生而为赢·新东方英语背诵美文30篇

俞敏洪

简介

本书是“首届新东方英语美文背诵大赛”惟一指定用书。该届背诵大赛是新东方集团2006年最重要的市场活动之一。本书精选了30篇脍炙人口的英语美文，或阐释人生哲理，或抒发缱绻情怀，发人深省，感人肺腑。全书配中文参考译文和生词注释，适合英语爱好者学习、诵读。本书语音部分由新东方资深英语教学专家、美语思维学习法创始人王强老师朗读。全书附赠MP3光盘，并提供网上免费音频下载，读者用以辅助学习，效果更佳。 ——新东方英语专家倾力奉献；句句美文奠定英语坚实基础；背诵的力量打造考场、职场顺利通途！

Youth

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

Youth means a tempera-mental predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for the adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of 60 more than 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 spring back to dust.

Whether 60 or 16 ,there is in every human being's heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing childlike appetite of 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 message of beauty ,hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the infinite, so long are you young.

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

该书籍由网友制作上传，版权归原作者所有，仅供学习交流之用，请在下载后24小时内自行删除！

--epub掌上书苑(http://www.cnepub.com)

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 twenty-four hours, but always we were interested in discovering just how the doomed man 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 up thinking, wondering what we should do under similar circumstances. What associations should we crowd into those last hours as mortal beings? What happiness should we find in reviewing the past, 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 a gentleness, a 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," most people would be chastened by the certainty of impending death.

Most of us 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 task, hardly aware of our listless attitude towards life.

The same lethargy, I am afraid, characterizes the use of 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 sound hazily, without concentration, and with little appreciation. It is the same old story of not being grateful for what we 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.

Now and then I have tested my seeing friends to discover what they see. Recently I was visited by a very good friend who had just returned from a long walk in the woods, and I asked her what she had observed. "Nothing in particular," she replied. I might have been incredulous had I not been accustomed to such responses, for long ago I became convinced that the seeing see little.

How was it possible, I asked myself, to walk for an hour through the woods and see nothing worthy of note? I who cannot see find hundreds of things to interest me through mere touch. I feel the delicate symmetry of a leaf. I pass my hands lovingly about the smooth skin of a silver birch, or the rough shaggy bark of a pine. In spring I touch the branches of trees hopefully in search of a bud, the first sign of awakening Nature after her winter's sleep I feel the delightful, velvety texture of a flower, and discover its remarkable convolutions; and something of the miracle of Nature is revealed to me. Occasionally, if I am very fortunate, I place my hand gently in a small tree and feel the happy quiver of a bird in full song. I am delighted to have cool waters of a brook rush through my open fingers. To me a lush carpet of pine needles or spongy grass is more welcome than the most luxurious Persian rug. To me the pageant of seasons is a thrilling and unending drama, the action of which streams through my finger tips. At times my heart cries out with longing to see all these things. If I can get so much pleasure from mere touch, how much more beauty must be revealed by sight. Yet, those who have eyes apparently see little. The panorama of color and action fill the world is taken for granted. It is human, perhaps, to appreciate little that which we have and to long for that which we have not, but it is a great pity that in the world of light and the gift of sight is used only as mere convenience rather that as a means of adding fullness to life.

Oh, the things that I should see if I had the power of sight for three days!

companionship of books 与书为伴

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 love they have each for a 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 has been to sift out the bad products; for nothing in literature can long survive 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 them 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.

If I rest, I rust

The significant inscription(题字，碑铭) found on an old key - "If I rest, I rust" - would be an excellent motto for those who are afflicted with the slightest taint of idleness. Even the industrious(勤奋的人) 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 gates 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 treasure of achievemenet. If Hugh Miller, after toiling all day in a quarry, had devoted his evening s 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 vanquished 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.

Ambition

It is not difficult to imagine a world short of ambition. It would probably be a kinder world: without 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 unrelievedly 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 taken 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 don’t choose to be born. We don’t choose our parents. We don’t choose our historical epoch, the country of our birth, or the immediate circumstances of our upbringing. We don’t, 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 of 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.

