青 春
Youth
[德国]塞缪尔·乌尔曼 / Samuel Ullman
塞缪尔·乌尔曼(1840—1920),犹太人,出生于德国,1851年随家人移民到美国密西西比。乌尔曼虽以教育家和社会活动家而闻名于世,但在文学创作方面也很有才华。他的《青春》因为麦克阿瑟将军的推崇而广为传颂。
Youth is not entirely a time of life; it is a state of mind; it
is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a
temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the
emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.
Youth means the temperamental predominance of courage over
timidity, of the appetite of adventure over the love of ease. This
often exists in a man of sixty more than in a boy of twenty. Nobody
grows old by merely living 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, doubt, self-distrust, fear and despair—these bow the
heart and turn the spirit back to dust.
Whether sixty or sixteen, there is in every human being' s
heart the love of wonder, the sweet amazement at the stars and the
star like things, the undaunted challenge of events, the unfailing
child-like appetite for what-next, and the joy of the game of
living.
You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt; as young as
your self-confidence, as old as your fear; as young as your hope,
as old as your despair.
In the central place of your heart there is a wireless station, so
long as it receives message of beauty, hope, courage, grandeur and
power from the earth, from man and from the Infinite, so long are
you young.
When the wires are all down, and all the central places of your
heart are covered with the snows of pessimism and the ice of
cynicism, then, and only then, are you grown old indeed.
青春不是年华,而是一种心态;不是玫瑰般的脸庞、红润的嘴唇和敏捷的双腿,而是坚韧的意志、丰富的想象力,以及无穷的激情;青春是生命深处的一股清泉。
青春意味着勇气多于怯懦,青春意味着喜欢冒险而讨厌安逸。拥有此种品质的人之中,六十岁的老人往往多于二十岁的年轻人。没有人只因年龄的增长而年老,人们往往因放弃理想而迈入年老。
岁月可使肌肤长满皱纹,但放弃激情则使心灵布满灰尘。焦虑、疑惑、畏缩、恐惧和沮丧都会挫伤心灵,磨损意志。
不管是白发老人还是青春少年,每个人的心里对新奇事物皆充满着喜爱,对星星和类似星星的东西皆有好奇之心,敢于挑战,对未知事物的孩子般的渴求之心,乐于享受生活带来的乐趣。
我们因充满信心而变得年轻,因心存疑虑而变得年老;因自信而年轻,因心存恐惧而年老;因充满希望而年轻,因满怀沮丧而年老。
人人心里都有一座无线电台,只要接收到来自地球、人类和宇宙的美好、希望、勇气、庄严及力量,就会变得年轻。
当心灵的天线倒下,心如大雪般的悲观、如冰块般的愤世嫉俗时,那时,唯有那时,我们将真正老去。
心灵小语
青春是一种品质,每当你睁开双眼,决定以微笑迎接崭新的**,青春就像小鸟,已经落在你心里了。
词汇笔记
词汇笔记
supple ['s·p·l] adj. (身体)柔软的;灵活的
That which was dead, or so it seemed, has come to life
again—the stiff branch, supple; the brown earth, green.
那些死去的生命和看上似乎已经死去的生命,重获生机,僵硬的
树枝柔软了,褐色的土地变绿了。
temperamental [tempr·'mentl] adj. 不可靠的;易怒的;易激动的
She was an intelligent, attractive and somewhat
temperamental
daughter of a well-to-do doctor.
她的父亲是一位非常富有的医生。她聪明、美丽,但就是有点喜怒无常。
timidity [ti'miditi] n. 胆怯;羞怯
Timidity is the bridge to dejection.
怯弱是通向消沉的桥。
grandeur ['ɡr·nd··] n. 宏伟;壮观;富丽堂皇
For truly he did not foresee the catastrophic ending, and had
allowed himself to be blindly compromised under promise of power
& grandeur.
