著名音樂愛的音樂會。他為她感到驕傲，把她介紹給朋友們，並常把好作為在朋友面前炫耀的資本。但他同時也憂心忡忡，怕她跟其他男人跑了。
His second spouse too, won his preference. As a cashier, she was keen and capable and energetic in commercial issues. Wherever he faced critical problems, he always turned to his second wife. And she’d always attempted to help him cope with the problems such as ash collection or conflicts with clients. Hence, to thank his second wife, he went to excursion with her for entertainment every several years.
當然，商人也愛第二位妻子。她是個管賬的。生意上的事，她既熱心又能幹。每每遇到棘手的問題，他就會向她求助，而她也總能盡力幫他解決諸如籌錢，或與顧客之間的爭執等事情。因此，作為答謝，商人每隔幾年都會跟她出去遊玩消遣。
His first wife was a very conservative and faithful partner. She was a woman of goodness and honesty. As a housewife, she made a great contribution to nourishing children and caring husband and doing homework. Accidentally, she appeared to be little clumsy and ignorant. Although the merchant had prejudice towards her, she maintained her patience to wait for him to come back to her. She was a woman of great breadth of mind.
商人的第一個妻子是一個保守的人，也是一位忠誠的伴侶。她善良誠實。作為一個家庭主婦，她照顧丈夫，養育兒女，做家務活。偶爾，她略有些笨拙和木訥。儘管商人對她有成見，她也不惱，很有耐心地等丈夫回心轉意。看來，她是一個胸懷寬廣的女子。
After many years, the merchant felt deadly ill of abusing alcohol. He knew it couldn’t cure. He was pale and stiff. When he reelected on his life-time, he couldn’t help yelling, “Now, I have four wives . But when I die I’ll be solitary. How lonely I will be!”
幾年以後，商人因酗酒病重，他自知無法治癒，將不久於人世。他臉色蒼白，身體僵硬。當他回顧自己的一生，不禁叫道：“現在我雖然有四個妻子相伴，但死後卻要孤零零一人。多寂寞啊！”
Suffering from the sting of the body, he asked the fourth wife, “I have attached to you the most affection, and bought pretty clothes to you and spent every festival with you. Now I am dying, will you follow me?” “Pardon? I am not a self- sacrificing saint. No way!” The fourth wife who was sipping tea idly in her fur coat, defied him The answer made the merchant fiercely disappointed on her conscience.
忍着劇痛，他問小老婆：“我最疼您，給您買最漂亮的衣服，每個節日都陪您過。現在我就要離開這個世界了，您願意陪我而去嗎？”“什麼？我又不是聖人！絕對不可能！”此刻，她正身穿裘皮大衣，悠閒地喝着茶。商人對小老婆的回答非常地失望。
Then he asked the third wife, “Do you remember our romantic experience? Now that I am dying, will you follow me?” the third wife glimpsed against him, “No” she denied. “I couldn’t bear the tedious life in hell. I deserve a better life. Consequently, it is of necessity that I marry other guys afterwards.” Then she was calculating the route of other millionaire’s home.
傷心的商人繼而問第三個妻子：“您記得我們的浪漫經歷嗎？如今，我將不久於人世，您願意陪我而去嗎？”“不！”她拒絕道，“我無法忍受乏味的人生，我有權享受好的人生。因此，不久以後我會改嫁他人。”此刻，她正考慮着去其他富翁家的路線呢。
The answer also hurt the merchant, and then he resorted to his second life. “You’ve always facilitated me out. Now I barely beg you once more. When I die, will you follow me?” “I am sorry” she frowned, claiming, “I can only attend your funeral ceremony” the answer came like a bolt of thunder and the merchant felt like being discarded. Then she was modifying the items of business contract.
第三位妻子的回答也傷害了他，他再轉向第二位妻子，問道：“您過去常常為我排憂解難。現在我想再請您幫一次忙。我死後，您願意隨我而去？”她皺了皺眉説道，“我只能參加您的葬禮儀式。”這句話猶如晴天霹靂，商人徹底覺得被拋棄了。此刻，她正在修改一個商業合同的條款。
Then voice wept: “we are bound couple. I will go alongside wherever you go” the merchant awoke, stoking his wife’s coarse palm. She was so lean. Thinking of her fatigue year after year, he was greatly touched and said miserably. “I should have treasured you before!” she was doing the laundry for rim,
這是時，一個聲音哭泣道：“我願意隨您一同離去。無論您到哪裏，我都跟着您。”商人猛然驚醒，撫摸着大老婆粗糙的手掌。她是那麼消瘦，又想到她年復一年，日夜操勞，一時心痛不已。商人悲痛地説：“我以前應該好好地珍惜您啊！此刻，大老婆正在為他洗衣服。
Virtually, we all respectively have four wives in our lives. The fourth tender wife represents our body. Despite the fact we spend time making it look good, it will distract from us when we die. Our third wife is our possessions, remarkable fame or noble status. When we die, they all go to eternal collapse. The second wife is out family, friends, college and acquaintance. Regardless how code we have relied on them, when we are alive, what can do for us is coming to the funeral at the almost. The first wife in fact is our holy soul, which is often neglected in our pursuit of material and welt. It is actually the only thing that follows us wherever we go. We should cultivate it now, otherwise, we will possibly feel regret in the end.
其實，我們每個人的一生都有四位妻子相伴。最小的嬌弱的妻子代表我們的軀體。即使我們花時間去裝扮她，我們死後它終會棄我們而去。第三位妻子代表我們的財產、顯赫的名聲或尊貴的地位。一旦我們撒手西去，它終究會煙消雲散。第二位妻子代表我們的家人、朋友、同事或熟人。我們活着的時候，無論多麼親近，他們最多也只能到幕前送我們最後一程。第一位妻子則是我們的聖潔的靈魂。當我們沉迷於追求物質、金錢或感官享受的時候，她常常會被遺忘在一旁。實際上，她才是唯一與我們永遠相伴的。我們就應該從現在開始悉心照顧好她，而不是等到臨終之際才悔恨不已。
As a little boy, there was nothing I liked better than Sunday aftemoons at my grandfather's farm in western Pennsylvania. Surrounded by miles of winding stonewalls, the house and barn provided endless hours of fun for a city kid like me. I was used to parlors neat as a pin that seemed to whisper, "Not to be touched!"
