《生而为赢-Born to Win 》(二)

2016/07/25 English 共 37511 字,约 108 分钟
AI智谷X

十六. Abundance is a Life Style 富足的生活方式

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.

富足是一种生活方式。它不是你偶尔买来,从架子上拿下来,抹去灰尘用上一两次然后又放回到架子上的东西。

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

富足是一种哲学,它体现于你的生理机能和价值观之中,并带有自己的一套信仰。无论走路,睡觉,洗澡你都会感受到它,你还要维护并照顾它。

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

富足并不一定需要金钱。许多人拥有金钱所能买到的一切,但却内心空虚。富足源自内心,其中包含一些重要的自我成分,比如爱,关心,善良和温柔,体贴与同情。富足是一种存在状态,它向处发散,像处于众多星球之间的太阳那样发光发亮。

Being from the brightness of abundance doesn’t allow the darkness to appear or be in the path unless a choice to allow it to. The true state of abundance doesn’t have room for lies or games nomp3ally played. The space is too full of abundance. This may be a challenge because we still need to shine for other to see.

来自富足的光亮不允许黑暗的出现或存在,除非选择允许它存在。真正的富足不给谎言或通常玩的游戏留有空间,因为富足已经把空间填得太满了。这可能是一个挑战,因为我们仍然需要为了让别人看见而发光。

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.

富足是看到人们的天赋,而不是他的缺陷。所有的事物都要看其天赋而不是缺陷。

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

从知道自己的富足是什么时开始,填写满空间,全身心投入生活。你的选择已经告诉你。例如:教练能够了解队员并激发其潜力,那是他们的天赋;顾问和客服专业人士通常能够提供很多成功且很具实用性的案例;行政助理和虚拟助理熟识直辖市配合和时间管理的技巧。富足充盈于你的四周以及你的内心。明白富足的内容,爱本色的自己,不要为自己缺少的或是能变得更好的方面爱自己,而是为此时此刻的富足而爱自己。

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

要处于你已经拥有的事物的富足状态。我保证它们就在那儿,深藏不露却从未远离。将其看成空气,吸入体内,因为它们是你的。放开暂并不富足的东西。把你富足的所有天赋写在橱柜里的鞋盒子上,如果需要就每天早晨拉开橱柜,知道你的天赋都在那儿。

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

你需要学会信任自己的富足。当你开始处在自己富足的空间之内时,你需要的东西都会在你需要的时刻出现。这就是更高的力量设置这个宇宙动转的方式。要相信宇宙的能量。知道这一点会让你在其力量面前保持谦卑,但也会让你的光亮闪耀在所有需要的地方。只要处于富足的状态,就是做你自你需要学会信任自己的富足。当你开始处在自己富足的空间之内时,你需要的东西都会在你需要的时刻出现。这就是更高的力量设置这个宇宙动转的方式。要相信宇宙的能量。知道这一点会让你在其力量面前保持谦卑,但也会让你的光亮闪耀在所有需要的地方。只要处于富足的状态,就是做你自己。

十七. Human Life a Poem 人生如诗

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.

我以为,从生物学角度看,人的一生恰如诗歌。人生自有其韵律和节奏,自有内在的生成与衰亡。人生始于无邪的童年,经过少年的青涩,带着激情与无知,理想与雄心,笨拙而努力地走向成熟;后来人到壮年,经历渐广,阅人渐多,涉世渐深,收益也渐大;及至中年,人生的紧张得以舒缓,人的性格日渐成熟,如芳馥之果实,如醇美之佳酿,更具容忍之心,处世虽更悲观,但对人生的态度趋于和善;再后来就是人生迟暮,内分泌系统活动减少,若此时吾辈已经悟得老年真谛,并据此安排残年,那生活将和平,宁静,安详而知足;终于,生命之烛摇曳而终熄灭,人开始永恒的长眠,不再醒来。