[annotation>:

Abrasion磨损；

collectivity集体；

tumultuous喧嚣的，纷乱的；

Unrelievedly持续不变地，未缓和地；

sham骗局；

at bottom实际上；

cynical愤世嫉俗的；

derange打乱；

posterity子孙，后裔；

epoch时代，时期；

cowardice胆怯；怯懦；

What I have Lived For

Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and the 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 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 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 can't, 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.

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 your 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 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 itself 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 prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.

[annotation>

Beckon召唤；

pinion羽翼；

crucify折磨；

pruning修剪；

Caress抚爱；

quiver震动，颤抖；

threshing-floor打谷场；

Naught零；

eventide黄昏；

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 a 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. 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 "put all your eggs in one basket, and then watch that basket." It is easy to watch and carry the one basket. He who carries three baskets must put one on his head, which is apt to tumble and trip him up.

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.

The 50-Percent Theory of Life

生活半对半

I believe in the 50-percent theory. Half the time things are better than normal; the other half, they are 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.

我信奉对半理论。生活时而无比顺畅，时而倒霉透顶，好坏参半。我觉得生活就像来回晃动的钟摆。读懂生活的常态需要时间和阅历，也正是这样才练就了我面对未来荣辱不惊的生活态度。

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.

让我们掂量这些点点滴滴：是的，我注定会死去。我已经经历了双亲的仙逝，一位友人的亡故，一位敬爱的老板的离逝，还有心爱宠物的死亡。当中一些变故突如其来，直击眼前；有些却长期折磨，痛苦不堪。糟糕的事儿，它们驻留谷底。

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.

当然生活也不乏熠熠光彩：坠入爱河缔结良缘；养育幼子身为人父，训练儿子的棒球队，当他和狗在水中嬉戏时，摇桨划船前瞻后顾，感受他如此强烈的同情心——即使对蜗牛也善待有加，发现他如此活跃的想像力——即使零散的积木也能堆出太空飞船。

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.

但在它们发生期间有一片宽广的草坪，在那儿上演的各种好事坏事像耍杂技一样地翻新。这就是让我信服对半理论的原因。

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-conditioner 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, bound for their first World Series, buoyed my spirits.

有一年春天，我在一片容易被淹的低洼地过早地种下了玉米，邻居们都为此嘲笑我。一番心血付之东流让我懊恼不已。接着我生命中最难熬的酷暑来临了——热浪袭人，酿至旱灾。空调失灵，水井枯竭，婚姻破裂，惨遭失业，积蓄挥空。我正经历某个乡村调频描绘的情节，我讨厌这种音乐。只有一支人气攀升的堪萨斯皇家棒球队的小组因他们的第一次出征世界大赛团结起来使我精神振奋。

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. They reinvigorate me for the next nasty surprise and offer assurance that I 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.

回想那个可怕的夏天，我不久就明白了所有的好事坏事不过是正负抵消。不顺心的境遇不会延宕过久。太平时光是我应得的，我要尽情享受。它们给我新的活力以应对突如其来的险境，并确保我再度辉煌。对半理论甚至帮我在我喜爱的皇家棒球队最近的低潮中看到希望——这是一块艰难行进的新手们耕耘的土地，播种了，假以时日我们就可以收获十月的金秋。

Oh, yeah, the corn crop? For that one 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.

哦，对了，玉米收成？就那年炎热的夏天，庄稼地的湿度恰到好处，过早的种植使授粉避开酷热在顶梢干枯前完成，雨水稀少使地里长着的玉米免遭水灾。那年冬天，我的粮仓里堆满了玉米——饱满结实的玉米每株秆上结三个，每个玉米从底到顶端长满了玉米粒——而我的邻居们地里长出来的只是暗沉干瘪的壳。

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.

尽管过去播种的收获没有达到50％的期望，而且将来也可能是这样，我仍然要为经历旱季依然丰收的玉米而坚守阵地。

What is your Recovery Rate?

by Graham and Julie Harris

What is your recovery rate? How long does it take you to recover from actions and behaviours that upset you? Minutes? Hours? Days? Weeks? How long? The longer it takes you to recover the more influence that incident has on your actions, 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.

Just ask yourself:

How many times have I got upset with my spouse or partner for something the children did hours ago?

How many times have I missed an opportunity because I was still focused on an upset and all I could say was ‘NO’ to everything?