我小時候最喜歡在爺爺的農場裏度過每個星期天的下午。爺爺的農場在賓夕法尼亞州西部。農場四周都圍上了綿延幾英里的石牆。房子和穀倉給我這個城市男生帶來了無窮的快樂時光。我習慣了城裏整潔的客廳，似乎在低聲説：“不要摸！”。
I can still remember one afternoon when I was eight years old. Since my first visit to the farm, I'd wanted more than anything to be allowed to climb the stonewalls surrounding the property. My parents would never approve. The walls were old; some stones were missing, others loose and crumbling. Still, my yearning to scramble across those walls grew so strong. One spring afternoon, I summoned all my courage and entered the living room, where the adults had gathered after dinner.
我仍能記得我8歲那年一天下午的情景。因為我第一次去農場，所以我很想上那農場四周的那些石牆。可我的父母是絕不會同意的。這些牆年深日 ，有的石頭不見了，有的石頭鬆動倒塌了。然而，我渴望這些牆的慾望非常強烈。一個春天的下午，我鼓足勇氣，走進客廳，大人們午飯後都聚在這裏。
"I, uh, I want to climb the stonewalls," I said hesitantly. Everyone looked up. "Can I climb the stonewalls?" Instantly a chorus went up from the women in the room. "Heavens, no!" they cried in dismay. "You'll hurt yourself!" I wasn't too disappointed; the response was just as I'd expected. But before I could leave the room, I was stopped by my grandfather' s booming voice. "Hold on just a minute," I heard him say, "Let the boy climb the stonewalls. He has to learn to do things for himself."
“我，呃，我想爬那石牆，”我猶豫地説道。大家都抬起頭。“我能去爬那些石牆嗎？”屋裏的女人們馬上齊聲叫了起來。“天哪，不能！”她們驚慌地叫首，“您會傷着自己的！”我並沒有太失望，我早就預料會是這樣的回答。但還沒等我離開客廳，爺爺低沉的聲音攔住了我。“等一會兒，”我聽到他説“讓孩子爬那些石牆吧。他必須學會自己做一些事。”
"Scoot," he said to me with a wink, "and come and see me when you get back." For the next two and a half hours I climbed those old walls and had the time of my life. Later I met with my grandfather to tell him about my adventure. I'll never forget what he said. "Fred," he said, grinning, "you made this day a special day just by being yourself. Always remember, there's only one person in this whole world like you, and I like you exactly as you are."
“快走吧，”他對我眨眨眼説。“您回來後找我。”接下來的兩個半小時，我爬上了這些古老的石牆，別提有多肝硬變。後來，我把自己冒險經歷告訴了爺爺。我永遠也不會忘記他説過的話。“弗雷德，”他咧着嘴笑道。“您做了一回自己，您讓這個日子因此而變得不同凡響。永遠記住，整個世界只有一個您，而且我喜歡真實的您。”
Many years have passed since then, and today I host the television program Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, seen by millions of children throughout America. There have been changes over the years, but one thing remains the same: my message to children at the end of almost every visit, "There's only one person in this whole world like you, and people can like you exactly as you are."
許多年過去了，現在我主持的電視節目《羅傑斯先生的街坊四鄰》，全美國幾百萬兒童都會收看。幾年過後，節目已經發生了一些變化，但有一點沒變：幾乎每期節日後我都會傳遞給孩子這樣一個信息，“這個世界上只有一個您，人們都喜歡真實的您。”
In a calm sea every man is a pilot.
在風平浪靜的大海上,每個人都是領航員。
But all sunshine without shade, all pleasure without pain, is not life at the lot of the happiest - it is a tangled avements and blessings,one following another, make us sad and blessed by turns. Even death itself makes life more loving. Men come closest to their true selves in the sober moments of life, under the shadows of sorrow and loss.
但只有陽光沒有陰影,只有快樂沒有痛苦,根本不是真正的人生.就拿最幸福的人來説,他的人生也是一團纏結在一起的亂麻。痛苦與幸福交替出現,使得我們一會悲傷一會高興。甚至死亡本身都使得生命更加可愛。在人生清醒的時刻,在悲傷與失落的陰影之下,人們與真實的自我最為接近。
In the affairs of life or of business, it is not intellect that tells so much as character, not brains so much as heart, not genius so much as self-control, patience, and discipline, regulated by judgment.
在人生和事業的種種事務之中，性格比才智更能指導我們，心靈比頭腦更能引導我們，而由判斷獲得的剋制、耐心和教養比天分更能讓我們受益。
I have always believed that the man who has begun to live more seriously within begins to live more simply without. In an age of extravagance and waste, I wish I could show to the world how few the real wants of humanity are.
我一向認為，內心人生開始更為嚴謹的人，他的外在人生也會變得更為簡樸。在物慾橫流的年代，但願我能向世人表明：人類的真正需求少得多麼可憐。
To regret one's errors to the point of not repeating them is true e is nothing noble in being superior to some other man. The true nobility is in being superior to your previous self.
反思自己的過錯不至於重蹈覆轍才是真正的悔悟。高人一等並沒有什麼值得誇耀的。真正的高貴是優於過去的自已。
He was 11 and went fishing every chance he got from the dock at his family's cabin.
他11歲那年，只要一有機會，就會到他家小屋的碼頭上釣魚。
On the day before the bass season opened, he and his father were fishing early in the evening. Then he tied on a small silver lure and practiced casting. When his peapole doubled over, he knew something huge was on the other end. His father watched with admiration as the boy skillfully worked the fish alongside the dock.
鱸魚季節開放的前一天晚上，他和父親早早開始垂釣。他繫上魚餌，練習如何拋線。當魚杆向下彎的時候，他知道線的另一端一定釣到了一條大魚。父親看着他技巧純熟地在碼頭邊沿和魚周旋，眼神充滿讚賞。
Finally, he lifted the exhausted fish from the water. It was the largest one he had ever seen, but is was a bass.
最後他將筋疲力盡的魚提出水面。這是他所見過的最大的一條，還是一條鱸魚。
The father lit a match and looked at his watch. It was 10 P.M.----two hours before the season opened. He looked at the fish, then at the boy.
父親檫着一根火柴，看了看錶。十點了---離開禁還有兩個小時。他看了看魚，又看了看男生。
"You'll have to put it back, son." he said.
“您得把它放回去，孩子。”父親説道。
"Dad!" cried the boy.
“爸爸！”男生叫道。
"There will be other fish," said his father.
“還有其他的魚嘛。”父親説道。
"Not as big as this one," cried the boy.
“但沒這麼大。”男生叫道。
He looked around the lake. No others were anywhere around in the moonlight. He looked again at his father. Even though no one had seen them, nor could anyone ever know what time he caught the fish, the boy could tell by the clarity of his father's voice that the decision was not negotiable. He slowly worked the hook out of the lip of the huge bass and lowered it into the black water. The boy suspected that he would never again see such a great fish.