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

人们当学会感受生命韵律之美,像听交响乐一样,欣赏其主旋律、激昂的高潮和舒缓的尾声。这些反复的乐章对于我们的生命都大同小异,但个人的乐曲却要自己去谱写。在某些人心中,不和谐音会越来越刺耳,最终竟然能掩盖主曲;有时不和谐音会积蓄巨大的能量,令乐曲不能继续,这时人们或举枪自杀或投河自尽。这是他最初的主题被无望地遮蔽,只因他缺少自我教育。否则,常人将以体面的运动和进程走向既定的终点。在我们多数人胸中常常会有太多的断奏或强音,那是因为节奏错了,生命的乐曲因此而不再悦耳。我们应该如恒河,学她气势恢弘而豪迈地缓缓流向大海。

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

人生有童年、少年和老年,谁也不能否认这是一种美好的安排,一天要有清晨、正午和日落,一年要有四季之分,如此才好。人生本无好坏之分,只是各个季节有各自的好处。如若我们持此种生物学的观点,并循着季节去生活,除了狂妄自大的傻瓜和无可救药的理想主义者,谁能说人生不能像诗一般度过呢。莎翁在他的一段话中形象地阐述了人生分七个阶段的观点,很多中国作家也说过类似的话。奇怪的是,莎士比亚并不是虔诚的宗教徒,也不怎么关心宗教。我想这正是他的伟大之处,他对人生秉着顺其自然的态度,他对生活之事的干涉和改动很少,正如他对戏剧人物那样。莎翁就像自然一样,这是我们能给作家或思想家的最高褒奖。对人生,他只是一路经历着,观察着,离我们远去了。

十八. Solitude 独处

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.

我发现人若大部分时间用于独处,将有益身心。与人为伴,即使是挚友,也很快会有厌烦或虚度光阴的感觉。我爱独处,我发现没有比独处更好的伴侣了。出国,身在熙攘人群中,要比退守陋室更让人寂寞。心有所想,身有所系的人总是孤身一人,不论他身处何地。独处与否也不是由人与人之间的距离来确定。在剑桥苦读的学子虽身处蜂巢般拥挤的教室,实际上却和沙漠中的苦行僧一样,是在独处。家人终日耕于田间,伐于山野,此时他虽孤单但并不寂寞,因他专心于工作;但待到他日暮而息,却未必能忍受形影相吊,空有思绪做伴的时光,他必到“可以看见大伙儿”的去处去找乐子,如他所认为的那样以补偿白日里的孤独;因此他无法理解学子如何能竟夜终日独坐而不心生厌倦或倍感凄凉;然而他没意识到,学子虽身在学堂,但心系劳作,但是耕于心田,伐于学林,这正和农人一样,学子在寻求的无非是和他一样的快乐与陪伴,只是形式更简洁罢了。

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.

与人交往通常都因唾手可得而毫无价值,在频繁的相处中,我们无暇从彼此获取新价值。我们每日三餐相聚,反复让彼此重新审视的也是依旧故我,并无新奇之处。为此我们要循规蹈矩,称其为懂礼仪,讲礼貌,以便在这些频繁的接触中相安无事,无须论战而有辱斯文。我们相遇在邮局,邂逅在社交场所,围坐在夜晚的炉火旁,交情甚笃,彼此干扰着,纠缠着;实际上我认为这样我们都或多或少失去了对彼此的尊重。对于所有重要的倾心交流,相见不必过频。想想工厂里的女孩,她们虽从不落单,但也少有梦想。像这样方圆一英里仅一人居住,那情况会更好。人的价值非在肌肤相亲,而在心有灵犀。

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?

我的房子里有很多伙伴,尤其在无人造访的清晨。我把自己和周围事物对比一下,你或许能窥见我生活的一斑。比起那湖中长笑的潜鸟,还有那湖,我并不比它们孤独多少。你看:这孤单的湖又何以为伴呢?

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.

然而它那一湾天蓝的湖水里有的却是天使的纯净,而非魔鬼的忧郁。太阳是孤独的,虽然时而在阴郁的天气里会出现两个太阳,但其中之一为幻日;上帝是孤独的 – 魔鬼才从不孤单,他永远不乏伙伴,因从他都甚众。比起牧场上的一朵毛蕊花,一支蒲公英,一片豆叶,一束酢浆草,一只牛虻或大黄蜂来,我并不孤单多少;比想密尔溪,风标,北极星,南风,四月春雨,正月融雪,或者新房中的第一只蜘蛛,我也并不更加孤单。

十九. Giving Life Meaning 给生命以意义

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?