How many times have I driven my car erratically because I was still thinking of an incident that made me angry?

The point is: a poor recovery rate affects your health. A poor recovery rate affects your well being. A poor recovery rate stops you from living to your potential.

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 behaviour is found with professional sportspeople. They know that the faster they can forget an incident or missed 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!

How long does it take you to recover and overcome and forget an incident at work or at home?

A method that I and many others use to help us reduce the recovery time is the method of the FULL STOP.

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 full 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.

Now think about your life. Imagine life is no more than a play, a drama and we each have a role to play in that drama. Your job is to play your part to the best of your ability and the better you play your part the more chance that you will inspire others around you to improve their performance. Each incident you face is a new sentence. Just put a full stop behind it and start again. Accept that every time you meet someone or have a conversation with a person on the telephone or even send an email it is a new incident. You have both moved on since you last met, so remembering the last occasion only keeps you in the past and stops you moving forward and stops you seeing new opportunities. The next time you see the person that upset you, or you upset, is a new occasion. There is nothing to be gained by continuing from where you left off. The incident has finished. You are both in a different place now. It is a new sentence so start again.

My grandmother used to call it destiny. “Accept what has happened as part of your destiny and live with it”, was a favourite phrase of hers. You cannot change what has happened. Sulking or brooding will not help. Analysing will only give you a headache and keep it fresh in your mind. In the same way that you cannot enter the same river twice, you will never face the exact same incident again so why analyse that one? You can however notice whether you have a habit or thought pattern that clicks in in certain circumstances and stops you performing to your best. You can then look at the habit and decide how you can change it.

The secret to a better life is be like the sportsperson, ask yourself:

Did I recover quicker today than I did yesterday?

Did I recover quicker this time than the last occasion I faced a similar incident?

Did I allow myself to be average today?

Did I equal or improve on my personal best today?

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.

What we are suggesting is not an easy path. To work on your recovery rate and make changes in your thoughts, behaviour and attitudes requires a great deal of effort. However, the rewards are also great. It is important that you don’t force yourself to work on your recovery rate because you think you ought to or must or because you feel it will ‘make you a better person’. There's no benefit in that because you will not stick to the task. You will make a great deal of effort at the beginning but when you are not achieving the results you want you will stop or look for another technique. Only when you really feel you want to change; when you realise life is not working for you at the moment using the methods you are using, will you put in the effort to change your behaviour to improve your recovery rate. You can only improve your recovery rate when you can see that there is great benefit for the self.

Once you decide you wish to improve your recovery rate, you will start to check and change your thoughts and behaviours and make efforts to perform to your personal best. You can check your progress by measuring the speed in which you are able to apply a full stop; the time it takes you to let go. The time it takes before you are functioning at or near your personal best again.

Check yourself:

What was my recovery rate after the argument with my partner?

What was my recovery rate after I lost a sale?

What was my recovery rate after I received a ticket for speeding?

What was my recovery rate after I heard a friend was ill?

What was my recovery rate after I got frustrated with myself over………?

But 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 yourself, ‘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.

Clear Your Mental Space

Jennifer Givler

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 willing 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 feel 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 1 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 .

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.

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 a 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 is 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 covered 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.

Facing the Enemies within直面内在的敌人

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 top 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 and 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 it 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 over-caution. It is the timid approach to life. Timidity is not a virtue (unlike humility – they are different); in fact, it can be 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 over-caution.

Do battle with the enemy. Do battle with your fears. Build your courage to fight what's holding you 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.

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, sleep with it, bath with it, feel with it, and

need to maintain and take care of it as well.

Its not walk existent with "S" for sap on your forehead

either. It’s a knowing that you're perfect in your present

moment, that what you have right now was most likely based

on choices you made yesterday and what you needed to learn

in order to be in the prefect moment now. Yet not seen as

right or wrong but let go of those judgments and embrace

with a splendidness that you can symbol with just a single

choice right now.

Abundance doesn't inflexibly 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. repleteness is a state of being. It radiates

outward. It shines like the sun midst the many moons I the

world. It’s subsistent the sun with discernment and love for the

gift of this being.

Being from the auspiciousness of dump doesn't assent the

darkness to spring or be in the path unless a peerless to

allow it to. The true state of tirade doesn't have room

for lies or games normally played. The space is too full of

abundance. This may be a thwart in that we still need to

shine for others to see.