男生環視了一遍湖。月光下附近沒有其他人。他又看了看他父親。從父親不可動搖的語氣中，他知道這個決定沒有商量餘地，即使沒有人看到他們，更無從得知他們何時釣到了魚。他慢慢地將魚鈎從大鱸魚的脣上取下，然後蹲下將魚放回水中。男生想，他可能再也看不到這麼大的魚了。
That was 34 years ago. Today, the boy is a successful architect in New York City. He takes his own son and daughters fishing from the same dock.
那是34年前的事了。現在，男生是紐約的一個成功的建築師，他帶着自己的兒女仍然在同一個碼頭上釣魚。
And he was right. He has never again caught such a magnificent fish as the one he landed that night long ago. But he does see that same fish---again and again---every time he comes up against a question of ethics.
他猜得沒錯。自那次以後，他再也沒有釣上過那麼大的魚了。但每次他面臨道德難題而舉棋不定的時候，他的眼前再三浮現出那條魚。
For, as his father taught him, ethics are simple matters of right and wrong. It is only the practice of ethics that is difficult. Do we do right when no one is looking? Do we refuse to cut corners to get the design in on time? Or refuse to trade stocks based on information that we know we aren't supposed to have?
他父親曾告訴他，道德即是簡單的對和錯的問題，但要付諸行動卻很難。在沒人瞧見的時候，我們是否仍遵循道德準則？為了將圖紙按時完成，我們是不是也會走捷徑？或者在明知道不可以的情況下，仍將公司股份賣掉？
We would if we were taught to put the fish back when we were young. For we would have learned the truth. The decision to do right lives fresh and fragrant in our memory.
在我們還小的時候，如果有人教導我們把魚放回去，我們會這樣做，因為我們還在學習真理。正確的決定在我們的記憶裏變得深刻而清晰。
It is a story we will proudly tell our friends and grandchildren. Not about how we had a chance to beat the system and took it， but about how we did the right thing and were forever strengthened.
這個故事我們可以驕傲地講給朋友和子孫們聽，不是關於如何襲擊和戰勝某種體制，而是如何做正確的決定，從而變得無比堅強。
If I were a boy again,I would practise perseverance more often,and never give up a thing because it was hard or we want light,we must conquer everance can sometimes equal genius in its results.“There are only two creatures,”says a proverb;“who can surmount the pyramids-the eagle and the snail.”
諺語説：“能登上金字塔的生物只有兩種——雄鷹與蝸牛。”如果我們需要光明,我們就得征服黑暗.在產生的結果方面,毅力往往可以與天才相媲美。假如我再回到童年,我會更多地培養自己的毅力,決不因為事情艱難或麻煩而放棄不幹
If I were a boy again,I would school myself into a habit of attention .I would let nothing come between me and the subject in hand.I would remember that a good skater never tries to skate in two directions at habit of attention becomes part of our life,if we begin early enough.
假如我再回到童年，我會培養自己專心致志的習慣；一旦手頭有事，決不讓任何東西使我分心。我會牢記：一位優秀的溜冰手從不試圖同時滑向兩個不同的方向。如果及早養成專心致志的習慣，它就會成為我們生命的一個部分。
I often hear grown-up people say,“I could not fix my attention on the lecture or book,although I wished to do so,”and the reason is,the habit was not formed in youth.
我常常聽到成年認説：“儘管我希望集中注意力聽講課或讀書，但往往做不到。”其願意就在於年輕時沒有養成這種習慣。
If I were to live my life over again,I would pay more attention to the cultivation of the memory.I would strengthen that faculty by every possible means, and,on every possible takes a little hard work at first to remember things accurately;but memory soon helps itself,and gives very little trouble. It only needs early cultivation to become a power.
假如我能重新活過，我會更加註意培養自己的記憶力。我要採取一切可能的辦法，在一切可能的場合,增強記憶力。要精確地記住一切事物，起初的確要作出一番小小的努力；但用不了多久，記憶力本身就會起作用，使記憶成為輕而易舉的事。只需及早培養，記憶自會成為一種才能。
If I were a boy again, I would cultivate courage. "Nothing is so mild and gentle as courage, nothing so cruel and pitiless as cowardice," says a wise too often borrow trouble, and anticipate that may never fear of ill exceeds the ill we ers will arise in any career, but presence of mind will often conquer the worst of prepared for any fate, and there is no harm to be feared.
假如我又回到了童年，我就要培養勇氣。"世上沒有東西比勇氣更温文爾雅，也沒有東西比懦怯更殘酷無情。"一位明智的作家曾説過我們常常過多地自尋煩惱，"杞人憂天。" 怕禍害比禍害本身更可怕,凡事都有危險，但鎮定沉着往往能克服最嚴重的危險。對一切禍福做好準備，那麼就沒有什麼災難可以害怕的了。
If I were a boy again,I would look on the cheerful is very much like a mirror:if you smile upon it,it smiles back upon you;but if you frown and look doubtful on it,you will get a similar look in r sunshine warms not only the heart of the owner,but of all that come in contact with it.
假如我能再回到童年，我會凡事都看光明的一面。人生就像一面鏡子：您朝它微笑，它也會朝您微笑：但如果您朝它皺眉頭，它也會朝您皺眉頭；內心的陽光不僅温暖了自己的心，同時也温暖了所有跟他接觸的人的心。
Who shuts love out,in turn shall be shut from love.
“誰將愛拒之門外，誰就會被愛拒之門外。”
If I were a boy again,I would school myself to say “No”oftener.I might write pages on the importance of learning very early in life to gain that point where a young boy can stand erect,and decline doing an unworthy act because it is unworthy.
假如我再回到童年，我就要養成經常説“不”的習慣。 我可以寫上好幾頁，談談早期培養這一點的重要性,一個少年要能挺得起腰桿,拒絕做不值得做得事——就因為它不值得做。
If I were a boy again,I would demand of myself more courtesy towards my companions and friends,and indeed towards strangers as smallest courtesies along the rough roads of life are like the little birds that sing to us all winter long,and make that season of ice and snow more lly,instead of trying hard to be happy,as if that were the sole purpose of life,I would,if I were a boy again,try still harder to make others happy.