你有没有想过,你希望人们在你死后怎样评论你?你能否听到这样的说,“他是个伟大的人”或“人们的确会怀念她”,他们还会说些什么?

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.

人生最奇异的现象之一就是,你从事的事业在你死后仍将长久存在。这和你用所的钱进行投资以便后人能从中获益不是如出一辙吗?也许,如果你审视自己的内心深处,你就会发现促使你做出这种贡献的驱动力-一种驱使每个人寻找在自己死后仍能继续存在的事业的驱动力。

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?

你希望自己的名字被人记住吗?你希望别人提起你的名字时心怀敬畏吗?你希望自己的面容被雕刻在50英尺高的花岗岩上吗?答案真的那么简单吗?贡献一生的目的难道终将一死之人想要获得不朽名声的自我鞭策的欲望?抑或是其他更伟大的事物?

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.

今天活着的孩子明天就会死去。一个有可能成为下一个爱因斯坦的婴儿会死于出生并发症。生命的情形并不是固定不变的。我们并没有注定都要活到老年。我们已经认识到,生命是一个周期,其时间长度是特定的。如果这些时间没有被充分利用,那就是个悲剧,因为人的潜能还未实现,因为火花还没形成火焰就被补灭。

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 confomp3 to our fantasy we grow upset, frustrated, or depressed.

由于存在于肉体之中,所以我们接受这些风险。我们使易朽的肉体服从周围物理环境的法则。你仔细想一想就会发现,这种交易并不是那么糟糕。当我们幻想生命应该如何时,问题就来了。当生命和我们的幻想不一致时,我们就变得烦恼,无奈或沮丧。

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.

我们活着,那我们就要活得精彩;我们有能力体验,那我们就要体验人生甘苦;我们有能力学习,那我们就要在学海徜徉。生命的意义可以在一瞬间抓住-一个经常被我们忽略的短暂瞬间。

What meaning stands behind the dmp3atic 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?

当生命戏剧般地一幕幕拉开时,其中隐含的意义是什么?当我们周围所有其他都似乎随着时间而消逝时,我们能够掌握哪个真理并依靠它来生活呢?

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.

这些瞬间串联在一起,我们称之为事件。这些事件串联系在一起,我们称之为生活。当我们抓住那个瞬间并按照我们的意志来改变它-这意志受到我们内心深处的精神的驱使,我们就发现了生命的意义-这意义将在我们离开地球之后长久存在。

二十. Relish the Moment 品味现在

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

我们的潜意识里藏着一派田园诗般的风光! 我们仿佛身处一次横贯大陆的漫漫旅程之中! 乘着火车, 我们领略着窗外流动的景色:附近高速公路上奔驰的汽车、十字路口处招手的孩童、远山上吃草的牛群、源源不断地从电厂排放出的烟尘、一片片的玉米和小麦、平原与山谷、群山与绵延的丘陵、天空映衬下城市的轮廓, 以及乡间的庄园宅第!

But uppemp3ost 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.

然而我们心里想得最多的却是最终的目的地! 在某一天的某一时刻, 我们将会抵达进站! 迎接我们的将是乐队和飘舞的彩旗! 一旦到了那儿, 多少美梦将成为现实, 我们的生活也将变得完整, 如同一块理好了的拼图! 可是我们现在在过道里不耐烦地踱来踱去, 咒骂火车的拖拖拉拉! 我们期待着, 期待着, 期待着火车进站的那一刻!

“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!”

“当我们到站的时候, 一切就都好了! “我们呼喊着! “当我18岁的时候! ““当我有了一辆新450SL奔驰的时候! ““当我供最小的孩子念完大学的时候! ““当我偿清贷款的时候! ““当我官升高任的时候! ““当我到了退休的时候, 就可以从此过上幸福的生活啦! “

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.

可是我们终究会认识到人生的旅途中并没有车站, 也没有能够”一到永逸”的地方!生活的真正乐趣在于旅行的过程, 而车站不过是个梦, 它始终遥遥领先于我们!

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.

真正令人发疯的不是今日的负担, 而是对昨日的悔恨及对明日的恐惧! 悔恨与恐惧是一对孪生窃贼, 将今天从你我身边偷走!