他确实没能预见到灾难性的后果,盲目地向权力与名誉的允诺妥协。
小试身手
没有人只因年龄的增长而年老,人们往往因放弃理想而迈入年老。
岁月可使肌肤长满皱纹,但放弃激情则使心灵布满灰尘。
我们因充满信心而变得年轻,因心存疑虑而变得年老。
These bow the heart and turn the spirit back to dust.
turn back:往回走;阻挡;翻回到
When the wires are all down, and all the central places of your
heart are covered with the snows of pessimism and the ice of
cynicism.
be covered with:被……盖满;充满着……
快乐吧!
Be Happy!
[英国]劳埃德·莫里斯 / Lloyd Morris
劳埃德·莫里斯(1613-1680),英国作家,作品富于机智幽默。著有《格言集》等。
本文以演绎的手法论述快乐对人的影响。作者先借梅斯菲尔德的诗引出“快乐”与“智慧”的关系,接着以人在快乐时的种种心理反应,点出快乐无处不在。*后再给予肯定的结论:快乐是智慧的开端。
“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. Every thing assumes a fairer
proportion. And here is the beginning of wisdom.
“快乐的日子,使我们聪明。”
——约翰·梅斯菲尔德
**次读到英国桂冠诗人梅斯菲尔德这行诗的时候,我非常惊讶,它真正的寓意是什么呢?不仔细考虑的话,我一直认为这句诗倒过来才对。不过他的冷静与自信却俘获了我,所以我一直无法忘记这句诗。
终于,我好像领会了他的意思,意识到其中蕴含着深刻的观察思考。快乐带来的智慧存在于清晰的心灵感觉中,不因忧虑、担心而困惑,不因绝望、厌烦而迟钝,不因惶恐而出现盲点。
跳动的快乐——不仅是满足或惬意——会突然到来,就像四月的春雨或是花蕾的绽放,然后你发觉智慧已随快乐而来。草儿更绿,鸟儿的歌声更加美妙,朋友的缺点也变得更加可以理解、原谅。快乐就像一副眼镜,可以修正你精神的视力。
快乐的视野并不受你周围事物的局限。只不过当你不快乐的时候,思想便转向你感情上的苦恼,眼界也就被心灵之墙隔断了。而当你快乐的时候,这道墙便崩塌了。
你的眼界更宽了。脚下的大地,身旁的世界——人们、思想、情感、压力——现在都溶进了一个更加宏伟的情境中,每件事都恰如其分。这就是智慧的开端。
心灵小语
在千万种品德里,有谁敢说是智慧的开端?只有快乐。它开启眼睛、开启头脑、开启心灵,这不正是智慧吗?
词汇笔记
词汇笔记
sober ['s·ub·] adj. 冷静的;清醒的;严肃的
Men come closest to their true selves in the sober moments of
life, under the shadows of sorrow and loss.
在人生的清醒时刻,在哀痛和伤心的阴影之下,人们与真实的自
我*为接近。
perception [p·'sep··n] n. 感知(能力);觉察(力);知觉
Our perception of colours can depend on whether we view them
from the left or the right, scientists have found.
科学家们发现:我们对颜色的感知可能依赖于我们是从左边看还
是从右边看。
accompany [·'k·mp·ni] v. 陪伴;陪同
Earthquakes commonly accompany volcanic activity or movement
of magma deep in the earth.
地震通常都伴随着火山活动或地球深处的岩浆运动。
crumble ['kr·mbl] v.
(把……)弄碎;(使)碎成细屑
Bad things happen, even to good men. Good men who are
weak often crumble under such pressure.
坏事是会发生的,即便是好人也还是如此。那些心里脆弱的好人在遇到这样的压力时往往会精神崩溃。
小试身手
快乐的日子,使我们聪明。
快乐就像一副眼镜,可以修正你精神的视力。
快乐的视野并不受你周围事物的局限。
短语家族
The wisdom that happiness makes possible lies in clear
perception.
lie in:在于……
The ground at your feet, the world about you—people, thoughts,
emotions, pressures—are now fitted into the larger scene.
fit into:适合;符合