假如我再回到童年，我會要求自己對待同伴和朋友更禮貌，而且對陌生人也同樣如此。再坎坷得人生道路上，最細小的禮貌猶如在漫長的`冬季為我們唱歌的小鳥，使得冰天雪地的嚴冬變得較易忍受。最後，假如我再回到童年，我不會竭力為自己謀幸福——彷彿那是人生的唯一目標；與之相反，我會更加努力——讓他人幸福。
Welcome to Spring at Faith Radio Online-Simply to Relax, I’m Faith.
Today, look at the blue sky, hear the grass growing beneath your feet, inhale the scent of spring, let the fruits of the earth linger on your tongue, reach out and embrace those you love. Ask Spirit to awaken your awareness to the sacredness of your sensory perceptions.
What a miracle it is. No matter how long the winter, how hard the frost or how deep the snow, Nature triumphs. No season is awaited so eagerly or welcomed so warmly as spring…Each year I am astonished by the wealth of flowers the season gives us: the subtlety of the wild primroses and violets, the rich palette of crocus in the parks, tall soldier tulips and proud trumpeting daffodils and narcissi.
Picture this: The air and the earth interpenetrated in the warm gusts of spring; the soil was full of sunlight, and the sunlight full of red dust. The air one breathed was saturated with earthy smells, and the grass under foot had a reflection of blue sky in it.
Every spring is the only spring, a perpetual astonishment.
In those vernal seasons of the year, when the air is calm and pleasant, it were an injury and sullenness against Nature not to go out and see her riches, and partake in her rejoicing with heaven and earth.
One afternoon, many years ago, I went to pick up my mother from work. I got there a little early so I parked the car by the curb（路邊）, across the street from where she worked, and waited for her.
許多年前的一個下午，我去接下班的媽媽。我到的時候有些早，於是將車停在路邊，停在媽媽工作地方的對面，在哪兒等她。
As I looked outside the car window to my right, there was a small park where I saw a little boy, around one and a half to two years old, running freely on the grass as his mother watched from a short distance. The boy had a big smile on his face as if he had just been set free from some sort of prison. The boy would then fall to the grass, get up, and without hesitation or without looking back at his mother, run as fast as he could, again, still with a smile on his face, as if nothing had happened.
我從右側的車窗向外看，那邊有一個小公園，我看到一個小男孩，大概1歲半到2歲的年紀，正在草坪上自由地跑着，她的媽媽在近處看着他。男孩臉上掛着燦爛的微笑，彷彿他剛從某種監獄裏釋放出來。男孩摔倒在草地上，站起來，毫不猶豫，也不看他的媽媽，又盡力快跑起來。他的臉上依然帶着微笑，放佛什麼都沒發生過。
However, with kids (especially at an early age), when they fall down, they don't perceive（覺察，感知） their falling down as failure, but instead, they treat it as a learning experience . They feel compelled（迫使） to try and try again until they succeed.
儘管如此，對於小孩（尤其是很小的年齡段），當他們摔倒時，他們並未覺察到摔倒是一種失敗，而是將它當做學習的經驗。他們迫使自己一次次去嘗試直到成功為止。
this may come as a surprise to the me generation, but happiness doesnt come from living in a big house, buying the latest techno-gadget, and getting stamps from exotic locales in your passport.
in fact, a 2005 poll by time magazine found that helping others was a major source of happiness for 75 percent of nteering is an opportunity to be socially engaged and contribute to the lives of others, says stephen post, a professor at case western reserve university who co-authored the book why good things happen to good people with jill neimark. its not material goods that make us happyits having purpose and meaning in our lives.
in fact, some recent research suggests that were actually hard-wired for helping. even thinking about helping others is enough to stimulate the part of our brain associated with feel-good chemicals like ing others doesnt just make us happier, theres also evidence it makes us healthier too. recent research out of england shows that cities with higher rates of volunteerism had the lower rates of depression and heart disease, says post.
dont have a lot of free time? no worries. people who volunteer just two hours per week enjoy lower rates of depression and better physical health.
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 childlike 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.
About the year 1900, a small, dark-haired boy was often seen waiting outside the back entrances of London theatres. He looked thin and hungry but his blue eyes were determined. Despite his painfully hard childhood, the boy knew how to make people laugh. He could sing and dance and was hoping to make a living in show business.
When he couldn't get work the boy wandered about the city streets like a tramp. He found food and shelter wherever he could. Sometimes he was sent away to a home for children who had no parents. He was cold and miserable there and the children were scolded and punished for the slightest fault. He hated it.
Thirty years later he was accepting the hospitality of kings. Everyone wanted to meet him. Pictures show him in the company of men like Churchill, Einstein and Gandhi. He had become almost a royal figure in the bright new world of the cinema – Charlie Chaplin, the king of comedy.
Chaplin's life was a continuous adventure. In 1889, Chaplin was born in London, England to parents who both worked in theater. His father's death from drinking too much and mother's illness left him in poverty for most of his childhood. However, Chaplin didn't get lost in the poverty. In fact, he had set a goal for himself at a young age: to become the most famous person in the world.
When Chaplin was five years old his mother suddenly lost her voice during a performance and had to leave the stage. To help his mother, little Chaplin went on stage and sang a well-known song at that time, "Jack Jones". Halfway through the song a shower of money poured onto the stage. Chaplin stopped singing and told the audience he would pick up the money first and then finish the song. The audience laughed. This was only the first of millions of laughs in Chaplin's legendary career.
Lack of education did not hold Chaplin back from developing the special talent locked inside him. He took his courage and went to see one of the top theatrical agents in London. With no experience at all, he was offered the plum part of Billy – the paperboy in a new production of "Sherlock Holmes". "Sherlock Holmes" opened on July 27, 1903 at an enormous theatre. Chaplin seemed to change overnight. It was as if he had found the thing he was meant to do: to be an actor.
Cinema was born in the same year as Chaplin. When people still believed it was a passing fad and would never replace live shows, Chaplin was determined to master this new medium, for it would offer him the chance of money and success. Chaplin's first film, released in February 1914, was called "Making a living". The film was well received by the public but didn't satisfy Chaplin. After some disappointments and anxieties, he created his classical character -- "the little tramp". From his very first appearance, the mild little man brought laughter to people's faces. With the black moustache, wide-open eyes, round black hat and shoes too large for his feet, he makes all kinds of stupid mistakes. He is always in trouble. Yet he dreams of greatness. He makes audience laugh with his crazy attempts to escape his cruel fate. He finds surprising ways out of every difficulty and life never quite destroys him. The little tramp is not very different from the cold, homeless, poorly dressed child who refused to despair. Like the child he is weak and frightened, but he never gives up.