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

那么就不要在过道里徘徊吧, 别老惦记着你离车站还有多远! 何不换一种活法, 将更多的高山攀爬, 多吃点儿冰淇淋甜甜嘴巴, 经常光着脚板儿溜达, 在更多的河流里畅游, 多看看夕阳西下, 多点欢笑哈哈, 少让泪水滴答! 生活得一边过一边瞧! 车站就会很快到达!

二十一. The Love of Beauty 爱美

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

爱美及是整个健全人性不可或缺之一部分。它是一种道德品质。缺乏这种品质并不能作为受到责难的充分理由,但是拥有这种品质则是心灵美好的永恒标志。品德的高尚与美好所达到的程度可能与对美的感受程度成正比。

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

大自然的美无处不在,整个宇宙就是美的殿堂。美,在春日百花中绽放;美,在绿叶嫩枝间摇曳;美,在深海幽谷里游弋;美,在奇石与贝壳的缤纷色彩中闪烁。不只是这些细微之物,还有海洋,山川,云彩,繁星,日升日落 – 一切都是洋溢着美。这样的美是如此珍贵,与我们最温柔,最高尚的情愫是如此相宜。然而,想到很多人置身于美之中,却几乎对它熟视无睹,真是令人痛心不已。

All persons should seek to become acquainted with the beauty in nature. There is not a womp3 we tread upon, nor a leaf that dances merrily as it falls before the autumn winds, but calls for our study and admiration. The power to appreciated beauty not merely increases our sources of happiness—it enlarges our moral nature, too. Beauty calms our restlessness and dispels our cares. Go into the fields or the woods, spend a summer day by the sea or the mountains, and all your little perplexities and anxieties will vanish. Listen to sweet music, and your foolish fears and petty jealousies will pass away. The beauty of the world helps us to seek and find the beauty of goodness.

所有的人都应该去认识大自然之美。没有一条我们踩过的小虫,没有一片在秋风拂掠之际飞舞的树叶不值得我们研究与赞赏。欣赏美的能力不仅增加了我们快乐的来源,也加强了我们德性的修养。美使我们不安的心平静下来,也驱散了我们的忧虑。到田野或森林去,在夏日的海边或山上呆上一天,那么你所有微不足道的困惑与焦虑都会烟消云散。倾听悦耳的音乐,你那愚蠢的恐惧与狭隘的嫉妒都会过去。世界之美将有助于我们找到为善之美。

二十二. The Happy door 快乐之门

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

快乐就像一块为了激起阵阵涟漪而丢进池塘的小石头。正好史蒂文森所说,快乐是一种责任。

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.

快乐这个词并没有确切的定义,快乐的人快乐的理由多种多样。快乐的关键并不是财富或身体健康,因为我们发现有些乞丐,残疾人和所谓的失败者也都非常快乐。

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.

快乐是一种意外的收获,但保持快乐却是一种成就,一种灵性的胜利。努力追寻快乐并不自私,实际上,这是我们对自己和他人应尽的责任。

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!

不快乐就像传染病,它使得人们都躲避不快乐的人。不快乐的人很快就会发现自己处于孤独,悲惨,痛苦的境地。然而,有一种简单得看似荒谬的治病良方:如果你不快乐,就假装你很快乐!

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

这很有效。不久你就会发现,别人不再躲着你了,相反,你开始吸引别人了。你会发觉,做一块能激起好意涟漪的小石头有多么值得。

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.

然后假装就变成了现实。你拥有了使心灵平静的秘密,会因帮助他人而忘我。

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

一旦你认识到快乐是一种责任并使快乐成为习惯,通向不可思议的乐园的大门就会向你敞开,那里满是感激你的朋友。

二十三. Born to Win 生而为赢

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

人皆生而为新,为前所未有之所存在;人皆生而能赢。人皆有其特立独行之方式去审视,聆听,触摸,品味及思考,因而都具备独特潜质-能力和局限。人皆能举足轻重,思虑明达,洞察秋毫,富有创意,成就功业。

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

“成者”与“败者”含义颇多。谈及成者我们并非指令他人失意之人。对我们而言,成者必为人守信,值得信赖,有求必应,态度诚恳,或为个人,或为社会一员皆能以真诚回应他人。