Progressing into abundance, a transition, requires courage.

It is driven by the feeling of knowing of its possibility

and seeing the little spots and lenient them to grow

bigger. Making them consistent choices and removing all

else, that doesn't fuel that being.

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 voice is telling you this already.

Examples: Coaches have an superfluity of knowing and

possibilities. That is their gift. Consultants and

customer service professionals have the flood of

success, practicality, in common. directing Assistants

and Virtual Assistants have an productivity of coordination and

time management. oceans is all here and there 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 is, at this present moment.

Be in a state of multiplicity of what you before all have. I

guarantee they are there, it ever and anon is. concealed but there.

Breathe them in as if they are the air you trumpet because

they are yours. Let go of that isn't effuse for

the time being. Name the shoe boxes in your bank with

your gifts of abundance; pull from them every morning if

needed. Know they are there.

Learning to trust in your own exuberance is required. Who

else can you more than yourself? No one. When you commence to

be within your own space of superfluity 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 promptness of you shine everywhere it needs to.

Just by stuff from a state of abundance, it is inmost heart you.

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.

No one can say that a 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.

人生就像一首诗

从生物学角度来看，我认为人生读起来就像一首诗。人生有着独特的韵律和节奏，有着内在的发展和衰退周期。人生始于天真无邪的童年时代，随之而来的是不知所措的少年时代，笨手笨脚地努力适应成熟的社会。在此期间，既有青春的激情和傻气，也有人生的理想和抱负。紧接着就到了紧张激烈的成年时期，人们从经验中受益，更多地了解社会和人性。人值中年，可以稍事放松，此时性格趋于成熟，如同成熟的果实和甘醇的美酒；人生态度逐渐变得更加宽容，更加冷峻，同时也更加仁慈。再往后，就到了人生的夕阳时期。此时，内分泌腺活动减弱。假如我们真正参透老年哲学，并据此安排我们的生活模式，晚年对我们来说就是平和、安定、闲适、满足的岁月。最后，生命之火熄灭，一个人永远睡去，不再醒来。我们应当能够感受人生节奏之美，如同欣赏宏大的交响乐，我们能够欣赏它的主题，它的冲突旋律以及最后的和声。

没有人敢说，由童年、成年和晚年构成的人生不是一种绝妙的安排。一日之中有清晨、正午和日落，一年之中有四季。大自然如此安排自有其道理。人生并无好坏之分，只有看能否适应“季节”才可以品评优劣。假如我们能从这种生物学角度来看待人生，尽量顺时而生，适季而活，除了傲慢自大的傻瓜和无可救药的理想主义者，谁又能否认，人生可以活得像一首诗呢?

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.

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.

Relish the moment

Tucked away in our subconscious is an idyllic vision. We see ourselves on a long trip that spans the continent. 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 and 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.

"Relish the moment "is a good motto, especially when coupled with Psalm 118：24："This is the day which the Lord hath made；we will rejoice and be glad in it. "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. In stead, 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.

The Happy Door Mildred Cram Happiness is like a pebble dropped into a pool to set in motion an Ever-widening circle of ripples. Ad 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 wide 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.

The Love of Beauty

Natural beauty is an all-pervading presence. The universe is its temple. It 2)unfolds into the numberless flowers of spring. It waves in the branches of trees and the green 3)blades of grass. It 4)haunts the depth of the earth and the sea. It 5)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 6)overflow with beauty.

The power to appreciate beauty not only increases our sources of happiness - it enlarges our moral nature. Beauty calms our 7)restlessness and 8)dispels our cares. Go into the field or the woods, spend a summer day by the sea or the mountains, and all your little 9)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.