The tramp became a huge success. By the time he was thirty Chaplin was the greatest, best known, and best loved comedy actor in the world. He received thousands of dollars for each film he made and had formed his own filmmaking company. But he continued his pursuit of perfection in art. When making the film "The Immigrant", Chaplin spent four days and four nights to cut the film to the required length. He viewed each scene perhaps fifty times before he decided exactly where to cut.
Explaining his success, Chaplin once wrote, "You have to believe in yourself. That's the secret. Even when I was in the children's home, when I was wandering the streets trying to find enough to eat to keep alive, even then I thought of myself as the greatest actor in the world." Through hard times and glorious days he always believed in himself and never lost faith. It is through this self-confidence that Chaplin made people look at the world more positively despite his own troubles. And even though his films were in black and white, he put a lot of color into everyone's life.
To respect my work, my associates and myself. To be honest and fair with them as I expect them to be honest and fair with me. To be a man whose word carries weight. To be a booster, not a knocker; a pusher, not a kicker; a motor, not a clog.
To base my expectations of reward on a solid foundation of service rendered; to be willing to pay the price of success in honest effort. To look upon my work as opportunity, to be seized with joy and made the most of, and not as painful drudgery to be reluctantly endured.
To remember that success lies within myself; in my own brain, my own ambition, my own courage and determination. To expect difficulties and force my way through them, to turn hard experiences into capital for future struggles.
To interest my heart and soul in my work, and aspire to the highest efficiency in the achievement of results. To be patiently receptive of just criticism and profit from its teaching. To treat equals and superiors with respect, and subordinates with kindly encouragement.
To make a study of my business duties; to know my work from the ground up. To mix brains with my efforts and use system and method in all I undertake. To find time to do everything needful by never letting time find me or my subordinates doing nothing. To hoard days as a miser does dollars, to make every hour bring me dividends in specific results accomplished. To steer clear of dissipation and guard my health of body and peace of mind as my most precious stock in trade.
Finally, to take a good grip on the joy of life; to play the game like a gentleman; to fight against nothing so hard as my own weakness, and endeavor to grow in business capacity, and as a man, with the passage of every day of time.
My grandfather died when I was a small boy, and my grandmother started staying with us for about six months every year. She lived in a room that doubled as my father‘s office, which we referred to as "the back room." She carried with her a powerful aroma. I don‘t know what kind of perfume she used, but it was the double-barreled, ninety-proof, knockdown, render-the-victim-unconscious, moose-killing variety. She kept it in a huge atomizer and applied it frequently and liberally. It was almost impossible to go into her room and remain breathing for any length of time. When she would leave the house to go spend six months with my Aunt Lillian, my mother and sisters would throw open all the windows, strip the bed, and take out the curtains and rugs. Then they would spend several days washing and airing things out, trying frantically to make the pungent odor go away.
This, then, was my grandmother at the time of the infamous pea incident.
It took place at the Biltmore Hotel, which, to my eight-year-old mind, was just about the fancies place to eat in all of Providence. My grandmother, my mother, and I were having lunch after a morning spent shopping. I grandly ordered a salisbury steak, confident in the knowledge that beneath that fancy name was a good old hamburger with gravy. When brought to the table, it was accompanied by a plate of peas.
I do not like peas now. I did not like peas then. I have always hated peas. It is a complete mystery to me why anyone would voluntarily eat peas. I did not eat them at home. I did not eat them at restaurants. And I certainly was not about to eat them now.
"Eat your peas," my grandmother said.
"Mother," said my mother in her warning voice. "He doesn‘t like peas. Leave him alone."
“My grandmother did not reply, but there was a glint in her eye and a grim set to her jaw that signaled she was not going to be 14)thwarted. She leaned in my direction, looked me in the eye, and uttered the fateful words that changed my life: "I‘ll pay you five dollars if you eat those peas."
I had absolutely no idea of the impending doom. I only knew that five dollars was an enormous, nearly unimaginable amount of money, and as awful as peas were, only one plate of them stood between me and the possession of that five dollars. I began to force the wretched things down my throat.
My mother was livid. My grandmother had that self-satisfied look of someone who has thrown down an unbeatable trump card. "I can do what I want, Ellen, and you can‘t stop me." My mother glared at her mother. She glared at me. No one can glare like my mother. If there were a glaring Olympics, she would undoubtedly win the gold medal.
I, of course, kept shoving peas down my throat. The glares made me nervous, and every single pea made me want to throw up, but the magical image of that five dollars floated before me, and I finally gagged down every last one of them. My grandmother handed me the five dollars with a flourish. My mother continued to glare in silence. And the episode ended. Or so I thought.
My grandmother left for Aunt Lillian‘s a few weeks later. That night, at dinner, my mother served two of my all-time favorite foods, meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Along with them came a big, steaming bowl of peas. She offered me some peas, and I, in the very last moments of my innocent youth, declined. My mother fixed me with a cold eye as she heaped a huge pile of peas onto my plate. Then came the words that were to haunt me for years.
"You ate them for money," she said. "You can eat them for love."
Oh, despair! Oh, devastation! Now, too late, came the dawning realization that I had unwittingly damned myself to a hell from which there was no escape.
"You ate them for money. You can eat them for love."
What possible argument could I muster against that? There was none. Did I eat the peas? You bet I did. I ate them that day and every other time they were served thereafter. The five dollars were quickly spent. My grandmother passed away a few years later. But the legacy of the peas lived on, as it lives on to this day. If I so much as curl my lip when they are served (because, after all, I still hate the horrid little things), my mother repeats the dreaded words one more time: "You ate them for money," she says. "You can eat them for love."
Snacks are I suppose defined as things that we eat between regular meals. In fact, if you are eating something and it is not breakfast, lunch or dinner-time then it is a snack. So, if you are having an apple sometime in the afternoon then that apple is a snack. However, on the whole when we talk about snacks we are not really talki
ng about fruit and healthy things. The category of snacks is usually filled with things that are not so good for us.
Snacks are I suppose defined as things that we eat between regular meals. In fact, if you are eating something and it is not breakfast, lunch or dinner-time then it is a snack. So, if you are having an apple sometime in the afternoon then that apple is a snack. However, on the whole when we talk about snacks we are not really talki
ng about fruit and healthy things. The category of snacks is usually filled with things that are not so good for us.
What are these traditional snacks? Chips, or as they are called in Britain, crisps, are a favourite snack and as with most popular snacks they are not a healthy option (選擇). Laden with ase (油脂) ause of their origin in the fat fryer (油炸用的食品) they are the dieters curse (咒罵). Another at favourite is chocolate and again it is a food option that is well capable of converting a sleek (光滑的) physique (體形) into something a little more wobbly (不穩定的)!