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

成者行事并不拘泥于某种信条,即便是他们认为应为其奉献一生的理念;而是本色行事,所以并不把精力用来表演,保持伪装或操控他人。他们明了爱与装家,愚蠢与装傻,博学与卖弄之间迥然有别。成者无须藏于面具之后。

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

成者敢于利用所学,独立思考,区分事实与观点,且并不佯装通晓所有答案。他们倾听,权衡他人意见,但能得出自己的结论。尽管他们尊重,敬佩他们,但并不为他们所局限,所推翻,所束缚,也不对他人敬若神灵。

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

成者既不佯装“无助”,亦不抱怨他人。相反,他们对人生总是独担责任,也不以权威姿态凌驾他人之上。他们主宰自己,而且能意识到这点。

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

成者善于审时度势,随机应变。他们对所接受的信息做出回应,维护当事人的利益,康乐和尊严。成者深知成一事要看好时节,行一事要把握时机。

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

尽管成者可以自由享乐,但他更知如何推迟享乐,适时自律,以期将来乐趣更盛。成者并不忌惮追求所想,但取之有道,也并不靠控制他们而获取安然之感。他们总是使自己立于不败。

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

成者心忧天下,并不孤立尘世弊病之外,而是置身事内,满腔热情,致力于改善民生。即使面对民族,国家之危亡,成者亦非无力回天之个体。他总是努力令世界更好。

二十四. Work and Pleasure 工作和娱乐

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

要想真正生活得幸福和平安,一个人至少应该有两三种业余爱好,而且必须是真正的爱好。到了晚年才开始说“我要培养这个或那个兴趣”是毫无用处的,种这种尝试只会增加精神上的负担。在与自己日常工作无关的领域中,一个人可以获得渊博的知识,但却很难有所收益或得到放松。做自己喜欢的事是无益的,你得喜欢自己所做的事。广言之,人可以分为三个类别:劳累而死的人,忧虑而死的人和无聊而死的人。对于那些体力劳动者来说,一周辛苦的工作使他们精疾力竭,因此在周六下午给他们提供踢足球或者打棒球的机会是没有意义的。对于政界人士,专业人士或者商人来说,他们已经为棘手的事务操劳或者烦恼了六天,因此在周末请他们为琐事劳神同样毫无意义。

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 fomp3er are the majority. They have their compensations. The long hours in the office or the factory bring with them as their reward, not only the means of sustenance, but a keen appetite for pleasure even in its simplest and most modest fomp3s. But Fortune’s favored children belong to the second class. Their life is a natural hamp3ony. 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.

或者可以这么说,理智的,勤奋的,有用的人可以分为两类:对第一类人而言,工作就是工作,娱乐就是娱乐;对于第二类人而言,工作和娱乐是合二为一的。很大一部分人属于前者。他们可以得到相应的补偿。在办公室或工厂里长时间的工作,不仅带给他们维持生计的金钱,还带给他们一种渴求娱乐的强烈欲望,哪怕这种娱乐消遣是以最简单,最淳朴的方式进行的。而第二类人则是命运的宠儿。他们的生活自然而和谐。在他们看来,工作时间永远不够多,每天都是假期;而当正常的假日到来时,他们总会抱怨自己有趣的休假被强行中断。然而,有一些东西对于这两类人来说都十分必要,那就是变换一下视角,改变一下氛围,尝试做点不同的事情。事实上,那些把工作看作娱乐的人可能是需要以某种方式将工作不时地驱赶出自己的大脑。

二十五. Mirror, Mirror—What do I See? 镜子,镜子,告诉我

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

充满爱意人的生活在充满爱意的世界里,充满敌意的人则生活在充满敌意的世界里。你所遇到的每一个人都是你的镜子。

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.

镜子里有一个非常独特的功能,那就是映射出在其前面的影像。就像真正的镜子具有反射功能一样,我们生活中的所有人也都能映射出他人的影子。

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.