爱美之心

自然之美随处可见。宇宙是它的殿堂。美绽放在春天的百花间，摇曳于树枝与片片绿草间，流连在陆地与海洋深处，辉映于贝壳和宝石的光泽中。不只是细微的事物，还有海洋、高山、云朵、星辰、日出与日落，这些无一不美。

欣赏美的能力不仅增加了我们快乐的源泉，也提高了我们的灵性。美安抚烦躁，驱除忧虑。走进原野与森林，夏季里到海边或山上呆上一天，所有的烦扰将全部涤荡一空。倾听悠扬的音乐，徒劳的恐惧与小小的妒嫉都将成为过去。世界之美引导我们寻找到真善美。

1) all-pervading a. 遍布的

2) unfold v. 展现

3) blade n. 草片，叶片

4) haunt v. 出没于，不断纠缠

5) gleam v. 发微光，闪烁

6) overflow v. 溢，满出

7) restlessness n. 浮躁，不安

8) dispel v. 驱散

9) perplexity v. 困惑

The Happy Door

Mildred Gram

Happiness is like a pebble dropped into a pool to set in motion an ever-widening circle of ripples. As Stevenson hat 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 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 un imaginable gardens thronged with grateful friends.

BORN TO WIN

You cannot teach a man anything．

You can only help him discover it within himself． -Galileo

Each human being is born as something unique，something that never existed before．Each person has the potential to win in his own way．A normal person can see，hear，touch，taste，and think for himself．Each has his own unique potentials- his capabilities and limitations．Each can be an important，thinking，aware，and creatively productive person in his own right-a winner．

The words" winner" and "loser "have many meanings．When we refer to a person as a winner，we do not mean one who defeats the other person by dominating and making him lose． Instead a winner is one who responds genuinely by being trustworthy and responsive both as an individual and as a member of society．A loser is one who fails to respond genuinely．

Few people are winners or losers all the time．It's a matter of degree．However，once a person has the capacity to be a winner，his chances are greater for becoming even more so．

Achievement is not the most important thing for winners；genuineness is．The genuine person realizes his own uniqueness and appreciates the uniqueness of others．A winner is not afraid to do his own thinking and to use his own knowledge． He can separate facts from opinion and does not pretend to have all the answers．He listens toothers，evaluates what they say，but comes to his own conclusions．

A winner is flexible．He does not respond in known，rigid ways．He can change his plans when the situation calls for it．A winner has a love for life．He enjoys work，play，food，other people，and the world of nature．Without guilt he enjoys his own accomplishments．Without envy he enjoys the accomplishments of others．

A winner cares about the world and its people．He is not separated from the general problems of society．He tries to improve the quality of life．Even in the face of national and international difficulty，he does not see himself as helpless．He does what he can to make the world a better place．

Although people are born to win，they are also born totally dependent on their environment．Winners successfully make the change from dependence to independence．Losers do not．Somewhere along the line losers begin to avoid becoming independent．This usually begins in childhood．Poor nutrition，cruelty，unhappy relationships，disease，continuing disappointment，and inadequate physical care are among the many experiences that contribute to making people losers．

A loser is held back by his low capacity to appropriately express himself through a full range of possible behavior．He may be unware of other choices for his life if the path he chooses goes nowhere．He is afraid to try new things．He repeats not only his own mistakes and often repeats those of his family and culture．A loser has difficulty giving and receiving love．He does not enter into close，honest，direct relationships with others．Instead，he tries to manipulate them into living up to his expectations and channels his energies into living up to their expectations．

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 beings 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 labourer, tired out with a hard week’s sweat and effort, the chance of paying 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 knee appetite for pleasure even in its simplest and most modest forms. But Fortune’s favoured 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.

Mirror, Mirror---What do I See?

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.

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.

An October Sunrise

Richard D. Blackmore

I was up the next morning before 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 gray mountain and wavering length of upland. Beneath his gaze the dew-fogs dipped and 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 grass-land, 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 itself, 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; when glory shall not scare happiness, neither happiness envy glory; but all things shall arise, and shine in the light of the Father's countenance, because itself is risen.

Notes:

1. in the cold and warmth of it: 表示十月的清晨乍寒还暖

2. wavering: 原指波动，摇摆，此处指高地连绵起伏的状态

3. dew-fogs:濛濛的雾气

4. steal away:溜走，悄悄地走

5. in line and column: 丝丝缕缕

6. brave lines:刚毅的棱角和线条，此指（群山的）雄姿

7. one beyond other gliding: 指雾气散后，山峦相继出现

8. arose in folds: 指（树木）层层叠叠的出现

9. stately with a depth of awe, and memory of the tempests:指（树木）威武庄严、能引起狂风暴雨的

回忆

10. their joy towards the sun was less to a bridegroom than a father:(树木）对朝阳所怀有的喜悦，象是奉献给一位新郎的，更象是奉献给一位父辈

11. leap over: 跳过

12. rich red rose:华丽的红玫瑰

13. cloven hoof:偶蹄, 撒旦或邪恶的象征

14. a fluttering sense of them: 此处的them代指life and joy

15. countenance:面容

To be or not to be 莎翁作品中的六字名言

“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 un-happy, 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!