Regarding the healthiness of snacks a big problem of so many of the regular popular options out there is generally their low quality. What you might buy in the stores on the high streets has been mass produced with all sorts of rubbish added to boost the flavour at minimum (最小的) cost. If you were to actually get many of these snack types made at home then they would probably be a lot better for you. For instance, chocolate comes from South America. The original examples of chocolate are very different to what we are now used to. Our chocolate has so much sugar and fat added to it that it would be quite unpalatable (不好吃的) to someone used to the traditional version. However, ause we have all been brought up on food and snacks with no subtlety (狡猾，微妙) of flavour then we cannot appreciate the more traditional examples of snacks.
So ause of this way our snacks are made we have developed a love-hate relationship with them. Our taste buds (味蕾) demand the satisfaction only snacks can give but the diet industry condemns (指責) them as the road to obesity (肥胖). So there is a conflict between the advertising of snacks and promotion of the lifestyle associated with them of having a good time and the attack on them as dangerous to our health from the just as agssive diet industry. My advice, is to ignore the propaganda of both sides and enjoy snacks for what they are, which means bearing in mind that too much is too bad.
A Typical Day
As a high-school teacher, I have understandably become concerned not just about the future of our profession but the public perception of it as well.I decided recently, therefore, to take advantage of the so-called "spare" time that I have in my work day to take a leisurely stroll around the building and see for myself just what goes on outside my own classroom.
The first door I passed was that of a math teacher who was providing individual attention to a student who was quite obviously having some student‘s face said it all: frustration, confusion, quiet teacher remained upbeat, offering support and encouragement.
"Let‘s try again, but we‘ll look at it from a slightly different point of view," she said and proceeded to erase the chalkboard in search of a better solution.
Further down the hall, I came across the doorway of one of our history I paused to eavesdrop, I witnessed a large semicircle of enthusiastic students engaged in a lively debate regarding current Canadian events and teacher chose to take somewhat of a back-seat role, entering the fray only occasionally to pose a rhetorical question or to gently steer the conversation back toward the task at switched to role-playing and smaller groups of students chose to express the viewpoints of various debate grew louder and more teacher smiled and stepped in to referee.
Passing the gym balcony, I looked down to see a physical education teacher working with a group of boys on a basketball passing drill.
"Pass and cut away!" he shouted."Set a the open man."
Suddenly, there was a break in the action.
"Hold on, guys," he said."Do you guys really understand why we‘re doing this drill?"
A mixture of blank stares and shrugged shoulders provided the answer, so he proceeded to take a deep breath and explain not only the purpose of the drill, but exactly how it fit into the grand scheme of offense and team play.A few nods of understanding and the group returned to its task with renewed vigor.
The next stop on my journey was the open door of a science lab where, again, a flurry of activity was taking place.I watched intently as a group of four students explained and demonstrated the nature and design of a scientific invention they had they took turns regaling their small but attentive audience about the unique features of their project, a teacher was nearby, busy videotaping their entire presentation.
As I was leaving, I heard her say, "Okay, let‘s move the television over here and see how you did."
Finally, on the way back to my room, I couldn‘t help but investigate the low roar coming from down the c blaring, feet stomping, instructions straining to be heard above the ers of every shape and size were moving in seemingly random directions, although their various destinations were obviously quite things were happening here: hard work, sweat, intense then, a of the dancers offered an explanation, which led to a discussion among several of dance teacher intervened and facilitated a resolution.A half-hearted plea by one of the students for a quick break fell on deaf ears.
"We‘ll have our break when we get this part right," she called out.A brief pep talk imploring them to push themselves just a little further seemed to create some new energy, and once again the place was hopping."Now, from the top . . ."
My excursion complete, I returned to my corner of the school and reflected on what I had ing surprising was essentially what I had expected to find: goal-setting, problem-solving, teamwork, critical analysis, debate, short, learning.
The only thing that you may have found surprising, but I didn‘t, was that when I began my journey, the regular school day had already ended an hour before.
Reprinted by permission of Brian Totzke (c) 1997 from Chicken Soup for the Teacher‘s Soul by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor order to protect the rights of the copyright holder, no portion of this publication may be reproduced without prior written rights reserved.
The first memory I have of him — of anything, really — is his strength. It was in the late afternoon in a house under construction near ours. The unfinished wood floor had large, terrifying holes whose yawning[張大嘴] darkness I knew led to nowhere good. His powerful hands, then age 33, wrapped all the way around my tiny arms, then age 4, and easily swung[搖擺] me up to his shoulders to command all I surveyed.
我對他——實際上是對所有事的最初記憶，就是他的力量。那是一個下午的晚些時候，在一所靠近我家的正在修建的房子裏，尚未完工的木地板上有一個個巨大可怕的洞，那些張着大口的黑洞在我看來是通向不祥之處的。時年33歲的爸爸用那強壯有力的雙手一把握住我的小胳膊，當時我才4歲，然後輕而易舉地把我甩上他的肩頭，讓我把一切都盡收眼底。
The relationship between a son and his father changes over time. It may grow and flourish[繁茂] in mutual maturity[成熟]. It may sour in resented dependence or independence. With many children living in single-parent homes today, it may not even exist.
父子間的關係是隨着歲月的流逝而變化的，它會在彼此成熟的過程中成長興盛，也會在令人不快的依賴或獨立的關係中產生不和。而今許多孩子生活在單親家庭中，這種關係可能根本不存在。
But to a little boy right after World War II ,a father seemed a god with strange strengths and uncanny[離奇的] powers enabling him to do and know things that no mortal could do or know. Amazing things, like putting a bicycle chain back on, just like that. Or building a hamster[倉鼠] guiding a jigsaw[拼板玩具] so it forms the letter F;I learned the alphabet[字母表] that way in those pre-television days.
然而，對於一個生活在二戰剛剛結束時期的小男孩來説，父親就像神，他擁有神奇的力量和神祕的能力，他無所不能，無所不知。那些奇妙的事兒有上自行車鏈條，或是建一個倉鼠籠子，或是教我玩拼圖玩具，拼出個字母“F”來。在那個電視機還未誕生的年代，我便是通過這種方法學會了字母表的。
There were, of course, rules to learn. First came the handshake. None of those fishy[冷冰冰的] little finger grips, but a good firm squeeze accompanied by an equally strong gaze into the other's eyes. “ The first thing anyone knows about you is your handshake,” he would say. And we'd practice it each night on his return from work, the serious toddler in the battered[用舊了的] Cleveland Indian's cap running up to the giant father to shake hands again and again until it was firm enough.