当我们看到美丽的事物时,例如一座花园,那这花园就起到了反射作用。为了发现我们面前美好的事物,我们必须能发现在自己内在的美。我们爱某个人,也正是我们爱自己的表现。我们经常听到这样的话:“当我和那个人在一起的时候,我爱那时的自己。”这句话也可以简单地说成:“在我爱那个人的同时,我也能爱我自己。”有时,我们遇见一个陌生人,感觉仿佛是一见如故,就好像我们已经相识甚久。这种熟悉感可能来自于彼此身上的共同点。

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.

就像“镜子”或他人能映射出我们积极的一面一样,我们更有可能注意到映射出自己消极方面的“镜子”。例如,我们很容易就能记住我们碰到自己不太喜欢的人的时刻。我们可能在心里对那个人有些反感。当我们认识自己不喜欢与之相处的人时,这种情况就更为明显。

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

具有讽刺意味着的是,通常当我们讨厌别人身上的某些特质时,那就说明你其实讨厌自己身上相类似的特质。

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?

每次,当我遇到不太喜欢的人时,我就开始进一步质问自己。我会扪心自问:“我不喜欢那个人的哪些方面?”然后还会问:“我是不是有和他相似的地方?”每次,我都能在自己身上看到一些令我厌恶的特质。我有时不得不深刻地反省自己。那这意味着什么呢?

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.

这意味着,就像我会对其他人身上令我厌恶的特质感到恼怒或不安一样,我应该更好地重新审视自己的特质,并考虑做一些改变。即使我不想做大的改变,至少我会考虑该如何修正自己正在做的一些事情。

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.

我们时常会遇到陌生人,并感到疏远或厌恶。尽管我们不想去相信,不容易也不想去深究,但是弄清楚别人的哪些特质在自己身上有所体现是非常有意义的一课,这也正是增强自我意识的另一个途径。

二十六. On Motes and Beams 微尘与栋梁

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.

让人奇怪的是,和别人的过错比起来,我们自身的过错往往不是那样的可恶。我想,其原因应该是我们知晓一切导致自己犯错的情况,因此能够设法谅解自己的错误,而别人的错误却不能谅解。我们对自己的缺点不甚关注,即便是深陷困境而不得不正视它们的时候,我们也会很容易就宽恕自己。据我所知,我们这样做是正确的。缺点是我们自身的一部分,我们必须接纳自己的好和坏。

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 fomp3ed 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?

但是当我们评判别人的时候,情况就不同了。我们不是通过真实的自我来评判别人,而是用一种自我形象来评判,这种自我形象完全摒弃了在任何世人眼中会伤害到自己的虚荣或者体面的东西。举一个小例子来说:当觉察到别人说谎时,我们是多么地蔑视他啊!但是,谁能够说自从未说过谎?可能还不止一百次呢。

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.

人和人之间没什么大的差别。他们皆是伟大与渺小,善良与邪恶,高尚与低俗的混合体。有的人性格比较坚毅,机会也比较多,因而达个或那个方面,能够更自由地发挥自己的禀赋,但是人类的潜能却都是相同的。至于我自己,我认为自己并不比大多数人更好或者更差,但是我知道,假如我记下我生命中每一次举动和每一个掠过我脑海的想法的话,世界就会将我视为一个邪恶的怪物。每个人都会有这样的怪念头,这样的认识应当能够启发我们宽容自己,也宽容他人。同时,假如因此我们得以用幽默的态度看待他人,即使是天下最优秀最令人尊敬的人,而且假如我们也因此不把自己看得过于重要,那是很有裨益的。

二十七. An October Sunrise 十月的日出

I was up the next morning be fore the October sunrise, and away through the wild and the woodland. The rising of the sun was noble in the cold and wamp3th of it peeping down the spread of light, he raised his shoulder heavily over the edge of grey mountain and wavering length of upland. Beneath his gaze the dew-fogs dipped, and crept to crept to the hollow places; then stole away in line and column, holding skirts, and clinging subtly at the sheltering corners where rock hung over grassland, while the brave lines of the hills came forth, one beyond other gliding.

第二天凌晨,在十月的太阳升起之前,我已经起身并穿过了旷野和丛林。十月的清晨乍寒还暖,日出的景象非常壮观。透过一片晨曦,朝日从朦胧的山冈和起伏连绵的高地过际,沉重地抬起肩头。在它的逼视下,蒙蒙的雾气向下沉降,落到洼地里去,接着一丝丝一缕缕地悄悄飘散,而在草地之上悬岩之下的那些隐秘角落里,雾气却还不愿散去,同时群山的雄姿接二连三地显现出来。

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.