六字名言

威廉·里昂·费尔浦斯

“是活还是不活。”如果把《圣经》除外，这六个字便是整个世界文学中最有名的六个字了。这六个字是哈姆雷特一次喃喃自语时说的，而这六个字也就成了莎士比亚作品中最有名的几个字了，因为这里哈姆雷特不仅道出了他自己的心声，同时也代表了一切有思想的男男女女。是活还是不活——是要生活还是不要生活，是要生活得丰满充实，兴致勃勃，还是只是活得枯燥委琐，贫乏无味。一位哲人一次曾想弄清他自己是否是在活着，这个问题我们每个人也大可不时地问问我们自己。这位哲学家对此的答案是： “我思故我在。”

但是关于生存我所见过的一条最好的定义却是另一位哲学家下的：“生活即是联系。”如果这话不假的话，那么一个有生命者的联系越多，它也就越有生气。所谓要活得丰富充实也即是要扩大和加强我们的各种联系。不幸的是，我们往往会因为天性不够丰厚而容易陷入自己的陈规旧套。试问除去我们的日常工作，我们的真正生活又有多少?如果你只是对你的日常工作才有兴趣，那你的生趣也就很有限了。至于在其它事物方面一比如诗歌、散文、音乐、美术、体育、无私的友谊、政治与国际事务，等等——你只是死人一个。

但反过来说，每当你获得一种新的兴趣——甚至一项新的造诣——你就增长了你的生活本领。一个能对许许多多事物都深感兴趣的人是不可能总不愉快的，真正的悲观者只能是那些丧失兴趣的人。

培根曾讲过，一个人失去朋友即是死亡。但是凭着交往，凭着新朋，我们就能获得再生。这条对于活人可谓千真万确的道理在一定程度上也完全适用于人的思想，它们也都是活的。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业务范围，不出你的物质利益，不出你所在城镇的狭隘圈子，那么你的一生便也只是多方受着局限的狭隘的一生。但是如果你对当前中国那里所发生的种种感到兴趣，那么你便可说也活在中国；如果你对一本佳妙小说中的人物感到兴趣，你便是活在一批极有趣的人们中间；如果你能全神贯注地听点好的音乐，你就会超脱出你的周围环境而活在一个充满激情与想象的神奇世界之中。

是活还是不活——活得热烈活得丰富，还是只是简单存在，这就全在我们自己。但愿我们都能不断阔展和增强我们的各种联系。只要一天我们活着，就要一天是在活着。

Gettysburg Address - Albraham Lincoln 葛底斯堡演说 - 亚伯拉罕 · 林肯

Gettysburg Address Delivered on the 19th Day of November, 1863 Cemetery Hill, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Fourscore and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new Nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to theproposition that all men are created equal. Now, we are engaged in a great Civil War, testing whether that Nation, or any nation soconceived 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 gave their lives 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 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 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 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."

在葛底斯堡的演说 亚伯拉罕·林肯 1963年11月19日 87年前，我们的先辈们在这个大陆上创立了一个新国家，它孕育于自由之中，奉行一切人生来平等的原则。现在我们正从事一场伟大的内战，以考验这个国家，或者任何一个孕育于自由和奉行上述原则的国家是否能够长久存在下去。我们在这场战争中的一个伟大战场上集会。烈士们为使这个国家能够生存下去而献出了自己的生命，我们来到这里，是要把这个战场的一部分奉献给他们作为最后安息之所。我们这样做是完全应该而且是非常恰当的。但是，从更广泛的意义上来说，这块土地我们不能够奉献，不能够圣化，不能够神化。那些曾在这里战斗过的勇士们，活着的和去世的，已经把这块土地圣化了，这远不是我们微薄的力量所能增减的。我们今天在这里所说的话，全世界不大会注意，也不会长久地记住，但勇士们在这里所做过的事，全世界却永远不会忘记。毋宁说，倒是我们这些还活着的人，应该在这里把自己奉献于勇士们已经如此崇高地向前推进但尚未完成的事业。倒是我们应该在这里把自己奉献于仍然留在我们面前的伟大任务——我们要从这些光荣的死者身上汲取更多的献身精神，来完成他们已经完全彻底为之献身的事业；我们要在这里下定最大的决心，不让这些死者白白牺牲；我们要使国家在上帝福佑下得到自由的新生，要使这个民有、民治、民享的政府永世长存。