當然，還得學些做人的道理。首先是握手。這可不是指那種冷冰冰的手指相握，而是一種非常堅定有力的緊握，同時同樣堅定有力地注視對方的眼睛。老爸常説： “人們認識你首先是通過同你握手。”每晚他下班回家時，我們便練習握手。年幼的我，戴着頂破克利夫蘭印第安帽，一本正經地跌跌撞撞地跑向巨人般的父親，開始我們的握手。一次又一次，直到握得堅定，有力。
As time passed, there were other rules to learn. “Always do your best.”“Do it now.”“Never lie!” And most importantly,“You can do whatever you have to do.” By my teens, he wasn't telling me what to do anymore, which was scary[令人害怕的] and heady[使人興奮的] at the same time. He provided perspective, not telling me what was around the great corner of life but letting me know there was a lot more than just today and the next, which I hadn't thought of.
隨着時間的流逝，還有許多其他的道理要學。比如：“始終盡力而為”，“從現在做起”，“永不撒謊”，以及最重要的一條：“凡是你必須做的事你都能做到”。當我十幾歲時，老爸不再叫我做這做那，這既令人害怕又令人興奮。他教給我判斷事物的方法。他不是告訴我，在人生的重大轉折點上將發生些什麼，而是讓我明白，除了今天和明天，還有很長的路要走，這一點我是從未考慮過的。
One day, I realize now, there was a change. I wasn't trying to please him so much as I was trying to impress him. I never asked him to come to my football games. He had a high-pressure career, and it meant driving through most of Friday night. But for all the big games, when I looked over at the sideline, there was that familiar fedora. And by God, did the opposing team captain ever get a firm handshake and a gaze he would remember.
有一天，事情發生了變化，這是我現在才意識到的。我不再那麼迫切地想要取悦於老爸，而是迫切地想要給他留下深刻的印象。我從未請他來看我的橄欖球賽。他工作壓力很大，這意味着每個禮拜五要拼命幹大半夜。但每次大型比賽，當我抬頭環視看台時，那頂熟悉的軟呢帽總在那兒。並且感謝上帝，對方隊長總能得到一次讓他銘記於心的握手——堅定而有力，伴以同樣堅定的注視。
Then, a school fact contradicted something he said. Impossible that he could be wrong, but there it was in the book. These accumulated over time, along with personal experiences, to buttress my own developing sense of values. And I could tell we had each taken our own, perfectly normal paths.
後來，在學校學到的一個事實否定了老爸説過的某些東西。他不可能會錯的，可書上卻是這樣寫的。諸如此類的事日積月累，加上我的個人閲歷，支持了我逐漸成形的價值觀。我可以這麼説：我倆開始各走各的陽關道了。
I began to see, too, his blind spots, his prejudices[偏見] and his weaknesses. I never threw these up at him. He hadn't to me, and, anyway, he seemed to need protection. I stopped asking his advice; the experiences he drew from no longer seemed relevant to the decisions I had to make.
與此同時，我還開始發現他對某些事的無知，他的偏見，他的弱點。我從未在他面前提起這些，他也從未在我面前説起，而且，不管怎麼説，他看起來需要保護了。我不再向他徵求意見；他的那些經驗也似乎同我要做出的決定不再相干。
He volunteered advice for a while. But then, in more recent years, politics and issues gave way to talk of empty errands and, always, to ailments.
老爸當了一段時間的“自願顧問”，但後來，特別是近幾年裏，他談話中的政治與國家大事讓位給了空洞的使命與疾病。
From his bed, he showed me the many sores and scars on his misshapen body and all the bottles for medicine. “ Sometimes,” he confided[傾訴], “ I would just like to lie down and go to sleep and not wake up.”
躺在牀上，他給我看他那被歲月扭曲了的軀體上的疤痕，以及他所有的藥瓶兒。他傾訴着：“有時我真想躺下睡一覺，永遠不再醒來。”
After much thought and practice （“ You can do whatever you have to do.” ）， one night last winter, I sat down by his bed and remembered for an instant those terrifying dark holes in another house 35 years before. I told my fatherhow much I loved him. I described all the things people were doing for him. But, I said, he kept eating poorly, hiding in his room and violating the doctor's orders. No amount of love could make someone else care about life, I said; it was a two-way street. He wasn't doing his best. The decision was his.
通過深思熟慮與親身體驗（“凡是你必須做的事你都能做到”），去年冬天的一個夜晚，我坐在老爸牀邊，忽然想起35年前那另一棟房子裏可怕的黑洞。我告訴老爸我有多愛他。我向他講述了人們為他所做的一切。而我又説，他總是吃得太少，躲在房間裏，還不聽醫生的勸告。我説，再多的愛也不能使一個人自己去熱愛生命：這是一條雙行道，而他並沒有盡力，一切都取決於他自己。
He said he knew how hard my words had been to say and how proud he was of me. “ I had the best teacher,” I said. “ You can do whatever you have to do.” He smiled a little. And we shook hands, firmly, for the last time.
他説他明白要我説出這些話多不容易，他是多麼為我自豪。“我有位最好的老師，”我説，“凡是你必須做的事你都能做到”。他微微一笑，之後我們握手，那是一次堅定的握手，也是最後的一次。
Several days later, at about 4 A.M., my mother heard Dad shuffling[拖着] about their dark room. “ I have some things I have to do,” he said. He paid a bundle of bills. He composed for my mother a long list of legal and financial what-to-do's “ in case of emergency.” And he wrote me a note.
幾天後，大約凌晨四點，母親聽到父親拖着腳步在他們漆黑的房間裏走來走去。他説：“有些事我必須得做。”他支付了一疊帳單，給母親留了張長長的條子，上面列有法律及經濟上該做的事，“以防不測”。接着他留了封短信給我。
Then he walked back to his bed and laid himself down. He went to sleep, naturally. And he did not wake up.
然後，他走回自己的牀邊，躺下。他睡了，十分安詳，再也沒有醒來。
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 life for a few hours of 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 least ? 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 over 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 pity 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.