森林也层层叠叠地显现,宛若刚刚苏醒的山峦的斗篷,端庄威严,并带着狂风暴雨的回忆。秋天成熟的手已经在抚摸这些山林,因为它们的颜色已经改变,染上了金黄,丹红和橄榄绿。它们对朝日所怀的一片喜悦,像是要奉献给一个新郎,更像是要奉献给一位父亲。

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

然而,在树林那流动的景色逝去之前,欢悦的晨光突然跃出了峰峦和山谷,光线所及,把照到的地方和周围的森林分别染成青色,紫色,琥珀色和富丽的红玫瑰色。光线照到哪里,那里就如同一幅幕布被掀开。而所有的一切都同样在驱散恐惧和黑暗的魔影;所有的一切都展开希望的翅膀,向前习翔,并大声宣告:“上帝在这里!”于是生命和欢乐从每一个蜷伏的洞穴里信心十足地欣然跃出;一切花朵,蓓蕾和鸟雀都感到了生命和欢乐而抖动起来;上帝的凝视汇合成温柔的恩泽。

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

也许,那永恒的晨光就会这样降临人间,那时不再有险崖沟壑,不再有峰峦山谷,也不再有浩瀚无际的海洋;万物都将踊跃升腾,在造物主慈爱的光芒中生辉,因为太阳已经升起。

二十八. To be or not to be 生存还是毁灭

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.”

“生存还是毁灭。”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。”

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.

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,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。

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

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。

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.

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。

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!

生存还是毁灭——活得热烈活得丰富,还是只是简单存在,这就全在我们自己。但愿我们都能不断扩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。

二十九. Gettysburg Address 在葛底斯堡的演说

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

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。

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

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。

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

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。

三十. First Inaugural Address 就职演讲(节选)

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

今天我们庆祝的不是政党的胜利,而是自由的胜利。这象征着一个结束,也象征着一个开端;意味着延续也意味看变革。因为我已在你们和全能的上帝面前,宣读了我们的先辈在170多年前拟定的庄严誓言。

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

公民们,我们方针的最终成败与其说掌握在我手中,不如说掌握在你们手中。自从合众国建立以来,每一代美国人都曾受到召唤去证明他们对国家的忠诚。响应召唤而献身的美国青年的坟墓遍及全球。

Now the trumpet summons us again, not as a call to bear amp3s, though amp3s we need; not as a call to battle, though embattled we are; but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, “rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation”, a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself.

现在,号角已再次吹响—不是召唤我们拿起武器,虽然我们需要武器;不是召唤我们去作战,虽然我们严阵以待。它召唤我们为迎接黎明而肩负起漫长斗争的重任,年复一年,从希望中得到欢乐,在磨难中保持耐性,对付人类共同的敌人—专制、社团、疾病和战争本身。

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?

为反对这些敌人,确保人类更为丰裕的生活,我们能够组成一个包括东西南北各方的全球大联盟吗?你们愿意参加这一历史性的努力吗?

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.

在漫长的世界历史中,只有少数几代人在自由处于最危急的时刻被赋予保卫自由的责任。我不会推卸这一责任,我欢迎这一责任。我不相信我们中间有人想同其他人或其他时代的人交换位置。我们为这一努力所奉献的精力、信念和忠诚,将照亮我们的国家和所有为国效劳的人,而这火焰发出的光芒定能照亮全世界。

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

因此,美国同胞们,不要问国家能为你们做些什么、而要问你们能为国家做些什么。

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

全世界的公民们,不要问美国将为你们做些计人,而要问我们共同能为人类的自由做些什么。

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

最后,不论你们是美国公民还是其他国家的公民,你们应要求我们献出我们同样要求于你们的高度力量和牺牲。问心无愧是我们唯一可靠的奖赏,历史是我们行动的最终裁判,让我们走向前去,引导我们所热爱的国家。我们祈求上帝的福佑和帮助,但我们知道,确切地说,上帝在尘世的工作必定是我们自己的工作。

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