First Inaugural Address

We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom. Symbolizing an end, as well as a beginning, signify- ing renewal, as well as change. For I have sworn betbre you,

and almighty God, the same solemn oath our forbears prescribed nearly a century and three quarters ago.

The worried is very different now for man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty, and all forms of human life. And yet, the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forbears fought are still at issue around the globe. The belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.

We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first, revolution. Let the word go forth, from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new

generation of Americans, born in this century tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage and unwilling to witness, or permit, the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which. we are committed today at home and around the world.

Let every nation know whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and

success of liberty

This much we pledge and more.

To those old allies, whose cultural and spiritual origins we share, we pledge the loyalty of faithful friends. United there is little we cannot do, in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided

there is little we can do. For we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split us asunder.

To those new states whom we welcome to the ranks of the free, we pledge our words that one form of colonial control shall not have passed away merely to be replaced by a far more iron tyranny We sha1l not always expect to tind them supporting our view, but we shall always hope to find them strongly supporting their own freedom, and to remember that in the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.

To those people in the huts and villages of half the globe, struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required, not because the Communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it 's cannot save the

few who are rich.

To our sister republics south of our border, we offer a special pledge, to convert our good words into, good deeds, in a new alliance for progress to assist, free men and free governments in casting off the chains of poverty But this peaceful revolution of hope cannot become the prey of hostile power s. Let al our neighbors know that we shall join with them to oppose aggression or subversion anywhere ill the Americas. And let every other power know that this hemisphere intends to remain the master of its own house.

To that world assembly of sovereign states, the United Nations, our last and best hope in an age age where the instruments of war have far outpaced the instruments of peace, we renew our pledge of support to prevent it from becoming merely a form for invective, to strengthen its shield of the new and the weak, and to enlarge the area in which it's written and run.

Finally to those nations who would make themselves our adversary we offer not a pledge, but a request, that both sides begin a new quest for peace, before the dark powers of destruction unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or accidental self destruction.

We dare not tempt them with weakness, for only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt, can we be certain beyond doubt, that they will never be employed.

But neither can two great and powerful groups of nation take comfort from our present course, both sides over-burdened by the cost of modern weapons, both rightly alarmed by the steady spread of the deadly atom, and yet both racing to alter that uncertain balance of terror that stays the hand of mankind's final war.

So let us begin aneW remembering on both sides that stability is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.

Let both sides explore what problems unite us, instead of belaboring those problems which divide us.

Let both sides, for the first time, formulate serious and precise proposals, for the inspection and control of arms, and bring the absolute power to destroy other nations under the absolute control of all nations.

Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of science instead of its terrors. Together, let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths, and encourage

the arts and commerce.

Let both sides unite to heed, in all corners of the earth, the command of Isaiah, to rsndo the herrny brrrdens rrnd let the oppressed go hee.

And, if a beachhead of cooperation may push back the jungle of suspicion, let both sides join in creating a new endeavor not a new balance of powen but a new world of law, whel-e the

strong are just, and the weak secured, and the peace preserved. All this will not be finished in the first one hundrcd days, nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days, nor in the life of this administration, nor even perhaps in our lifietime on this planet. But let us begin.

In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than mine, will rest the final success or failure of our cause. 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 caI1 to service, surround the globe.

Now the trumpet summons us again, not as a cal1 to bear arms, though arms we need, not as a call to battle, though in battle 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 lbr the iieedom of men.

Finally whether you are citizens of A1nerica, or citizens of the world, ask of us here, the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. Wth a good conscience our

only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the Iand we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth, God's work must truly be our own.