三種簡單卻又無比強烈的激情左右了我的一生：對愛的渴望，對知識的探索和對人類苦難的難以忍受的憐憫。這些激情像狂風，吹來吹去，方向不定，痛苦的深海，到了絕望的邊緣。
我追求愛情，首先是因為它帶來狂喜——我常常為之心醉神迷，犧牲所有的餘生來換取幾個小時這樣的欣喜。下，我尋找愛，還因為它能減輕孤獨感嗎？看起來可怕的孤獨中，一顆顫抖的意識世界的邊緣而面前是是冰冷，無底的深淵。最後，我尋找愛，還因為在愛的結合我所看到的，在一個神祕的縮影中看到了聖人和詩人眼裏天堂的願景有想象。這就是我希望，雖然為人類生活似乎太好了，這是什麼？至少？我發現。
以同樣的激情我探索知識。我希望能夠理解人類的心靈。我希望能夠知道羣星為何閃爍。我試圖領悟畢達哥拉斯所景仰的數字力量，它支配通量。一點，但不多，我實現了。
愛和知識，只要有可能，通向着天堂。但是憐憫總把我帶回塵世。痛苦呼喊的回聲迴盪在我的內心。，忍飢挨餓的孩子，慘遭壓迫者摧殘的受害者，被兒女們視為可憎的負擔的無助的老人的兒子，和整個世界的孤獨、貧窮和痛苦的人類的生命是什麼。我渴望減少邪惡，但我不能，我也受到影響。
這就是我的一生。我發現它值得一過，如果有機會，我會很樂意再活給我。
There was a group called "The Fisherman‘s Fellowship". They were surrounded by streams and lakes full of hungry fish. They met regularly to discuss the call to fish, and the thrill of catching fish. They got excited about fishing!!
Someone suggested that they needed a philosophy of fishing, so they carefully defined and redefined fishing, and the purpose of fishing. They developed fishing strategies and tactics. Then they realized that they had been going at it backwards. They had approached fishing from the point of view of the fisherman, and not from the point of view of the fish. How do fish view the world? How does the fisherman appear to the fish? What do fish eat, and when? These are all good things to know. So they began research studies, and attended conferences on fishing. Some traveled to far away places to study different kinds of fish, with different habits. Some got PhD‘s in fishology. But no one had yet gone fishing.
So a committee was formed to send out fishermen. As prospective fishing places outnumbered fishermen, the committee needed to determine priorities.
A priority list of fishing places was posted on bulletin boards in all of the fellowship halls. But still, no one was fishing. A survey was launched, to find out why… Most did not answer the survey, but from those that did, it was discovered that some felt called to study fish, a few to furnish fishing equipment, and several to go around encouraging the fisherman.
What with meetings, conferences, and seminars, they just simply didn‘t have time to fish.
Now, Jake was a newcomer to the Fisherman‘s Fellowship. After one stirring meeting of the Fellowship, Jake went fishing. He tried a few things, got the hang of it, and caught a choice fish. At the next meeting, he told his story, and he was honored for his catch, and then scheduled to speak at all the Fellowship chapters and tell how he did it. Now, because of all the speaking invitations and his election to the board of directors of the Fisherman‘s Fellowship, Jake no longer has time to go fishing.
But soon he began to feel restless and empty. He longed to feel the tug on the line once again. So he cut the speaking, he resigned from the board, and he said to a friend, "Let‘s go fishing." They did, just the two of them, and they caught fish.
The members of the Fisherman‘s Fellowship were many, the fish were plentiful, but the fishers were few.
The stage is more beholding to love， than the life of man. For as to the stage， love is ever matter of comedies， and now and then of tragedies； but in life it doth much mischief； sometimes like a siren， sometimes like a fury. You may observe， that amongst all the great and worthy persons （whereof the memory remaineth， either ancient or recent） there is not one， that hath been transported to the mad degree of love： which shows that great spirits， and great business， do keep out this weak passion. You must except， nevertheless， Marcus Antonius， the half partner of the empire of Rome， and Appius Claudius， the decemvir and lawgiver； whereof the former was indeed a voluptuous man， and inordinate； but the latter was an austere and wise man： and therefore it seems （though rarely） that love can find entrance， not only into an open heart， but also into a heart well fortified， if watch be not well kept. It is a poor saying of Epicurus， Satis magnum alter alteri theatrum sumus； as if man， made for the contemplation of heaven， and all noble objects， should do nothing but kneel be- fore a little idol， and make himself a subject， though not of the mouth （as beasts are）， yet of the eye； which was given him for higher purposes.
It is a strange thing， to note the excess of this passion， and how it braves the nature， and value of things， by this； that the speaking in a perpetual hyperbole， is comely in nothing but in love. Neither is it merely in the phrase； for whereas it hath been well said， that the arch-flatterer， with whom all the petty flatterers have intelligence， is a man`s self； certainly the lover is more. For there was never proud man thought so absurdly well of him self， as the lover doth of the person loved； and therefore it was well said， That it is impossible to love， and to be wise. Neither doth this weakness appear to others only， and not to the party loved； but to the loved most of all， except the love be reciproque. For it is a true rule， that love is ever rewarded， either with the reciproque， or with an inward and secret contempt.
譯文
舞台上的愛情比生活中的愛情要美好得多。因為在舞台上，愛情只是喜劇和悲劇的素材。而在人生中，愛情卻常常招來不幸。它有時像那位誘惑人的魔女，有時又像那位復仇的女神。你可以看到，一切真正偉大的人物（無論是古人、今人，只要是其英名永銘於人類記憶中的），“沒有一個是因愛情而發狂的人：因為偉大的事業抑制了這種軟弱的感憎。只有羅馬的安東尼和克勞底亞是例外。前者本性就好色荒淫，然而後者卻是嚴肅多謀的人。所以愛情不僅會佔領開曠坦闊的胸懷，有時也能闖入壁壘森嚴的心靈——假如守禦不嚴的話。 埃皮克拉斯曾説過一句笑話：”人生不過是一座大戲台。“似乎本應努力追求高尚事業的人類，卻只應像玩偶奴隸般地逢場作戲似的。雖然愛情的奴隸並不同於那班只顧吃喝的禽獸，但畢竟也只是眼目色相的奴隸——而上帝賜人以眼睛本來是更高尚的用途的。
過度的愛情追求，必然會降低人本身的價值。例如，只有在愛情中，才永遠需要那種浮誇謅媚的詞令。而在其他場合，同樣的詞令只能招人恥笑。古人有一句名言：“最大的奉承，人總是留給自己的”。——只有對情人的奉承要算例外。因為甚至最驕傲的人，也甘願在情人面前自輕自賤。所以古人説得好：“就是神在愛情中也難保持聰明。”情人的這種弱點不僅在外人眼中是明顯的，就是在被追求者的眼中也會很明顯——除非她（他）也在追求他（她）。所以，愛情的代價就是如此，不能得到回愛，就會得到一種深藏於心的輕蔑，這是一條永真的定律。
學識谷
